Some good news! I had an interview last week and I got the job. Hip hip hooray!
Three months of unemployment. Three months of continuously writing, improving my CV, writing covering letters, researching jobs, interviews, rejections, feedback, mock interviews.... and I dare say..the list goes on.
So I now have a foot in the door. I'm hoping that things will be easier for future employment and I hope that the job market will be more stable the next time I look for work.
My plan is to share with you my processes in finding work and help current and future graduates get their foot in the door in a graduate job in their chosen field(not call centres, retail or bar work).
My next few posts:
- Searching for work: How versatile do you have to be to find your future job?
- Get yourself noticed by recruiters and have things to put on your CV to look better
- Adapt your skills to match your dream career path
I hope to have these out in the next few weeks.
I am also still working on my piece about work experience, which I hope to have up for you all by early October.
H
Friday 17 September 2010
Monday 13 September 2010
Doctor doctor... I'm not employable!
That probably isn't true.
With three months of unemployment under my belt, I have a wealth of experience of CV writing, cover letters, interviews and rejections. I know from relevant experience that thinking you aren't employable is not the case.
You are competing against a number of other competitors that can all demonstrate the same skills you have, the issue is to try and separate yourself and make your CV and covering letter scream out to the recruiter. HIRE ME OR YOUR LOSS!!! You want to tell your prospective employer that you are the answer to their prayers and what you have is real ambition to drive their company to make more profit. End of the day, they are bringing you in to make the company more money. Priority for any company is 1.) profit 2.)profit 3.) profit.
If you want to apply, that means they have sold the job well and the more people they have applying, the better they are selling. So, your response...? SELL SELL SELL!!! Sell yourself like this is the last chance you do! Don't lie, lying is not selling, but boost your skills and sell them as if they are the newest thing on the block.
What every CV needs is power words; words that blast out of the page and make the recruiter wanting more. Prospects has a great list of power words that I have turned to recently to help boost my CV writing skills:
http://prospects.ac.uk/job_applications_power_words.htm
CV writing is an art; a chance for you to really create and represent you at your best on paper.
Now.. Get creating!
With three months of unemployment under my belt, I have a wealth of experience of CV writing, cover letters, interviews and rejections. I know from relevant experience that thinking you aren't employable is not the case.
You are competing against a number of other competitors that can all demonstrate the same skills you have, the issue is to try and separate yourself and make your CV and covering letter scream out to the recruiter. HIRE ME OR YOUR LOSS!!! You want to tell your prospective employer that you are the answer to their prayers and what you have is real ambition to drive their company to make more profit. End of the day, they are bringing you in to make the company more money. Priority for any company is 1.) profit 2.)profit 3.) profit.
If you want to apply, that means they have sold the job well and the more people they have applying, the better they are selling. So, your response...? SELL SELL SELL!!! Sell yourself like this is the last chance you do! Don't lie, lying is not selling, but boost your skills and sell them as if they are the newest thing on the block.
What every CV needs is power words; words that blast out of the page and make the recruiter wanting more. Prospects has a great list of power words that I have turned to recently to help boost my CV writing skills:
http://prospects.ac.uk/job_applications_power_words.htm
CV writing is an art; a chance for you to really create and represent you at your best on paper.
Now.. Get creating!
Sunday 12 September 2010
Thinking about work experience?
So...
Had two weeks doing work experience for two top leading companies in very different roles; Client Executive at a world wide Insurance Brokers, HR consultants, Marketers, PR Executive and Business Developers at Dickinson Dees. Interestingly, the style of work experience differed by a large degree.
What are the different styles of work experience?
I shall discuss two types as these are the two I experienced: experiencing the work that A does for B, the theoretical understanding of the role and "a week in the life of...", to watch the role in action.
The former I would imagine most would think work experience would involve; sit down with each of the departments and each would set a small, relevant task to do within a time frame, to gain a taste of the work they are involved in. Most of the tasks I was given as seen in my previous posts was research, e.g. "how the scrapping of the default retirement age would affect Dickinson Dees". I would then sit with each department and have their role discussed and ask any questions. This form of work experience is more theoretical and gives an insight into the style of work they do.
