Last time, in the challenge to get a job in a week, we heard that Jim had put together his CV overnight and that I was hoping he had made a horrendous mistake in his CV in his rush to get it done. Only so that I wouldn’t lose the bet you understand.
It was already day 3. That meant, according the schedule scribbled down in the pub a few days before, he should have been attending interviews today. This gave me hope. I had no doubt, that following his show of lack of will power over the weekend, he would be putting in some hard fought time watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy. “You have new mail”…….it was from Jim.
“I thought I owed it to you to have an update;
With my first two interviews in years falling on the same day I knew that today was going to be tough! Yes that’s right, two interviews. The first interview, at 10, was with a small aid agency and the second, at 3, with a better known, larger cancer charity.
As you know, my ability to either lie or step up my game to anything approaching professionalism is arguable. Consequently, any interview that isn't a general chit chat about love, life and the world is bound to scupper me. Roll on 10 a.m., and thankfully they ask a lot of common sense questions (who knew I had common sense?) about what I'd do in this or that given situation. The two people I interviewed with were only a little older than me and so it was pretty easy to get on with them. One hour later, and having confirmed that the job was in zone 1 and paid a decent wage, I left feeling pretty good.
Owing to my confidence with interview 1, and having been able to refine my interview technique, I was able to trot out pretty much the same stuff but in a more condensed manner in interview 2. Fortunately there were 3 people interviewing me so I could say a lot of things and make out like I was still answering the same question. Another good interview – but option 1 seemed to be the one for me.”
He claimed that he would crack on with some more applications, but I wasn’t so sure. I had seen this cocky tone before. This was only confirmed when he called later on to apologies for the likelihood of him taking our money. He did however admit that I was still in the running, though he claims he was Red Rum and I was a three legged arthritic pony. Still – I was sure that was just him being cocky.
Apparently not!
End of Day 4 and the first job offer was in. From the very first interview! Perhaps he was lying? Perhaps I was stuck in a horrible dream. He showed me the offer letter. I put on a brave face; “You still have to get hold of the contract, review it and get it signed and back to them. The system and process will mean you won’t be able to work on Monday”. Jim replied, “Not if turn up at the office, request they print it off and sign it there and then. If you want things to happen, you need to go and get it done”. I think I hated him. He was just sitting there grinning. It was inevitable. I could see in his eyes that he was going to wrap this one up. Not even taking up the required time. I was going to have to pay him - He didn't even need 5 days to get the job.
He sat back, had a drink of chocolate milk and said. “I wonder if I can get a pay rise”.
Showing posts with label career. Show all posts
Showing posts with label career. Show all posts
Wednesday, 27 August 2008
Wednesday, 6 August 2008
Part 2 - Top 10 Job Hunting Mistakes to Avoid
Last time, in our series on the Top 10 Job Hunting Mistakes to Avoid we discussed the importance of understanding the personality of the interviewer and making sure you respond during the interview using the appropriate language, familiarity and personality.
The second Job hunting mistake we should all avoid making is No.2. Not Keeping track of your accomplishments. I bet most of you will have had to work late trying to write your annual performance review. Scratching your head trying to think of what you did in Q2 last year is always difficult. Similar, if you've just been approached about a very interesting career opportunity and need to quickly turn your CV around you can save yourself valuable time simply by having a reminder of what you've worked on over the last year.
There is no 'right' way to do this. The key is coming up with a system that requires very little effort on your part to record your accomplishments in a safe place.
My preference was to use Outlook and create a 'Performance Review' folder where I'd keep emails reminding me of all my achievements including stakeholder sign-off emails, positive feedback about work I'd lead, and significant documents could all be found quickly in one place.
Having an organised filing system can help job your memory too. One tip is to have a folder for each year in your Documents folder and group all your work for each project in a new folder.
Every time you start a new role, whether it be with the same company or a new one, you should try and make a note to update your CV. This may be asking a lot as we all lead busy lives, and the last thing most people want to do after researching, applying and interviewing for their new job is to re-visit their CV again! At the very least, do yourself a favour and keep your folders, files and emails organised and grouped so you can quickly refresh your memory about all those accomplishments as you need to.
What's next in the Top 10 series?
1. Not understanding the character of your interviewer
2. Not keeping track of your accomplishments
3. Leaving on a bad note
4. Not networking
5. Only using the Internet for research
6. Writing a generic cover letter
7. Not targeting your CVto the position
8. Not paying attention/ being empathetic in an interview
9. Not being prepared
10. Not coming across well on the telephone interview
No.3. Leaving on a bad note; why you should never be tempted to have the last word!
Oliver
The second Job hunting mistake we should all avoid making is No.2. Not Keeping track of your accomplishments. I bet most of you will have had to work late trying to write your annual performance review. Scratching your head trying to think of what you did in Q2 last year is always difficult. Similar, if you've just been approached about a very interesting career opportunity and need to quickly turn your CV around you can save yourself valuable time simply by having a reminder of what you've worked on over the last year.
