Getting a new job

[Strontium Dog]

I've finally had it up to here ^ with my current job, so I'm now actively on the lookout for a new one.

Trouble is, I haven't much of an idea of how to get one. The one I'm doing now I applied for through a newspaper ad; the one before that started off as 6 months journalism work experience before they took me on a contract; and my first job was at the JobCentre that I'd been signing on at for 6 months.

I figure I ought to be trawling websites and/or touting myself round recruitment agencies, so the question is: which sites and agencies should I be looking at using? Or should I be looking at other avenues I haven't thought of yet?

I'm not specifically trained for anything, I just have the usual shit that everyone else has (10 GCSEs/4 A-Levels/Degree) and about 8 years of work history, so I'm really open to just about any kind of work, so long as it is the complete opposite of what I am doing now i.e. a job that doesn't insult my intelligence on a daily basis, rewards me for being head and shoulders above my peers and pays me more than £16k a year.

Cheers folks!

[Section_31]

Got to admit I've never had much luck with the old jobsites, but I reckon the best jobs to go for are the ones that say 'call for an informal chat' about the job, if you can sell yourself well at that stage (most people can't) you've got an advantage before you even e-mail them a CV.

If I was in your boat I'd either try and carry my degree forward by specialising with a post-grad and do something I wanted to do, or pick a company and approach them directly.

Saw some stats once which said something like 70% of jobs aren't advertised, you headhunt them motherfuckers instead of the other way around.

[longballs]

First thing is to make sure your CV is up to date and well set out. Spend a lot of time on it.

The only experience I have had with agencies is friends that seem to have no problem getting crap / temp jobs via them but I wouldn't call them careers. The places you upload your cv to online generally cause you to receive dozens of spam messages and phone calls. I subscribed to one place and stated I wanted to work in the North West; I got loads of calls every week about jobs in London.

I would say sort the cv out and write some spec letters to places that you would like to work.

[Anny Road]

Some off the jobs I have had required you to be of graduate level. Not one however asked for a copy of my degree certificate. Invent yourself some qualifications.

[Remmie]

Recruitment companies do all the work for you

[Elmyn Noos]

Originally Posted by Remmie

Recruitment companies do all the work for you

is true, but mostly they do it badly for you. If you want a job doing worse than you could fuck it up yourself, get yourself registered with a high street recruitment firm.

The advice on here is good. If you have the nads and a bit of initiative, direct approaches to companies often work the best. Failing that, have a think about what you'd like to do by looking on the job boards,etc and either picking up a fancy for something, or at least rule some stuff out.

Have a think about some aspects of what you've done before that you enjoyed doing, and look for something that has that in it. At £16k you're not really pricing yourself out of much. What about a job with some trianing or support towards a professional qualification? That way, even when it gets dull, and all jobs do, you'll at least be working towards something that should pay dividends later down the line?

[sh#t waffle]

I find the guardian website to be the best. The other online ones (Monster etc) really annoy me as you apply for what sounds like an ok job, only to receive a call from a recruitment agency just looking to boost their numbers. There seem to be more actual jobs on the guardian and less agencies pretending to have jobs.

[Elmyn Noos]

Originally Posted by sh#t waffle

I find the guardian website to be the best. The other online ones (Monster etc) really annoy me as you apply for what sounds like an ok job, only to receive a call from a recruitment agency just looking to boost their numbers. There seem to be more actual jobs on the guardian and less agencies pretending to have jobs.

Whatever you do, do not post your CV onto a website, particularly Monster. Employers can rarely be arsed to sift through them, and all you get is bombarded by calls from agencies, like sh#t waffle says, looking to add you to their database.

[Redder Lurtz]

Originally Posted by sh#t waffle

I find the guardian website to be the best. The other online ones (Monster etc) really annoy me as you apply for what sounds like an ok job, only to receive a call from a recruitment agency just looking to boost their numbers. There seem to be more actual jobs on the guardian and less agencies pretending to have jobs.

Amen to that. I had nothing but utter shit from Monster when I was looking for a new job. I spent fucking hours on their pain in the arse site, meticulously updating my details, salary requirements, skillsets and all they did was email me a load of shite every day. Give them a wide swerve.

[Elmyn Noos]

Originally Posted by Redder Lurtz

Amen to that. I had nothing but utter shit from Monster when I was looking for a new job. I spent fucking hours on their pain in the arse site, meticulously updating my details, salary requirements, skillsets and all they did was email me a load of shite every day. Give them a wide swerve.

Most agencies have signed up to it because it is massive. The recruiters can set up a search so that they get daily emails on people new to posting their CVs on. It's then an agency bunfight to get the "candidate" registered. It rarely results in anyone getting a job out of it. On the rare occasions in my agency days I registered a monster candidate, it was mainly to tap them up for leads.

