CVs and Interviews

Useful article to support jobseekers who are hitting a brick wall with their job search. The article tells you it is time to break the cycle and tweak existing strategies or to try new job search strategies.

Job Hunting – Do you feel like a hamster?

Other useful information

Leading career expert Paul Mullan will be presenting a FREE presentation at 6.30pm on 25th March sponsored by the Dublin City Central Library. The topic – “Job Hunting – Creative ways to increase visibility & land more opportunities”. For more information and to book a place email businesslibrary@dublincity.ie.

For those of you who use Linkedin you can also access free tips, advice and discussions on “Measurability Careers & Jobs Club” Group on LinkedIn.

Happy Job Hunting

Been quite busy over the last few weeks working on a few outplacement projects and this explains the lack of activity. I have written a few posts for Bloggertone that may be of interest. These articles are all based on my belief that job search success requires – activity, creativity and visibility.

Linkedin is becoming an increasingly important tool for jobseekers. My Linkedin article explains how to get more traffic to view your profile.

The next article is about bringing creativity into your self marketing to help you stand out in the crowd.

Enjoy

Below is the video for the Monster Careers Fair at the RDS on 12th November. This was a very successful day with great feedback from jobseekers. I presented at the event and you can hear some of my views on CV Writing during the video.

I have been asked to talk at the upcoming “Keep Ireland Working” Career Fair organised by Monster. It will be held in the RDS on 12th November and I will be talking at 12.30 and the topic is CV Writing. (may have another slot to do so will keep you posted).

Career Fairs can be a positive or negative experience but the outcome is down to you. Below I have outlined some tips to help you increase your value. There is much more that you can get out of this day aside from meeting me and hearing me talk

Before the event – preparation is essential and you need to plan your attack and identify what you want to achieve. Otherwise you could spend your time aimlessly wandering around or stuck in the coffee tent. Areas to consider include

- Find out which companies are attending – is there any way you connect before the event – Are the employers attending the event users of Linkedin.
- Have a 30 second sales pitch. You have to stand out from the crowd.
- Have some questions prepared to ask potential employers – just in case you speak to DM
- Have a wow CV & business card

On the day – it goes without say that you push yourself out of your comfort zone and dress for success. As someone mentioned earlier a smiling face is always welcome. Other things to consider include

- Get there early – From experience the first hour or so can be slow and you might get more airtime with the employer. With this in mind try to target ideal companies first.
- Make yourself visible – Handing CVs and slipping back into the masses is of no real benefit. Engage the employer within a short window. Remember these are busy places so you will only have a short window so deliver your sales pitch you have prepared.
- Collect Business Cards – if available as this will support follow up.
- Talk to everyone – this includes other people attending the event – you never know!!

After the event – follow-up.

Follow me on Twitter – Paul Mullan Twitter
Join Measurability Careers & Jobs Club on Linkedin

Enhance your Linkedin presence

Below are some Linkedin Tips for Jobseekers taken from the Measurability Careers & Jobs Club.

1. Profile headline

Your Headline is a very important part of your Linkedin profile. This is normally the first thing people see when they view your profile. For example if you posted a comment or started a discussion in the Group it would show your Name/Picture and Professional Headline.

Increasingly Recruiters/HR Managers are searching Linkedin and this can help them find you. Active jobseekers should insert the words “seeking” or “looking” in their Headline. Other information to consider is preferred location/industry or name drop a previous employer (reputable). Remember your Professional Headline is a marketing opportunity – use it effectively.

Some users are very creative and a good tip is to view what others are doing and take their ideas and make them better.

2. Recommendations

Recommendations are an important part of building your online profile. If you do not have any recommendations I suggest that you go and get some. For me an old boss, a customer or a client work the best – work colleagues don’t carry as much weight but are ok if it is all you can obtain.

If you have old references/recommendations why not include them in the text of your description about previous roles. I added some to the text this of my role at Measurability on my profile. I didn’t want to bother the client again BUT also some of the testimonials are for sensitive projects.