There is no 'right' way to do this. The key is coming up with a system that requires very little effort on your part to record your accomplishments in a safe place.
My preference was to use Outlook and create a 'Performance Review' folder where I'd keep emails reminding me of all my achievements including stakeholder sign-off emails, positive feedback about work I'd lead, and significant documents could all be found quickly in one place.
Having an organised filing system can help job your memory too. One tip is to have a folder for each year in your Documents folder and group all your work for each project in a new folder.
Every time you start a new role, whether it be with the same company or a new one, you should try and make a note to update your CV. This may be asking a lot as we all lead busy lives, and the last thing most people want to do after researching, applying and interviewing for their new job is to re-visit their CV again! At the very least, do yourself a favour and keep your folders, files and emails organised and grouped so you can quickly refresh your memory about all those accomplishments as you need to.
What's next in the Top 10 series?
1. Not understanding the character of your interviewer
2. Not keeping track of your accomplishments
3. Leaving on a bad note
4. Not networking
5. Only using the Internet for research
6. Writing a generic cover letter
7. Not targeting your CVto the position
8. Not paying attention/ being empathetic in an interview
9. Not being prepared
10. Not coming across well on the telephone interview
No.3. Leaving on a bad note; why you should never be tempted to have the last word!
Oliver
Tuesday, 29 July 2008
Is it possible to get a job in 7 days? Day 1 and 2 – “Project Easy Money”
So the challenge to find a job in a week has been set. Lets see what Jim did with his time on Day 1 and 2...
Reality sank in. It was the morning after the night before. The bet had been made, rules agreed and the challenge was on. On the back of a napkin I find a small contract dictating the rules, and the signatures of all those present the evening before who had placed the bet. There was no way out of it now; this (I was assured) was a legally binding napkin.
Early on a bright and breezy Saturday morning Jim was already on the case – and he was in a jovial mood. The phone rang and woke me up.
“I figure you deserve an update on 'Project Easy Money'. So far it's not looking good...for you. After a ropey start I have already pulled together a CV and covering letter. Admittedly, my confident /arrogant estimate of 20 minutes for each was shot out of the water but it’s results that count in this competition…”
He had even decided to get a jump on the plan for Sunday by doing a little reading and research on the sector, opportunities and openings.
It all seemed too good to be true, so I probed a little further as a good HR/ recruitment professional should do. “So, you’ve written your CV in one morning; Is it tailored towards each of the companies / roles you are going to apply to? How long is it? Does it reflect you personality? Have you taken out any jargon?”
“Yes” Jim responded.
A simple and confident answer! I could only assume that he was playing it down a little and had either a) been up all night working on it b) he was nowhere near as prepared as he claimed to be or, most likely c) both.
My confidence about wining our little wager started to wane but received a welcome boost on Sunday when the next update arrived.
Paraphrased a little, Jim told me late on Sunday evening. “What with the 10k in the morning, German F1 at lunch and lazing around in the afternoon, Sunday's work was postponed until late evening. Fortunately a Knocked Up and Austin Powers double bill helped me get some decent computer time in. The first emails went out late this evening.”
Again, as a professional, I was a little concerned. Had he really put enough thought into this? Who and what had he applied for? He wasn’t divulging much information at all.
I was having a morale dilemma now. He is my friend; of course I wanted him to get a job. On the other hand, I was hoping perhaps he made a horrendous mistake in the rush to get his CV out. Perhaps he had accidentally put a link to his Facebook profile which contained a naked picture of himself; maybe he had forgotten to remove the skill stating that he was able to say his ABCs backward in less than five seconds or eat 45 eggs in two minutes (all real examples of CV mistakes I’ve seen!).
It was too late in any case. The wheels were well and truly in motion; he seemed to have made a huge amount of progress since Friday. Dedication can clearly get your along way. Not much I could do now but sit back and wait for the dice to roll.
Would he get any feedback from his applications? Will he be invited to interview? Stay tuned for the next installment...
Reality sank in. It was the morning after the night before. The bet had been made, rules agreed and the challenge was on. On the back of a napkin I find a small contract dictating the rules, and the signatures of all those present the evening before who had placed the bet. There was no way out of it now; this (I was assured) was a legally binding napkin.
Early on a bright and breezy Saturday morning Jim was already on the case – and he was in a jovial mood. The phone rang and woke me up.
“I figure you deserve an update on 'Project Easy Money'. So far it's not looking good...for you. After a ropey start I have already pulled together a CV and covering letter. Admittedly, my confident /arrogant estimate of 20 minutes for each was shot out of the water but it’s results that count in this competition…”
He had even decided to get a jump on the plan for Sunday by doing a little reading and research on the sector, opportunities and openings.