The second, the "week in the life of..." was with Marsh. I would imagine this is how they would treat their trainees, therefore not the work experience style as above, but a flavour of the work one would be given. I got an insight intohow the Client Executive organises their week and handles their clients. I enjoyed this as I was able to watch their projects being worked on and what their plans were with the projects in the near future. In conclusion, I got to see their job in action, so a more practical method of work experience.
Two very different and interesting styles. If you are interested in looking into work experience, I would certainly recommend it and I have hopefully shed some light into some of the possible varying types available. Depending on the work style and the company, you may want to query into the style they have planned for you, or would plan for you. Best of luck and I hope you enjoy your work experience!
H
Had two weeks doing work experience for two top leading companies in very different roles; Client Executive at a world wide Insurance Brokers, HR consultants, Marketers, PR Executive and Business Developers at Dickinson Dees. Interestingly, the style of work experience differed by a large degree.
What are the different styles of work experience?
I shall discuss two types as these are the two I experienced: experiencing the work that A does for B, the theoretical understanding of the role and "a week in the life of...", to watch the role in action.
The former I would imagine most would think work experience would involve; sit down with each of the departments and each would set a small, relevant task to do within a time frame, to gain a taste of the work they are involved in. Most of the tasks I was given as seen in my previous posts was research, e.g. "how the scrapping of the default retirement age would affect Dickinson Dees". I would then sit with each department and have their role discussed and ask any questions. This form of work experience is more theoretical and gives an insight into the style of work they do.
The second, the "week in the life of..." was with Marsh. I would imagine this is how they would treat their trainees, therefore not the work experience style as above, but a flavour of the work one would be given. I got an insight intohow the Client Executive organises their week and handles their clients. I enjoyed this as I was able to watch their projects being worked on and what their plans were with the projects in the near future. In conclusion, I got to see their job in action, so a more practical method of work experience.
Two very different and interesting styles. If you are interested in looking into work experience, I would certainly recommend it and I have hopefully shed some light into some of the possible varying types available. Depending on the work style and the company, you may want to query into the style they have planned for you, or would plan for you. Best of luck and I hope you enjoy your work experience!
H
Saturday 11 September 2010
So, where are we...
Firstly, apologies for the serious delay in updates. I have been super busy.
To complete, in brief, my week of work experience with Dickinson Dees: Marketing and PR. This I believe has changed my CV forever. Considering I had quite an interest in both marketing and PR (they sound like pretty sexy jobs), yet I knew nothing of what it involved, so having a taste of what's in store for a prospective marketeer was exceedingly useful:
Marketing processes within Dickinson Dees
Researched and gained some technical knowledge about email marketing.
I was lucky enough to meet them during their website revamp and have a chance to give feedback and give an outsider's prospective.
Gained understanding of Google Analytics and to what extent business' can use and exploit web analytics.
PR within Dickinson Dees, therefore: a look at PR in-house
Understanding of the relationship between journalists and solicitors
Style of writing for press releases
The typical magazines and newspapers which mention Dickinson Dees
And then of course...good ol' administration. Don't diss, it's the coal that keeps the business a lite.
I shall give my personal feedback on work experience and whether it is of use for a graduate looking for work this coming Autumn.
Stay tuned
H
To complete, in brief, my week of work experience with Dickinson Dees: Marketing and PR. This I believe has changed my CV forever. Considering I had quite an interest in both marketing and PR (they sound like pretty sexy jobs), yet I knew nothing of what it involved, so having a taste of what's in store for a prospective marketeer was exceedingly useful:
Marketing processes within Dickinson Dees
Researched and gained some technical knowledge about email marketing.
I was lucky enough to meet them during their website revamp and have a chance to give feedback and give an outsider's prospective.
Gained understanding of Google Analytics and to what extent business' can use and exploit web analytics.
PR within Dickinson Dees, therefore: a look at PR in-house
Understanding of the relationship between journalists and solicitors
Style of writing for press releases
The typical magazines and newspapers which mention Dickinson Dees
And then of course...good ol' administration. Don't diss, it's the coal that keeps the business a lite.
I shall give my personal feedback on work experience and whether it is of use for a graduate looking for work this coming Autumn.
Stay tuned
H
Thursday 2 September 2010
Work Experience with Dickinson Dees Law Firm
Surprisingly...
My work experience wasn't in Law, it was actually in Human Resources, Marketing and Public Relations.
