York’s job finder general Simon Wallace is on a mission… to help you find the perfect career. With the job market as it is, there’s a lot of competition but there are ways to make you stand out from the crowd
Over the coming weeks I’ll be sharing my secrets on how to find a great job. It is a collection of hints, tips and tricks learnt over 20 years experience of the recruitment process from both sides.
I will present this information in a structured manner that will help you get your great job. In this article, we’ll begin at the beginning.
Part 1: Where do you start?
The first thing people tend to think about, when they are looking for a job, is their CV. And, as well as trying to update their CV, one of the first things people do, is start looking at job adverts.
Once their CV has been rewritten, it gets sent out to every job advert that looks interesting and gets posted on countless internet job boards. The theory being, that if you cast the net wide enough, you’re bound to catch something – aren’t you? Probably not actually. How can you find something if you don’t know what you’re looking for?
What you really need is a plan. The first elements of this plan are your circumstances.
If you need work immediately, take your CV round the recruitment agencies. There are several around York and you can get round most of them in just a day.
I know this because that’s exactly what I did when I first moved to York. Remember that the recruitment agencies work for companies, not you, so maintain regular contact with them to find out what opportunities they have and to keep your details at the ‘top of the pile’ as it were.
Any job they find for you might not be ideal, but at least you will be earning money and meeting new people. Be aware also, that when presenting you as a potential candidate, the agency may reformat your CV which is why you don’t need to worry too much about your CV at this stage.
Ensure your CV has all your skills on it – bullet points are ideal – and remember to list responsibilities and achievements in previous jobs or whilst you were at school / university.
Essentially though, do not spend a lot of your time on your CV trying to make it ‘stand out from the crowd’ at this point. In an upcoming article I will explain exactly how to make your CV outstanding.
If you don’t need work immediately, then start writing your plan. I said we would start at the beginning but actually it’s easier to start at the end.
At the end of your plan write: ‘I have a great job.’ Don’t worry about what that is yet, as over the next few weeks we are going to find out.
Next part – What are you good at?
- See the rest of the Job Finder General series here
- Follow Simon on Twitter
- Click here for the B&A Careers website