It all seemed too good to be true, so I probed a little further as a good HR/ recruitment professional should do. “So, you’ve written your CV in one morning; Is it tailored towards each of the companies / roles you are going to apply to? How long is it? Does it reflect you personality? Have you taken out any jargon?”
“Yes” Jim responded.
A simple and confident answer! I could only assume that he was playing it down a little and had either a) been up all night working on it b) he was nowhere near as prepared as he claimed to be or, most likely c) both.
My confidence about wining our little wager started to wane but received a welcome boost on Sunday when the next update arrived.
Paraphrased a little, Jim told me late on Sunday evening. “What with the 10k in the morning, German F1 at lunch and lazing around in the afternoon, Sunday's work was postponed until late evening. Fortunately a Knocked Up and Austin Powers double bill helped me get some decent computer time in. The first emails went out late this evening.”
Again, as a professional, I was a little concerned. Had he really put enough thought into this? Who and what had he applied for? He wasn’t divulging much information at all.
I was having a morale dilemma now. He is my friend; of course I wanted him to get a job. On the other hand, I was hoping perhaps he made a horrendous mistake in the rush to get his CV out. Perhaps he had accidentally put a link to his Facebook profile which contained a naked picture of himself; maybe he had forgotten to remove the skill stating that he was able to say his ABCs backward in less than five seconds or eat 45 eggs in two minutes (all real examples of CV mistakes I’ve seen!).
It was too late in any case. The wheels were well and truly in motion; he seemed to have made a huge amount of progress since Friday. Dedication can clearly get your along way. Not much I could do now but sit back and wait for the dice to roll.
Would he get any feedback from his applications? Will he be invited to interview? Stay tuned for the next installment...
Tuesday, 17 June 2008
Office Jargon
Even when you do find that perfect job, there is always one thing that everyone complains about at some point in their career - office jargon. Some of it is so obscure its not clear where it comes from, and in many cases, what it actually means. This article on the BBC describes people's most hated jargon.
Trick Cyclist, Tripoli, Libya
Management speak - don't you just hate it? Emphatically yes, judging by readers' responses to writer Lucy Kellaway's campaign against office jargon (see link). Here, we list 50 of the best, worst examples.
1. "When I worked for Verizon, I found the phrase going forward to be more sinister than annoying. When used by my boss - sorry, "team leader" - it was understood to mean that the topic of conversation was at an end and not be discussed again."
Nima Nassefat, Vancouver, Canada
2. "My employers (top half of FTSE 100) recently informed staff that we are no longer allowed to use the phrase brain storm because it might have negative connotations associated with fits. We must now take idea showers. I think that says it all really."
Anonymous, England
3. At my old company (a US multinational), anyone involved with a particular product was encouraged to be a product evangelist. And software users these days, so we hear, want to be platform atheists so that their computers will run programs from any manufacturer."
Philip Lattimore, Thailand
4. "Incentivise is the one that does it for me."
Karl Thomas, Perth, Scotland
5. "My favourite which I hear from the managers at the bank I work for is let's touch base about that offline. I think it means have a private chat but I am still not sure."
Gemma, Wolverhampton, England
6. "Have you ever heard the term loop back which means go back to an associate and deal with them?"
Scott Reed, Lakeland, Florida, US
7-8. "We used to collect the jargon used in a list and award the person with the most at the end of the year. The winner was a client manager with the classic you can't turn a tanker around with a speed boat change. What? Second was we need a holistic, cradle-to-grave approach, whatever that is."
Turner, Manchester
9. "Until recently I had to suffer working for a manager who used phrases such as the idiotic I've got you in my radar in her speech, letters and e-mails. Once, when I mentioned problems with the phone system, she screamed 'NO! You don't have problems, you have challenges'. At which point I almost lost the will to live."
Stephen Gradwick, Liverpool
10. "You can add challenge to the list. Problems are no longer considered problems, they have morphed into challenges."
Irene MacIntyre, Courtenay, B
11. "Business speak even supersedes itself and does so with silliness, the shorthand for quick win is now low hanging fruit."
Paul, Formby, UK
12. "And looking under the bonnet."
Eve Russell, Edinburgh
13-14. "The business-speak that I abhor is pre-prepare and forward planning. Is there any other kind of preparedness or planning?"
Edward Creswick, Exeter
15-16. "The one that really gets me is pre-plan - there is no such thing. Either you plan or you don't. The new one which has got my goat is conversate, widely used to describe a conversation. I just wish people could learn to 'think outside the box' although when they put us in cubes what do they expect?"
Malcolm, Houston
17. "I work in one of those humble call centres for a bank. Apparently, what we're doing at the moment is sprinkling our magic along the way. It's a call centre, not Hogwarts."
