Job Seeking Advice from Elaine Hewens

by Sarah 20. July 2010 05:32

This YouTube video is a really valuable resource for job seekers. Elaine Hewens is an experienced professional in career development and recruitment coaching and training. In this 5 minute video interview you can hear her thoughts surrounding the impact of social media on job seeking.

If you've yet to get to grips with LinkedIn, and how it can help you in the jobs market, then have a listen below:

Be the first to rate this post

Currently 0/5 Stars.
1
2
3
4
5

Tags: video, linkedin, elaine hewens, job seeking, social media

Job Search

How dedicated are you to your job hunt?

by Sarah 21. April 2010 08:47

Your job search is about to get easier.

If you are a jobseeker, are you:

-Connecting with people with social media tools (Twitter, Linked In)
-Actively searching and applying for jobs on and off line?
-Making sure your CV is up to date and in shape?
-Brushing up on interview techniques and ironing your shirts?

If you are doing these things and need some help, or if you haven't got to grips with some of these, then you are in luck!

The lovely people at Jobsite are offering a completely free Job seeking Unconference, to help jobseekers make the most out of their job hunt, with a shed load of information for jobseekers and opportunities to meet other jobseekers and recruiters who will be able to share their experiences and expert knowledge with you.

What is an Unconference? I hear you cry...

An Unconference, is a completely unique concept; the exact opposite of a conference, it allows people to interact with one another, have conversations and discussions about topics, and is much more concerned with a two way conversation between the 'track leaders' and the attendees. Instead of sitting in a large conference hall listening to people drone on and point at PowerPoint slides; an unconference gives participants the opportunity to ask questions, suggest topics for discussion and receive expert advice in a more personal and relaxed way.

As well as the tracks, which will cover topics such as Interviews, your CV and how to use Linked in and other social media in your job hunt, there will also be workshops where you can have one to one video interview coaching and a personal CV review, so you can gain valuable information that is relevant to your job search.

The event takes place on Thurday 29th April from 11am- 7pm in Central London, and it is completely free. Places are limited, so make sure you RSVP today.

Image: graur razvan ionut / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Currently rated 5.0 by 1 people

Currently 5/5 Stars.
1
2
3
4
5

Tags: unconference, jobseekers, jobsite, job help, cv advice, interview tips, tracks

Job Search

FreeMyCV.com launch new service for Jobseekers

by Sarah 1. April 2010 07:13

How could any employer resist this
face!

The CV distribution service FreeMyCV.com are celebrating the launch of their latest product helping jobseekers to get noticed in their job hunt. Once a jobseeker uploads their CV they will be given the option to have their CV distributed to jobs websites in the usual way, or have their CV personally delivered to recruiters using the brand new orangutanagram CV delivery service.

The orangutanagram, as made famous by Trigger Happy TV, allows a jobseeker's CV to be personally delivered to recruiters by a man in a giant orangutan costume. The Orangutanagram will then ask the recruiter for feedback on the candidate's CV, which will then be emailed to the user in question to gage the positivity of response.

An employee of FreeMyCV.com says: "Since the recession we have found ourselves in a candidate-rich marketplace, which means there is a lot of competition for vacancies. That is why we developed this product, a way of delivering your CV in style. What better way to get noticed than with your very own orangutanagram delivering your CV to potential employers. Standing out in the crowd is tough, but our new product aims to make it even easier to find your ideal job."

It has been reported that jobs search engine AllTheTopBananas.com are currently in talks to launch their very own bananagram to rival the new craze. Dave Martin, MD of AllTheTopBananas states: "I am fully behind this new an innovative form of personal brand marketing, and I just wish I had thought of it first. Our new bananagram service will be available to jobseekers on April 1st 2011, enabling our jobseekers to take advantage of this great service in the new year. We already have the banana costume, now we are just putting the final steps in place to obtain a yellow delivery vehicle for the bananagram to visit recruiters in."

