Being made redundant can feel like a personal rejection – however long you’ve been with the company and whatever the circumstance. It can also cause a state of panic and overwhelm, particularly if you’ve been working with a company for a long time and you suddenly find yourself having to navigate a job market that’s flooded with candidates.
Where do you even start looking for jobs? What jobs are going to suit your personality and skillset?
We’re here to help you dust off your CV, bolster your job searching skills and brush up on your interview techniques to make you a stand-out candidate and successfully secure your next role.
Showcasing You!
Sometimes it feels uncomfortable to sing your own praises, especially when you could be feeling a little bruised by redundancy or the exit process, it can be hard to think clearly about what you have to offer an employer. Start by simply listing your skills, experience and areas where you’ve received training so you can match these talents to jobs that are the right fit for you.
Next, think about the skills you want to highlight, these can be hard or soft. Hard skills are professional competencies gained through education and/or through on-the-job training and experience, and soft skills that are focused on things like your management abilities, getting the best out of others, or your ability to engage, influence or persuade.
Employers generally want to get a feel of the person behind the words of a CV.
Perhaps more importantly, review your achievements within each role don’t just focus on the day to day tasks. You want these to be loud and proud on your CV! You might not impress someone with your stated ability to “manage admin” but you would impress me if you told me about savings you’d made for the business, processes that you had streamlined or deals you had negotiated! It’s worth thinking a little deeper about this.
Once you are happy with the content, do consider the presentation. What do you want to draw attention to on that first page? Because if the first page doesn’t wow the Hirer, I can guarantee that they won’t get to a second or even third page. How will you achieve this? Bold, Italics, a slightly darker or different font?
This is just one of the topics we cover in the group online sessions delivered via Zoom. Our aim is to help you effectively showcase your work experience, transferable strengths and skills in an engaging way, whilst we share our “too many years of recruitment experience to mention” insider tips on what we look for whilst sifting applications and why some CVs instantly get through to the next round of recruitment.
Utilising social media to find jobs
According to Jobvite, ninety-two per cent of recruiters use social media in their work today, and LinkedIn is the social network they use most. This means that as well as brushing up your CV, you also need to give attention to updating your LinkedIn profile.
Recruiters tend to use keywords to search for candidates, whether it’s looking for specific skills or to find industry or sector experience. So, it’s important to build out your Skills & Endorsements section with relevant keywords for which you want to be found.
Don’t wait to be approached by recruiters on LinkedIn, the network allows you to browse for jobs using their “Jobs you may be interested in” page. Be sure to connect with all those you have worked with professionally and see who they’re connected to. Second-degree connections (friends of your friends) are often the best entrée to a company you’re interested in.
And finally … the interview!
Who doesn’t want to feel more confident in their ability to perform effectively, to communicate your skills and competencies succinctly? This is vital if you want to impress future employers who will be interviewing several candidates for the same role.
Our online sessions on 17th September and 1st October 2020 will help you to leverage the power of social networks to find new jobs and impress future employers in the interview. Find out more
