Diary of a Job Seeker

At the end of last year I resigned from my job; I’d been a recruitment agent for close to 10 years and I felt it was time and appropriate to try my hand on the other side of the fence.   I embarked on a social media campaign to make the transition into an in-house recruitment role.  Having been an active blogger for a few years and coupled with my inability to be self-effacing, I set out to let the world know about my job search by writing a diary of a job seeker.  I feel it is now pertinent to re-visit this diary and provide an update.

Day One

I have spent the last few days asking myself numerous questions to fully understand what I want to do next.  I looked at why I was not fulfilled in my last role; what I had hoped it would be; what I enjoyed about all of my roles to date and many other questions. 

I realised I don’t want to go back into agency recruitment.  I enjoyed my time being a self-employed agency recruiter, however, one of the reasons I chose to move on in the first place is that I am a firm believer there is a smarter way of recruiting.  It is this way of recruiting I want to explore with a move into in-house recruitment.

So my job search starts here;  I started writing, re-writing and re-writing once again my CV.  I feel my experience would be very relevant to an in-house function, the key for me is to be able to highlight this in my CV.  I have also updated my LinkedIn profile to ensure there is a uniformed approach to clearly show what I am looking for.  The key is to load your CV and profile with key words so that when someone is searching your profile is far more likely to be higher up in the search results.

I do not intend to go out to thousands of agents to find me a role, as quite frankly as an experienced agent I feel I can do a better job of it myself!  I am in a fortunate position whereby my network is mainly within the sector that would employ me, namely HR.  So my next step is to go to this network and ask for help, referrals and opportunities.

Day Two

My job hunting continues, but it is certainly gathering real pace.  The support from my network has been overwhelming; I have been given numerous details of opportunities and phone numbers for hiring managers.   Of course I am in the fortunate position as an ex-HR recruiter that I have a number of people to call upon.  However, for all you know your best friend’s sister may be recruiting for a role of interest to you, so make sure you go out and ask.  I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the response.

The key I feel in these situations is to not just ask for whether they are recruiting for roles, but actively seek their advice.  The more 3rd party opinions you can get on your job hunt the better.  It will give you a far clearer idea of what you want and will help highlight how your experience can be viewed by different people.  I had a really good conversation with a very experienced recruiter this week, which really helped focus my CV to highlight the key points. 

The final point is that job hunting is truly a full time occupation (this was part of the reason I resigned prior to finding a role)!  Of course many of you will not be able to be in such a position, so it is vital you allow time to reach out to people.  The harsh reality is that this may have to be a weekend day, or take a day’s leave.  If you are only job seeking at the end of each working day, the chances are you will be far too tired to do this properly or for long enough.

Day Three

I am delighted to say I have 2 interviews organised and I am rather hopeful of a few more to come.

Before I received these interview requests I did receive my first decline.  I have to give full credit to the organisation that did so – despite the fact they have made a dreadful error of judgement! – as not only did I receive an email to notify me how long it would take to receive feedback, but I then actually did receive feedback! 

I received this rejection email minutes after saying to someone that I was really quite confident about my search.  Needless to say this was a bit of a kick in the teeth.  In hindsight I knew that if I were recruiting for the role I would find it difficult to put me through due to a lack of experience in the field, so in some way this was no great surprise.  The key for me here was to compose myself and not take the decision personally.  I would sincerely doubt (and hope) that the decision wasn’t made after the hiring manager looked at my application and said “that Ed Scrivener is a right pain in the wotzits, I’m not taking him forward.”  Far more likely they will have looked at my CV and application answers and seen that I did not match all the criteria.  Whilst my initial reaction to the rejection was disappointment, I very much heeded my own words and didn’t take the decision personally.  Within a short period of time I was back in a confident mood and looking forward to my search. 

Despite all this, I have 2 interviews to look forward to…

Day Four

I have always been an advocate that it is better to regret something you have done rather than something you haven’t, but I am definitely not regretting resigning.  I am pleased to say I have secured more interviews and presently have 5 to attend with more on the way.  All of these have come via my own networking and this truly goes to show the power of your own network.

