Ways to help increase your chances of getting a job in a turbulent market.
The job market in the Caribbean has had many changes during 2020. Especially for job seekers. The market is more competitive than ever and people have to remain competitive and actively searching to ensure success. While it can sometimes be discouraging there are a few ways to ensure that both you and your resume remain competitive in the market and attractive to employers.
#1: Having a Digital Presence is Important (Now more than ever)
We are sure you have heard this a lot during 2020 but in 2021 it could not be truer. Many Caribbean businesses have moved their processes online especially when it comes to recruitment. This means that you want to cover all the bases. So, make sure you have:
· A concise and well laid out resume
· A detailed and regularly updated LinkedIn page.
· A digital portfolio of your work (if it applies to your career)
Having a resume and LinkedIn profile is standard practice but having a digital portfolio is equally important. You can use your LinkedIn Page as your digital portfolio and add your work there or you can have a website or Instagram page. Your work and examples of your work must exist somewhere online for recruiters to see.
#2 Learn, Enhance and Show your skills
Recruiters do not only look for experience and education they are also looking for practical skills that show that you can handle the work and have multiple skills to carry out the job. If you are in a period of unemployment try and perfect the skills you have and even challenge yourself to learn others. Many learning institutes in Trinidad and Tobago offer short courses. Here are just a few you can look into:
· SBCS: has a plethora of short courses for you to learn or enhance your skills, from photography to graphic design you can choose something that suits you and your industry.
· DeltaSoft: you can learn any digital skills at this school, everything from basic computer literacy to illustrator is covered here.
· Arthur Lok Jack: if you are looking to perfect your business skills or even learn some new ones there is no better place than Arthur Lok Jack. Their classes can help you gain some useful business skills through experts in the region and internationally.
· Filmco: ever wondered what it would be like to work on a film set or edit a video? Filmco has you covered. They have basic, intermediate and expert level classes for everything film, movies and tv.
#3 Connect with People in Person and Online
The Caribbean is still a relatively small market and you often still find out about jobs through word of mouth. So, try and connect with your friends or former employers and co-workers. Let them know you are looking for a job so they can keep you in mind if they hear of anything. It is equally important to do this online. Use LinkedIn to connect with people you know or people in your industry, join groups and post often. This will all help as people will have you in mind if they hear about a job that can work for you.
Would you like to learn more about LinkedIn in the Caribbean? Join Pauline every Tuesday at 6.30 pm EST for #ACMlive.
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