Category: Recruitment

Many employers ask for a covering letter to be sent with your application form or CV when applying for a job. This letter is designed to give the potential employer an overview of who you are and why you would like to be considered for the position.

A cover letter should ideally only be one page long and is usually made up of 3 or 4 paragraphs. The first paragraph is where you should introduce yourself and say what position it is you would like to apply for. The second paragraph should be a review brief overview of experience and/or qualifications that may be relevant to the job and the third is often a closing statement to say thank you for considering you for the position, you are happy to answer any questions and that you would be happy to attend an interview.

It is vital that you have all your contact details listed and that they are correct on your covering letter. Be sure to double check it for spelling and grammar mistakes and that the layout is in the correct format for this type of letter. You will often need to amend your covering letter each time you apply for a different job as it should be specific to the position you are wanting to be considered for.

Teaching can be an extremely rewarding job. Many people say that teaching is not only exciting and also challenging but allows them to be creative. There are such a wide variety of jobs within the teaching industry that there really is something that is suitable for most people. If you have a passion for helping people, communicate well and are not fazed by responsibility or pressure then teaching may be the perfect career choice for you.

If you don’t fancy teaching in a primary or secondary school then you may like the idea of working in an outdoor pursuits adventure centre or in a training facility for employees of certain industries. A driving instructor’s role includes teaching someone a skill and is very different from teaching in a class room.

If you like the idea of teaching but do not want the full on responsibility that comes with teaching a class then you could chose to go for a job as a teaching assistant. This will often allow you some responsibility of the class for a short time or a small group to work with without you having to take on the marking and planning.

Most employers carry out interviews before offering someone the job and these interviews often can vary but many will ask similar sorts of questions. There are a number of ways in which you can prepare for an interview but it is all about being organised and doing your research. You should spend some time going through the job specification in detail and also looking up information about the company on their website and also on social media sites etc. This will give you a good overview of who they are and what they stand for as a business. You may be asked questions about the company in the interview so they can find out if you have taken the time to do a bit of research.

Travelling to an interview can be daunting as you will not want to be late but some people worry about also being too early and having to sit around getting nervous. Try and drive the route you will take at least once before the interview day and be sure to do it at the time you think you will need to leave (also during the week) so you can gauge what the traffic will probably be like. Be sure to check if they have onsite parking and if not, where the nearest car park is.

When starting to work on any new project or when you are looking to go in to a new career you should always take time to learn. Often people learn new skills by reading books but for some people they learn better by actually taking part practically in something.

Video tutorials are a great way to see how to do something, often being able to have a visual aid makes it easier to learn that reading about it in a book or on a website.

Learning a new language is a skill that many of us do over our life time. It usually starts at school where you are often taught the basics of French, German or Spanish and for some people this is then a basis for them to build upon to allow them to be fluent in that language. A good way to learn a new language is to listen to the language been spoken. This may be in person or through an audio recording. Books can be a great way to quickly look up a phrase you need to use, so if going to a country where you are limited on the language it is always recommended to take a phase book with you.

An interview can be a stressful situation and you will want to make sure that you are well prepared for it. The interview for a job is the opportunity you have to sell yourself and tell the employer why you would be suitable for the vacancy, but it can also be used to find out more information about the job such as working hours, day to day job tasks and the wage you can expect.

Many people get nervous in an interview and either forget or are too embarrassed to ask about the wage they can expect to be paid and when payments / how payments are made. This is vital information, which without, makes it impossible to make a decision as to if you want to take up the position if you are successful in your interview.

You do need to think about how you word this and be sure that you ask at the right time. At the start of the interview is probably not the best time to ask and try not to interrupt the interviewer to ask questions. You should be given the opportunity to ask questions at the end as you may find that they answer the question during the interview process anyway.