I have had a number of conversations with companies recently which are looking to release roles at some point in the future.  They may come to nothing, but it’s the old adage you have to be in it to win it!

This week has seen the start of the aforementioned interviews and I was determined to ensure I practiced what I preach when it comes to preparing to interview.  I have done all the hard work of getting in front of the hiring manager and I don’t want to blow it by not preparing!

Day Five                                             

I am interviewing with 8 companies over the next few weeks and so I am very confident that I will find an interesting role in the near future.  I’ve had a number of people comment about the timing of my search, as they felt I couldn’t have chosen a worse time.  The job market in December is never buoyant, however, one fact that is often overlooked is that organisations ramp up recruitment in the first two quarters of the year; many organisations look to appoint to their resourcing teams in December/January in order to be organised in time for the surge in activity.  Whilst my number of interviews is extremely encouraging, it is also a trend of the market and not just a reflection on how great I am!

Day Six

So this likely to be my penultimate entry; the reason being is that I have accepted and start a new role tomorrow!  I shall be working as a Resourcing Project Manager and I am delighted by the mix of transactional recruitment and project work.

The role is initially a short term contract and I see a number of benefits to accepting the role.  The contract will allow me to build experience within an in-house function and importantly it will allow me to continue to look at longer term opportunities.  This is a perfect solution for me as it doesn’t impact upon the roles I am already looking at, but provides me with additional security.

Translating this to broader job seekers it is important not to overlook short term opportunities (clearly if you’re in a permanent position it is unlikely you will consider one) as there can be a number of benefits.  As in my case it provides experience within a new sector, which will reflect well on your CV.  It may lead to other opportunities within the organisation once you’ve shown your ability.

Day Seven

My short term contract proved to be an excellent experience and was longer than expected as I received a significant contract extension.  The role gave me wonderful exposure to leading an in-house function within a competitive market.  I thoroughly enjoyed the role, but I am pleased to say I have now secured a long term contract as the Recruitment Manager for a well-known law firm and I am hugely excited by the remit as it plays to my strengths, but will also help me develop a number of new skills. 

Once again my network came up trumps with this role to make me aware of the opportunity.  However, I do need to eat some humble pie as I secured the role via an agency, so it does go to show you need a balanced approach to job hunting.  I also spent hours preparing for the interviews.  I was very interested prior to the 1^st interview and I knew I really wanted the role come the 2^ndand I wanted to make sure I did everything I could to get the job.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me through my search, you’ve helped me reach a very fruitful conclusion.  Good luck to any of you that are embarking on a search of your own, I do hope this will have been of help to you.

Tips for a job seeker:

• Question yourself, write down your thoughts, and ask friends/colleagues about your strengths and what you enjoy to ensure you are targeting the right role.
• Get your CV in order.  A CV is simply a sales tool to get you an interview.  Make sure the content is relevant to the job in question and preferably submit a bespoke CV for every application.
• If you haven’t already got a LinkedIn profile then get one as it is vital to helping find employment.
• Fill your CV and social media profiles with key words to ensure you can be found by recruiters conducting searches.
• Carefully decide which recruitment agencies you want to use.  If you’re not sure ask for recommendations.
• Ask your network for help.  My experience has been people are always keen to help.
• Be happy to help your network too!
• Give yourself time to reach out to people.
• Whether you’re searching for roles whilst employed or unemployed try and time your search with a busy period in the job market.  You may be up against more competition, but there will be more roles to choose from.
• Ask advice from experts within your field as to when the busy periods are; it may not be that obvious; if you plan to look in these busy periods it is likely you will be better prepared than your competition!
• Unless you are very lucky you will definitely receive a rejection at some point, so be prepared for it, the decision to reject you was not a personal decision.  Review the job description/advert again, were you truly a good fit for the role?
• Be positive! Onwards and upwards is the way to be and those interviews could be round the corner too!
• Don’t forget to prepare for interview! You only get one chance, so don’t intentionally jeopardise your chances!
• Read your CV and the job description; read them again; and again; and again...
• Research the company.  Look at the news section to gauge performance; read the careers page for any insight into the culture; review the company page on LinkedIn to find if you know anyone that works there and ask them questions to help you prepare.
• Research the interviewer to see if you have anything in common; a decision to hire you is more likely to be made on a gut instinct, so building rapport is essential.
• Prepare questions ahead of the interview; don’t be afraid to write these down and bring them to the interview.
• If you prepare properly you are far less likely to be nervous; the old adage fail to prepare, prepare to fail is very true!
• In the words of the late, great Clive Dunn... “Don’t panic!”
• Consider all roles on an individual basis, there may be unique benefits with some roles.
• Don’t rule out short term contracts if you’re immediately available. You may want more security and not want to go through another job search in a few months, but it could yield hidden dividends.