If you are really cheeky – when you are asking for a reference/recommendation why not tell your contact that to save them hassle you will write it and email it to them. Many will agree to this and it will give you more control over what is written.

3. Ask & Answer Questions

This is easily one of the most important aspects of using Linkedin. Some jobseekers get this point but unfortunately many never do. You see there really is no point creating a profile on Linkedin and sitting waiting for things to happen. You have to make it happen.

Answering a question – You can answer questions in the groups you have joined or you can answer general questions via the answers drop down menu bar. Answering questions will increase visibility, draw readers to your profile and it is an opportunity to show readers your expertise in an area. Apart from potential employers/recruiters finding you there is also the opportunity to make new connections.

Asking a question – Users ask questions for many reasons. This will increase visibility but more importantly you can get free advice and tips.

Market Yourself effectively and land more jobs ….

Linkedin, Networking, Social Media Networking, Job Hunting

I am always bleating on about being proactive in your job search. Yes you have to cover the easy bases like job boards, agencies and papers – as I see them here everyday. However if you really want to step it up you can do much more.

Let me tell you about an experience yesterday. I received the below email with a CV attached.

Good afternoon,

I have recently been made redundant and am looking to be placed in a company free of charge to gain experience.

I have 8 years HR experience and would like to become a consultant at some stage. I do need to gain experience however.

I hope you could consider this proposal, as I want to put my time off to good use while offering my skills and experience to the company

I admired the “get up and go” attitude so I returned an email to request that the individual call me in the afternoon. We talked and I decided to inform a few of my corporate clients about the offer. One hour later there was one request. Now this is where I stepped out of the equation and put the two in direct contact. To be honest I don’t know if anything came of it…..

What do we learn from this ….

1. This individual is seeking permanent work BUT by offering services for free they are gaining experience and plugging a hole in the CV. She was also making loads of new contact in the meantime.

2. This individual is keeping busy – one of the worst things about not working when job hunting is the time element. Most people think about their situation and get themselves down.

3 This individual is putting themselves in the shop window if they get in to an organisation – could lead to something else.

4. This individual asked for help. You will be surprised what help people will give you if you just ask. There are some great people out there (that includes me)

Careers & Outplacement Ireland – MEASURABILITY

Linkedin has changed my business in a very short space of time. It provides an excellent tool for networking, business development and marketing – It offers a new platform to gain additional exposure to potential corporate and individual clients.

Not only has it impacted how I generate business and contacts but it has also impacted the content of job search discussions with jobseekers participating in private 1-1 coaching or outplacement programmes.

Social Media Networking and Linkedin is now a critical tool for jobseekers. Although not established as a job hunting tools it is proving very valuable. Many of my clients embrace this advice but there are those who fail to gravitate away from traditional reactive job hunting techniques.

I have many positive stories about how Linkedin has worked and I hope the most recent quote will help convince other jobseekers to increase proactive efforts and access the hidden job market.

“Hi Paul, I have some good news – got a job! So much of what you mentioned came to light. More interviews came my way after the re-jig of my CV. Got the job via Linked In, which I need to update. Thanks again for your assistance, it was a great help.”

Measurability helping jobseekers navigate a tough job market in Ireland – Career Direction, Job Hunting Advice, CV Writing and Interview Coaching.

Linkedin, Networking, Social Media Networking and Job Hunting.

There are no jobs in Ireland …….

Yes it is a tough job market but there are jobseekers finding jobs and there are jobseekers interviewing for jobs as you read this post. If you talk to agencies, read the papers or view online job boards you will see a drop off in the numbers of jobs advertised. The nature of my work provides me with an insight into job market activity and believe me there is activity in the job market!! Just because jobs are not advertised does not mean that there are no jobs!! I have 4 interview coaching sessions this week – these are preparing for one internal interview and three external interviews.

I had an interesting experience last week when I spoke with a jobseeker and an employer one call after another ……

The first call was with the jobseeker. I was finishing off their CV and was providing some advice on job search strategies. This individual was employed in sales and I was commenting on the usefulness of the tools they used in his day to day sales job for job search. When talking about networking they commented that they did not have the time to network so would be solely relying on agencies.

