Here's an experience you could be familiar with, the job hunt. Searching for a job can be both intimidating and exciting, but it often leads to a turning point in your life. Job hunting isn't a term that just means searching, it means you have to be organised, decisive and thorough. Finding careers that are suitable for you can be difficult, but to get a good job, one must be prepared.
The reason to start a job hunt can arise for many different reasons, you may be fresh out of university and looking to start your career. You may be in a current position that is deeply unsatisfying and you have an urge to see what other opportunities exist.
Either way, the approach will be the same. The goal here is to narrow down a number of opportunities and select the one that is most appropriate for how you want to progress and who you want to become.
Many factors weigh into this momentous decision, and it's not just about money. There are three factors you should at least consider, these are:
Get More Money - Including all benefits like salary, overtime, commission, money saving vouchers, bonus etc
Time appreciation - How many hours are you expected to work, when these hours are, is overtime optional or not, how much overtime can the company ask for etc
Get More Job Satisfaction - How fulfilling is the job and does it earn your conviction and excitement.
Of course, there are more considerations to put into this melting pot, like where the job is, housing prices near the place of work etc, but I'll say that the three mentioned above are the prevailing ones.
How do you start a job hunt? Well, it's important to get all of our ducks in order first, this is a task that requires a great deal of organisation and data capture.
An effective job hunt can only be done if your CV and cover letters are themselves, effective. You have hunt down the opportunities and the apply to them with the highest chance of success.
Like with everything, the best missions begin at the planning stage, and that's where we are going to start.
How to Set up for a Job Hunt?
So it begins, you feel an urge to venture out into the employment wilderness and discover a career that you can be proud of. Before we jump into the application process, we need to scan through the opportunities and organise them in a way we can easily compare and contrast.
To do this, I've always been a fan of Excel (or equivalent). All we need to do is tabulate what opportunities we are applying for, and on their associated row we fill in accompanying data to the role.
This way, we can easily keep track of our application for each one, compare advantages, log contact details and feel a sense of being on top of things rather than being buried in our own mess.
I've made a draft template using Excel for this, the link to download is just below! - Change it however you want, this just a template to get you started.
This one document (or excel sheet) will become the control centre for all of your application endeavours, we want it to be your Job Hunt 'Hub'!
The reason for this is if your Job search goes far and wide, it's likely to get awfully full of opportunities. Meaning, you could be tracking up to 10 jobs or more!
For this reason, you should absolutely document them as shown above and add any detail that can make it easier for you. Track your progress on how you are applying for them, where you are in the process, interview details etc.
In an effort to be thorough, we need to be organised, only with the marriage of these two will we be successful in finding the right job for ourselves.
Naturally, job hunting can be stressful, but one main reason it's stressful is the amount of information you need to churn through. By creating a database like this you reduce the weight of stress caused by information overload - it's a winner's technique, use it!
Where Do I Apply for Jobs?
Now this is where the job search will differ depending on who you are and what you want. Many sites in the UK exist, all are rather useful.
Below I will recommend some sites to use when searching for opportunities. However, when you apply to these opportunities, I would often recommend applying directly to the company website rather than through a third party site.
When I go on a job hunt, I use the third party sites to look for the opportunities (which feature all jobs from all companies) then I go directly to the company sites of the opportunities that interest me and apply directly - this is a very valuable tip!
Another thing to note is that some of the sites below will feature associated salaries that claim to be representative, bare in mind that these can be quite inaccurate, but they should provide a close enough approximation of a potential salary for you.
To find out the accurate salary, always talk directly to the company recruiter. You'll often see 'competitive' or 'desirable salary' on a job advertisement, it's only after you apply do you begin to find out a number.
Generally speaking, the best practise is to apply for opportunities directly on the company website and they may link you out to a hiring portal where you can be a bit more organised.
Graduates, Interns and Summer Placements Jobs
If you fit in this group, there are sites you may have heard of that are tailored toward graduate schemes, summer placements and some entry level opportunities that require no experience.
The following is not an exhaustive list, it's just a start to get you going!
Entry Level and Experienced Hire Jobs
For this group, there are many sites that you would have heard of, each have their advantages over eachother. They range from having small amounts (<2 years) to large amounts of experience (5-10+ years)
The following is not an exhaustive list, it's just a start to get you going!
Create the Best CV/Resume Possible
You may have done this stage already, but there's another important factor to consider. You need to tailor your CV/Resume to the specific job you are applying to, same for the cover letter (if necessary)
Although you will have a bundle of opportunities listed, one application will not conquer them all, for this reason you need to specifically apply to each one.
There is a recipe for this, here it is:
Align the Advertisement to the Application
Let's take the first job you want to apply for, go to the application page (the page which caught your interest describing the role/benefits/requirements etc)
Within that page should exist many keywords and sentences that suggest the skills you need for the role, you 100% want to talk about those skills in your CV (if you have them, or any experience/familiarity in them)
Job applications are heavily keyword regulated, meaning, if your application does not contain keywords that link it to the requirements of the job, you have a significantly less chance of getting through the initial recruitment pool filters.