Currently rated 4.7 by 3 people

Currently 4.666667/5 Stars.
1
2
3
4
5

Tags: freemycv, new product launch, orangutanagram, latest jobseeking craze, cv distribution cv delivery

Job Search

I HATE my job.

by Sarah 1. March 2010 09:44

–verb (used with object)
to dislike intensely or passionately; feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward; detest.

A very happy Monday to you all.

This week I really want to find out how you all are? I'm willing to bet that a lot of you have got that Monday feeling, yes you know the one- where you struggle to get out of bed, where there's just not enough caffeine in the office to perk you up, and where you're more likely to snap at that overly perky member of staff, who always seems far too chirpy at 9 in the morning. I'm also willing to bet that the volume of people that feel angry about their job/boss/other employees sky rockets to a crescendo on a Monday. After the weekend it can often be difficult to slip back into your normal working regime, especially if you aren't feeling happy at work in the first place.

In one of my blog posts I talked about social media, and how one tweet or facebook status update can get you into a lot of trouble at work. If yousearch Twitter for 'I hate my job' or 'I hate my boss' you get a lot ofresults- and probably more than most happen on a Monday.

But what if your job discontentment becomes more than a Monday ritual?

Everyone can have a bad day. An employee might make a comment that you don't like, your boss might ask you to do something you're not comfortable with, or you might just have gotten out of bed on the wrong side. But how many of us actually hate our jobs. And I mean hate. Hateis a very strong word but it is something that spills off people's tongues pretty quickly when talking about their job.

Whether on Facebook, Twitter, or on Internet forums (just googling 'I hate my job' brings up hundreds of unhappy jobseekers on a variety of forum/comment based websites) The web is just screaming with job discontent from thousands of disgruntled employees.

So what can you do, besides tell the entire world you are unhappy?

If all you want to do is rant, rave and moan about your job to all who will listen;the question you need to ask yourself is- why are you still there? If you are truly discontent, perhaps it is time to start looking fora new job, or alternatively resolving the internal issues you have at work.

Evaluate your decision

So you've decided you hate your job. How long have you hated it? Is it because of the work; the people; a situation that has arisen recently? Is it something that can be resolved by discussing a problem with your boss? Once you work out the answers to all of these questions it will be a lot easier to plan a suitable course of action.

Next steps

1. Hating the work. If you have decided that although you might likethe company, the work just isn't for you, then it sounds like you mightbe in the wrong career. Some experts suggest that it is normal to change your career direction as many as five times before you find the ideal career, so don't worry about trying new things. Think about what you'd like to do, and start researching different jobs and roles until you find something that's right for you.

2. Resolving your issues. You may have realised that your job discontent only started whenPhil from accounts began piling all that extra work on you. And it's not even your job to finish it. This could be an issue that can be resolved internally. Find out who you can talk to- whether it's HR, yourline manager, your boss or a supervisor, and see if you can't resolve these issues by highlighting your concerns.

3. Deciding to leave. If you do not foresee a solution to your work problems, then it might just be time to leave. Assess the positive and negative aspects of your job to decide whether you want a complete career overhaul or just a different company. Don't resign yourself to staying in a job you dislike, make the decision to start looking for a better job, and say goodbye to your work rants for good.

Remember, your job is where you spend a good proportion of your time- so it's important to make sure you're happy. Even as we're emerging from the dreaded recession, it is still possible to change your career path or find a better job, so don'tbe disheartened by office blues, and take a proactive approach to solving your working woes!

Currently rated 5.0 by 4 people

Currently 5/5 Stars.
1
2
3
4
5

Tags: i hate my job, i hate my boss, i hate work, i want to leave my job, leaving, quitting, resigning, hate work, hate jobs, hate monday

Job Search

Is your CV too "pretty" to get noticed??

by Sarah 9. February 2010 04:39

Whilst sifting through my inbox this morning, i discovered an email from my boss containing a great blog post by Craig Fisher on CV formatting, which I have to share with you.

The blog hit on many issues surrounding CV formatting, and while I nodded along thinking, "exactly! too right!" I realised that my ability to agree and relate was probably to do with sitting on the other side of the fence. I assistjobseekers, but i'm not one. I know that fancy formatting, image rich files, PDFs etc. are not ideal for sending your CV to a recruiter, but this is because I know which files FreeMyCV.com does and doesn't accept- and why. You guys on the other hand, probably don't...