Ed Scrivener

Has this inspired you to discuss HR?  Leave your comments here.

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Career Development for the Over 60s

Welcome to Discuss HR, the HR blog written by Human Resources UK. 

The new format of Discuss HR is well and truly up and running and you should be getting the gist of things.  Following on from her previous post “Stress and the HR Professional” we welcome back Wendy Mason who looks at how the over 60s can still develop their careers. (Ed Scrivener)

Career Development for the Over 60s

First I have to admit to a personal interest here; I am well over sixty.  Second, I have to make a confession; I still don’t really know what I want to do when I grow up.

David Willetts, the higher education minister, has spoken recently about encouraging older people take up degree courses. Quite a lot of over 60s take up degree courses already of course – in 2011/12, nearly 2,000 started a first degree.  Most of them were with the Open University with “The Arts Past and Present” being the most popular course, apparently.

               

But a history of art course is not what Mr Willets (who was known as “Two Brains” to my generation of Civil Servants) has in mind. No, what dear old David wants us to do is to “train”, so that we can cope with the pressures we will face as we work “well into our sixties”.  His comments follow a government report which has found that the country’s future economic success will depend on the skills and contributions of older workers. One in four people will be older than 65 by 2033.

So we are asked to abandon our studies in art, history, classical studies, English, philosophy, music and religious studies etc and concentrate instead on the skills that will be required at work in 2020. 

Dare I say it, I think the very intelligent Mr Willetts is starting in the wrong place. Based on my own experience, it isn’t what happens after 60 that matters so much as what happens in the years up to 60. 

I’ve had an extremely lucky career. Many moons ago, I joined a sector that was by its very nature conservative; the Civil Service. But it was also, at that time, one of the most enlightened with regard to equality of opportunity.  Let us not be naïve here.  I am not claiming that the organization I joined, the massive Department of Health and Social Security, did not reflect the prejudices of the age.  But the Civil Service was, and remains, committed to open competition. Once in, there was very little I could not compete for, after a period of time. I was not always on completely equal terms. but not usually that far off either.

So, being the gritty, determined “Midlander” that I am, I tried to talk my way into the famous “fast stream” of the Civil Service.  Note, that I had a nursing qualification rather than the conventional degree.  I was in the Fast Stream at about the same time as David, although there was a significant age gap between us. I think I came as something of a challenge to some of my peers but it shows you what could be done, even then.

Towards the end of my Civil Service career, the climate of equality and opportunity definitely outshone anything I’ve encountered since I left.  And that includes how they treated people of a certain age. Even in my late fifties, I still felt encouraged to develop, train and aspire. I received my last promotion, changed roles and changed departments at the age of 57 and it wasn’t considered odd.

So when I chose to leave at 60 – note the words “chose to leave” – it was quite natural to think in terms of what next and a new career. No, I did not commit to three or four years in University but I did do some further training and set off with confidence in to work in the private sector.

I’m pretty sure I would not have done so, without the encouragement I had had from my employer in the years up to 60.  They had not excluded me, made me feel too old or shown they felt I was unworthy their investment. My knowledge, experience and willingness to learn were respected and my personal development was encouraged.  All that meant that at 60 plus, I continued to see work-related learning as still relevant to me.

Looking round now I believe I was very, very lucky. I wish more people in the years up to 60 had their confidence boosted in the same way that I did.  Perhaps then they would be much more willing to take up the challenge that David Willetts has set them.

Read about Wendy and our other authors here

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Discuss HR is the HR blog written by members of Human Resources UK, the 10,000 member strong LinkedIn group dedicated to the HR professionals in the UK.  Discuss HR is published twice weekly and looks to take an insightful, informative and sometimes irreverent view on the world of HR – all with the purpose of generating a discussion.