Caroline Garlick, Ayrshire
18. "A pet hate is the utterly pointless expression in this space. So instead of the perfectly adequate 'how can I help?' it's 'how can I help in this space?' Or the classic I heard on Friday, 'How can we help our customers in this space going forward?' I think I may have caught this expression at source, as I've yet to hear it said outside my own working environment. So I'm on a personal crusade to stamp it out before it starts infecting other City institutions. Wish me luck in this space."
Colin, London
19. "The one phrase that inspires a rage in me is from the get-go."
Andy, Herts
20. "'Going forward' is only half the phrase that gets up my nose - all politicians seem to use the phrase go forward together. 'We must... we shall... let us now... go forward together'. It gives me a terrible mental image of the whole country linking arms and goose-stepping in unison, with the politicians out in front doing a straight-armed salute. Is it just me?"
Frances Smith, Toronto, Canada
21. "I am a financial journalist and am on a mission to remove words and phrases such as 360-degree thinking from existence."
Richard, London
22. "The latest that's stuck in my head is we are still optimistic things will feed through the sales and delivery pipeline (ie: we actually haven't sold anything to anyone yet but maybe we will one day)."
Alexander, Southampton
23. "I worked in PR for many years and often heard the most ludicrous phrases uttered by CEOs and marketing managers. One of the best was, we'd better not let the grass grow too long on this one. To this day it still echoes in my ears and I giggle to myself whenever I think about it. I can't help but think insecure business people use such phrases to cover up their inability for proper articulation."
Leon Reilly, Ealing, London
24. "Need to get all my ducks in a row now - before the five-year-olds wake up."
Mark Dixon, Bridgend
25. "Australians have started to use auspice as a verb. Instead of saying, 'under the auspices of...', some people now say things like, it was auspiced by..."
Martin Pooley, Marrickville, Australia
26. "My favourite: we've got our fingers down the throat of the organisation of that nodule. Translation = Er, no, WE sorted out the problems to cover your backside."
Theo de Bray, Kettering, UK
27. "The health service in Wales is filled with managers who use this type of language as a substitute for original thought. At meetings we play health-speak bingo; counting the key words lightens the tedium of meetings - including, most recently, my door is open on this issue. What does that mean?"
Edwin Pottle, Llandudno
28-29. "The business phrase I find most irritating is close of play, which is only slightly worse than actioning something."
Ellie, London
30. "Here in the US we have the cringe-worthy and also in addition. Then there's the ever-eloquent 'where are we at?' So far, I haven't noticed the UK's at the end of the day prefacing much over here; thank heavens for small mercies."
Eithne B, Chicago, US
31. "The expression that drives me nuts is 110%, usually said to express passion/commitment/support by people who are not very good at maths. This has created something of a cliche-inflation, where people are now saying 120%, 200%, or if you are really REALLY committed, 500%. I remember once the then-chancellor Gordon Brown saying he was 101% behind Tony Blair, to which people reacted 'What? Only 101?'"
Ricardo Molina, London, UK
32. "My least favourite business-speak term is not enough bandwidth. When an employee used this term to refuse an additional assignment, I realised I was completely 'out of the loop'."
April, Berkeley, US
33. "I once had a boss who said, 'You can't have your cake and eat it, so you have to step up to the plate and face the music.' It was in that moment I knew I had to resign before somebody got badly hurt by a pencil."
Tim, Durban
34. "Capture your colleagues - make sure everyone attends that risk management workshop (compulsory common sense training for idiots)."
Anglowelsh, UK
35-37. "We too used to have daily paradigm shifts, now we have stakeholders who must come to the party or be left out, or whatever."
Barry Hicks, Cape Town, RSA
38. "I have taken to playing buzzword bingo when in meetings. It certainly makes it more entertaining when I am feeding it back (or should that be cascading) at work."
Ian Everett, Bolton
39. "In my work environment it's all cascading at the moment. What they really mean is to communicate or disseminate information, usually downwards. What they don't seem to appreciate is that it sounds like we're being wee'd on. Which we usually are."
LMD, London
40. "At a large media company where I once worked, the head of human resources - itself a weaselly neologism for personnel - told us that she would be cascading down new information to staff. What she meant was she was going to send them a memo. It was one of the reasons I resigned - that, and the fact that the chief exec persisted on referring to the company as a really cool train set."
Andrew, London
41. "Working for an American corporation, this year's favourite word seems to be granularity, meaning detail. As in 'down to that level of granularity'."
Chris Daniel, Anaco, Venezuela
42. "On the wall of our office we have a large signed certificate, signed by all the senior management team, in which they solemnly promise to leverage their talents, display and inspire 'unyielding integrity', and lots of other pretentious buzz-phrases like that. Clueless, the lot of them."
Chris K, Cheltenham UK
43. "After a reduction in workforce, my university department sent this notice out to confused campus customers: 'Thank you for your note. We are assessing and mitigating immediate impacts, and developing a high-level overview to help frame the conversation with our customers and key stakeholders. We intend to start that process within the week. In the meantime, please continue to raise specific concerns or questions about projects with my office via the Transition Support Center..."
