Overworked? Underpaid? It's time to update your CV
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Finding your perfect job is a simple sum of working out your talents and qualities, matching them up with your dreams and ideals, and having the confidence and drive to see them through.
Recent research from fish4jobs.co.uk, the UK’s largest classified website for jobs, shows 86% of Brits are not working their dream jobs. The survey also revealed 20% wished they had concentrated harder at school and 22% wish they had gone to university or college. This agitation and unease is symbolic of the nation, with many people waking up every day dissatisfied with their working life. Finding the strength and courage to make a change can be difficult. But Joe Slavin, CEO for fish4jobs.co.uk says, ‘Don’t give up. It may take years to get to where you want to be, but it will be worth it in the long run’.
If you’re wanting change, whether that’s within your profession or taking on a completely new role, it is within your reach. ‘Confidence is key,’ says Liz Banks from Skillstudio, a presentation and skills training school. ‘Belief in yourself is what will get you places and if you present an air of confidence others will believe in you too. Walk tall and have faith that you deserve opportunities and praise, and you will go into any situation with the assurance you will succeed’. Consider whether your ideal role is in the same industry you already have experience in. It is far easier to change jobs within the same sector and you may just need to find a more exciting company to work for. Take inspiration from Lexie Minter’s career path (right) who saw a gap in the market she was already working in and, with her skillset successfully filled it.
Finding other avenues in your career…
Lexie Minter, midwife and founder of The Prenatal Company
‘I trained as a midwife but felt there had to be a better way of providing care – women were not getting the information and support they needed. I set up The Prenatal Company to provide comprehensive antenatal care to pregnant women at the office after seeing women having to rush back to where they lived for a twenty minute appointment with a midwife they may have never met before, or may never meet again, in an inflexible 9-5 Monday to Friday schedule. I realised there was a gap in the market and that by providing a private midwifery service it would benefit women, and their employers.
The initial funding came from remortgaging my flat, and then some further investment. My years as an A&E nurse helped me learn to prioritise, be prepared and be organised. I am passionate about what I do and I think that comes across to women. If I went back to the NHS now as a midwife, despite all my qualifications, in London my salary would be around £25,000; this may help explain the midwife shortage. I am much more comfortable now with my salary and I have job satisfaction at the same time.’
For more information visit theprenatalcompany.co.uk
Returning to work
You might have had a career break for children or travel and be anxious about getting back to work. If you are looking for a new challenge the first task is to work out exactly what you are looking for, so you know which companies to target and how to do it; often a SWOT analysis can assist you with this (left/right). Gaining more qualifications is another option and can open many doors. Speak with the Citizens Advice Bureau for more options, or the Open University can help (open.ac.uk). There is no shame in retraining for success, and now you can be more focused in your training. Getting in touch with past contacts can also yield results, Mike Morris, Senior Recruitment Consultant for Drummond Recruitment says, ‘Relationships are key to coming back to work after a career break, speak to everyone you know and used to work with. After all it’s not what you know, but who you know.’
Self-assessment can be a tricky process but being brutally honest with yourself will help you work out what you want. Whether you have decided on a career path, or still trying to work out your vocation in life a SWOT analysis can help:
Strengths – How are you better than other people? What do you do better than anyone else? What resources do you have access to? Remember here that everything is relative, if you want to work in PR and say that you’re a “friendly” person so is everyone else. Only list the things that make you stand out from the crowds in your field.
Weaknesses – What could you improve? What is it that has stopped you being successful so far? What do you fear? Be realistic and remember this will help you to make an action plan to build on in the future.
Opportunities – Have you identified any interesting trends in your business? Is there a gap in the market? How can ever-changing technology help? Look at social trends, lifestyle changes and local events that could be brought to a national scale with your strengths.
Threats – What obstacles stand in your way? Who, or what, is your competition? How are your finances? Think about how any of your weaknesses could undermine what you are trying to achieve.
Once you’ve completed some serious soul searching and got clear answers, be realistic about the options open to you and where you see yourself.
Sending the CV
For most people the CV is the first step to getting yourself out there and on the market. ‘Remember the person reading it has probably already looked at 100 other CVs that day, so it’s all about ease of reading and key points,’ says Morris. Have a profile at the top using key words to emphasise you and that just say, “I’m good and I can prove it”’. He emphasises the importance of anything you have done out of work that offers a wider impression of you and gives greater scope to show off other targets and achievements. Barbara Cassani agrees, ‘Think about how to generalise your experiences, so if you’ve been in a customer services job in a retail outlet, how can you generalise that so you can work in a hotel?’
First impressions count
The next step is the interview, for this follow Morris’ golden rule, ‘Do your research and learn the company’. Showing you have bothered to put in the time and effort to research the company you could be spending the next few years with shows commitment and genuine interest. The first impression is equally important, ‘People naturally notice three key things on being introduced,’ says Morris. ‘Hair (including facial), smile and shoes, make sure all are immaculate. Ask market relevant questions and relate the questions back to your previous experiences where possible. This will show an overlapping of skills and enable you to sell yourself better,’ he says. ‘And learn how to shake hands, as this can be a deal breaker’. Barbara says you should always have your accomplishments at the forefront of your mind before you go into the interview, ‘You should be able to frame what you’ve done in terms of your achievements because that’s a very attractive thing to employers, they want people who want to achieve good results and if you can demonstrate this it helps’.
When the job offers come
Whether leaving your job through redundancy or resignation, it is very important to leave a good impression. ‘Make every effort not to alienate anyone, and stay on good terms with as many people as possible,’ is the advice from recruitment website Monster.co.uk. ‘You never know when you might need them again.’ You should explain to management and colleagues why you’re leaving, and keep it as rational and calm as you can. Once you’ve left, don’t ever talk badly of your old company or disclose their secrets. It may come back to haunt you one day.
