Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Career shifting? Is it a new expression and what does it mean to you and me?

There’s a whole lot of expressions being used now to make sense of changing jobs, being out of work and looking for new opportunities.  Career management has never been more important as now in these recessional and challenging times.

If you find yourself in the situation of career transition then who do you turn to?  Can Job Centre Plus give you the answers and help you need?  Not necessarily.

Sometimes you might just need an independent unbiased person to talk to. Talking can lead to personal discovery; like understanding what your preferences are and where and with whom you want to work.  It’s not only your skills, knowledge and experience that need to be considered when you are searching for work.   Think about what you are interested in, the environment you want to work in, the values and motivations that are important to you too.  All are important if you want to enjoy and be fulfilled at work.

A professional career consultant has resources, expertise and knowledge that can help you get back on track and make sure that whatever gear you are in,  the career change is as smooth as possible.

So, it’s an ongoing process.  Reviewing, upgrading and keeping things fresh.  That’s what internet marketing is all about.  With the help on my kindly webmaster that’s what I’m going to be doing.

Yes, there’ll be some HR, top tips and updates and there’ll be some career management strategies and guidance but I’ll also add some links and ideas as the weeks go on.

How to recruit the right people, what’s changing in Employment Law, how to manage a job search, all that and more.

Plus, networking and how an online presence is essential for both employer and employee.

You’ve advertised the vacancy, you’ve checked the responses and you’ve got some possible recruits, what do you do next? Of course you want to meet the ‘possibles’, but how best to capitalise on the time you see them?

A robust assessment centre draws out, assesses, compares and observes behaviours in action and examines the overall results together with all the other candidate information such as a self-assessed personal profile, structured interview and CV/application. By offering your candidates the opportunity to be assessed formally, you are not only gaining a deeper understanding of them but giving them the chance to really understand your business, the culture and the exact role requirements. You make sure that the candidates get a good insight into what it’s like working in your organisation and whether or not they have the ability to demonstrate that they have the skills you need for the role. With a variety of practical exercises, the candidates have more than one chance to show you their worth and capture the essence of what’s required.

More than 90% of employees who used assessment centres believe that they are a very [48%] effective means of recruiting staff to fill vacancies according to research by Employment Review. The survey of over 90 HR Practitioners also found that more than half believe the financial costs of the assessment centre are justified.

Psychometric testing, group exercises and role play may be components of the assessment centre in which the candidates participate individually or in a group.

The value of an effective and rigorous assessment centre is typically around £250 per candidate and, if this is compared to the potential cost of recruitment errors [which could be between £5,000 and £50,000 depending on the position and risk of business mistakes], it is certainly a worthwhile investment.

Interviews are still the one element that both employers and candidates expect, but they only have face validity and cannot be used to predict potential performance. ["A traditional interview has a reliability factor of between 5% and 19%" Source: British Psychological Society].

However, using a range of assessments it is possible to identify the behaviour, skills and capabilities of people before you invest in them.

There is a better than 95% correlation between the way participants behave in a series of experiential activities that have been matched to your competency and capability expectations and their behaviour in the workplace. Under pressure, interacting with a group of peers in differing activities, normal behaviour bubbles to the surface where it can be observed and objectively noted.

Assessment Centres are ideal for all kinds of recruitment where selection of the candidate that matches your competencies, capabilities and culture is important enough not to risk the trial and error approach. You can save resources, in time, money and energy on candidates that just make themselves look good on paper or have personality traits unsuited to the role. Combined with a logically structured interview, with an assessment centre you have the most powerful and proven recruitment technique available.

Scrupulous preparation of the assessment centre is essential to recognise present and possible future job requirements and competence. Feedback to all candidates and a development plan to the successful applicant are also recommended outcomes to ensure that you become an employer of choice.

The best predictor of future behaviour is past and present behaviour – so if you want to recruit effectively hold an Assessment Centre.

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These days you should write your CV in the first person (i.e. I have), rather than the third person (i.e. he/she has). However, you do not need to use “I” in a CV because its use is implied.