When I hung up my next conversation was with a company owner seeking advice and costs for services to help a family member. We were having a general discussion when he indicated that he was bucking the trend and hired a sales executive recently. I said “I bet you didn’t have to advertise” to which he responded “no need”. He filled the job through industry contacts.

My jobseeker from the first call would never have landed the company owner’s sales job as their sales experience did not match requirements. BUT what if the individual could have done the job and was suitable for the job. As they are relying on agencies they would never have accessed the opportunity. Yes networking and proactive job strategies do take time and energy but this is the only way to access the hidden job market. I am not saying that you should not use agencies, newspaper adverts or job boards. You should use these tools to access the low hanging fruit (advertised jobs) BUT if you want to access the hidden jobs market (unadvertised jobs) you must get proactive and use strategies like networking.

Perhaps the above satement should read — “there are no jobs advertised in Ireland”

Career Expert – CV Writing, Effective Job Searching Advice & Interview Preparation.

Career Advice – Job Hunting Strategies – Networking

The buzz word with most career experts at present is “networking”. Most will tell you that this is the key to landing a job in a tough market place but very few will tell you how. There is a skill with effective networking. If this is the solution to successful job hunting in Ireland in 2009 why do so many jobseekers no embrace this?

Many job seekers are lazy. They target the low hanging fruit or easy accessed jobs. The ones you will find in the newspapers, the online job boards and with the recruitment agencies. You see networking takes a bit of effort. It involves trying to make thinks happen as opposed to sitting waiting for things to happen.

Many jobseekers are afraid. Networking is moving from our comfort zone. There are many who find engaging with strangers (and even family and friends) quite difficult. I guess it is the fear of the unknown or the fear of rejection that holds them back.

Many jobseekers don’t know where to start or how to do it. Networking is a skill that can be learned and like most new skills I will start with the easier options to try and hone my skills before moving into more difficult scenarios. Alternatively you can jump of the cliff and build your wings on the way down.

Why I like Networking as a Job Search strategy?

Apart from being effective and accessing the hidden job pool it keeps jobseekers active. The biggest problem with job hunting in a tough market is the “silence”. By this I mean when nothing is happening. There are no jobs in the papers, there are the same jobs online and recruiters won’t return emails or phone calls. You see networking and other proactive approaches keep you moving, gaining contacts, valuable advice, valuable information and with the key role of eventually landing a job.

What strategy works best?

The telecoms providers used to say it’s good to talk however today many of us do not. We communicate through other mediums like email, text and other online tools. Again the buzz is around online social media networking. There are many possible channels but my preference is LinkedIn. There are also tools like twitter and facebook. Online networking is easier than face to face. Many jobseekers I work with find it less daunting.

One last option ……

I was asked to join a network the other day on LinkedIn and thought it was a novel idea and quite fun. The network is called “10 minutes street network”. Read a description of the networking event and it certainly does not sound as daunting as going into a room full of strangers.

You have heard of “speed networking” well here comes “street networking” at a street (Grafton St) near you!

Take to Grafton St and make great new contacts in a really fun and relaxed way in just 10 minutes.

Lots of fun, these innovative and dynamic “street networking” events will be staged each month in different venues: Art Galleries; Museums; Theatres and Parks (weather permitting) that will provide a sophisticated but welcoming environment to make new contacts.

To discover where these events are to be staged, you have to ditch the suit, hit the street and get yourself to the top of Grafton Street at the entrance to St. Stephen’s Green.

Need help with your CV or Need help with InterviewTechniques Preparation?

This article is about – Career, Advice, Coaching, Ireland, Support, Irish, Coach, Job Hunting in Ireland, Finding a Job In Ireland, Linkedin, Social Media Networking, Networking

Came across a nice Medical Sales Blog today.

Anyone relocating to US and interested in Medical Sales it looks like this is the site to visit. Excellent Blog on the Industry Sector and Excellent CV & Interview Tips.

If you are staying in Ireland and want to get ahead in your current comapny this post has some excellent tips – How To Raise Your Profile Within Your Organisation.