Career Search Blog

By rwakefield

 Job hunting can be a long, arduous process and very frustrating. There are always jobs available but, unless you are desperate for an income, you will want to find the perfect job where you can use your skills and experience.

This article gives some advice on how to go about finding the ideal job.

1.Recruitment Agencies Recruitment agencies can be a great help when searching for jobs because they are experts at matching people to vacant positions. Recruitment agencies will send your CV out to relevant employers, arrange interviews for you and keep you up to date on progress. Some recruitment agencies offer services like CV polishing or writing and help with interview techniques. Take advantage of these services if your recruitment agency offers them.

2.Networking If you have friends or family who work for a company you would like to work for, ask them if there are any openings. You may be able to find out about jobs before they are advertised and friends and family may even put in a good word for you. You will also get inside knowledge about the company, the boss, conditions, salary and how interviews are held.

3.Classified section of newspapers and magazines Local and national newspapers advertise job vacancies as do specialist magazines for particular professions. Send your CV off to relevant companies or contact them for an application form. Always follow up applications by phoning the company to check that they have received your application.

Newspapers will also have adverts for local recruitment agencies.

4.Company Websites Although some companies will use recruitment agencies for their staffing requirements, most will have a company website listing current vacancies. Make sure that you check websites regularly for updates and that you follow the set procedure for applying for a job.

5.Job Search websites With these sites you can search for jobs online which meet your criteria and are in a specific area and with a specific salary.

6.Job fairs or exhibitions Go to job fairs or exhibitions with plenty of copies of your CV printed out on good quality A4 paper. Chat to potential employers and give them your CV.

7.The telephone book, Yellow Pages and local business directory Use these directories to find the contact details of potential employers. Phone their personnel departments to ask about current vacancies and, even if they do not have any current vacancies, send your CV in for them to keep on file.

8.Offer to do voluntary work or job experience for a company so that they can get to know you.

The very best thing to do to increase your exposure is to register with a recruitment agency, or a few recruitment agencies, and then do all of the above. If you are motivated and make an effort, you will find a job much quicker than someone who only tries one or two ways of finding a job. Ask your recruitment agency if they have any further tips or advice on job hunting.

Roger Wakefield is a web developer for Agency Central (http://www.agencycentral.co.uk). Agency Central is a directory of recruitment agencies which allows job seekers and employers to search by industry sector and location in order to find the right match.

Bloggers Sharing Their Thoughts On Career Opportunities

How to Make Your Resume Stand Out
By Ben Needles

 Whether or not youre planning to look for a new job, you should always keep your resume updated. Get into the habit of updating your accomplishments and skills so that your resume is always ready.

Here are some tips:

1. Group your top skill sets into a summary.
2. Create a professional email address (using your name - no nicknames) to include with your contact information.
3. Use past tense - even when describing your current job.
4. If youre posting your resume online, dont encourage identity theft by including too much personal information.
5. Gear you resume towards the job you want, not the one you have now.
6. List your most recent job first.
7. Check spelling and grammar - dont depend on your spelling errors being caught by spell check.

Your resume should not include every task youve performed in every position; instead it should only include your strongest accomplishments. Though its tempting to add all the details about every job youve had, your resume is only a starting point. Use it to get your foot in the door so that you can get an interview. Once you have an opportunity to speak with the hiring manager, then you can go into more detail.

Since you have to catch the attention of the reader right away, stay away from passive-sounding words when describing your accomplishments and responsibilities. Passive sentences are indirect and dont make much of an impression.

Look at this example of a passive sentence: Participated on product development team. Compare that with this example of an active sentence: Created scripts and tested new product.

In addition to using active words and sentences in your descriptions, you also have to show results. Which description would appeal to you as a hiring manager?

Arranged new product development meetings, or Facilitated meetings for new product development team which led to cost savings due to reduced miscommunication between departments.

If you are a freelancer or temp worker, youll probably work for various companies and hold different positions. Even if you had different titles, the skills and accomplishments will show your versatility in different industries and company cultures.

Keep track of the projects youve worked on, articles and documentation youve written, etc. Set aside samples of your work so that you can include them with your resume, if requested.

When youre changing careers playing up your skills is very important. You may not have direct experience in the area youre changing to, but you can show how the skills youve acquired in the old career can be carried over to the new one. Pick accomplishments that show that you are versatile and can think out of the box. Play up training and learning experiences to show that you can adapt to new environments. The person reading your resume is focused on finding the right person for the job. They wont have the time to think about how to fit your skills into their requirements.

Not sure how to show that your skills can be transferred to a new profession? For instance, if youre a project manager and you want to become an event planner, you could play up your organization skills or your communications skills. You could also play up your ability to simultaneously manage different tasks. Look at the work youve done, then find ways to highlight your strongest accomplishments. The person reading your resume should see right away that you can perform the duties the position requires.

Of course if you know what type of job you want, itll be easier to create your resume. However, if youre not sure what you want to do next - or how to update your resume to reflect your varied skills - consider hiring a professional to help. These days you cant take a chance that your resume will be overlooked. If you present yourself to your best advantage, youll have a better chance of being hired for the job you want.

About the Author (text)

Deborah A. Bailey is a professional coach, writer and founder of Deb Bailey Coaching. She specializes in working with individuals as they move through transitions and experience a life beyond their expectations. Learn more now at http://www.dbaileycoach.com.

water dispensers

Looking for Employment in Europe?
By Ed Murray

 Whether you are a seasoned professional who specializes in business networking, a new college graduate looking for that killer “first real job,” a technological extrovert who wants to get in on the whole social media craze, or whatever, now finding IT or Telecom employment in Europe is faster and easier than ever. Thank those trailblazers from years passed who had the vision to create huge computers, then PCs, then laptops, and of course the global marketplace we have come to refer to as the Internet.

It only makes sense that if you are employed in the technology industry, you should be using technology to land that perfect career opportunity. What person in his or her right mind wants to hire an IT person who uses the postal service to mail in a resume? That is almost akin to writing your resume with a pen. Sounds ridiculous, right? Of course, so if you are searching for IT or Telecom employment in Europe, visit an online job board to get yourself started on those interviews.

The advantages to online job boards are numerous. They are easy to use; they do not require a business suit just to get the resume in the employer’s hands; they are convenient; they allow you to save and post a resume. Probably what is best of all the features, however, is the ability to complete a specialized search. If you are interested in employment only in Ireland, for example, you can choose to search that way. But let’s say you live in Toscana, Italy and have family in Sicily. Since you are on a quest for the perfect career move, you are open to either location. Well, all it takes is a click of the reset button and you can complete your second search in no time. Not only can you categorize your search according to location, though. You can also narrow down your field of expertise. If you are only interested in the Bluetooth industry, for example, or if you are excited about both software and systems engineering, you can so specify. There are no surprises when you are in control of your search criteria. If you have only a specific amount of time you can dedicate to your job search let’s say in the car, with your personal laptop, during the hour your current employer designates as lunchtime then that is no problem, either. Just create and save an account with the specs and information you want, and go back to it later.

Playing online games, buying cool stuff at online auction sites, and paying bills are all really cool, but probably the best use of your technology background is utilizing the online job boards for IT or Telecom employment in Europe.

Telecoms Employment Europe
For more info on job search visit this site.

career blogs

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.