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...

Is it possible to get a job in a week? A friend of mine thought so!

Is it possible to get a job in a week? A friend of mine thought so. We put him to the test to see if he could go from writing a CV to a signed employment contract in just seven days. Can simply being persistent, bold and active get you through companies' recruitment processes more quickly, or will he get beaten by the system? I had a wager on the system winning – not that I doubted his abilities. We will follow the story over the next few weeks and see what he does and what the secret to job hunting might be.

“A job in week? No problem. This is going to be easy!”. Never one to be short of self-belief, Jim had a few gulps of beer and finished off his crisps. “I’ve been out of work for a while, not because I can't get a job, but because I haven't really tried to get a job”. We laughed and retorted "Pah! £100 quid says you can get a job in 7 days!"

Everyone agreed it was about time Jim got a job, even Jim. So sure of his employability, Jim even let us set criteria for the job. A few moments later, it was agreed. He would apply for a job in the charity sector, working at head office in a full time job, paid at least 20k a year in London's Zone 1 - and he wasn’t allowed to use contacts that he already knew. I should add that he had never worked in the charity sector before. Success would be measured by a signed employment contract by 8pm on the following Friday, back in the same pub.

Now, Jim is a talented and smart chap. It wasn’t that we didn’t think he could get a job. We just didn’t believe that the recruitment systems and processes would enable it to happen that quickly. So, the challenge was on.

Can you get a job in week? From writing the CV, finding the jobs, applying, interviewing and then processing the paperwork? The wager was placed, hands shoook, and Jim armed with a brief plan scribbled on the back of a napkin, grinned and announced “This is going to be easy!”... We all laughed again. ... Easy money, surely?

Watch this space for the first installment of Jim's epic challenge.

1 man; 7 days; 1 job offer; £100s on the table.

The Top 10 Job Hunting Mistakes to Avoid...

There are many factors that affect you getting the job that you want (or you think you deserve). Some of these factors are totally out of your control; economic factors, decision making process, timing. It’s really not worth worrying about these things too much, so don’t. Rather, concentrate on getting the things that are in your control perfected. Below you will find a list of the most common mistakes from our experience (some obvious, some not so obvious) that people make which sabotage their job hunting success.

Over the coming weeks we will expand on each of the points below. The aim is not to tell you what you are doing wrong – but to provide you with practical advice, looking into factors such as; the characteristics of different interviewers and how to behave with them; the importance of expressions and language in telephone interviews; using the right body language and how to make networking work for you.

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 résumé to the position
8.Not paying attention/ being empathetic in an interview
9.Not being prepared
10.Not coming across well on the telephone interview

Over the next few blog posts we will go into detail on these points helping you to boost your job hunting success.

Read No.1 Not understanding the character of your interviewer now

Recruiter Speak

If you are looking for a new job, or have got a new job through a recruitment consultant then you may (as in any industry) come across a fair amount of jargon. I thought this article from ere.net would be useful if you ever wondered what a the recruiter really meant.

This list is by no means definitive, but it is a start…any suggestions or additions are greatly encouraged.

• Sourcing (v) Usage: "I sourced your resume and thought that you might be a great fit…" Definition: The entry of keywords onto a job board.
• Exciting (adj.): Usage: "We've got an exciting opportunity currently available…" Definition: An open headcount that needs to be filled as quickly as possible.
• Prescreen (n) Usage: "I'd like to set up a brief, exploratory prescreen." Definition: The conversation by which recruiters ascertain if they can afford the talent in question.
• Visibility (adj.): Usage: "This role has high visibility to all levels of management throughout the organization." Definition: The phrase most often used to describe a position with the smallest margin for error and highest turnover rate in the company.
• Growth (n): Usage: "This position is really a great growth opportunity." Definition: The naturally occurring phenomenon by which workers find fulfillment doing exactly the same job in a different company.
• Ad-hoc (adj.) Usage: "There will also be some ad-hoc projects required." Definition: A catch-all phrase used by corporations to describe the countless hours of manpower invested in activities unrelated to one's job function, generally evoked at the whim of departmental heads.
• Expectations (n) Usage: "What are your expectations for your next position?" Definition: The test commonly used during the screening process to see whether the candidate is capable of reading a job description and changing tense from third- to first-person.
• Stable (adj.) Usage: "It's a very stable business unit." Definition: When the collective tenure of a department's employees preempt any consideration of change or improvement upon the status quo.
• Reinventing (v) Usage: "We've had challenges in the past, but we're reinventing ourselves and our processes." Definition: A commonly used tactic employed by recruiters to explain recent or forthcoming layoffs (see: derecruit, reorganization, shared services, offshoring, outsourcing, et al).
• Competition (n) Usage: "You've got some pretty stiff competition for this position." Definition: A word used by recruiters to preempt disappointment for the candidate by establishing expectations upfront. Alternative definition: A tactic employed to make an extremely undesirable position appear more enticing.
• Team (n) Usage: "We're looking for a team player." Definition: The intangible qualities associated with a candidate who will not make waves and demonstrates the willingness to accept abuse by supervisors and fellow staff.
• DOE (acr.) see also depending on experience.Usage: "I am unable to provide a salary range for the position as it is DOE." Definition: Whereby a company unable to pay market rate for a position compensates by placing the blame on candidate deficiencies.
• Best practices (n): Usage: "We're a best practices organization." Phrase has not yet been defined. See meaning of life, UFOs.
• Work-life balance (phrase): Usage: "We put a real premium on work-life balance." Definition: The ratio of one's time at home to one's time at work. The smaller the ratio, the more likely the employee is paid on an hourly basis.
• Overtime (n) Usage: "There may be some slight overtime involved." Definition: An institution imposed by corporations to increase shareholder value without increasing headcount by maximizing working hours of employee population, up to and including Saturdays, holidays, and seminal life events.
• Feedback (n) Usage: "I'll provide feedback from my hiring manager as soon as I get it." Definition: Generally construed as a one- or two-word answer by which hiring managers summarily reject top candidates.
• Next steps (phrase) Usage: "We'll be in touch regarding next steps." Definition: A phrase used to put off rejecting marginal candidates for as long as possible until an offer is accepted by a more qualified party.
• References (n) Usage: "We're going to begin checking your references." Definition: The process by which a recruiter contacts previous coworkers of a potential hire from a list provided by the candidate in an attempt to bring objectivity to the hiring process.
• Background check (n) Usage: "You're our final candidate, but I can't extend an offer until your background check clears." Definition: A control imposed by corporations in order to slow recruiters' ability to extend an offer for a period of time that perfectly coincides with a candidate's extension and acceptance of other offers. Alternate definition: An industry whose practitioners continue to thrive despite the Internet's abilities to perform the same functionality at a fraction of the cost.
• Benefits (n) Usage: "We are proud to offer a comprehensive, competitive benefits package to all employees." Definition: A tactic used by corporations to attract full-time employees and entice temporary ones into menial labor.
• Offer letter (n) Usage: "Congratulations on joining our team. I'm sending over an offer letter that contains all the information you're going to need." Definition: A document or set of documents that contains all information relevant to one's employment with a company, denoting the last communication between recruiter and candidate until the candidate becomes eligible for transfer consideration.

