| Product: |
Looking for a job |
| Date: |
15/07/04 (424 review reads) |
| Rating: |
 |
Advantages: ?
Disadvantages: ?
If you?re looking for a job, there are plenty of places where you can start your search. I?ve got a huge list of suggestions:
Employment Agencies - for both temping and permanent work. You?ll need to take in your CV, references, proof of ID (passport or driving licence and a bill with your address on) your P45 if you have one, bank details and NI number. Be prepared to spend up to 2 hours in the agency if they require you to take any tests whilst you?re there.
Employment Agency websites ? It?s now possible to apply on line, which is much quicker and easier than visiting every agency in person. You?ll still be required to visit the agency to register in person and take tests if they find a job that you want to apply for. But in the first instance it will save you loads of time and you can register online with every agency in your area in a single morning!
Local newspaper employment pages (and their websites) ? Weekly local papers usually have a huge jobs section, whereas the daily papers have a ?jobs night?. Either way, make sure you get your application letters in the post as soon as you can, for the best chance of being considered for the job.
Local radio ? I have to admit that it surprised me the first time I heard a recruitment advert on local radio, but you do get them! In fact, I was speaking to one company director who assured me that radio was not only cheaper than advertising in the local newspaper, but that the advert reached a wider geographical area, was cheaper, and was run multiple times (rather than a one-off newspaper advert). Not only this, but of the huge number of applications he received after his radio advert, he found that most of them fit the job specifications very well, and was able to make several job offers. So switch your car radio to your local station, just in case!
Job Fayre
s ? You?ll see these advertised in local and National papers, and probably on your local radio station too. A job fayre is basically a whole selection of employers who?ve been gathered together in one place to make it very easy for people to apply for jobs with them. Usually these fayres are absolutely rife with employment agencies, but they can still be very useful places at introducing you to particular companies or fields of work that you haven?t considered before. They usually take place in the early summer, to catch the recent graduates, school and college leavers, so look out for adverts for any that might be local to you.
Send out letters ?on spec? ? If you?re interested in working for a particular company, or in a particular industry, then send a general letter of application including your CV, in case they have any vacancies coming up in the near future that you could be considered for. Sending out spec letters seems to have fallen in popularity in recent years, which is a shame as it?s certainly worth a try.
Friends and acquaintances ? In this day and age it?s often not so much what you know as who you know. The best job I?ve had so far was never advertised, but I had a friend working there who put my CV forward. One quick interview later and the job was mine, and this happens every day in companies up and down the country. So let your friends and family know that you?re looking for work, and make a point of asking them to let you know if they hear of anything suitable, it might just jog their memory the next time they?re looking at a job vacancy pinned up to the work noticeboard!
Work Experience or volunteering ? There are some jobs that are ridiculously hard to get into. The television industry is one example. The best thing to do in Television is just get your foot in the door and get your face known around the company so that y
ou?re the first to hear about any jobs as and when they come up, and are already a known entity when you apply. Of course, it?s absolutely essential that you make a good impression if you do any work experience in a company, slack off or mess about and you?ll never get taken on permanently. However, applying for work experience can get you a real job if you can afford to work for free for a while. I used to work for Channel 5 and was shocked to discover that for every job advertised, they received literally thousands of applications. However, when a job came up in my office, a girl who?d spent the last couple of weeks doing work experience in the department next door handed in her CV that afternoon, and was offered the job almost straight away ? with never an advert being placed!
Specialist Job Websites ? You could try www.stepstone.co.uk or www.jobserve.com or www.monster.co.uk or www.fish4.co.uk/jobs as all of these (and many others besides) have job vacancies across the country in their databases, and sometimes abroad too. You?ll usually have to register to gain access to these websites, but then you can normally apply online for any job you?re interested in.
Company Websites ? Perfect if you?re desperate to work for Microsoft, or the BBC, as large companies like these often list vacancies on their website. However, even if there are no relevant vacancies listed, fire off a CV and covering letter anyway, just incase!
Specialist Agencies ? These are, more often than not, for IT specialists. They can be found all over the country, you?ll find dozens if you do a simple google search. However, hunt a little harder and you might find a specialist agency for your own profession, they do also exist for medical staff, office staff, factory and warehousing staff, food workers? I even came across one agency that specialised in p
lacing schedulers in television companies! Specialist agencies are perfect for the professional, or if you know exactly the kind of job you?d like to do next. However, if you?re less concerned about the type of work you accept, they may not be for you.
Specialist Journals ? For actors this would be the Stage, for media workers its Broadcast and there are a whole clutch of titles for IT specialists which are usually jam packed with job vacancies for specialists in their field. Of course, if you?re a specialist in any particular field yourself, you?ll already know which journal is the best for jobs. However, if you?re looking at moving into a particular field of work, you?d do well to hunt out the relevant journal and take a look through every edition as soon as you can for any entry level vacancies that may be advertised.
I?m sure there must be more ways of looking for a job, but I think that?s a pretty comprehensive list I?ve included above. There are still some very important aspects that you need to consider when applying for a new job, however.
