​Have you ever asked for feedback from a job interview and been informed that you weren't job ready? Or perhaps you are wondering why you aren't getting calls after submitting your resume. The overwhelming trend job recruiters are seeing in the market is a lack of, what they call, 'job readiness'. So what exactly is it to be job ready and how can you achieve this?​

Employability and talent specialist Rebecca Fraser says, "Being job ready starts at understanding the job through to understanding the future of the job. But there are some key things that will ensure you are perceived as being job ready in your next interview".

1. Have the right skills and qualifications for the job
   It seems a given, however there are a lot of people out there who just apply for jobs without looking at exactly what the needs are. While it's hard to completely fill the job requirements, if you have some of these skills and are familiar with the skills you need to have to do the job, you will go a long way to being ready to start in that job.

2. Understand your gaps
   "Ok, so you may not have all of the skills and qualifications asked for in the job, but what are you doing to work on building these to increase your competence in the role? Are you being mentored, are you undertaking training, and are you practicing your skill set? You may not be able to tick the yes box, but if you can talk to what you are doing to address the gap you will look a lot more attractive!", says Rebecca

3. Know how that role fits in to an organisation
   You'll never be expected to know the organisations structure up front, but if you understand the purpose of the role within an organisation, you will be able to demonstrate how your additional skills can enhance your success in the role.

4. Have a career plan
   "At this stage your career plan may be just to get a new job, but having a career plan is actually really important to organisations", Rebecca explains. "By having a career plan you will generally have a greater understanding of what having this job actually means for your future, and for the needs of the organisation. It will also ensure that you understand how this position may change in the future; how advancements in technology may change the dynamics of your role and how you have catered for this in your career plan".

5. Be able to communicate with confidence
   "Introvert or extravert, this is not important. Communicating with confidence is about your ability to talk with someone about who you are, what you do and why you can do this job", says Rebecca. Each position will have its own specific needs in relation to how you need to communicate, and being able to recognise this and communicate effectively to suit your role and industry is important.

If you feel a qualification will help you become job ready, have you considered online study? Chisholm Online qualifications are nationally recognised and have been chosen to meet industry demand. Best of all they're flexible, so you can study whenever and wherever suits you. Visit Chisholm Online​ for a full list of courses.