How to Increase your Competitive Value in the Job Market

The current competitive job market is full of opportunities and challenges, alike. With new job-seekers turning up every day, it’s difficult to stay competitive and grab the job that we really want. With constant changes in technology, market flow, and employers’ demands we need to work hard to make ourselves as tempting as possible to our potential bosses.

We would like to share with you a few simple but effective pieces of advice that should help you climb the latter and make yourself more visible to job proprietors, commercially attractive and set in a higher paygrade wagon.

Always acquire new skills

There was once a time when getting a job meant securing your future in a long-term prospect. Jobs were safe and fairly easy to come by if you try and work hard enough. Today we witness a different picture entirely, jobs are less than secure – mostly due to employers’ need to cut production costs and wages in order to increase the profit. High-quality materials and production process are expensive, so business owners often turn to outsourcing as a means of cutting costs.

Pamela Clayborn, an HR Manager says: “…We are seeing more and more people come to us in order to get a promotion by leaving their current job and applying for a higher position with another company.”

The reason for this probably lies in the fact that many people fear for their current positions.

With the acquisition of new skills we are able to make an important asset out of ourselves, paramount for the future development and success of the company. Show up for a job interview with nothing but good will and some basic skills won’t make you desirable. However, if you work on personal development and learn something new every day, your market value will drastically increase and you will become a most welcomed addition to any team. But don’t forget to work on self-improvement even when you get the job, otherwise, you will stagnate and lose that value that you worked so hard to increase. In the end, even learning a new language can become a significant addition to your market value because the world is getting smaller and foreign markets are not difficult to reach as they were before.

Utilize social networks

There are hundreds of millions of people active on social networks across the world. For some of them (some would say most of them) social networks are a way to communicate with their friends and family, place their holiday photos, etc. On the other hand, a vast number of users sees social networks for what they truly are – a medium for personal promotion and forging of new contacts. Places like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube are not just for fun, we can easily turn them into career opportunity just by showing off what we can do. Post videos or pictures of your handwork, show your professional results to everyone and someone will see the value that you hold. There are thousands of men and women that started their Instagram accounts as completely anonymous and turned up to become influential models with worldwide companies hiring them to promote their brands.
LinkedIn is a place where you could make some serious business contacts, show your skills, and learn from those that are more experienced than you. Having the ability to speak to professionals in your field of interest is priceless, to say the least. Not only would you have the chance to learn and advance, but you could also get recommendations that would put your name higher on the list of priorities when you go to a job interview. Hiring agents are always looking for new talents on LinkedIn and it’s a smart thing to make your profile look interesting and captivating.

Be creative, unique, and original

If you do your thing the way everybody else is doing it only because it works, there’s nothing to keep you apart from the crowd. You will be just another trooper when you should be a General. However, taking a different approach automatically keeps you separated from everyone else. Add some creativity, aesthetics, and cost reduction to the equation and you can become the next big thing.
Nevertheless, taking a different approach and being original is not easy, it takes a lot of trial and error in order to find your personal style that would please the employer and, more importantly, company clients. With that in mind, always remember not to give up if you fail at first – stand up, dust yourself off, and keep trying until you reach your goal. Ultimately, once you reach your goal, know that others will soon follow your suite, so keep working on finding new ways, different approaches, and fresh ideas.

Jack Kelly, CEO of the Compliance Search Group, says: “Here is what you need to do. Think of yourself as a top athlete. You need to sleep well, eat right, exercise and keep a positive attitude. You need to be mentally and physically alert and actively engaged at all times for up to a six-plus months’ time.”

Volunteer to acquire experience

Working as a volunteer in a company has multiple benefits, for you, the company, and the community. A recent government study shows that people who have a history of volunteering have a 27 percent greater chance to find a job in the industry of their choice. The reason for this, according to study, lies in the fact that most employers consider people who volunteer to be more eager to learn and have higher levels of working habits. In addition to new experience and increased hiring potential, volunteering gets you out of the house and puts you in the center of events. It gives you a direct chance to show your worth to the potential employer, as opposed to situations where you have to make contact and prove yourself during a job interview. It’s an urban legend that all CVs look the same, especially for people who are looking for their first job. Adding some volunteering experience to your resume can make all the difference.

Find a mentor

No person is an island, as someone very smart once said. Working alone on your self-improvement can often become a difficult task as we are rarely able to identify the weakest links in our personal or professional skillchain. It’s a good practice to find someone who is a seasoned professional in their industry and learn from that person. It will help you identify your strengths, weaknesses, and also potentially make some new contacts with people connected to your mentor. As you learn from your teacher, you will grow both personally and professionally not just in the eyes of your mentor but also as a job talent.

Conclusion – What’s my market value?

All these pieces of advice could work separately or combined, it all depends on what you are looking for when it comes to growing your job market value. Eventually, it all comes to working on yourself as much as you can and never stop adding value to your name. Eventually, the right company will identify your worth and show you the respect you’ve worked so hard to achieve.