It is very strange to find similarities between a mobile app game and job hunting but interestingly, there are many! Below are some lessons Pokemon Go can teach you about job hunting.
- Go Outside: You need to go outside to catch Pokemon. It is the same with job hunting too. You need to go outside, talk to people, go to networking events, visit old friends, and go to career fairs. You cannot only sit in front of your laptop and apply to jobs through career websites. You need to find connections to land interviews and eventually get that offer letter. Don’t forget the more you go outside, the more Pokemon you can catch and find a job at the same time.
- Set Your Goals: Are you planning to stock any Pokemon you can find or are you after the rare ones? Just like playing a game, you need to set your goals for job hunting as well. Are you looking to work in a specific position like Senior Financial Analyst in Equities Division or are you willing to take any job just to get your foot into the finance industry? If you are not sure what you are looking for, try to look at job descriptions first and match your skills with the jobs that you are interested in. You can also limit your job search to certain companies as well such as “only applying jobs at international companies”.
- Training is Key: Just like you train your Pokemon, you need to train yourself too. You need to make sure you have the right skills and/or certifications needed in the job description. You also need to train yourself for the interview process. You need to know how to answer certain questions in addition research the company well enough to persuade the interviewer that you are truly interested at working there.
- Don’t focus on only one thing: Don’t focus on only finding that specific Pokemon that you really want to have. Try finding others, too. Similarly, don’t just wait for that one specific interview or job offer. Keep on applying other jobs also. Maybe, you think your interview went very well and stop applying to jobs to wait for your offer but unfortunately, you may get rejected or the company may change its decision to hire someone. Don’t stop applying to jobs until you sign off the offer letter and get a start date.