Charles R, Seattle, Washington, US
44. "I was told I'd be living the values from now on by my employers at a conference the other week. Here's some modern language for them - meh. A shame as I strongly believe in much of what my employers aim to do. I refuse to adopt the voluntary sectors' client title of 'service user'. How is someone who won't so much as open the door to me using my service? Another case of using four syllables where one would do."
Upscaled Blue-Sky thinker, Cardiff
45. "Business talk 2.0 is maddening, meaningless, patronising and I despise it."
Doug, London
46. "Lately I've come across the strategic staircase. What on earth is this? I'll tell you; it's office speak for a bit of a plan for the future. It's not moving on but moving up. How strategic can a staircase really be? A lot I suppose, if you want to get to the top without climbing over all your colleagues."
Peter Walters, Cheadle Hulme, UK
47. "When a stock market is down why must we be told it is in negative territory?"
Phil Linehan, Mexico City, Mexico
48. "The particular phrase I love to hate is drill down, which handily can be used either as an adverb/verb combo or as a compound noun, ie: 'the next level drill-down', sometimes even in the same sentence - a nice bit of multi-tasking."
B, London
49. "Thanks for the impactful article; I especially appreciated the level of granularity. A high altitude view often misses the siloed thinking typical of most businesses. Absent any scheme for incentivitising clear speech, however, I'm afraid we're stuck with biz-speak."
Timothy Denton, New York
Trick Cyclist, Tripoli, Libya
Tuesday, 20 May 2008
Tips for Happiness at Work
Following on from yesterdays post regarding leaving your job for a fresh start, I thought it would interesting to consider happiness at work.
You spend the vast majority of your life at work so you need to enjoy it. There are always times when you are going to be a little down, and a few things you would rather be doing; but there are a number of things you should do and remember to ensure you make get the most out of your day. I found this an article on the timesonline that listed things you should be doing when you find yourself a litte down. I have picked out the ones I thought were particularly relevant for me;
Keep things in perspective. “Your work experience is a very big part of your life, but it’s not your whole life,” says Michael Chambers, the managing director of Bacs, the payment processing house. Remind yourself of the positive things in other parts of your life
Do the best you can. “If you know that you have done your job as well as you can, it can give you a sense of wellbeing even if things don’t work out quite as you’d hoped,” Woods says. “Take pride in doing your job well.”
Take a break. If everything is getting too much, get away from the environment that is making you unhappy, Chambers suggests. “Take a moment on your own to go for a walk or ask a colleague to come for a coffee. It will help you to calm down and get a sense of perspective.”
Take control. If something at work is making you unhappy, don’t wait for someone else to solve the problem – fix it yourself. “Take personal responsibility for things that don’t quite work or could be done better,” Woods says. “Managers like proactive people, so you could get a promotion, but at the very least it will improve your own job and help you to be happy.”
For the full article visit here
Monday, 19 May 2008
The Grass is Always Greener?
In the last few weeks a fair few of my friends and colleagues have been thinking of moving jobs and making a fresh start. This is partly spurred on by the Credit Crunch; some of them have been worried about losing their jobs (many are working in Banking), whist others have simply been enjoying the good spring weather and would prefer to be spending more time outside than in an office. Very different reasons for thinking of a career change, however, the same principles apply when trying to find a new job.
1. Make sure you really want to find a new job. People often forget how much hard work and frustration can come in finding a new job. You need to ask yourself what your motivation for leaving is – further your career, more money, status, better working hours, better working environment or to do something passionate about. If you choose the first three then hopefully you already enjoy your current job as wherever you move is only likely to be harder work. If it’s the latter three you need to open your mind as the jobs you would be willing to do. There are always ups and downs in jobs and only to often people leave job when they are in a trough, only to regret it when they do leave and miss the good times. Make sure you aren’t leaving simply because you it not enjoyable at the moment and think of the bigger picture.
2. Have you tried to move internally? If you want to further your career or increase you status then the first point of call should be looking internally. By telling you employer that you want to look for a new role internally you are signalling how ambitious and proactive you are. If you are good at your current job, employers would always to try and move you internally and try and move towards your needs if they can. They have invested a lot of money in you, and replacing you can be a very costly business. If they can’t help you, then that is the time to look externally.
3. If you want a big change, be bold. All too often people decide they want a big change, quit their jobs, take a look around for a new one and find something they would be good at, but end up back a job not that different to what they were doing before and go through the same cycle again. If it is type of work that you don’t enjoy, then make sure when you look for a new job you are bold, think laterally and go for something truly different. But remember, if you do this and apply for different jobs you still need to show that your skills are applicable to the job you are applying. You may well get rejections. Don’t take this as a sign that you can’t do that job; you simply need to find an employer who is willing to take transferable skills. If you do get rejected, find out why and use that feedback to adapt your next application.