5 tips to the job you want
1. Start by looking at what you enjoy. If you enjoy your job it is considerably easier getting out of bed in the morning.
2. Find out what motivates you. Some people are driven by money and do anything to get it, others enjoy a work/life balance.
3. Know where you want to be. If you are just starting out, that dream job could be years down the line, but you can work towards it.
4. Look at what skills you have. If you are looking for a complete career change find out what skills are required and see what is transferable.
5. Find a good recruitment consultant. They will have good relationships with clients in the desired market and will be best placed to sell your skills.
By Mike Morris, Senior Recruitment Consultant for Drummond Recruitment, drummondrecruitment.com
Successfully changing career…
Cathy Rogers, co-founder of Nudo Oils
‘I decided I wanted a change of life, a new challenge. So in October 2005 my partner Jason, our one-year-old daughter Rosie and I quit our well-paid TV jobs and moved to Italy to start farming olives.
Jason and I had decided we’d work together producing and selling olive oil – making it on the grove we bought in Italy and selling it in the UK. We realised we needed a really good idea if we were going to have a successful business. We soon hit on the idea of letting people adopt our olive trees to make us stand out in the market – luckily it worked. The idea was innovative and timely, tapping into the current enthusiasm for people knowing the provenance of their food and for organic produce.
From our very first Christmas we were making money, with lots of people giving olive tree adoptions as gifts. A year later we were in Selfridges and had opened up shipping to the US and the rest of the world.
It’s been a juggle all along – getting settled into a new life abroad, learning Italian – as well as learning to work with Jason. The juggle of motherhood and work is one that any working mother is well aware of, though we did have the advantage of at least being in control of our working hours and not having to travel to work. We’ve also had to learn everything from scratch – you suddenly realise how many bits there are to a business, all of which you suddenly have to do yourself. But somehow we’ve muddled through without divorcing!’
Redundancy
On the brink of the credit crunch, unemployment levels are rising. The latest job count showed 164,000 people were thrown out of work over the summer of 2008 in the highest three-month increase since John Major’s slump. The total now stands at 1.79million, and is predicted to increase two-fold by 2010.
Voluntary redundancy
Many companies, including Wedgwood, Virgin Media and Yell, are offering staff voluntary redundancy (VR). If there is a pool of 15 employees doing the same work, and the employer needs to lose five of them, VR can be a very useful tool at an early stage in consultation over redundancy.
Employment lawyer, Rachel Lewis from pjh Law, a solicitors specialising exclusively in employment law (pjhlaw.co.uk) says, ‘Redundancy is a potentially “fair” reason for dismissal in law, provided that a) a genuine redundancy situation exists and b) a full procedure is followed by the employer in effecting the dismissal.’ This means employers are expected to take a variety of steps to try to avoid compulsory redundancies – and if they fail to do so, they may face successful unfair dismissal claims from those made redundant. So VR is a necessary but often expensive way to deal with staffing problems, as it is common practice for employers to offer higher redundancy payments as an incentive for staff to leave.
Many redundancy agreements support the employers’ right to decide on who should be allowed VR and who should not, so as to avoid disparity in the remaining work force. ‘That is fine if the employee concerned has specific, unique skills which are key to the business,’ says Lewis. ‘However, if it is simply that the employer happens to like that particular member of staff, an employee who is subsequently dismissed on compulsory terms may try to argue that their dismissal was unfair’. If your company is offering VR packages and you apply, there is no certainty you will be approved, which could affect future career prospects. Or if you refuse VR and are then made to leave, it will be your pocket that suffers, and there is nothing more you can do.
Entitlement
‘Employees are entitled to a statutory redundancy payment assessed against a formula based on age and length of service,’ says Lewis. Your company will work this out, but seek professional help if you disagree with their sums. The credit crunch has meant Lewis and her firm to deal with many more cases of redundancy, with declining pay offs. ‘I have also noted less generous compromise agreement terms being offered to employees’, she says. ‘Employers are more confident that they will be able to show that a genuine redundancy situation exists.’
What next?
If you are one of the many suddenly out in the cold with no job, there are a few steps you can take. ‘It is always worth taking a bit of advice on whether the redundancy is “fair”, or whether there is scope to argue for a higher payment in return for a waiver of claims,’ says Lewis. ‘Trust your gut instincts – if something feels a bit fishy (for example, why were you selected for redundancy as opposed to your male colleague who doesn’t have childcare responsibilities?) then there may well be scope to challenge it.’
But stay realistic, we are going through a time of change in business. ‘Hopefully you’ll be able to do some things that will help you look forward to the future,’ says Cassani. ‘But it’s mostly about hanging in there, don’t lose faith and stay positive, but be much more flexible about what you’re prepared to do, because you’re not alone’.
COMMENTS
How can I find my dream job? I have a hard time finding job because I have worked many temp jobs in my life.?
teletrabajo
I want my dream job so badly in Missouri, but currently live six hours away. I know I am perfect for the job, yet cannot afford the move. Does anyone know how to make a dream job a reality when you are poor??? Are there any assistance programs out there for things of this nature?? Where I live there is absolutely nothing for work. Please only polite comments.
differin
working from home
2010 02 10
I have had many different jobs and cant seem to find one I’m happy in, i havnt really got any skills and i just want a job that makes me happyworking from home
Drop ship products
2010 02 17
Do you think that Mattel is getting what is deserves for shipping US jobs overseas? One Drop ship products thing that a lot of companies are doing is they are shipping jobs overseas because Drop ship wholesaler it is cheaper. They do this so that the CEO and Board of Directors can have their nice expenisive life
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