Do mention things you are good at, but do not go over the top. You can oversell yourself. Don’t mention things that you are bad at or say negative things about yourself in your CV.

Make sure that the CV you write conjures up the right image of you and your skills, capabilities and achievements. If you do not match the picture you have painted with your CV at the interview, then your application will not be taken further.

Be careful when you use abbreviations – they can be misunderstood.

If you are not happy with your CV or you only seem to get rejection letters then please get a professional CV writing service to write it for you, or ask for advice from Assessment4Potential.

It could save you a lot of time, lead to you getting less rejection letters and hopefully you should get an interview that much more quickly.

What Should You Leave Out?

Photos -: the only people who need to include these are models, actors, actresses and possibly air cabin crew.

Any sort of failure : exams, marriages, businesses, etc, reasons for leaving each job.

Salary information : this can only be used to reject your application. If an advertisement specifically requests this information you can always include in your cover letter.

Fancy patterns/borders : these detract from your presentation. Title pages, binders and folders are usually unnecessary and can be off-putting (though if you are doing a special presentation, enclosing your CV in a binder may look more impressive).

Do not include a list of publications if you are a scientist, unless they are asked for.

Leave out age : (put in date of birth instead), weight, height, health, or any other personal information that is irrelevant to your application.

Do not use poor quality photocopies of your CV – they make it look as though you are sending off your CV to lots of companies and that you may not be too bothered who you work for.

What information will you need?

Introduction : You should gather together all of the information required below. You will probably not use all of this information in your CV but it will provide you with useful reference material when it comes to preparing for interviews.

Personal Details : Your full name, address, home telephone number, date of birth, marital status (put only single or married down on your CV, if you are divorced then put single, if you are separated you are still married – never list any sort of failure on a CV) and nationality (you may want to include this if you are applying for jobs abroad).

Education / Qualifications : List your qualifications and educational history, for example list your professional qualifications, membership of professional associations and professional ID numbers. If you recently completed a college or university degree or diploma, etc, then you may want to list the courses you studied if the subject you studied was relevant to your target job.

Training Courses : List any work related training courses that you attended, including company courses and any you attended on your own initiative. If you obtained a qualification on any course please list it. You only need to list the important courses you attended; no one really cares if you went on a time management course as everyone gets sent on these courses.

Work Experience : If you have been working for a number of years you probably do not need to include any part-time jobs, vacation jobs, voluntary work or unpaid work experience. Charity work could be included in your interests however you might want to include these jobs if they covered a period of unemployment, or a time when you were not working for any other reason, or you feel that some of the experience you gained will be useful in your next job.

You should normally concentrate on your two most recent jobs (unless you were only there for a short time), because employers are usually most interested in these. Start with your most recent or last job and work backwards.

For each position (treat internal promotion as a new job and record the dates separately) list your job title (e.g. Manager, Supervisor, etc), the job title of the person you reported to (e.g. Director, Manager, etc) and when you started and finished in each job.

Give the name of the company and include a brief description of the service they provide (using the terms they would use to describe themselves).

Set out your main responsibilities, achievements, duties and skills that could be transferred to another employer. Include your level of responsibility if any, e.g. ‘responsibility for departmental budget of £100K and managed 10 staff’. In particular list any achievements you had in each position, including increases in sales/productivity and cost savings made. Quantify your achievements if possible. ‘Increased sales by £100K’ is more interesting and positive than just saying ‘Increased sales’.

You should try to include some achievements such as meeting deadlines, budgets, etc, and any information that may be relevant to your next job.

Major Achievements : When you are listing your achievements in this section, only list 3 to 6 of your most important work achievements; your other achievements can be described under the “work experience” section.

You should only list achievements that are relevant to your next job and indicate how you achieved them.

This section is very important, as an employer will only invite you for an interview if they can see a benefit in doing so. Your achievements may sell you to an employer and make them choose you for an interview rather than someone else. For this reason it is vital that you think carefully about your achievements.