This is more true for big companies who receive crazy amounts of applications, smaller companies are usually more personable and have a less strict requirement to get into the hiring pool.
Find the keywords in the job advertisement and if you don't know the skills they suggest, try to become familiar with them, understand what they may expect of you. This may benefit you in the interview stage.
When to Send your application
Obviously you want to send in your application before the deadline, that's a given. Some companies use a rule which points toward something called "equal consideration".
This is the idea that if you apply before the deadline, your application will get equal consideration whether you applied first or last.
Though this may be true, I will, of course, advise that you apply on the sooner side, rather than later.
The important thing, is that your application is 100% done. So if you are required to submit a CV/Resume and a Cover letter, your application isn't complete until you do them both, so do them both!
When you submit your application, make sure you get some kind of reassurance that it has been received. This should come through in an email, but if not, make sure you contact the recruiter and understand whether your application has been received on their end.
This again, highlights the importance of keeping track of things, you could be applying to many different places all at once. A job search is made far easier by staying on top of things!
How To Choose the Right Job?
Here's the tricky bit, you have in front of you a selection of opportunities. You need to narrow down say...10 jobs to your top 3 - how do you do it?
Well obviously, this is a very subjective portion of this guide, because it ultimately relies on you and your gut feeling.
Although you should consider all of the typical things, your gut feeling about each opportunity should be considered also.
Here are a few things that should be on your consideration list:
Salary?
How many hours per week?
How likely are you to like the job?
Pension scheme (how much can you and the employer contribute?)
Bonus scheme (check whether it's available to you at your seniority level)
Overtime (check whether it's available to you at your seniority level and at what rate)
Travel, how much travel are you expected to do?
How close can you live to work?
What is the wider community like, if it's a new town, do you like the look of it?
Are there any working from home opportunities?
Benefits scheme (cycle to work, discounts, buy holidays, days out etc)
Training scheme, what training opportunities do you get?
Can you see a potential for reasonable progression?
Ethos of the company/sector/product.
Any other reason that impacts you.
These are just a few questions that should run through your mind, they determine and narrow down the best options relative to what you want.
Like I say, these are very 'heady' ways to evaluate which opportunity is best for you. There is something to be said for your gut feeling regarding an opportunity, ultimately I would say it comes down to that (after you evaluate the above questions)
Before you make a decision you should try and gather as much information as possible, if you can, visit the website, ask questions and dig for that information.
How to Ace the Interview Process
For this section, Im going to concentrate almost entirely on the virtual interview (an interview or assessment day being held online, rather that on-site)
This format has gathered popularity over recent years and I very much think it's here to stay. The interview process can vary per employer, but generally speaking they will test the following.
Behavioural Interview - This aspect evaluates how you think as a person, scenario questions, 'explain a time where' sort of thing. It's a very important part of the interview, you want to demonstrate maturity, confidence, conviction, awareness and competence (just to name a few qualities)
Technical Interview - The one that everyone fears, this part of the experience should only test a high level understanding of the relevant content, though some specific positions will dig a bit deeper, especially if the skillset requirement is specialised. Doing well in this could vary from having a familiarity of relevant knowledge to having a proficiency in it (the latter being the safer bet!).
Case Study / Presentation - Again, another fear factor. The presentation is usually required when you are part of a group task in a assessment day, other times you are given a brief before the interview day and then you are meant to present it to the assessors on the day. The case study on the other hand, involves a brief given to you on the day (possibly before) and it's often a situation of "this is the scenario, here are a few possible answers, choose one and explain why".
Now I've spoke about what you should expect, I want to talk about what your assessors will expect, baring in mind we're talking about an online interview.
The typical recommendations for dressing well, being positive and engaging still count, but I want to point your attention to something I call 'the new suit'.
The webcam and microphone you use...really matter, by which I'm talking about their ability to portray you in the best light.
The first impression you make will be provided (in their perspective) through these two pieces of tech. You can imagine how you may come across in a negative light if your microphone sounds like a walkie talkie and your webcam is overly pixilated.
Be sure to really invest in the equipment you have, just like you would a 'new suit'. A good technique I've always used is to buy fancy stuff on amazon, use it for the interview and then figure if I want to return it or keep it!
I personally use a Shure MV7 microphone, which is certainly on the fancy side...but I've used that for interviews before and I feel confident Im coming across well. It's a really fantastic investment if you want a great microphone.
If you would like to check out amazon for some good gear, take a look at their webcams and microphones. You can probably get these on next day delivery! - see our Amazon Prime link if you haven't got a prime account yet, they are running a 30 day free trial at the mo.
I hope something above has resonated with you and made you feel a bit more confident about starting a job hunt. Searching for a good career that suits you is important, always be sure to keep your CV updated and feel proud of it.
If you have any questions for me or other readers, pop them in the comments below. Hit the <3 icon if you enjoyed the post!
Best of luck with your application
Thanks for reading
PutSimply
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