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If you would like to be a guest writer for Discuss HR, you can find more information here.  Our next guest writer week is the week commencing 29^th April.

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A statistic, a reminder

Welcome to Discuss HR, the HR blog written by Human Resources UK. 

The final Discuss HR of the week is by my fellow Gloucestershire resident and experienced HR Consultant John Hepworth, who has written some of our most read posts ever!  I think this one could be up there with them... (Ed Scrivener)

A statistic, a reminder

Recent media reports have highlighted that unemployment amongst ‘young people’ in Spain now stands at 55%. I assume that the demographic relates to those just leaving education or higher education. This means, then, that a larger proportion of 18-24 year olds will have their first taste of the so-called ‘adult world’ as a statistic – no job, no prospects.

Back to the U.K. The latest unemployment figures showed a decline: welcomed and also cynically challenged by a few [“Look at the number of people who want to work more hours, but cannot – that has increased!”]. Yet, here again, there has been a slight increase in youth unemployment – the wonderful acronym NEATs [that is, I think this is correct – I am away from Internet access currently so cannot check. The leads to another blog at some stage, featuring a recent ‘South Park’ storyline, but more of that at a later date...].

Look back to the 1980s. Thatcher’s Britain and UB40 – both in terms of the unemployment form and the reggae-influenced band singing about being “A one in 10...a number on a list...as though I don’t exist”. Is it any wonder that the band UB40 named their first album ‘Signing off’, as their musical success had allowed them to stop claiming ‘the dole’?

And finally, returning to the news reports, the last known miner from the ‘Jarrow Crusade’ has passed away. Part of the Great Depression of the 1930s in the U.K. the Crusade was a visible demonstration of how poverty, lack of work prospects and yet, a dogged determination to succeed and prosper without ‘handouts’, could shape and influence policy and Government attitudes. And above all, the visible demonstration – literally and descriptively – showed the World that there were people at all levels of society ready to say ‘no’ to poverty and take action to change the script.

I am acutely aware that business in the U.K. is tough for most at the moment. Cost of living is relatively static and the key reason that employment has fallen is that pay has been stagnant: people are cheaper to employ, yet that in turn means less money being spent to encourage buying of goods and services for example. We all know the script here. Surely, though, our society has allowed itself to make the same mistakes as the past, especially when it comes to youth unemployment?

Consider this. In the 1980s, it was common for generations of families to be unemployed. This led to a lifestyle that was benefit-dependent, compounded by the complete failure of Government to provide alternative work, or more to the point perhaps, the means to acquire alternative work. Think of Norman Tebbitt and his ‘on yer bike’ quote to get work? I personally agree with the sentiment, but how exactly did Norman or successive Government improve our transport infra-structure in order to help people – optimised by the Jarrow marchers perhaps – get to the work they desired? Remember as well the simply pathetic efforts of Government since the mid-1980s to provide employers and employees / potential employees with access to understandable, focused and competently delivered training and funding. Which new initiative is it this week?!

Time to change the script. To start, private sector employers need to think about investment and training in their society as well as in their profits. As HR practioners, let’s help the CEOs provide 3-6 month paid internments that provide skills, so that recipients can at least point to some ‘relevant experience’ on their CVs. Second – let’s help line managers by recruiting for attitude as much as skills and ensure that we keep our short-listing criteria up-beat and positive, and not lazy by pointing to qualifications and experience as a guillotine. Thirdly, connect with education and ensure that if Twitter is the lifeblood of a certain age group, we encourage our companies to use it and benefit from it. Get savvy with the IT and trash the Social Media Policy and Procedure! Next, value customer service above all else – and recognise that this includes ensuring that bar work and cafe work is probably far more useful than nothing at all. We all remember the last bad meal out we had – and that was usually down to the service – so celebrate good service as consumers at the time that you see it.

And finally, remember that research shows definitively that unemployment in early adulthood significantly alters how those affected relate to society in later life – and it is in the negative. So, the next time you hear someone say of a young graduate or GCSE student that they are ‘over-qualified’ or ‘lack experience’, remember the Spanish youth of today. And do your bit to change the script.