Is the Credit Crunch putting your job at risk?

As the credit crunch continues, people have been asking me what I thought it would mean for the recruitment market, in particular the impact on their own job hunt. As ever, this is a tough question that will differ between sectors and job types. As uncertainty about the state of the financial markets persists it will of course translate to uncertainty in the recruitment market. I think I can however, make some general comments on where we see recruitment market going.

At times like these, firms tend to baton down the hatches and even go as far as recruitment freezes. Often this is simply to provide it’s shareholders with the confidence that they are looking to reduce their costs at a time where revenues may be down. Note the redundancies in the financial sector – Citi, Merrills, Morgan Stanley and even Goldmans are laying people off. One thing is clear though, forward looking companies will not want to stop recruiting for too long. Hiring may reduce, but it is certainly not going to go down to zero. Specific sectors in the financial markets are still hiring; people who have been layed off are finding new jobs. Not only will their be positions to fill in the short term, whenever we come out of this downturn (and will come out of it eventually), companies need to have the right skills and numbers of good people to be able to cope with any upturn in business. Rarely is a recruitment freeze the answer to cost cutting – coming out from a downturn like this and retaining and strengthening skills can provide a great competitive advantage. Right now employers may be looking for people with skills in strategic in cost cutting and efficiency gains, that can help organisation become leaner when they most need it.

I think it is fair to say that we are going to seeing more candidates chasing fewer jobs. To be competitive you need to give yourself the best start by preparing as much as possible, network, meet people working at the company and differentiate yourself from the competition. Employers have a different challenge – they must filter even more candidate applications before they find the right candidate. With extra focus on costs, now is not the time to make hire the wrong person. If you’re an employee of one of these hiring companies I’m sure you’ll see the internal ‘employee referral scheme’ being promoted, which that if your participate and refer the right candidate you can earn a little extra from the employee referral reward. Direct-hire strategies like referral schemes are an employers most valuable weapon delivering high quality, pre-screened candidates to the interview process at a greatly reduced cost compared to traditional recruitment methods.

Companies regard their people as their most important asset. Never has this been more true. It is the one thing that will truly provide a competitive advantage. I hope that the current uncertainty is not made worse by pessimistic reports that could see the impact of the credit crunch spread out from the financial markets and prolong this blip any more than is necessary. Employers must not loose sight of their longer term strategic goals when reviewing their current agenda. There are certainly going to be jobs out there, and if you are a good candidate there will still be opportunities

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.

The Mole has been working out!

The Mole has been working out over the cold winter months! The Mole has built up a sweat making sure that TheCareerMole provides you with everything you need to further your career & your business prospects. The site has only been live a few days and already we have seen a huge surge in users.

Please take a look around the site and let The Mole know what you think. Are there any features you would like to see or anything you think would benefit from being changed? What do you think of the networking functionality? Get on the site and expand your business network; You never know when someone in you network will come in handy. The Mole does his best, but sometimes finds it difficult to use the computer because of his poor eyesight and his paddle like front paws - there is always room for improvement so let The Mole know.

Even though The Mole struggles with the keyboard, he is actively going to posting each day. The blog will feature any recruiting/ business news you may be interested in, updates on how TheCareerMole is getting along, interesting Mole facts and lets face it, life isn’t just about work, so The Mole may even throw in some stuff that will keep you amused in any downtime.

Please feel free to send The Mole any amusing Mole facts (any type of Mole), pictures, stories etc that you come across. Check out this Naked Mole Rat – enough said.

Why don't you check out the below.
Mole Network: Develop relationships with some of the world’s best professionals. Invite your friends, colleagues or invite new people directly to your network.
Endorsements: Leave endorsements for people in your network which will be published on the site
Meet Our Moles: Read what others do in their day to day job, find out who is in their networks
Job Hunters: If you are looking for a job, why not contact a Mole who can provide you first hand information of what it is like to work in their company and ultimetly can help you get that dream job.

Register and start benefiting from TheCareerMole network!

Enjoy
The Mole


… Everyone’s unfair advantage