Search­ing for a media job can often be a mas­sive ordeal. If you enter into the process method­i­cal­ly and prac­ti­cal­ly, you will no doubt come out with pos­i­tive results and a media job to boot. But there are some com­mon mis­takes that are made when mak­ing search­es for media jobs. Mis­takes that could cost you the media job itself, and pos­si­bly win you a bad rep­u­ta­tion with­in an indus­try where word trav­els fast.

Below are the top 10 mis­takes that peo­ple make in search­ing for media jobs in no par­tic­u­lar order. 

1. One of the mis­takes peo­ple make when search­ing for media jobs is think­ing that the media job, the inter­view, the busi­ness they would be join­ing etc is all about them. Appear­ing as though this com­pa­ny owes you a favor is the wrong way to approach a media job search. Rather approach it from the angle of how you can help them.

2. Not hav­ing the required skills for the media job you are apply­ing for will waste the time of your prospec­tive employ­ers and will only frus­trate them. Apply for the media jobs that you are capa­ble of car­ry­ing out.

3. Not approach­ing com­pa­nies and ask­ing whether or not they have open­ings could result in you los­ing out on many media job oppor­tu­ni­ties. Many media jobs are not list­ed online or in the papers. It pays to do some homework.

4. Be pre­pared for rejec­tion. A lot of media job employ­ers will turn you down, but you have to keep on apply­ing and fol­low­ing up. Numer­ous peo­ple lose faith after the first three rejec­tion noti­fi­ca­tions, but you have to remem­ber that there are many hope­fuls in the same boat as you, try­ing to find the right media job. Just be patient.

5. Many peo­ple make the mis­take in think­ing that the appli­ca­tion is the dif­fi­cult part of search­ing for a media job, and once the inter­view is set up they can relax. It is hard work right up until you get accept­ed for the media job, and then even more hard work is required. Nev­er think that you can relax, you need to be on top of your game at all times in search­ing for the right media job.

6. Not doing research into the com­pa­ny you work for and the media job you are apply­ing for can be very embar­rass­ing when you are asked how your skills will improve their work­ing sit­u­a­tion. Do your homework.

7. By not ask­ing ques­tions dur­ing your appli­ca­tion process, you may not under­stand some of the fun­da­men­tals of the media job you are apply­ing for. Ask ques­tions about what­ev­er you do not under­stand so that you are well equipped for your interview.

8. Being late for a media job inter­view dis­plays dis­in­ter­est, bad time man­age­ment and a gen­er­al slack char­ac­ter. Pre­pare accord­ing­ly so that you can be early.

9. Mak­ing the inter­view about how much you will earn doing this media job dis­plays that you are only in it for the salary. Be sure to show an inter­est in the media job and ask what is required before jump­ing into the ques­tion of remuneration.

10. Above all, your per­son­al­i­ty sells. Those peo­ple that wan­der into an inter­view like they are walk­ing into a cof­fee shop should recon­sid­er what it is they want from a media job. Or if they even want one at all.