Read about John and our other authors here

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Discuss HR is the HR blog written by members of Human Resources UK, the 10,000 member strong LinkedIn group dedicated to the HR professionals in the UK.  Discuss HR is published twice weekly and looks to take an insightful, informative and sometimes irreverent view on the world of HR – all with the purpose of generating a discussion.

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If you would like to be a guest writer for Discuss HR, you can find more information here.  Our next guest writer week is the week commencing 29^th April.

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Is volunteering the Milli Vanili of job experience?

Welcome to this week’s Discuss HR, the HR blog written for and by members of Human Resources UK.

I am delighted to welcome this week our latest guest writer Susan Mburu.  Susan is new to blogging but on the strength of this post I’m sure you’ll all agree with me that she should pursue this further!  (Ed Scrivener)

Is volunteering the Milli Vanili of job experience?

Anyone who was alive in the 80s and early 90s remembers the scandal that was the German pop group, Milli Vanilli when it was revealed that the music that had launched them into fame and won them a grammy was not actually theirs. It was discovered that for the length of their very successful career, Milli Vanilli had been lip synching. The media backlash and fan fall out was immensely loud everywhere you looked.

Perhaps equating anything to that is a tad severe but hear me out.

In my role, I deal with volunteers a lot of the time. Sometimes it is older volunteers who are retired and seeking to give back to the society, but more and more the volunteers are younger individuals 'in between jobs' or looking for first time roles after education, either college, university or in some instances their GSCE's.

On many occasions, I have encountered articles advising young job seekers to be more responsible with the time they use to look for work. This is in relation to having large chunks of unaccounted for time on your CV. A lot of these articles suggest the same thing to ensure these chunks of time are limited: If you can afford it, volunteer.

The recession has made it so that we have many equally qualified individuals seeking out the same roles and it is only safe to deduce that considering the numbers, some job seekers will have to wait a while before they find the role they want to fill. As a result young people seeking first time roles in specific fields are opting to volunteer. Volunteering affords the candidate a chance to gain some hands on experience and keep busy while they seek out paying work.

Another demographic pushed into voluntary roles to gain experience are non-graduates. A CIPD unemployment report shows that six in ten companies do not have routes into their organization for non-graduates.

Granted, voluntary work is will not always be a viable option for young jobseekers and others either have to take up work they are not particularly interested in or compliment volunteering with a part time job to pay their bills.

I am an ardent believer in gaining experience whichever way you can in order to get the opportunities but how truly helpful is voluntary experience? I will note that this question is not posed in reference to random volunteer experiences but rather volunteer jobs directly in line with the role the job seeker is seeking to find e.g. a volunteer project manager in the third sector for someone seeking a paying project management role.

Given two individuals who interview exactly the same (give or take small personality nuances) , whose academic background is mostly similar and who have the exact same experience, except that one performed his tasks as a volunteer. How likely is it that the volunteering candidate will lose out?

Does this passion for a profession exhibited by a volunteer count in their favour or do the words of the Joker in the Dark Knight “If you are good at something, never do it for free” define the trajectory of the choices made while recruiting?

How highly do recruiters grade initiative and willingness to work and the commitment needed for voluntary roles when viewing a voluntary job noted as experience on an application or a CV?

Is volunteering the Milli Vanilli of job experience?

About the author

Susan is currently a HR Administrator for the Trussel Trust Foodbank in Coventry. She holds an Msc in Human Resource Management from the Universityof Sunderland and a Business degree from Strathmore Universityin her native country, Kenya. She is passionate about personnel development and particularly mentorship and coaching.

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Discuss HR is the blog for Human Resources UK, the leading LinkedIn group for those involved with HR in the UK.  Next week's post will be written by employment law specialist Annabel Kaye.

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Beware of Big Brother

Welcome to this week’s Discuss HR, the HR blog written for and by members of Human Resources UK.