Monday-Tuesday in Human Resources
Spent the first half hour of the morning meeting and greeting people and then... straight off to work. These people don't beat about the bush, they are hard-working and very committed and they wanted to prove this by making me hit the ground running. A little bit scary at first, but with a task of researching the scrapping of the Default Retirement Age, I fell into an old routine of good ol' research from my Philosophy days. Always a good start if you are set a task in something which you majored in. They have brought out the best in me on the Monday morning - I dare say the University struggled with that!
Spent most of the two days researching and asking general questions of how the employees got into HR and they all seemed very passionate about their work. Tuesday afternoon was slightly different, I got the chance to view a mock application form for their graduate programme and mark it accordingly. Had a great laugh over some of the mistakes and answers, thought to ask whether this app form was the worst/funniest they had seen... They said no! I have to admit, I would like to see some of the wackiest application forms made as some that I have seen online have made me giggle.
Overall HR was enlightening and it was great to meet everyone there. I will definitely keep in touch with them. Human Resources has a great buzz to it and it looks to always keep you on your toes. While the work-load looked as though it was always piling in, there seemed to be a calm and controlled air about the office, which is very attractive - nothing worse than watching people's head roll and lose their temper!
Anyone interested in HR, I would definitely recommend some work experience in the sector to give you an edge when applying and understand the sector in the detail it deserves. In conclusion a great experience and fantastic sector. Thank you to all at Dickinson Dees HR department.
H
My work experience wasn't in Law, it was actually in Human Resources, Marketing and Public Relations.
Monday-Tuesday in Human Resources
Spent the first half hour of the morning meeting and greeting people and then... straight off to work. These people don't beat about the bush, they are hard-working and very committed and they wanted to prove this by making me hit the ground running. A little bit scary at first, but with a task of researching the scrapping of the Default Retirement Age, I fell into an old routine of good ol' research from my Philosophy days. Always a good start if you are set a task in something which you majored in. They have brought out the best in me on the Monday morning - I dare say the University struggled with that!
Spent most of the two days researching and asking general questions of how the employees got into HR and they all seemed very passionate about their work. Tuesday afternoon was slightly different, I got the chance to view a mock application form for their graduate programme and mark it accordingly. Had a great laugh over some of the mistakes and answers, thought to ask whether this app form was the worst/funniest they had seen... They said no! I have to admit, I would like to see some of the wackiest application forms made as some that I have seen online have made me giggle.
Overall HR was enlightening and it was great to meet everyone there. I will definitely keep in touch with them. Human Resources has a great buzz to it and it looks to always keep you on your toes. While the work-load looked as though it was always piling in, there seemed to be a calm and controlled air about the office, which is very attractive - nothing worse than watching people's head roll and lose their temper!
Anyone interested in HR, I would definitely recommend some work experience in the sector to give you an edge when applying and understand the sector in the detail it deserves. In conclusion a great experience and fantastic sector. Thank you to all at Dickinson Dees HR department.
H
A short but busy break
Had a short break from blogging as I have been gathering my thoughts on work experience and deliberating my future career path.
- Work experience wise; I am yet to write about my experience with Dickinson Dees and then I plan to write a short article on whether work experience is truly beneficial to both graduate and employer, I shall be undergoing my research very soon for this so stay tuned.
- CV; been updating my CV and once I got everything down, my past experience and technical knowledge leads in a few directions; interestingly marketing, PR and events management. I think for the last few months I have been drawn to these types of roles, however I wasn't aware to the extent my experiences matched their criteria. CV writing really can be very enlightening!
- Back to the slog of applying for jobs; an update on applications and how they evolve over time.
Updates coming very soon!
H
- Work experience wise; I am yet to write about my experience with Dickinson Dees and then I plan to write a short article on whether work experience is truly beneficial to both graduate and employer, I shall be undergoing my research very soon for this so stay tuned.
- CV; been updating my CV and once I got everything down, my past experience and technical knowledge leads in a few directions; interestingly marketing, PR and events management. I think for the last few months I have been drawn to these types of roles, however I wasn't aware to the extent my experiences matched their criteria. CV writing really can be very enlightening!
- Back to the slog of applying for jobs; an update on applications and how they evolve over time.
Updates coming very soon!
H
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