1. What makes you tick?

Understand what motivates you and use this to identify your dream job.

2. Action plan

Have a clear objective, and some stepping stones.  Make your career change come alive but committing the steps to paper and giving yourself some SMART goals.

3. Check your financial position

 If you are changing direction you might need funds for retraining, or you may want to take a reduced salary to get your dream job.  Being financially secure and having enough money to make the transition ensures a strong starting point.

4. Keep positive

Self confidence and self-belief are most important at this time.  Focus on what you want and how you achieve this, tackling obstacles as they appear.

In every successful job search and career change there are five critical areas:

A focused and realistic job and career objective

A clear objective based firmly on your strengths and supported by your experience.

A dynamic presentation

This objective must be communicated energetically, both in writing and in person, Your CV and your verbal presentation must be clearly focused and show you at your highest level of effectiveness.

A well-planned job search

A campaign based on your clear and growing understanding of how the job market functions which enables you to use your time most efficiently and is the key to the successful outcome of your job search

Building a contact network

Your job search should encompass building a contact network that is both supportive and challenging. Regardless of where you start, the people you meet and build relationships with are the most important factors in a job search.

Thoroughness and persistence

It takes a determined effort to write good letters, conduct productive meetings/ interviews and follow up opportunities. Your commitment to a planned campaign will pay off.

Good luck

Writing a job advertisement is a complex business, you need to have a cross between marketing brief selling the role and the responsibilities and a factual list of what candidates need to do.

There’s also the process to finalise. These are a few things to consider:

• Have you got an in-house design that you need to stick to? What will the content of the advert be?
• How will applicants respond? By application form, fax, telephone, in person at the organisation or agency, by letter, by email on the internet, by tape or braille?
• Who is to be responsible for sifting the applications? What is the selection process going to be?
• If interviews are to be held, when will they be and will everyone who needs to be involved be available?
• Are selection tests to be used? Is there the expertise to administer them and ensure they are non-discriminatory and appropriate?
• Are references/medicals to be requested?
• Are arrangements in hand to give prompt acknowledgement of applications received?

Now, the advertisement itself.  These need to be designed to catch and attract the right applicants.  If you are submitting to newspapers or professional journals, you can ask for guidance.

Remember to target the right audience, so tailor the advert appropriately. The advert should be clear and easily understood and must be non-discriminatory, avoiding any gender or culturally specific language.  It is a good idea to include your company’s statement of commitment to equal opportunities saying you welcome applications from all sections of the community.

Top tips:

• if your company is well-known, does it have a logo that could feature prominently in the advertisement? Make the advertisement consistent with the company image
• should the job title be the most prominent feature?
• keep the text short and simple while giving the main aspects of the job, pay, career prospects, location, contract length
• can specific details – such as pay, qualifications and experience required – be given in a way which will reduce the number of unsuitable applications?
• is it possible to avoid generalisations such as ‘attractive salary’, or ‘appropriate qualifications’ which may discourage valid applications?
• can you provide job details on tape or in braille and accept applications in a similar format?
• is the form of reply and the closing date for applications clear? Is there a contact name and phone number for further information and enquiries?

All advertisements should carry the same information, whether for internal or external use.

Fast Track 2010 – Published Materials

• Career, Aptitude & Selection Tests, J Barrett, Kogan Page
• How to Pass Graduate Recruitment Tests, M Byron, Kogan Page
• How to Pass Selection Tests, M Byron, S Modha, Kogan Page
• How to Succeed in Psychometric Tests, D Cohen, Sheldon Press
• How to Pass Civic Service Qualifying Tests, M Byron, Kogan Page
• How to Pass Verbal Reasoning Tests, H Tolley & S Thomas, Kogan Page
• How to Pass Computer Selection Tests, S Modha, Kogan Page
• How to Master Personality Questionnaires, M Parkinson, Kogan Page
• Test Your Own Aptitude, J Barratt, G Williams, Kogan Page
• How to Win at Aptitude Tests, P Pelshenke, Thorsons
• Interviews Made Easy, M Parkinson, Kogan Page

Lynn Tulip Chartered MCIPD, PgDip Guidance & Assessment
HR & Career Management Consultant
http://assessment4potential.tel/

At the moment, despite some flights over the UK getting back to normal, there are an estimated 100k employees stranded abroad unable to return to work.

