|
School leavers, graduates and seasoned executives need to spend more time thinking about and researching their career plans long before putting together a CV or approaching people about a job.
So says Robyn Imray, partner at executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles who says it's important to be honest with yourself about your skills, your personality, what you enjoy and what you don't.
It's no use aiming for a job that requires you to engage with people all day if you're pretty anti-social and enjoy nothing more than being behind a computer.
Try to see yourself as a prospective employer would.
GRADUATES
Understand what the market you're looking to go into is all about, says Imray. Research well, until you know what you want, what industry you want to be in and what is required to be a success in that role,
Find out which companies have a reputation for offering the best training. Are the companies at the leading edge and where would you gain exposure to the best global best practice?
Imray says there are pros and cons to working for one of the biggest organisations, or one of the smallest companies in the sector. Figure out which would be best for you, who is more likely to need your skills and where you can add most value,
Approach a select number of companies and make it clear why you are interested in working for them and how you can add value to them. Fit the job to the skills rather than the other way around. Make a list of your skills, determine which kinds of businesses and industries need them most and find businesses that will benefit from your skills,
Be practical. You may need to accept a job at a level lower than you hoped for or not doing quite what you had hoped, but it could give you a chance to gain experience and build your network, says Imray,
When interviewing graduates with no experience, companies will look to employ well-rounded individuals with the potential to grow. Your CV needs to show this, says Imray,
WikiHow, a Wikipedia-linked manual, says it's important to network. The best companies to work for tend to rely heavily on employee referrals, so make a list of friends, relatives and acquaintances and call them to ask if they know of any openings they could recommend for you,
Volunteer for an organisation that focuses on something you're passionate about, says WikiHow. You'll gain experience and references,
Keep your CV down to about two pages maximum, clearly and accurately state your academic track record, provide brief details on extra-mural activities from sport through to debating, charity work and service,
Succinctly illustrate leadership qualities such as school prefect and captain of sporting teams.
INDIVIDUALS WITH WORK EXPERIENCE
For experienced individuals, it is even more important to do rigorous research. Imray offers some tips:
Do not blanket the market with your CV as this could devalue the skills you have to offer. Rather target a select number of companies, find out as much as possible about them and their current situation and then individualise your approach to each company. Where can you offer value? If you understand their strategy and potential issues, you could create an opportunity for yourself,
Ideally you want to position yourself so the company wants to employ you for the ideas, vision or business proposition you bring to it rather than apply for a job,
Accurately show your academic record, employment record with full company name, position(s) held and dates but don't include a long list of responsibilities for each job. Rather keep this short and show what you've achieved,
Only take credit for what you did - if it was a team effort, say so. Never misrepresent,
Do not copy and paste your job description into your CV. And do not copy responsibilities from one position to another. Each role is unique - show this and how you made a difference,
Follow up your approach with a phone call to the appropriate manager, or better still, try to speak to the relevant hiring manager first. This conversation may give you additional clues as to areas you should highlight in your CV,
Make sure the CV content is appropriate. For example, if you have 25 years' work experience, the captaincy of the under 15A hockey team is no longer the most relevant example of leadership qualities. Rather point to a succession of leadership roles throughout your life including recent leadership roles,
WikiHow advises on how to prepare for an interview. You might be asked to describe problems you've encountered in the past and how you handled them, or you'll be given a hypothetical situation and asked what you would do. Some questions you might be asked are: "Describe a time you had to work with someone you didn't like", "Tell me about when you had to stick by a decision you had made, even though it made you unpopular", "how would you handle an employee who's consistently late?"
If you've moved around a lot, be prepared to offer a good reason for it, says WikiHow. Give specific reasons why this is the job for you and why you'd stick around,
Make a list of work-related skills you'd like to learn. Your potential employer will be interested in hearing about how you intend to become a better employee, says WikiHow.
Think about which skills will make you more competent in the position you're applying for - be it public speaking, project management or team leading.
Author: Adele Shevel
Article Source: Times Live
