INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT JOB HUNTING
At present we seem to be flooded with bad news on the job front. In Reading for example, the number of unemployed has climbed by 80% since last November.
For those people looking for a job - either having been made redundant or the growing number of graduates who are leaving college and university without a job – it is important to remain positive and get good advice on the whole job search – from writing a CV and the necessary covering letter to preparing for an interview.
Whilst most people know a lot about the process of finding a job, there are some things that are less well known
- There are ten different emotions that most people go through after losing their job – regardless of seniority, industry or role
- According to Harvard Business School, 80% of jobs are gained through networking – it’s definitely who you know as well as what you know
- There are thought to be at least 100 applicants for every advertised job
- Styles of CV have significantly changed in recent years. The old format has been overtaken by a focus on achievements, using action words and numbers, set out in either a chronological or functional style
- Simply sending a CV in response to a job advert is probably not good enough – it is advisable to add a covering letter AND.............
- There is a definite recommended layout for such a letter to have impact
- It is common for a person to have a number of CVs to reflect their varying career experience and objectives for the future
- Some companies use software programmes to vet CVs for key words linked to the job eg “Manager” or “Retail experience”. If these are missing, the application is deleted without anyone even seeing it
- There are ten job areas in which employment is deemed safest HOWEVER........
- One is working in the public sector, and it has just been forecast that, as a result of the need to fund the Government’s borrowing deficit, 350,000 jobs will go in that area in the next 5 years
- The good news is that, in a recent survey, over 80% of managers said the employment status of job applicants is irrelevant in the current climate HOWEVER............
- After six months out of work the picture changes, with over a quarter of employers less likely to hire someone, as they feel them to be long term unemployed
- The chances of success in trying to find a job in a different profession or industry are very slim as employers want new starters to have an immediate impact and not to have to go through a long learning curve
- The best way of improving one’s marketability is to enhance skills through gaining professional, technical or vocational qualifications
- Success in interviews is driven by the 3Rs and the 3Ps – research, research, research and preparation, preparation, preparation
- The objective of a CV is to position oneself as a “must meet” candidate
- The objective of an interview is to make it easy for the employer to say “we absolutely must have that person”
- A large part of the success of the job hunt will come from a person’s own attitude. There are a number of easy techniques for ensuring they feel positive throughout the process
- Preparing for the new job is vital. Simply turning up on the day without having planned exactly what to do and how to behave in the early days, could mean the person is back looking for a job much sooner than they would like
Clearly there is an awful lot changing in the job market now, and it helps to have someone working with you who can show you the latest techniques, as well as provide the moral support sometimes needed on the journey back to work