4.Don’t run from a job, run to a job. It’s a bit of and old saying, but it rings true. Quitting your job without having anything to go to can be very stressful, particularly if you need the income. It is likely to take longer than you think it might too, so make sure you account for that. If you can put up with your job whilst you look for new ones, make sure you do. If you really can’t stand your job and decide to leave before you have somewhere to go, make sure you don’t waste your time off. It’s all too easy to sit at home, put on the TV and watch episodes of 24 for hours. Be disciplined. Plan your day; search for jobs in the morning, amend your CV to personalise it for each employer before lunch etc. Make sure you speak to friends and family and look through your address book and see if you have names of people you have met in the past that may be able to help. It’s not easy to find a job, it takes effort on your part – if you are disciplined and put in the effort , you will reap the rewards.
1. Make sure you really want to find a new job. People often forget how much hard work and frustration can come in finding a new job. You need to ask yourself what your motivation for leaving is – further your career, more money, status, better working hours, better working environment or to do something passionate about. If you choose the first three then hopefully you already enjoy your current job as wherever you move is only likely to be harder work. If it’s the latter three you need to open your mind as the jobs you would be willing to do. There are always ups and downs in jobs and only to often people leave job when they are in a trough, only to regret it when they do leave and miss the good times. Make sure you aren’t leaving simply because you it not enjoyable at the moment and think of the bigger picture.
2. Have you tried to move internally? If you want to further your career or increase you status then the first point of call should be looking internally. By telling you employer that you want to look for a new role internally you are signalling how ambitious and proactive you are. If you are good at your current job, employers would always to try and move you internally and try and move towards your needs if they can. They have invested a lot of money in you, and replacing you can be a very costly business. If they can’t help you, then that is the time to look externally.
3. If you want a big change, be bold. All too often people decide they want a big change, quit their jobs, take a look around for a new one and find something they would be good at, but end up back a job not that different to what they were doing before and go through the same cycle again. If it is type of work that you don’t enjoy, then make sure when you look for a new job you are bold, think laterally and go for something truly different. But remember, if you do this and apply for different jobs you still need to show that your skills are applicable to the job you are applying. You may well get rejections. Don’t take this as a sign that you can’t do that job; you simply need to find an employer who is willing to take transferable skills. If you do get rejected, find out why and use that feedback to adapt your next application.
4.Don’t run from a job, run to a job. It’s a bit of and old saying, but it rings true. Quitting your job without having anything to go to can be very stressful, particularly if you need the income. It is likely to take longer than you think it might too, so make sure you account for that. If you can put up with your job whilst you look for new ones, make sure you do. If you really can’t stand your job and decide to leave before you have somewhere to go, make sure you don’t waste your time off. It’s all too easy to sit at home, put on the TV and watch episodes of 24 for hours. Be disciplined. Plan your day; search for jobs in the morning, amend your CV to personalise it for each employer before lunch etc. Make sure you speak to friends and family and look through your address book and see if you have names of people you have met in the past that may be able to help. It’s not easy to find a job, it takes effort on your part – if you are disciplined and put in the effort , you will reap the rewards.
Tuesday, 13 November 2007
The perfect ... industry
Don't settle for a job you don't love. Find the perfect industry to stimulate your mind and nurture your talents - and you'll never look back
This article from the guardian careers section sums up the Moles thoughts very well. Always seek advice - why not ask a Mole, someone who really knows what it is like to the job that you want. Network; it really is a great way to find opportunities, particularly as many aren't advertised. Most importantly - it's never too late to change. Life is too short to do a job you hate. You have the power, and the now the tools, the help you change your career.
1. Seek careers advice. “Our career paths are rarely fluke,” says Rebecca Tee, a careers expert objective outsider can help us evaluate those decisions and determine what we want from our working lives.” If you have graduated within the last five years, your university or college careers service is an invaluable source of reference material and information on graduate opportunities as well as job vacancies. Or speak directly to people doing the job you want to do.
2. Start networking. As the chief executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters, Carl Gilleard is a firm believer in the power of networking. “Seek advice from those who are knowledgeable about the industries you’re interested in and make use of any existing networks you have such as peers, friends or via online networking sites, such as http://www.thecareermole.com/. Contact professional bodies as they often employ information officers or training advisers and may have a local branch you can join. Short courses and events like career or trade fairs are also a great way to meet people.”
3. Get some work experience. Work experience won’t make you rich but it will give you an invaluable insight into a working environment. Look for schemes such as those offered at Publicis Blueprint, one of the UK’s leading customer publishing agencies, where mentors are assigned to offer advice and training. “Work experience gives you an idea of what to expect before you commit to full-time employment,” explains Blueprint managing director Alastair Young. “It also shows a level of determination and allows you to develop employability skills that are very desirable to potential employers.”