Other Experience : List any computer skills you have, including the make and type of equipment you are familiar with, the software and operating system used, e.g. IBM compatible PC, Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Office 97. If you have foreign language skills that may be relevant for any jobs that you are applying for please list them and indicate whether your skills are spoken, written, business or technical. Please also indicate your level of fluency: fluent, good working knowledge, etc.

You should only list these skills if they are relevant to the jobs you are applying for as no one really wants to hear about a French language course you did at school a long time ago. If relevant to your next job please include your typing or shorthand speeds. Interests / Hobbies : List your interests, hobbies and any sports you play. List any positions of responsibility you hold or have held in any club or organisation and say what your responsibilities and achievements were.

References : You do not normally need to list referees on a CV, but it is a good idea to think about whom you could ask now.

Summary : List your major skills, strengths, personal qualities and achievements. Be specific, e.g. good team player, excellent written skills, versatile, able to motivate others, etc. Look at your staff appraisals or at your references.

For a professional CV contact Lynn.

Lynn Tulip Career Management Consultant M. 07801 689801 S. margot121 W. http://www.assessment4potential.com

 

Practice makes perfect, contact Lynn for some support and advice.

Lynn Tulip Career Management Consultant M. 07801 689801 S. margot121 W. http://www.assessment4potential.com

What basic skills do you need for overall career success?

What are the key factors that recruiters and employers are looking for in potential employees?

How does the interviewer separate the applicant with five years experience from the applicant with one month’s experience sixty times?

In addition, for each position the employer may be looking for different specific career skills and experience.

There are however,similar skill sets and attitudes that employers look for in all applicants from engineer to janitor. What skills are continually in demand?

1. Underpinning Basics

Simply put: basic educational skills learned by the end of secondary school. How well do applicants read, write and do basic maths?

Move the skills up a notch to include basic keyboarding skills, basic computer knowledge and other modern tools: fax, copy machine, basic work processing and you have the bedrock basic skills required for success in almost any employment situation.

2. Team and Interpersonal Skills

How well does the applicant speak? Do they answer questions in a positive manner? Do they get to the point? Can they demonstrate good customer service skills?

Although not everyone needs to be outgoing; can the applicant communicate well with co-workers, other team members, management and customers?

Working well with others is a critical skill for job success.

3. Ongoing Job Search Achievement

A successful job search is a process that requires a high level of dedication. If you’re waiting for your ship to come in after only sending out two applications in two months your chances of success is severely diminished compared to the applicant who sends out 2, 5 and even 10 applications a day.

Employers seek employees who are not only positive and show enthusiasm and but also have knowledge of the industry and companies they make contact with.

You will be evaluated,positively or negatively, on how you are approaching the job search. Even with fewer skills, with this positive attitude, you have a better chance in getting the job over a lacklustre candidate with better skills.

This approach is equally applicable for new positions or internal moves or promotions at your present place of employment.

4. Job Performance

Employers are constantly adding and subtracting employees and operations depending upon the marketplace. A safe job today may be axed six months from now. How do you manage to somewhat insulate yourself from these fluctuations?

Beyond the numbers, it all comes down to performance. By demonstrating your worth, taking the initiative and otherwise developing into a valuable employee you have less chance of being downsized than those with average performance.

This first-class performance will also lead to other successes as you move up the career ladder.

5. Career and Job Development

Start with career development. This is a planning skill. Setting career goals both short and long term and reaching them will be of great assistance in climbing your career ladder. A key ingredient to career development is learning new skills, updating established skills and applying new concepts.

This is accomplished by job or professional development in taking classes, self-study programmes, attending seminars and otherwise being open to new opportunities to grow your career. This is only done if you are committed to be a lifelong student. People who demonstrate this trait are keeping themselves marketable as employers are always looking for people who have the up to date training and skills to handle new challenges.

Where do you fit? Do you need help in polishing up you writing skills? Are you having a problem conducting meetings or making presentations? Have you assessed your career lately?

For support on successful career skills, contact Lynn.

Lynn Tulip Career Management Consultant M. 07801 689801 S. margot121 W. http://www.assessment4potential.com/