Responsibility for dealing with absence in a fair and consistent manner sits not only with HR but with managers. So with ownership of absence issues dispersed across all levels of management, the question is: what can be done to ensure staff are treated in a fair and consistent way?

Employees stranded abroad on business:

* Where employees have been abroad on business (as opposed to holiday) they may have the facilities to work remotely (i.e. laptop, Blackberry etc). It would be reasonable for an employer to expect that such employees will be able to undertake work notwithstanding the fact they cannot make it into the office.

* If an employee is overseas on business and cannot work remotely then they are clearly not on holiday and a continued absence should not be treated as such. It would be unreasonable for an employer to stop wages or request that an employee takes holidays due to an extended business trip when they have sent them to a particular destination to work, unless the employee agrees to this. Employers who have staff abroad on business are still responsible for the welfare of their employees, and should be actively assisting them with travel options for returning to the country.

* In a very small minority of cases an employee who is on holiday may be able to work remotely or from a foreign office of an employer. However this may be unrealistic for many families on holiday due to childcare issues.

* If working remotely isn’t feasible, an employer will need to consider how to treat the days of inevitable absence: holiday, paid absence or unpaid absence.

Employees stranded abroad on annual leave:

* Obviously an employer could look to have its employees take the days off as part of their annual leave entitlement. There are technical issues if an employer insists that this is the case, but if the alternative is unpaid leave then employees may well simply accept the requirement to take it as holiday.

* Alternatively an employer could continue to pay the employees but make it clear that they will be expected to make up the time at a later date.

* Finally, if the employee has reached the limit of their leave entitlement, or if the employer doesn’t want to insist that they use their holiday entitlement, the employer could decide that the days off will be treated as unpaid leave. Whilst there is always the risk that employees could pursue unlawful deductions from wages claims in respect of the salary they are not paid for the days they have off, the risk is low, particularly where employers have asked employees to use up their remaining leave. Depending on the small print an employee may be able to claim for financial losses through their travel insurance.

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The Use of Psychometric Tests in Selection and Recruitment

What are Psychometric Tests?

The British Psychological Society definition of a psychometric test:

‘a psychological test is any procedure on the basis of which inferences are made concerning a person’s capacity, propensity or liability to act, react, experience, or to structure or order thought or behaviour in particular ways’.

Who uses psychometric tests?

Large, medium, and an increasing number of small firms use psychometric tests. Over 70 % of larger companies are currently using psychometric tests to gather vital information from potential and current employees. More and more companies are using psychometric tests for:

• graduate recruitment
• filtering out candidates when there are large numbers of applicants

Over 70% of large companies use them in their recruitment process and small companies are using them increasingly.

They are also used to assess existing employees for:

• training and staff development needs
• promotion

What do psychometric tests measure?

Psychometric tests may measure aptitude, personality or interests:

Aptitude Tests – these measure how people differ in their ability to perform or carry out different tasks. (these are the type you are most likely to find at the first stage of a selection process).

Interest Tests – these measure how people vary in their motivation, in the direction and strength of their interests, and in their values and opinions (these are less likely to be used on new graduates but are sometimes).

Personality Tests – these measure how people differ in their style or manner of doing things, and in the way they interact with their environment and other people (personality).

Whereas aptitude tests measure your maximum performance capacity, the other tests examine typical or preferred behaviour.

Why use psychometrics in an employment setting?

The main advantages of using psychometric tests are:

• Objectivity – they dramatically reduce bias and personal perspective.
• Clarity – they provide a robust framework and structure.
• Equality and fairness for all individuals (tests are standardised so that all individuals receive the same treatment).
• Increase the likelihood of being able to predict future job performance (they have a high level of ‘predictive validity’).

