Plan your Career – Plan your Job Search

Hind sight is a wonderful thing, so when the economic climate takes a dive and you unexpectedly find yourself without a job it is easy to think I should have planned a little more effectively, or ok I admit it “I should have planned… full stop!”

If you do find yourself in this position, take a breath and remember it is never too late to start.

Below is a great blog from Tash Pieterse, a Human Resources Advisor experiencing at the coal face what you are/have in the job market.  Ok yes, she planned ahead a little however her words of wisdom work well, they provide you with direction and an action plan and more importantly deliver results.

Remember even small wins are great wins.

New Steps

Posted on June 19, 2013 by TashHR

I’m taking a new step!

Recently I have gone through an amazing recruitment process. I am not a fan of having to do a cover letter, cv, the research, interview prep and then spending an hour trying desperately to impress your potential new manager. It had been a while since I went through the recruitment process and in some ways put it out of my mind what the experience felt like.

This role however, I just really wanted it. I saw the advert and it sounded great, it was written with enthusiasm and excitement. After applying and doing all of the pre-work, I was invited in for an interview. I received the job description and then just fell in love with the role. It was perfect, it was just what I was looking for as my next step and the work involved would get me to where I wanted to be in the next few years.

I spent the next week preparing and had behavioural question examples up to my eye balls. Thanks to my twitter friends I had a lot of example questions to prepare with as well! I hadn’t felt this excited for a role in a long time and it made me work even harder in preparation, so there could be no way they wouldn’t want me! I knew my examples inside and out, I was confident and calm (numb with nerves) and I allowed my enthusiasm and passion for my career to shine through. I provided good examples that portrayed my abilities and skills and I ensured I was able to provide good reasons as to why I would be a good fit for this role and for the organisation.

The following day I received the call that they were interested in me and wanted to do my reference checks, 4 days later I had a job offer I couldn’t refuse. It was 7 days from day of interview to day of job offer. Now, if that is not fast and efficient recruitment – I don’t know what is (given my contrasting experiences in the public sector). But this speed and efficiency provided another good reason I wanted to work with this manager. This manager was committed to making it a quick process. It was pain free and it had a GREAT outcome!

As per my previous blogs, I wanted to share some tips around making your next job application/recruitment process the easiest and best it can be

• Be PICKY – The job market is slim right now, before I got my current role I spent two and a half months looking for the right role and I spent a while looking for my new one. Make sure you are choosing the right role, one you are excited about and that is taking you in a direction you want to go. Life is too short to take any old job, so make sure it is one you will be happy in and will progress in. A good friend told me that (thanks Sarah)!
• PREPARE – nothing is worse than going into an interview and not being prepared. The internet is full of interview question examples, you have connections, USE them to prepare. Understand what you have done in your previous roles and the skills that you can apply to this role. Understand the new role and what is expected and most of all, understand the organisation and what they value before you go into the interview.
• Be EXCITED and AUTHENTIC – show you are excited and show you are enthusiastic about the role. If you are a spazcat like me and like to laugh and show excitement, show it in the interview. Show them the real you and make them fall in love with that part of you. Nothing is worse than putting on a facade in an interview and letting the real you unleash after you have received the job. There is likely to be an immediate clash. You need to show them what they are signing up to, as well as you need to see the real them.
• Be HONEST and TRUE – If you really want the job, be honest and truthful about it, explain to them why. Make sure they understand. If you don’t want the job (especially after the interview) contact them and tell them, make sure you follow up with why. Be honest throughout the whole process and ask for honesty in return. In my interview I asked what did the ideal candidate look like and I said “pretend I’m not a candidate, but really tell me who you want”. It was incredible how open and honest they were – the person they described was me in a nutshell. Because I showed those personality characteristics throughout my interview, I wasn’t lying when I said I believed I would be a great asset to the team and would make the role a success. They could see the honesty, I could see the honesty, it was a connection
• BE AWESOME! – that’s really it. JUST BE YOUR AWESOME SELF!