Toolkit - Jobseekers Guide

Advice for Job Seekers

These are tough times. Rising costs, record unemployment, cut backs and a shaky economy make for a very bleak picture. Great jobs are hard to get at the best of times. In a bad economy it may be downright impossible for most. However, armed with effective job hunting strategies and a lot of patience and tenacity, it is possible to get the position you seek.

Renew your mindset

The most important assets you posses when job hunting is a positive mindset, resilience and persistence. You need to radiate confidence and develop a belief in your skills and ability in order to convince an interviewer to hire you. Associate with positive minded people, especially those who seem to get jobs easily and don’t be afraid to ask for their advice.

The job hunt - increase your visibility and profile

Employers will often contact their own networks and peer contacts to find out information about a candidate – seeking an informed, personal recommendation. By building your profile in your sector and making contact with relevant people you increase your chances of becoming known amongst these networks as a committed individual.

• “It’s not who you know, but who knows you”. Networking with the right people is still the most single effective way of getting hired. The most common saying is, “it is not what you know, but who you know”. I say that “it’s not who you know, but who knows you”. Networking is more crucial than ever as an established relationship can help you stand out from the competition.
   
• Build your Personal Board of Advisers. I am a firm believer of digging your well before you are thirsty, and the most practical way to start building your network is to look through your personal database of contacts. This would include family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances, and business contacts, etc. From these contacts, build your inner circle of confidantes – this is what I call your ‘Personal Board of Advisers’.
  
• Proactive contact. If you are actively job hunting, you should be making up to 10 calls a day to your contacts (depending on the size of your personal network). Ask for advice, leads and referrals but never ask for a job as this can make people very uncomfortable. 
  
• Give and Gain approach to networking. Think of ways in which you can give something back to your network – even when not job hunting. How you can help enhance their career, business or reputation by introducing people in related fields to one another? This give and gain approach increases your networks’ positive response to you when you do put in a request.
  
• Attend as many networking events as you can. Professional associations, interest groups hold monthly or even weekly events and often you don’t have to be a member to attend. If you keep bumping into the same people at events, consider attending different ones in order to meet new people. If you meet someone you feel you could help in the future, could help you, or were genuinely interested in, make sure to contact them soon after the event via email, connect on LinkedIn, or follow on Twitter.
  
• Social networking. Although face to face interaction remains one of the best ways to network, the past few years has seen the growth of social networking.  Use LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook to support your job hunt. Joining relevant groups are a key way to get visibility on open vacancies. Avoid the status updates such as ‘looking for my next challenge’ as these can come across as a bit desperate, especially the more senior you are. Target appropriate people and companies to follow or link with. Actively engage with companies by sharing or re-tweeting content. This can show case your industry knowledge and raise your profile. However, if in doubt, don’t engage via social media. 
  
• Appropriate online content. Please note that recruiters and companies as part of fact checking will do a social media check prior to interview, so ensure your personal social media content (particularly across Facebook and Twitter) is protected and/or appropriate for public view.

The job application

Whilst the job market has changed considerably, people still tend to job hunt in the same traditional way, i.e. update the CV, send in an application and then wait to be called for an interview. The problem with this approach is the obvious competition from other prospective candidates which could mean that your application does not make it past the first cut.

• Read the job advert closely. When applying for a job read the advert very, very carefully and if a job description is available, spend some time looking over it. Carefully make a note of all key words and use them in your application form and CV. This is particularly important in industries where software might be used to sift applications.  Correct grammar and punctuation is a must. Be aware of the tense you use and be consistent throughout your CV. Try to be succinct and please do not be tempted to write “see CV’ in any of the boxes on the application form.

• Critically evaluate your skills. How current and relevant to the job are they? How do you compare to the top 10% in your target company or field? What value will you add, and what makes you distinct from the competition? In order to be smarter, faster and better than the competition you need to invest in yourself. Simply having a degree or two will not cut it in today’s market.

The CV

• Objectively review your CV. Asses your CV from an employer’s point of view. Ask your self what recruiters call the ‘so what’ question. Every word on your CV needs to project the value you will potentially bring to the job. Having an awareness of the potential gap between what you have done and where you are in your career, what you sell yourself as and the role and how you will bridge that gap demonstrates that you have given the role some thought.
• Demonstrate your worth. Wherever possible use actual examples or outcomes to demonstrate rather than just state what you can do or have done.
• A good CV should be chronological. Include specific examples of quantifiable achievements and contain the appropriate key words. Have you led or managed a team under challenging circumstances? Have you managed to do more with a reduced budget? Can you deliver stretching sales targets? How have you worked independently or as a team?
• Try not to use the same words all the time. Include strong words such as organised, managed, achieved, delivered, produced, controlled, proactive, etc.
• CV headings. Put headings into the CV or break into clear sections so that the recruiter who skim reads (there are plenty) can get a good impression in a short amount of time.
• Information about past employers & roles. In the ‘bold print’ which heads each past job or new ‘heading’/section in your CV, or in the initial ‘key achievements’ section at the top of the CV, it is good to include the key dimensions of the organization(s) and role(s) you have performed. For example, the employers’ size in people and turnover terms, the size of the profit & loss managed, and the size of team(s) you head, and so on. To impress, make key ‘numbers’ obvious.
• Once you’ve updated your CV, I suggest you get at least 5 people (including those that know nothing about your job/industry) to proof read it for spelling and content. Spell check is a very useful tool but it doesn’t help with grammatical context.
• Customize your CV. Adopt the same approach as banks and hotels by customizing your CV to fit each job you apply for.  Pull out the skills, tasks, experience relevant to the role you are applying for. For instance, if they are looking for great customer service experience, then bring this to the top of each new job section, or highlight this within a key skills/achievements section.

