Career Services from Measurability

For those of you who did not already hear.

Croke Park Conference Centre, 29th February – 3rd March

Get There Go Anywhere!

REMEMBER: It is one thing identify a company and applying BUT it another thing securing the job. If you want help why not ask a career expert.

I am a career doctor with The Sunday Tribune – Here is a recent Q&A.I am planning to go into 3rd level education to help my career prospects. I have been told that without a 3rd level qualification you have less chance of getting a decent job?A 3rd level qualification is a prerequisite for many jobs advertised in the national papers or on the internet job boards. There is a perception that a 3rd level qualification is the key to career success but I have a somewhat different view on this.Through my experience in recruitment and career coaching I have seen many individuals with excellent qualifications who struggle with their career, often working in jobs below their potential. Equally, I have seen many individuals with little or no qualifications who scale the heights of different careers with relative ease. These observations would indicate that a qualification does not equate to career success but also that a lack of qualifications does not equate to career failure.A 3rd level qualification will open more doors for you and it will increase your chances of securing job interviews as outlined it can often be a prerequisite for selection to interview. A qualification will help you market yourself better while job hunting as many hiring managers put a weight on qualifications. Having said all this you still have to impress at interview and impress on the job when you have secured it.

For more information about Measurability and Career Coaching.

I am a Career Doctor with The Sunday Tribune. Here is a Q&A postI am considering doing a Degree in Business Studies and I want to know what options are available to me as a career should I choose this qualification?

A Degree in Business Studies is an excellent qualification in that it covers all the business functions providing students with a broad knowledge and understanding of commerce. Many business qualifications give the option for students to specialise in a particular business function such as marketing or purchasing in the latter years.

With the broad nature of this course there are a large number of possible career options available for individuals and this is one of the reasons why many students choose a Business qualification. These options can include, but are not limited to, finance, marketing, sales, purchasing, materials and human resources. The choice available to students is great but this can cause confusion. Therefore it is essential that you use your time studying to investigate which direction or roles suit you best.

One final point I will make is that you should decide what you want to do with your career and not let your qualification dictate your career path. Too many graduates feel tied to pursuing a career related to their qualification when they have graduated. This does not have to be the case.

If would like professional career advice contact us – Measurability

 I am a Career Doctor for the Sunday Tribune – Question & Answer below.I am considering a career change as I cannot continue with the daily commute to and from work. This daily commute is affecting my family and personal situation. Even though I enjoy my job I want to find alternative employment close to where I live and I would like some advice on how to go about this?Commuting and traffic congestion is now one of the key reasons for people changing jobs in the current market. As you outlined this situation puts a strain on the individual and the family but more importantly driving with frustration and reduced concentration can be very dangerous.To resolve this issue there are two options available. The first option is to explore alternative solutions within your existing company. Commuting is a huge issue facing most organisations and their staff. As a result many organisations are exploring alternative such as remote working, reduced working week or flexi-time to help resolve the problem. If you have not already done so, I recommend that you talk to you existing employer about this problem and explore the possibility of resolving this.If there is no resolution internally then the only other option is to seek alternative employment. The immediate focus should be to identify a similar role within your new geographical requirements. You can use typical strategies like job boards, paper advertisements but also research your chose region to identify networking and direct or application opportunities.

For professional career advice contact us – Measurability.

The number one reason why 90% of CV’s fail is because the focus is all wrong.  Most jobseekers write CV’s without considering the employer. When it comes to CV design jobseekers are concerned about what they want and explaining this experience in great detail without any thought to the employer and what they require.

When developing the CV jobseekers must think like a marketing professional and design their marketing material (the CV) with the audience in mind. Jobseekers must understand the needs of the employer which can be accessed through job specifications, company website or asking the employer directly. It is then essential to communicate how they can resolve these needs through their CV.

The next major problem with most CV’s is the layout. A CV has 30 seconds to make an impact. If a potential employer cannot see how a jobseeker can solve their problems within a short space of time they risk missing out on interview.

Effective CV layout means that all key information can be easily accessed by the reader in the first page of the document. Many jobseekers have relevant work experience, qualifications and skills hidden at the end of their CV. Remember hiring managers may not take the time to read a CV from start to finish.

Contact us if you require help from a professional

Most jobseekers fear them but I say embrace them. Ok competency interviews are more difficult BUT they mean that the client has put some though into the recruitment process. This means that you will not be assessed on you interview ability or what school you went to. Instead you will be assessed against the key behaviours and competencies for the role. This will reduce the chance of a wrong hire for the client BUT more importantly a wrong job for you.

What is a competency based interview?