This week there is good news and bad news.  The good news is that there is no long winded introduction; the bad news is that it is my turn to write the blog post!  Today I have written about how job seekers really need to be aware how they use social media as they could be harming their chances of securing work. (Ed Scrivener)

Beware of Big Brother

I suppose the title should read “Beware the Big Brothers” as I do feel any sane person should run from the recurring reality show, never mind the haunting original Orwellian Big Brother!  But in this instance this Big Brother is the spying eye of your future employer.

I am sure you are all aware of numerous cases of people not being hired, or even fired, due to the content of their Facebook account.  Scantily clad photos or referring to your current boss in unflattering terms is often the sure fire way of not being offered the new job.  Quite frankly though, I am sure 99% of you reading this are fully aware that you shouldn’t undertake such practices so I am not going to preach to the converted, instead my focus is on a more subtle area.

You will be reading this either via LinkedIn, Twitter or directly via the blog site.  In which case, you will have a certain level of understanding about the world of social media.  One of the key aspects about social media, in whatever guise you look at it, is that what you post is there for the world to see and invariably will be there to see forever.  It is with this in mind that I ask you to think about how you use social media and to be aware of the long term repercussions.

In recent months I have become increasingly shocked by the content added by job seekers to various social media mediums.  They haven’t been posting scantily clad photos (although some people’s LinkedIn profile photos are wholly inappropriate!), likewise, they haven’t been tweeting about how they hate HR whilst looking for an HR Manager role (although again you’d be surprised!).  These job seekers have been involved in posting what appears to be professional content, be it via URLs or simply partaking in a forum discussion.  However, when you scratch beneath the surface the content they are using does not paint them in a positive light.  Essentially what they are doing is complaining about certain professional related facets, for example tweeting they just had an interview with someone “rather boring”!  As it has been stated that over 80% of potential employers will do a search on applicants social media presence this kind of tweet is not going to be received well (especially if you are the boring person reading it!).

Don't get caught whinging!

The example I have cited is a more extreme case which again I feel most of you would know not to do.  However, there are further examples where job seekers may not understand the negative impact their content may have.  Searching for work can be an extremely frustrating process, we all know recruiters and companies alike can have rather dubious recruitment processes that leave us angry.  I believe it is good for the soul to air your frustrations as it puts them behind you.  But it is important these frustrations are aired in private with your closet friends and not in a public arena where anyone, especially the hiring manager reviewing your CV can read them.  A few months ago, a rather honest contact of mine explained to me that he had Googled a person he was due to interview and found numerous comments by that person on a variety of sites and he stated that she just came across as whining, something he really didn’t want in his team.  Whilst he didn’t say as much, I am sure he would have gone into the interview with that preconception the person was a whiner, regardless of whether that was the truth.  Again this is probably an extreme example, but it does go to show how content can have a negative impact.

It is also very important that your content matches up to what you actually feel or verbally state.  I interviewed someone recently whose comments to me verbally where at complete opposites to their social media content.  This left me rather confused as to what I should believe and what the person’s genuine thoughts were and as such it was only natural that I then cast doubts on the credibility of other statements they made.

If you are not sure of the level of impact this can have why don’t you try Googling yourself or a colleague.  You will be amazed about how much you can find and how easy it is to do.  This is what 80% of hiring managers do...

A casual look at my LinkedIn profile or for those that know me, will know I am a HUGE fan of social media.  It is has now been adopted as the central theme to how I work, simply put, I think it’s fantastic!  So this is not an attempt by me to put you off the medium, as I firmly believe you will gain far more than you will lose by using social media.  Instead, it is just to err caution when you are posting to think how that comment could be received.  Written communication is renowned for being misunderstood, so try to understand the different ways your comments can be read before you vent your spleen!

About the author

Ed is an HR recruitment specialist and social media trainer.  He holds over 8 years industry specific experience recruiting mainly for middle and senior HR management positions. He stumbled upon social media a few years ago and has since become passionate about the subject.  He now trains companies and individuals alike in social media techniques. He is the Group Manager of Human Resources UK and Editor of Discuss HR and occasionally his humour will creep into articles!

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Discuss HR is the blog for Human Resources UK, the leading LinkedIn group for those involved with HR in the UK.  Next week’s Discuss HR will be published on Thursday 26^th January when we will welcome back guest writer and employer and personal brand specialist Paul Goring.

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