Category: Job Search

The way of the world today means the majority of us need to work in order to pay the bills. If you are recently qualified and looking for work or have lost a job and need to find another one quick, you may start to panic about the process.

Searching for a job can be a time consuming process. It can also be a little disheartening if you are struggling to find positions that you want to apply for and that you have the necessary qualifications and/or experience in which to apply for. 

There are a number of ways to find jobs but often searching online gives you more opportunities and vacancies to apply for that traditional methods. If you wish to you can also register with a jobs agency who will continue searching on your behalf. It may be that they already are speaking to a company that has a vacancy coming up that would be suitable for you. If they do have one or find one they will put your details forward to the company and ask them if they wish for you to attend an interview. Jobs agencies normally charge the employer a finder’s fee for permanent job placements, so as a candidate you will not have to pay anything. If you are looking for temporary work then you may have a percentage of your salary taken by the agency to cover their fees.  

When it comes to applying for jobs, your Cv is a very important part of the process. Regarding of what qualifications or experience you have, a good CV can be the difference between being called in for an interview and not. It is worth investing some time in to ensuring your CV is the best that it can be before you send it out. There are some examples of CV’s on the internet and templates you can use, but not all of them are all that good. Below are a few tips to consider when writing your CV.

Ideally there should be about 4 sections to a CV to make sure that you get the important information in but to not make it too long.

Firstly you need to put who you are, this is your name, address, date of birth and contact details. You may be surprised how many people forget to put this information on and miss out on an interview because of it. Next list your qualifications and education – You don’t necessarily have to go in to this in too much detail unless it is related to the job you are applying for.

Your current and previous employment should be the next section and should detail the company you worked for, your job title and time worked there. It is advisable to bullet point the most relevant skills and responsibilities you had there under each one.

Lastly you should add a closing paragraph which explains a little bit about who you are and your hobbies etc.

When looking for work, there is often an amount of competition around the jobs that you are applying for and if you cannot show why you are the better candidate then you will most likely miss out on the job.
The first thing a potential employer usually sees is your CV and covering letter. They can often very quickly make a judgement on the type of person you are just from this so it is vital that you portray yourself in the right way. There are a number of good CV templates available online that you can use to help you get started with a CV. If you have had gaps in your employment then this may be obvious from the dates of other jobs. You need to think about the reasons why you were unemployed during that time and have an answer ready should you get called in for an interview.
Your covering letter should be personal to the job you are applying for. It should mention the position that you want to be employed in and talk briefly about why you think you would be suitable for the job. You can make reference to your CV but a covering letter should be no more than 3 or 4 paragraphs long and give the employer a reason as to why they may want to ask you in for an interview.

If you are currently in a situation where you need to find work but are limited on what hours or days that you can do, then you will need to look for a job that will offer flexible working. It may be that you have to fit in around school drop offs and pick ups or that you need to have certain days off when you have other commitments.

Running up to Christmas is a great time to find a job in the retail sector. If you can work weekends then you will be a very attractive candidate to businesses as this is when their busiest times are. When searching for a job it is important to be upfront from the start and let the company know what hours you would be able to work. If there is some flexibility on this then it is a good idea to tell them that.

If you want to apply for a job that does not advertise that they offer flexible working then you may wish to contact them before applying to see if that may be a possibility. It may be that you will only require flexible working for the next 6 -12 months which may fit in with some job positions and will hopefully allow you to alter your working hours as circumstances change in your life.

When writing your CV or filling in a job application you may need to consider how well you work with others. The majority of jobs available involve working with other people to some extent. In some jobs, such as a carer for example, then you will be working closely with members of the public. If you are looking in to a career in the police force then you will probably be working closely with the public and other work colleges, or if you are looking at jobs where you are working alone then you may have only a small amount of contact with others.

When employers are looking for new employees this is often a big factor for them. Managers often have very little time to sort out disagreements within the work places and do not want people that are going to be causing animosity and a low morale amongst other work staff.

Try and emphasise where you have demonstrated that you can work well with others and what this has achieved. It is also good to say that you are also happy to work alone if needed so that they know you can adapt to the situation.