• The identification of training needs.
• Encourage employers to do thorough job analysis in order to identify appropriate skills and abilities. This helps to ensure that candidates for a position are assessed on skills only relevant to the job.

What are psychometric tests used for?

Some uses of psychometric tests are:

• Selection of candidates to jobs
• Personal development/identification of training needs/staff development
• Careers guidance
• Building and developing teams

• Don’t include criteria which are not relevant to the job. Only include skills, knowledge, abilities, and education if they are directly relevant to the job, and be able to justify them. Too expansive or too limited criteria can broaden or restrict applications respectively or reduce the likelihood of certain groups applying – requiring a number of years’ experience may discriminate against applicants on the basis of age and/or gender

• Don’t include criteria that can’t be objectively assessed, such as a good sense of humour

• Don’t overstate the requirements of the job. This may result in suitable candidates being put off or in appointing an over-qualified candidate who then becomes frustrated in the job and moves on. Giving candidates an accurate impression of what is required of them can improve staff retention

-~-

• DO make clear the relative importance of requirements that are essential and desirable and be able to justify them

• DO make clear the importance of any biographical information you request such as educational attainment and validity of certificates (ie those from abroad)

• DO have the person specification checked by someone else, preferably someone responsible for equal opportunities, to remove any personal preferences

• DO review the person specification(s) over time for potential revisions

• DO be explicit about what is required and why

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Have you ever employed someone who really didn’t get on with the rest of the team? Or someone whose integrity wasn’t what you thought it was? Or someone who needed hands-on management to deliver when you thought they could work on their own initiative?

If you have, you are not alone. These mistakes however, can be very costly and may even damage not only your reputation but your team as well. Perhaps next time you might like to think about using some formal testing and psychometric assessment during the recruitment and selection process.

When used by competent and appropriately qualified individuals, the best thing about properly developed psychometric tests and questionnaires is that they lead to better judgements and are therefore more likely to be more valid than decisions made by other means.

In broad terms, psychometric tests are a relatively economic, quick and simple way of understanding an individual’s unique behaviours, style, and approach to work life as well as identifying their core motivations, strengths and other traits. All essential qualities that are required in today’s competitive job markets.

I like to use different tests for different purposes – I do not believe that there is one test that is suitable for all. Tests can be done before or at the time of the interview, but should not be used as the sole method of candidate selection. Keep in mind that such tests could also be unlawful if they discriminate against candidates of a particular race, sex or age or who have a disability. Suitable tests should therefore only be used if they are well designed and relevant to the job.

For example alongside personality questionnaires and analysis, you will want to check out the potential of the candidate joining your company. Now, if you’ve already got a robust job description and person specification, you’ll know and understand what level of skills and attributes you will be looking for. So, for an administrative post you might be looking at completing an on-line 15FQ+ questionnaire with reasoning tests; for a senior manager the WAVE Professional together with the Professional Aptitude tests.

These tests are relatively quick for the candidates to complete. One of the shortest is only 10 minutes long. Costs will vary of course depending on the amount of candidates, tests and level of services you need.

Interpretation of the results however is fundamental. Upon completion, reports are generated and sent to the qualified administrator who will give feedback not only to the candidate but also to you as the potential employer. Interpreted with skill the results can help you:

• Drill beneath the surface to find out what someone is really like.

• Decide which qualities will be most important in the new person joining your team.

• Check compatibility and prevent potential issues from becoming major problems by sharing the applicant’s profile with their manager. (In this way the investment from psychometrics can roll forward from recruitment into development and management.)

• Help individuals to understand themselves and others better. (If compared with the job role, gaps can be defined and discussed. You can then use the profile to plot progress towards a training goal.)

• Acquire the language of “people-understanding”

One of my favourite psychometric tools is the Four Groups 4G questionnaire which I’ve used successfully in not only recruitment but also for team building and talent management. The completed and complex reports give an overall picture of compatibility, work styles and communication amongst team members and their leaders. It’s been invaluable in resolving issues and building relationships.

A company’s success depends upon its people.

