Jobs, Careers & Employment.

What you should know when Searching for a Job

Job hunting or job seeking is the act of looking for employment, due to unemployment or discontent with a current position. The immediate goal of job seeking is usually to obtain a job interview with an employer which may lead to getting hired. The job hunter or seeker typically first looks for job vacancies or employment opportunities.

A job is a regular activity performed in exchange for payment, especially as one’s occupation. A person usually begins a job by becoming an employee, volunteering, or starting a business. The duration of a job may range from an hour (in the case of odd jobs) to a lifetime (in the case of some judges). If a person is trained for a certain type of job, they may have a profession. The series of jobs a person holds in their life is their career.

Getting a first job is an important rite of passage in many cultures. Youth may start by doing household work, odd jobs, or working for a family business. In many countries, school children get summer jobs during their longer vacation period. Students enrolled in higher education can apply for internships.

Most individuals get a job  after an interview with a company. If the individual is determined to be a satisfactory fit for the position, he or she is given an official offer of employment within that company for a defined starting salary and position. This individual then has all the rights and privileges of an employee, which may include medical benefits and vacation days. The relationship between a corporation and its employees is usually handled through the human resources department, which handles the incorporation of new hires, and the disbursement of any benefits which the employee may be entitled, or any grievances that employee may have.

Contacting as many people as possible is a highly effective way to find a job. It is estimated that 60% or higher of all jobs are found through networking.

Some basic information about an employer should be collected first before applying the organization’s positions, including full name, locations, web site, business description, year established, revenues, number of employees, stock price if public, name of chief executive officer, major products or services, major competitors, strength as well as challenges.

There are differing classifications of workers within a company. Some are part-time and some are full-time and permanent and receive a guaranteed salary, while others are hired for short term contracts or work as temps or consultants. These latter differ from permanent employees in that the company where they work is not their employer, but they may work through a temp-agency or consulting firm. In this respect, it is important to distinguish independent contractors from employees, since the two are treated differently both in  and in most taxation systems.