Careerwise!

Looking for a job is exciting, very exciting. You are geared up to get more money and not just the 3-5% of annual raise the company plans for you. Almost no one gets the 5% raise, but when you are looking for a job, you can command a salary depending on the experience. Lesson learnt: Loyalty pays less than 5%.

A new job is certainly not very easy to find, nor is moving out of your comfort zone painless. But the excitement of doing something new and proving a different set of people how good you are is something of a challenge I do enjoy.

Job hunting is a time that is certainly stressful, but in retrospect feels so much satisfying. You get to learn a few new things about yourself and your confidence certainly shoots up. The mindset that you take in the interview room certainly sets the tone. The few interviews I wasn't too sure about, I didn't make it.

I followed tips given on few career blogs (psst, here - http://career.alltop.com), here are some tips that I worked on:

1. Don't flood the market with your resume, if a recruitment agency sees your resume too many times they will probably start ignoring you. Apply for jobs that you are certain that you will get a call for.
   
2. Do a follow up call with the agency/referrer to check if they received your application.
   
3. Fix your resume (search on the internet on how to make it better, I got calls just by doing this).
   
4. Write a good and very relevant cover letter, it should make the person open your resume to read it. If there is no cover letter or it is poorly constructed, they probably won't go any further. Again, search the internet for this.
   

I am now happily employed in a new organisation. After months of searching without any results, I got two offers on the very same day. Very good advise from my wife made me pick the right one even if this one pays lesser. Another career tip: If they talk to you about your hobbies in the interview and they offer, then work there.