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Job-seekers look for work in the job market; employers offer jobs to people with the right qualifications and experience. People who know what kind of job they want can look at job advertisements for a suitable position. Others may go to careers advisers to ask for help in starting or managing their careers. Large companies have a human resources department, which deals with recruitment and hiring employees, and also manages career development within the company.

This unit looks at job-seeking and focuses on the practicalities of looking and applying for a job as well as the application process and preparing a Curriculum Vitae (CV). The job-search process usually begins with a general analysis of the work market for the sector that will be applied for. An applicant generally applies for a job either by completing an application form or by submitting a cover letter and a CV. Depending on the organization, this can be sent by post or electronically. It is a good idea to keep the cover letter brief (one page), but it should outline why the applicant is interested in the job / company and what contribution they can make to the organization. The relevant department in the company (often the Human Resources Department) will then go through the selection procedure, look at all applications and draw up a short list of candidates to be interviewed for the position. It is at the interview stage that the applicants can make their case about why they are the best candidate for the job. It is important to ask questions about the company during the interview (for example about training and professional development that the company / role can offer). As well as showing that the candidate is keen, this also helps to collect information that will be useful later in helping the applicant to make up his / her mind about accepting the position if it was offered. It is a useful exercise to have a career plan with one-year and five-year targets to note how you see your career developing. Information can include ambitions and career goals as well as identifying what new skills you plan / need to acquire to achieve those objectives.