4. It’s never too late. Embarking on a new career isn’t just for recent graduates. Unexpected events later in life can upset your career progression — don’t view this as a crisis, see it as an opportunity to get the job you always wanted. Similarly, if you’re feeling stagnant, greater opportunities for studying and retraining as an adult should encourage you to take the leap.
The onus is on pinpointing the things you love doing and building those interests into your working life.
This article from the guardian careers section sums up the Moles thoughts very well. Always seek advice - why not ask a Mole, someone who really knows what it is like to the job that you want. Network; it really is a great way to find opportunities, particularly as many aren't advertised. Most importantly - it's never too late to change. Life is too short to do a job you hate. You have the power, and the now the tools, the help you change your career.
1. Seek careers advice. “Our career paths are rarely fluke,” says Rebecca Tee, a careers expert objective outsider can help us evaluate those decisions and determine what we want from our working lives.” If you have graduated within the last five years, your university or college careers service is an invaluable source of reference material and information on graduate opportunities as well as job vacancies. Or speak directly to people doing the job you want to do.
2. Start networking. As the chief executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters, Carl Gilleard is a firm believer in the power of networking. “Seek advice from those who are knowledgeable about the industries you’re interested in and make use of any existing networks you have such as peers, friends or via online networking sites, such as http://www.thecareermole.com/. Contact professional bodies as they often employ information officers or training advisers and may have a local branch you can join. Short courses and events like career or trade fairs are also a great way to meet people.”
3. Get some work experience. Work experience won’t make you rich but it will give you an invaluable insight into a working environment. Look for schemes such as those offered at Publicis Blueprint, one of the UK’s leading customer publishing agencies, where mentors are assigned to offer advice and training. “Work experience gives you an idea of what to expect before you commit to full-time employment,” explains Blueprint managing director Alastair Young. “It also shows a level of determination and allows you to develop employability skills that are very desirable to potential employers.”
4. It’s never too late. Embarking on a new career isn’t just for recent graduates. Unexpected events later in life can upset your career progression — don’t view this as a crisis, see it as an opportunity to get the job you always wanted. Similarly, if you’re feeling stagnant, greater opportunities for studying and retraining as an adult should encourage you to take the leap.
The onus is on pinpointing the things you love doing and building those interests into your working life.
Monday, 12 November 2007
How to ... Be Happy
As it's Monday and you might be feeling a bit down after a great weekend, The Mole thought you might like some advice about staying happy at work. TheCareerMole.com can help you find the right job for you; but once you are there you have to make sure you stay happy. This article from the The Times , provides some helpful tips to keep you going....
Finding a job that you like is clearly important to your workplace happiness, but it isn’t always easy – and even when you do there will still be times that you’re not happy. Obviously the best way to cheer yourself up is to turn Super Trouper up to 11 and dance around the room for five minutes, but if you don't have an Abba-friendly workplace you might like to try these suggestions instead.
1. Keep things in perspective. “Your work experience is a very big part of your life, but it’s not your whole life,” says Michael Chambers, the managing director of Bacs, the payment processing house. Remind yourself of the positive things in other parts of your life.
2. Recognise the possibility of happiness. “We very often fail to recognise the rich sources of pleasure and meaning that are right in front of us at work,” writes Tal Ben-Shahar in Happier (McGraw-Hill, £12.99). “To turn a possibility [for happiness] into a reality, we first need to realise that the possibility exists.”
3. Change your focus. If the daily grind is getting you down, look at the big picture and remind yourself why you took the job – for example, that you share your organisation’s goal of reducing poverty or that gaining experience at this firm will help you to land your dream job. On the flip side, if it’s the big picture that is getting you down – say, you feel that helping your company to get richer isn’t your goal in life – try concentrating on individual tasks that you can do well. Don’t underestimate the satisfaction that can be gained from getting little things done, whether that is finally clearing out your inbox or resolving an irritating administrative problem.
4. Surround yourself with happy people... even if that means making other people happy to do it, says Marc Woods, a motivational speaker. “People react well to you helping them, and being around happy people does rub off.” He also suggests finding a mentor who enjoys his or her job and can offer support dealing with your emotional state as well as with technical issues. And steer clear of moaners: just as positive people will help to keep your mood up, colleagues who spend their days complaining will inevitably bring you down.
5. Accept reality. Look for the opportunities that change will create rather than focusing entirely on the immediate negatives. “I had bone cancer and had a leg amputated at 17,” Woods says. “I could have said ‘woe is me’, but instead I sat down and thought ‘right, this how it is now, what can I do with it?’ (In his case that turned out to include winning four Paralympic gold medals).