The main points from Craig's blog which you need to know are as follows:

"when you forward your resume to a recruiter, they often have to copy and paste it into a new format that follows their protocol before they forward it on to the hiring manager"
With FreeMyCV.com- We only let you upload your CV in .rtf or .doc/.docx- This is because the recruiters we work with only accept these file formats. They have particular protocols for viewing CV's and these formats are best. Other recruiters may take your CV in a different format, like a PDF, but that doesn't mean it will stay like that. If a recruiter needs to strip your CV out of its file format, they will, and probably won't ever tell you it happened.

"Resumes that are heavily formatted with tables and graphics don't translate very well when they are pasted into a new document. Your best bet is to use the 97-2003 version MS Word (not my favorite either), minimizing tables and graphics."
Craig is totally right here. The older version of Microsoft Word, is the best format for me to see your CV in, and a lot of recruiters will agree. Sending your CV in a new version of Word might be incompatible with some recruiters' old Office packages- so either a .doc or a rich text format will enable absolute maximum exposure of your CV to the majority of recruiters.

"The information in the resume is far more important than a flashy style."
Although your CV might look visually impressive- nice fonts, well presented tables, image rich with jpegs of previous projects (if you are in a visual field, you may desperately want to show off your handywork) but looks aren't everything!! And in fact, just like your mother would tell you that personality is more important than looks- the same is true in recruitment; content is king, and a well written CV with important information regarding your skills and achievements, is 100 times more useful to a recruiter than knowing you can pick a lovely border. If you do have design work to show off, then let the recruiter know that these are available on request within your CV.

"Many resume writing services encourage fancy formatting to 'set you apart'"
CV writing services often produce your CV in a PDF, and will have put a lot of thought into how your CV looks visually. There's nothing wrong with this, and it's great to have your CV looking its best- for individual companies or for taking with you to interviews, this is great. But for CV databases and recruitment agencies- the plainer the better. So ask your CV writer to produce you a version of your CV in html or a rich text version as well, to keep everyone happy!

"Many systems still don't translate .PDF resumes well or at all"
People send me PDFs over email all the time, and while some recruiters do accept them, a LOT don't. And we don't. If someone sends a PDF, I have to tell these users that if they cannot save it in an alternative format, I will have to transfer it to a Word document- and while I might make amendments so that your CVdoesn 't look terrible when it's transferred from doc to doc- some recruiters won't take the same care and attention- and if it is in a format they cannot even open- they might not even have the time to come back to you and let you know. Awful I know, but it might just be true.

"Some candidates will complain that they don't want their resume altered in any way. All I can say to that is that these candidates also don't want a job very badly."
A bold statement by Craig here- but I have to agree with the sentiment. For all those candidates that don't want to compromise the look and feel of their CV format, there are a lot of candidates that will- and they will be the ones getting hired.

Another point worth mentioning is file size- clogging up a recruiters email client while they are trying to download your 1000 KB message is really frustrating- so check your file size. If it is huge, zip the file, and keep the recruiter on your side!

Happy Job Hunting

Image: Gregory Szarkiewicz / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Currently rated 5.0 by 3 people

Currently 5/5 Stars.
1
2
3
4
5

Tags:

Job Search

<< Previous posts

Sarah@FreeMyCV Blog

Job Seeking Advice from Elaine Hewens

How dedicated are you to your job hunt?

FreeMyCV.com launch new service for Jobseekers

I HATE my job.

Is your CV too "pretty" to get noticed??

Sarah@FreeMyCV On Twitter

About the author

Month List

Sarah@FreeMyCV Blog

Job Seeking Advice from Elaine Hewens

How dedicated are you to your job hunt?

FreeMyCV.com launch new service for Jobseekers

I HATE my job.

Is your CV too "pretty" to get noticed??

Sarah@FreeMyCV On Twitter

About the author

Tag cloud

Month List