How do you choose a job?

Choosing your first job is most important. This is because if the first job is well chosen, you will be able to adapt well to the organisation’s environment and make early contributions on the job. Needless to say, that will give you a very positive idea of the work world. But if you make a poor first choice, that will put you off and you will tend to lose confidence in what is out there.

To help you to make your first job chose wisely, here are some points for you to consider. What is the most important thing that I want in my first job? It is the opportunity to learn? Is it good starting pay that I am after? Is it some convenience that I am after in this job? Should I join a big company that has a great reputation? Should I listen to my persuasive father who knows best? Job seekers’ motivations vary and sometimes job seekers themselves are not sure what it is that they are after, except that they need a job

Consequently, they apply to any job that they see. Giving sufficient thought to choosing your first job is therefore very important because a wise choice can save you a lot of unnecessary frustration ad put you on the right career path early.

It is best to choose your first job based on a match between your training and the job tasks. Look carefully at the job advertisements and see what the responsibilities are before you apply. What is important also is to consider how much you want to build a career based on your tertiary training. There is nothing radically wrong if you pursue something outside your training, especially if your training is general. Ideally, the job should be one that pays you a reasonable salary and has great learning opportunities. Such great learning opportunities are evidenced by the investment that the company has put in its people through training and technology enhancement.

In choosing a job, you should consider 2 points the fit in the work itself and the fit in the organisation’s culture. It is easier to fit yourself into a job because the job content has a specification and you can learn what it requires to perform fairly quickly but it is a whole lot more difficult to fit yourself into the organisation’s culture because that is the part that is seldom clear and you have to be in the organisation to experience it.