These interviews are based on the theory that past behaviour is the best indicator of future behaviour. It uses probing questions such as “tell me about a time when you failed to achieve a specific goal” or give me a specific example of a time when you managed a number of projects simultaneously”. You need to prepare for competency interviews by recalling specific examples. You can also expect the interviewer to probe for more details on the situation you describe. If you have work experience great but if you do not use project, college of hobbies to provide examples.

How to prepare for competency based interviews?

You can ask for the competencies you will be assessed against. If these are not available try to work out what competencies will be assessed or hunt out similar job descriptions. Then use the STAR technique to prepare.

Situation or Task – Describe the situation, be specific and avoid generalization. Give the interviewer enough information so they understand.

Action – Describe the action taken and ensure you focus on “you” and not the team.

Result – What was the outcome or what happened? What did you achieve? What where the learning opportunities?

For more information about interviews or interview coaching visit our site.

There are a number of key strategies to find that dream job.- Recruitment Agencies- Direct Applications

- Networking

- Speculative Applications

 This post will provide with information about Direct Applications. Basically this involves Newspapers and Online Job Boards.

NEWSPAPERS – The two key national newspapers are the Irish Independent Jobs and Careers supplement (I am a career doctor) and The Irish Times on a Friday. If you are outside Dublin you can consider regional newspapers such as The Examiner in Cork. If you read the Sunday papers you might consider the Sunday Tribune.

JOBBOARDS – There are a few general sites including EmployIreland, RecruitIreland, Monster, Jobs.ie and IrishJobs. Equally there are role specific JobBoards including AdminJobs.ie, SalesJobs.ie, ComputerJobs.ie and RetailJobs365.ie. Eirjobs will provide a useful resource for new job announcements.

Remember: You are not job hunting if you are not covering these job resources.

For additional support why not consider CAREER COACHING - contact us.

Whether you are beginning your job search in 2008 or you are actively hunting but struggling to reach you career goal – there are two important points to consider.

Recruitment Log

It is essential to keep a record of your job hunting activity. By this I mean a little black book. A recruitment log will benefit you job search in a number of ways.

- It will provide a record so you can analyse what is working and what is not. I regularly meet career coaching clients who are not getting the results they want. Most do not keep records and when we analyse their activity they are relying on one strategy. Information from you log will help focus your activity.
- It will make your job hunting more professional. You will easily know what companies you have approached reducing the possibility of applying to the same position twice.
- It will prove a valuable source for when you are back hunting again. It will be a resource of recruitment consultants you have worked with or industry contacts.

If you keep doing what you are doing you will keep getting the same results.

Great if you are getting positive results. Your recruitment log will help you identify what is working but more importantly what is not. There are many ways to source a job and you must embrace all strategies. There are reactive strategies such as recruitment agencies and direct application like papers and job boards. Most jobseekers will gravitate towards these strategies as they are easier. If they are not working you can approach them differently or look at proactive strategies. Proactive strategies include networking and speculative approaches to companies. Remember 50% of jobs are never advertised so proactive strategies will help you unearth these gems!!

There is much free information and advice on the internet for jobseekers and employers. Below are the names of a few blogs which are focused on the Irish jobs market

www.careersandjobs.ie – Career advice and information about the job market in Ireland

www.cv4jobs.ie – information about CV’s and interviews

www.hrandrecruitment.ie – Blog for employers on related HR and recruitment topics

www.jobsnews.ie – Jobs and news on the Irish jobs market

www.jobsblog.ie

I have been traveling quite a bit with work which will explain the lack of activity on the Blog (excuses!!). I am back for the moment but may go missing again before Christmas and it won’t be to shop. I am working on a project for the education sector at various locations around the country which means I have been staying in a number of hotels. This leads me onto this quick topic.

I have always believed in the power of a smile and this was emphasised while staying in hotels in the last few weeks. Let’s just say a few smiles sorted out a few issues. A smile has the power to change feelings, thought and emotions. Smiles are contagious like yawns and when you smile the world smiles back. I don’t think there is enough smiling going on. Let’s just say the reduction in smiling could have something to do with the increased demand for botox.

It is possible to smile your way to interview. Ok that statement is a bit of an exaggeration but it certainly does help. Many jobseekers take their interview so serious that they forget to smile. Body language makes up 55% of all communication and mastering it is essential for interview success but a simple smile is one of the key tools. When you attend an interview do not forget to smile and perhaps read this poem in the waiting room.

SMILING

Smiling is infectious; you catch it like the flu.

When someone smiled at me today I started smiling too.

I passed around the corner, and someone saw my grin.

When he smiled I realised, I’d passed it on to him.

I thought about that smile, then I realised its worth.

A single smile just like mine could travel round the earth.

So, if you feel a smile begin, don’t leave it undetected.

Let’s start an epidemic quick, and get the world infected!