First of all, if you?re out of work get a temporary job. It doesn?t matter what you do, even if you?re getting paid minimum wage for cleaning the toilets down at your local. It looks much, much better when you?re applying for a permanent job if you can tell them that you?re working in a temporary job at the moment. An employer who thinks that you?ve spent your time sitting on your bottom, doing nothing whilst you wait for your perfect job to come along might well jump to the conclusion that you?re lazy. So make sure that for any period when you haven?t been working, you can give full details of how you?ve been filling your time in a constructive manner.
Of course, this doesn?t have to be a temping job? Employers love to employ staff with well-rounded life experience, so if you can tell them that you?
ve been travelling, volunteering or doing something else that?s equally worthy in any non-employed time, they?re likely to look on this favourably too. Though of course, if you do temp, then you?ve always got the added benefit of the cash that this will bring in!
Next, you need to make sure that your CV is absolutely up to date and totally correct in every way. Nothing makes a worse impression than poor grammar and spelling on a CV or covering letter. Remember that this is your only chance to make a first impression, use it wisely, my son! Also very important is to keep your CV down to no more than two pages. Difficult, I know, especially if you?ve had lots of jobs in your time. However, it really is important that you keep the information provided on your CV strictly relevant. Employers simply don?t have the time to sift through pages and pages to find the facts that they?re looking for, you need to make it as easy as possible for them. This includes not trying to do anything too fancy with you CV to make it stand out. Stick to ordinary, white paper and an easy to read typeface ? they can?t offer you your perfect job if they can?t read your CV!
Of course, you must still include all relevant details in your CV ? including your name, contact details, age, previous jobs, qualifications and places you?ve studied at, hobbies and personal interests, referees? I don?t think I?ve forgotten anything there! Though if you have the space you might also like to include a SHORT paragraph outlining your strengths and weaknesses (though this is more often included in any covering letter).
Don?t underestimate your abilities ? apply for any job that interests you. Even if you never hear anything else about it, all you?ve really lost is the price of a stamp, and you might gain the job of your dreams. Of course,
there is a flipside to everything, and it?s important that you don?t apply for any jobs that you?re not actually qualified to do. You?d probably find a job as a lorry driver a little difficult if you can?t drive, for example, so applying for those jobs would just be a waste of everybodies time!
Consider applying for vacancies outside of your local area. Can you commute a reasonable distance everyday? Have you thought about relocating to a different part of the country if you find your ideal job? It?s certainly worth a thought at any rate.
Once you?ve been offered the interview for your dream job, the most important aspect is to think very carefully about the first impression you?ll make when you walk through that door for your interview! Hair needs to be clean, and if it needs a trim then get it done. Dress appropriately ? which normally means a suit or very smart casuals for both the ladies and the gents. I?d advise dressing smartly even if the job you?re going for doesn?t require it (you don?t see many binmen in suits, for example!) If you know you look immaculate (or as close to immaculate as you?re ever going to get) then your self confidence will increase, which can only make a good impression on the interviewer.
Take a briefcase to the interview with you, or if you don?t have one then a very smart folder or shoulder bag will be fine. In this you need to keep any relevant documents, a notepad and pen and a list of any questions that you?d like to ask the interviewer.
Preparation is vital. It can?t fail to look good if you?ve researched the company before the interview (most of which can be done on the internet, nowadays) and can ask questions which are obviously based upon this research, just keep them relevant. Think about the questions they might ask you too. For instance, I?ve been asked some bizarre questions at interview such as ?if you were an animal,
what species would you be? ? my answer ? a dog, I?m fiercely loyal, dependable, easily trained and I respond well to rewards? Luckily, I?d been warned that this questions was a particular favourite of the interviewer, so was able to respond with more than just a startled rabbit expression on my face!
Think about the impression that your answers will give. For example, if your interviewer asks you the old chestnut ?what are your weaknesses? for heavens sake, don?t tell them that you are without fault, and don?t give them a real weakness either ?actually I?m really rubbish at getting out of bed in the morning, so I?m always late for work? probably won?t do you any favours?
The trick here is to name a weakness that?s actually a strength. My own particular favourite is explaining that I can?t stand sitting doing nothing, that I get frustrated and have to find some work to do, even if that means helping out another department ? thus showing how hardworking I am! Other answers could be that you?re addicted to list writing, that you have to have order in your working life and can?t abide a messy desk ? thus demonstrating how well organised and dependable you are. I?m sure you?ve got your own favourite too ? perhaps you are quiet until you get to know new people (aren?t we all) or you?re an utter perfectionist who can?t stand the thought of letting work leave your desk that isn?t absolutely correct in every way?
If all of that fails, and you don?t get the job then don?t lose heart ? it?s always possible that somebody else was just better qualified than you, had more experience or just got on better with the interviewer ? none of which you can do anything about! And there are always those companies that advertise all jobs as a matter of course, even when they?ve already decided to employ within the company?
Well, I think that?s all the help I can give you in
looking for a new job, so I hope it?s been of some help.
Good luck!
Summary:
|
|