[Boo Boo]

Keep your eye on the job centre website. Most of the jobs on there are direct from the employer. As others have said recruitment agencies (Monster et al) are a waste of time who'll tout you for shit jobs you don't want to do just to hit their targets and get commission.

Most of the jobs I've applied for are either found in the echo or by going direct to company websites and looking for vacancies on there.

[Anny Road]

If there is a small employer that you fancy working for you would be amazed how a knock on the door or a phone call to the right person can get you in.
The cost of advertising and the ball ache of interviewing loads of nobheads is a thing most small companies wish to avoid at all costs. Plus the initiative it takes to get off your arse and canvass for work will be enought to get you a job with some employers.
A mate of mine once got a job as a regional sales director by sending a mobile to a bloke and then ringing him on it and asking for the job.
Ok this may work in a job like sales but be creative. You never know.

[Bourbon]

Noos is on it and avoid putting your CV up - whoring it will only malke you look desperate.

If your really struggling for a strategy and support, ring a local college and book in to see a qualified Adult Careers Advisor - they're usually free and worth an hour's chat. They can help restrucure your CV and bring out skills/interests that you didn't know you had.

With the CV, lead off with your Key Achievements and Key Skills ie when you were of specific asset to a business and what the results were ie a 40% upturn in profit due to a project you implemented or executed etc Point out the packages and systems you know upfront as well - any chance to save cash and time on training will always appeal to them.

Try and go direct, it saves them a rec fee - and that's coming from a recruiter - the 3/4k fee could easily go onto your starting price.

The first thing they look for is a proven value to a business and that your aware of it.

Give them a clear and bold sign that you are experienced in making a business more profitable over time - that way your an investment etc

Most CVs drone on regurtitating their job specs - if its related to the ones they are applying to, then the title does it for you - spend time talking about skills gained, initiative and what results, literally the figures, were.

If you do use an agency, make sure on the phone they have suitable jobs on - otherwise you will likely spend 90 mins registering and get nothing back.

Good luck!

[Section_31]

^^ Some top advice there mate but can't agree on the careers advisor stuff, I've genuinely never met one worthy of the name.

"So what kind of careers are you interested in then?"

"I don't know that's why I'm here you UBER-fuck!"

"Well try this commputer test it'll tell you what kind of jobs you'll like!"

Cue a print off which says things like "journalist, teacher, police officer, firefighter, lawyer, scientist, accountant and librarian."

Well thanks for that, I'd genuinely never thought of any of those what with them being so obscure and all.

In fact I once seriously considered doing it for a living, they start on 19k and let's face it, how fucking hard can it be?

[Nick Leeson]

If you know what kind of role you are aiming for then just find out which companies operate in that field and then call them all up and ask if you could deliver a copy of your CV and ask to be kept on file. They'll jump at it rather than having to pay a recruitment fee or even a referral fee to a current employer. Recuitment agencies are robbing bastards, aren't they Noos? Some of the ones who we had come to us wanted 40% of the first years salary as their agency fee which was on average about 10k.

As has been stated before, make your CV fucking ace, in every detail possible. Get it printed off on nice textured paper, printed in colour, maybe even put a picture of yourself on it or some kind of artistic background. Whoever is actually recruiting might have 50 CVs to go through, unless he's completely abnormal he'll read 10 of them at most, so make sure yours stands out in some way. It has to get itself out of the pile by any means it can. Spend around 2 days for every year it's been since you last updated it, updating it. If you've updated it within the last 3 years spend up to a week working out what to put in it and writing it, reading it then rewriting it.

The first battle's is getting your CV looked at, the second is making sure they read it to the end so if you're going for an office job then don't mention your time as a bus driver, even if you did learn people skills because they'll think you're a tit and throw it back in the pile. First battle won for fuck all!

If you have limited work experience then focus on your achievements, trust and responsibility that has been given to you and anything exceptional you ever managed. This doesn't include making a roast dinner all by yourself(yes I have had that given to me on a CV). Remember that a CV is a representation of yourself so you can embelish it and make them actually want you to come in in for an interview. We've created positions in the past for people who had good CVs because we really wanted to see them based on how impressive their CV was.

If you get as far as the interview then post back on here take it from there. If you don't, don't lost heart and keep on trying; it might just be bad luck.

Finally, If you find that a company is recruiting but didn't offer you an interview ask them for feedback on your CV and make possible amendments based on that but don't go overboard as you have to remember you asked them for a reason so they may have just plucked one out of their arse. Just take their feedback into consideration.

[DJLJ]

Did you know there is an EU standard CV? No, then now you do.

EU CV Format

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