6. Do the best you can. “If you know that you have done your job as well as you can, it can give you a sense of wellbeing even if things don’t work out quite as you’d hoped,” Woods says. “Take pride in doing your job well.”
7. Balance. Overwork and stress frequently lead to anxiety and unhappiness. Make sure that you have enough time to yourself for exercise, a social and family life and relaxation, Chambers says. Keeping a balance will also help out in those inevitable times when you are required to work longer or harder than usual.
8. Take a break. If everything is getting too much, get away from the environment that is making you unhappy, Chambers suggests. “Take a moment on your own to go for a walk or ask
9. Take control. If something at work is making you unhappy, don’t wait for someone else to solve the problem – fix it yourself. “Take personal responsibility for things that don’t quite work or could be done better,” Woods says. “Managers like proactive people, so you could get a promotion, but at the very least it will improve your own job and help you to be happy.”
10. Be honest with yourself. Are you unhappy because you are in the wrong job? “Listen to your unhappiness,” Chambers says. “Can you resolve it in the current environment or is it a signal that it’s time to move on?” If you’ve done all you can to improve your mood and you’re still unhappy at work, it’s probably time to find something new. “Many [people]... are enslaved by their jobs, not because they have no choice, but because they have made a choice that made them unhappy,” Dr Ben-Shahar writes.
Finding a job that you like is clearly important to your workplace happiness, but it isn’t always easy – and even when you do there will still be times that you’re not happy. Obviously the best way to cheer yourself up is to turn Super Trouper up to 11 and dance around the room for five minutes, but if you don't have an Abba-friendly workplace you might like to try these suggestions instead.
1. Keep things in perspective. “Your work experience is a very big part of your life, but it’s not your whole life,” says Michael Chambers, the managing director of Bacs, the payment processing house. Remind yourself of the positive things in other parts of your life.
2. Recognise the possibility of happiness. “We very often fail to recognise the rich sources of pleasure and meaning that are right in front of us at work,” writes Tal Ben-Shahar in Happier (McGraw-Hill, £12.99). “To turn a possibility [for happiness] into a reality, we first need to realise that the possibility exists.”
3. Change your focus. If the daily grind is getting you down, look at the big picture and remind yourself why you took the job – for example, that you share your organisation’s goal of reducing poverty or that gaining experience at this firm will help you to land your dream job. On the flip side, if it’s the big picture that is getting you down – say, you feel that helping your company to get richer isn’t your goal in life – try concentrating on individual tasks that you can do well. Don’t underestimate the satisfaction that can be gained from getting little things done, whether that is finally clearing out your inbox or resolving an irritating administrative problem.
4. Surround yourself with happy people... even if that means making other people happy to do it, says Marc Woods, a motivational speaker. “People react well to you helping them, and being around happy people does rub off.” He also suggests finding a mentor who enjoys his or her job and can offer support dealing with your emotional state as well as with technical issues. And steer clear of moaners: just as positive people will help to keep your mood up, colleagues who spend their days complaining will inevitably bring you down.
5. Accept reality. Look for the opportunities that change will create rather than focusing entirely on the immediate negatives. “I had bone cancer and had a leg amputated at 17,” Woods says. “I could have said ‘woe is me’, but instead I sat down and thought ‘right, this how it is now, what can I do with it?’ (In his case that turned out to include winning four Paralympic gold medals).
6. Do the best you can. “If you know that you have done your job as well as you can, it can give you a sense of wellbeing even if things don’t work out quite as you’d hoped,” Woods says. “Take pride in doing your job well.”
7. Balance. Overwork and stress frequently lead to anxiety and unhappiness. Make sure that you have enough time to yourself for exercise, a social and family life and relaxation, Chambers says. Keeping a balance will also help out in those inevitable times when you are required to work longer or harder than usual.
8. Take a break. If everything is getting too much, get away from the environment that is making you unhappy, Chambers suggests. “Take a moment on your own to go for a walk or ask
9. Take control. If something at work is making you unhappy, don’t wait for someone else to solve the problem – fix it yourself. “Take personal responsibility for things that don’t quite work or could be done better,” Woods says. “Managers like proactive people, so you could get a promotion, but at the very least it will improve your own job and help you to be happy.”
10. Be honest with yourself. Are you unhappy because you are in the wrong job? “Listen to your unhappiness,” Chambers says. “Can you resolve it in the current environment or is it a signal that it’s time to move on?” If you’ve done all you can to improve your mood and you’re still unhappy at work, it’s probably time to find something new. “Many [people]... are enslaved by their jobs, not because they have no choice, but because they have made a choice that made them unhappy,” Dr Ben-Shahar writes.
Friday, 9 November 2007
Friday Night Mole - Dance Off Time
Help The Mole warm up for the Friday night out. Throw some shapes and post yours scores to have the dubious honour of becoming our first ever 'Mole Travolta' Friday champion. Oh yes - what an honour, and it could be yours.
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