The interview - preparation

• Do your research prior to the interview. Know the job, know the company and know the industry. Consider who you might know who is connected to that world – name-dropping, should the names be relevant, is a bonus.
• How will you be interviewed? Find out what you can about the type of interview (is it a competency based interview, a technical interview, a portfolio based interview or an assessment centre) and whom will be interviewing you. Don’t be afraid to ask the recruitment agency or the contact at the employer for this information and what is expected of you. Bring along a small folder containing extra copies of your CV and application and some paper to take notes. You do not have to bring anything else at this stage unless you have been requested to do so.
• Prepare, prepare, prepare. Prepare specific examples relevant to the job that demonstrate your skills and abilities. The acronym STAR is a good guide to follow at both application form and interview stage:

S – Situation: briefly outline the challenge  you faced
T – Task: what you had to achieve from this situation
A – Action: the actions and steps you took to resolve/ complete the task
R – Result: positive outcome of your action

• Prepare for difficult questions. If you have been searching for a while be prepared to answer why, avoid appearing ‘desperate’ by being clear that you are keen to land the right role. Having clarity over what that right role could be is usually enough to reassure a recruiter/ interviewer that you are not struggling to get hired for any untoward reasons. If you are asked about a time when you failed at a task, answer it as honestly as you can, but follow it up with what you subsequently learned as a result and how you have applied such lessons.
• Your turn to interview. At the end of an interview you are often given a chance to ask questions. Yet, many interviewees are so relieved that the interview is over that they fail to ask questions which may provide them with valuable information. There are several useful questions to ask, including:
  -       A description of the work culture of the organisation
  -       The way in which performance is measured and reviewed
  -       The important issues facing the department/organisation, prospects/opportunities for advancement/development
  -       The next steps in the interview process – timings and interviews stages
  -       For those who are a particularly brave, you can ask the interviewer if your answers have (or not) demonstrated your suitability for the role.
  -       Another good, slightly ‘softer’ question to ask is whether or not they think you would fit culturally. This provides the company the opportunity to sell themselves to you and for you to receive immediate feedback and address any perceived weaknesses. It also allows you to finish on a high re emphasizing why you are a good fit for the role.

The interview - create a positive first impression

• Appearance. Your clothes send a message about your work ethic, so create a positive first impression by dressing professionally regardless of the dress code of the company.  
• Avoid...: Remove all jangly jewellery, piercings and avoid strong smelling food, drink and perfume before an interview.
• Arrive on time! Ideally, arrive 10 to 15 minutes before hand. Allow for factors like getting lost or transport delays.
• A nice firm handshake! As opposed to a limp fish or bone crusher creates a very positive first impression. If you are prone to sweaty palms, there are various treatments available, depending on the severity of your symptoms that are worth investigating.
• During the interview. Be enthusiastic and display open body language. Sit up straight, maintain good eye contact and listen very carefully to the questions being asked.  Answer each question clearly and succinctly (don’t go on!) and if you don’t understand a question ask for clarification, especially if you are not being interviewed in your mother tongue.
• Sell, but don’t oversell. Whilst it’s important to sell yourself, don’t oversell. Actively listen to the interviewer and don’t talk over them.

Post Interview

• Follow up. About 24 hours after the interview, send the interviewer a note thanking them for the opportunity. If the interview was via an agency, call your consultant afterwards to discuss the interview and make it known that you will be very receptive to any feedback.
• All feedback is constructive. If feedback is offered, simply listen, take notes and go through what you’ve heard. From an interviewer’s point of view, the fear of hurting you, having to deal with defensive behaviour or, worse still, being sued can make them hesitant of giving honest feedback. By suspending judgment and being very approachable you will receive the kind of feedback that will put you in a position to improve your interview skills.

Created by: Elizabeth Solaru
Elizabeth Solaru is a Headhunter and Career Coach who specialises in coaching candidates seeking their next role. She is a well respected and popular speaker on all aspects of career management and development.