Services that support job hunting help to identify your competence, define your goals and find work
Coaching for job seekers, career coaching and job coaching are services that support your employment. The key components of coaching are identifying your own competence, defining your goals, and targeting your job seeking based on those goals.
Studies on the effectiveness of services that support job seekers have shown that they promote and speed up employment. These services include coaching for job seekers, career coaching, and job coaching.
Even if you have previous experience in job hunting, participating in these services may be beneficial when looking for work.
“You might wonder what good a service could do when you already have an up-to-date CV. But we think that a CV is only one part of the job seeking process. Previous experience in job seeking does not undermine the effectiveness of services for job seekers”, stresses Tiia Kantanen, Service Director at Eezy Employment Services.
The job seeking process starts by identifying your competence
Coaching for job seekers and career coaching is provided in groups. In job coaching, on the other hand, you meet your coach in individual sessions. All of these services take into account the individual situation of job seekers.
“We tailor the service according to your needs. For example, you might already have a good CV but have less experience in job hunting. In that case, we will start to work on your job seeking skills. The coach will provide you with personal support and, in the case of group coaching, you will also receive peer support from the other participants. We will define the job hunting goal and work out how to progress towards that goal”, says Tiia Kantanen.
An important and first part of the service process is to identify the competence and strengths of the job seeker. According to Kantanen, all people have a vast amount of competence but it is sometimes difficult for job seekers to understand the extent of their skills.
“For example, you may be in the process of changing careers and think that you only have competence from your previous profession which, however, is not relevant to the field you are now pursuing. In reality, a lot of competence can be transferred from one profession to another. You may have gained communication, cooperation or customer service skills from a hobby or volunteering. You may have been responsible for coordinating tasks in club activities. Do not view your competence in excessively narrow terms. The coaches help you to make your competence crystal clear and write out your skills in a resume. When we can identify your competences, strengths and fields of interest, it speeds up your transition to working life.”
Keep the goal clear in your mind
In job seeking, it is important to define a specific goal, i.e. an idea of what profession you are seeking. You should target the job seeking process based on this goal
“Job seeking is almost like work when you send applications to several different jobs. Our coaching also aims for an active and regular approach. You can’t really be too active but it’s important to keep in mind the career path you’re aiming for. In other words, you should not randomly send applications to grocery stores, libraries and specialist positions but target the search based on your skills and goals”, says Tiia Kantanen.
Do not forget to focus also on your resume and CV.
“Base the application documents on your competencies and strengths. Although you may find good tips on the Internet on what to write in a resume, you should tailor the text to fit you. Keep in mind that if you’re invited to a job interview, you should “look” like the image you have created in your application. Also, remember to target the application to the specific job you're applying for.”
Service Director Tiia Kantanen talked about the support services for job seekers at the RekryExpo recruitment fair at the Turku Fair Center on 15 November.