Being a Job Resource for Others

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Being a Job Resource for Others

Finding a job can be stressful. With many families having to deal with kids attending virtual school, and the struggles of unemployment, it can all get a bit overwhelming.

If you see a friend or family member struggling with their job search, there are a few ways you can help. They still need to handle the majority of the work, but that doesn't mean you can't relieve their stress a bit.

1. Offer to Review Their Resume

The job search begins with a resume, and that's a great place to start when you're helping someone with their job search. When you're looking over their resume, check to make sure they're using powerful and specific action verbs (established, secured, maintained, created, etc.) instead of generic words (wrote, followed, made, etc.). You can also ask them what kind of jobs they are looking for, and find similar job descriptions for those positions online. You don't want their resume to read like a list of job descriptions, but you can encourage them to sprinkle key words found in those job postings into their resume. 

Checking their overall formatting is also a great idea. Is everything outlined nicely with bullet points? Does the entire resume fit on one page? If not, you'll want to suggest some changes, like keeping their experience to their three most recent or relevant jobs. 

2. Hold a Mock Interview

Now that the resume is settled, it's time to practice for the interview. You'll want to both help your friend or family member become comfortable with common interview questions and keep an eye out for how they're handling their interview body language. 

For a list of common interview questions, check out Job Journey's Asking the Interview Question eBook. It covers 10 of the most common interview questions job seekers have difficulties with and includes suggested ways to answer those questions.

As for body language, take a look at CareerBuilder's study of the biggest body language mistakes. The top four results were failure to make eye contact, failure to smile, playing with something on the table, and fidgeting too much in their seat. All of these are totally normal behaviors, and there's nothing wrong with being nervous in an interview, but you don't want your friend or family member to show their nervousness. Keeping an eye out for those behaviors will help them come off as confident and in control, regardless of how they're feeling on the inside.

3. Network

The best thing you can do to help your friend or family member find a job is help them network. You can ask your contacts what kind of job openings they have and pass them along. But it's important to note, you can't do all of the work. Once you've forwarded a job opportunity, you need to let your friend or family member handle the rest. 
You also can't go to networking events for your friend or family member, but you can get a list of networking opportunities together for them to check out on their own. Check out local professional groups or even charitable organizations or hobby groups in your area. That next job could come from anywhere, so the more opportunities available the better. 

Looking to take your friend or family member's job search game to the next level?

Express Employment Professionals can help

We have a video about interviewing in our Job Genius educational program . And, for help with finding a  job and getting more interviews in general, encourage your friend or family member to call their local Express office.

Check out our online office locator to find a location near your friend or family member where they can schedule an in-person visit, or encourage them to apply online.