Psychometrics can help build that success by getting the right people in the right roles, by helping them to understand themselves and others, and by enabling the company to build a better, clearer vision, drawing on the strengths of all its people. Used by employers for successful recruitment & selection and management & team development, the long-term cost benefits are considerable: including reduced costs of recruitment, lower staff turnover, less under-performance and minimal mis-deployment of staff resulting in increased profits, better staff retention and raised morale.

With over 18 years of experience using a wide range of psychometric tools, I’d love to be able to give you more information on assessments, recruitment & selection, management & team development and to help you avoid costly personnel mistakes; so please contact me.

Lynn Tulip Chartered MCIPD, PgDip Guidance & Assessment

HR & Career Management Consultant

http://assessment4potential.tel/

Remember, most employers like:

• people who listen
• people who answer questions with examples
• people who come prepared
• people who appear confident

Also remember during discussions (and in your letters) employers look again at people who can:

• Cut costs
• Get it done more quickly
• Avoid potential problems
• Improve appearance
• Organise it
• Increase sales/profits/turnover
• Use old things in a new way
• Provide more information
• Cut down time
• Reduce the risks
• Meet deadlines easily
• Cut staff costs
• Develop staff performance
• Turn round a bad situation
• Introduce new systems
• Improve teamwork and relationships

1) Ensure a robust job description/person specification is in place; you can’t recruit without this basic document.

2) Develop a job advert and best place to advertise – on the net, local paper, specialist journal – the role and the target market decides this

3) Develop a structured interview process – decide who is on panel, what will you say about the company and job, questions, ability test (or even an assessment day if it’s a senior manager or graduate position)

4) Short-list using a grid to avoid discrimination, invite chosen candidates to interview

5) Chose the best candidate on the day and provide a structured induction.

Think TOPICAL.

What do I mean by TOPICAL?

• T – Targeted at the specific vacancy, role or sector you are applying for
• O - Ordered and set out in a clear way
• P – Positive; demonstrate your achievements, your skills and your confidence
• I - Informative; gives relevant and reasonable detail
• C – Concise – usually no need for more than 2 A4 pages
• A – Accurate in content, spelling and grammar
• L - Logical; relates to what you want to do and what you are applying for.

The Framework

There are no hard and fast rules however an ideal and simple format to follow is:

Contact Details
Personal Statement  (optional)
Skills (optional)
Employment History
Education and Training
Interests and Hobbies (optional)
Additional Information (optional)

1. Contact Details - these MUST be clear and complete.  Remember to include your full name, postal address, at least one phone number and an e-mail address.  [It's worth setting up an e-mail account to ensure that your address is suitable for potential employers to contact you - hotlips69@mailservice.com is not appropriate!]
2. Personal Statement – A maximum of three sentences summing up who you are, what you can do and what you are looking for
3. Skills section – this gives you the opportunity of summarising transferable, sector specific and perhaps alternative or voluntary skills.  You might want to add an Achievement section here to summarise your accomplishments.
4. Employment History - list your most recent job role and employer first.  Ensure that the dates are included and relevant information about what you can do/what you did do are listed.  Quantify the statements.  Potential employers want to know what you can do for them.
5. Education and Training – list in reverse chronological order all relevant training, qualifications and if appropriate; school exam results.
6. Interests & Hobbies – depending on the role you are applying for depends on how much you want to include.  Risk averse employers do not want to read that potential employees spend their recreational time participating in high risk activities.  However intellectual, cultural activities are usually acceptable to mention – but be prepared to answer questions on them.
7. Additional information – you may wish to include details of your right to work, ability to drive and anything else that might support your application favourably.  You are not obliged to include your date of birth or your marital status.

Your CV is a sales pitch that tells a potential employer that your skills match their job criteria. It only has one purpose – to get you an interview. It has to be clear, concise, look good and sell your achievements.  A trained eye will take around 20 seconds to scan your CV. You must make an immediate impact because a potential employer may not get past the first half page.

Reduce your whole life down to just 2 pages, and make it 100% better!

If you would like more information, please contact Lynn