Finding opportunities and taking them
Finding opportunities
How can we go about finding job opportunities? There are a number of routes we can take.
Recruitment agencies; these agencies assist businesses to find the right people to fill job vacancies. They can help you to get full time, part time or temporary work.
Agencies can be helpful in that they can specialise in specific industries, like finance, or healthcare. Additionally, they can be a source for roles which may not be advertised openly. Their websites can be a good place to start, and if the roles they have are interesting to you, they often have a ‘job alert’ system, where you can put in the parameters which suit your needs, and receive emails when those sorts of jobs come up.
Recruitment agencies are a good bridge between those who are job seeking and employers, because they know what employers are looking for. You can register with more than one agency at a time tp increases your chances of finding a job.
Networking sites; You can search for advertised job vacancies on networking sites like LinkedIn. You can apply through your LinkedIn profile or upload your CV. If you are not set up on LinkedIn – now is a good time to do so! It is never to early to get a page set up and connect with your network.
Those who work in recruitment often use LinkedIn or other networking sites to find suitable people. Keep your profile updated and make it as appealing as possible to recruiters.
Employer’s website; Some individuals have certain employers in mind when they start their career. Perhaps aligned to your interests, or it can be those which share similar values to their own, or those at the forefront of their field. In this case, jobs could be located directly from the employer’s website. If you have always wanted to work for the Football Association for example, or Dogs Trust, the NHS, Coca-Cola – it is worth being registered on their website directly. Again, for many you can set up job alerts.
Job fairs; These events are where recruiters come to meet potential employees, and often take place at schools, colleges, universities, careers services, and charities.
Job boards; Job boards are websites that list job vacancies. Similar to recruitment agencies, it could be quite a wide range of jobs, or only those in a specific industry. Most of these websites allow you to apply online with a copy of your CV and cover letter – which can be helpful if you are firing off a few applications! Popular job boards include: CV Library, Indeed, Reed, Monster.
How to prepare a concise and compelling C.V.
A CV is your first chance to promote yourself, and if its well written, it is likely to get you a job interview. Its usually required to apply for a job, and its worth updating this every 3 months whilst the information is fresh. Employers get lots of CVs to look at, so its important that yours is upto date, and easy to digest.
When you write your CV, remember to:
- Use a consistent same style throughout
- Use headings and bullet points to make it easier to read
- Use a clear font like Arial, Times New Roman or Calibri in size 11 or bigger
- Be succinct
- Get someone else to read it to double check your spelling and grammar
- Be clear in labelling your experience and education in reverse chronological order, ie/ most recent first
Your CV should also include a section for your contact details, an introduction, your education history, your work history and contact details. You should include your name, phone number, email address and a link to your work network profile, if you have one, such as LinkedIn.
Introduction; This is a short paragraph that sums up who you are and what you hope to achieve, right under your name and contact details. Make your introduction sound like you’re the right person for the job – most of your C.V. will be fixed, but this section you can tweak towards specific jobs to increase your chances.
Education history; You can add this after the introduction if you’re early in your career or do not have much work experience. If you do have work experience, this should come first, and education afterward. Whatever order you choose, you’ll need to include:
- Qualifications
- Name of the school, college or university where you studied
- Dates you attended
Work history; You should include details of any work placements, volunteering and paid jobs you’ve had. List the most recent experience first.
You should include:
- The employer name
- The job title
- The dates you worked there
- What you did, usually 2 to 3 lines using the STAR method (covered later).
If you’re applying for your first job, you can focus on skills you’ve learned through projects, work experience or volunteering.
You can also include your interests and hobbies that show some of the skills you have. For example, if you’re a captain of a sports team, this demonstrates leadership and organisation skills. If you volunteer, this shows your passions and work ethic.
Gaps; It’s normal to have some gaps between jobs and work experience when life events happen. You may not have been able to work due to personal circumstances, or because you chose not to work for a while.
Having a gap in your CV doesn’t have to be a problem when you’re looking for work. The important thing is that you’re ready to explain what you were doing during any gaps. Be open and honest. Concentrate on the skills you gained, and what you have learned from the experience.
Think about how you’ll talk about the way you spent your time, and any transferable skills you’ve gained. For example, you may have done some short or online courses. Even if you do not think it’s relevant to the job, it shows you’re willing to learn.
Preparing for interviews
A potential employer may not be expecting you to have done the job before, but they’ll be looking for relevant experience or strengths. They’ll be looking at your education, experience and interests.
If you have invited to an interview, make sure the date works for you – it’s important you have enough time to prepare. To prepare for an interview, it’s important to:
- read the job description carefully and understand what skills and experience the employer is looking for
- do some research on the company’s website and whats in the news about that company
- look over your CV or application form and think about what the interviewer might ask you
- prepare some examples from your past experience to refer to in the interview
You’ll usually have some time towards the end of the interview to ask some of your own questions. These might be about the role or company. You could think of some questions when researching the company. It’s vital to ask at least 2-3 questions when you have the opportunity, as it demonstrates your interest for the role and company.
Some interviews involve an assessment centre, or a presentation. An assessment centre usually involves completing tasks and taking part in activities. Remember the employer is looking to see how you work with other people, deal with problems and communicate and contribute. You need to strike a balance between actively participating, and not dominating the conversation. This is hard! But those who operate in those extremes will not be employed.
It’s normal to be a nervous for an interview. There are things we can do to partially mitigate that. This includes;
- arriving in plenty of time
- turn off your phone so you’re not distracted
- check your computer and internet connection is working if your interview is online. Ensure you can use teams, google meet or whatever the format is – it might be worth logging into the meeting 5 minutes early, so if it doesn’t work you can reach out to the interviewer.
- know how to contact the interviewer in case you’re running late or having technical issues
Remember to answer questions using the STAR method;
- situation – the situation you had to deal with
- task – the task you were given to do
- action – the action you took
- result – what happened as a result of your action and what you learned from the experience
Example; Tell me about a time when you have shown leadership skills.
- Situation – in my previous digital marketing job, the company wanted to get more people to sign up to a newsletter which was not receiving a lot of attention.
- Task – my job was to find a way of getting more people to sign up.
- Action – I organised a meeting with other important members of the marketing team to come up with creative ideas, and I led the social media campaign to generate interest in the revamped newsletter.
- Result – over a period of 3 months, there was an 25% increase in sign-ups to the newsletter and the approach I took was used by the management team in other departments.
If you do not get the role after an interview, it’s normal to feel disappointed. Remember that it’s common to attend a few interviews before being offered a role.
It might be useful to reflect on some of the harder questions you were asked. This can help you improve for next time. You can also ask the interviewer for feedback on how it went and where you could have done better.
You might find it useful to speak to a careers adviser about how to improve in interviews and secure a role.
Consider some of the wider employment considerations in the third and final part of this lesson.