How to Find A Job in A Competitive Job Market.

As a careers adviser I frequently get asked by my clients who have lost their jobs

“How do I find a job during the pandemic?”

This article will be particularly helpful to you:

  • If you been made redundant or in the process of being made redundant
  • If you are starting out on your career
  • If you are considering your career options or you are considering a career change
  • If you are looking for promotion

Alistair Stirling, a qualified and experienced independent and impartial careers adviser, who runs Stirling Careers Consultancy, works with a wide range of clients at different stages of their careers.  

Many of my clients find it difficult to make a plan and get started. Here are some suggestions to get you started.  

Where do I start?

If you have lost your job or you are in the process of leaving your employment, it is important to take a step back and consider all your options before moving forward.

It is important to look at:

  • Your career options
  • Your values and achievements
  • Your key skills
  • Your interests
  • Your finances (you may need to start making cutbacks and savings)

Look at the current jobs market

  • Some sectors are contracting
  • Some sectors are struggling to recruit staff e.g. hospitality, retail and travel
  • Some sectors are taking on new staff such as construction, health and social care, medical sector and information technology

Look at your transferable skills

We encourage our clients to look at their transferable skills.  For example, if you work in a customer service role in retail you could consider other customer facing roles such as sales or customer service roles working from home .

It is important to:

  • Set yourself some goals
  • Plan your day

At the end of each day and week review your job search plan and ask yourself what else could you be doing to enhance your chances of getting an interview.

I encourage all my clients to take a targeted approach to their job search. This will enable you to be more targeted and focused.  Taking a scatter gun approach makes life much more difficult.

Where do I find a job in this marketplace?

You can start by identifying companies that you want to work for and set up email alerts on their website. In some cases, organisations use particular agencies to recruit their staff. You may want to find out which recruitment agency they use. You can register with agencies but you need to be clear about the type of roles for which you want to be put forward.

How do I stand out?

Use your Network -I always encourage jobseekers to use their network. I tell clients to tell their family, friends and colleagues the type of roles they are looking for. We all like a personal recommendation and it can be your chance to be interviewed before they advertise the role.

Hidden Jobs Market- You can research organisations you want to work for and write to them directly. For example, if you want to work in marketing you may want to write to the marketing manager. You can then follow up with a telephone call a week later.

LinkedIn-I encourage all clients to have a LinkedIn profile. This is a professional network. Many jobs appear on LinkedIn. Head-hunters use this website to find future applicants, so it is worth having a profile on LinkedIn and engaging with fellow professionals and keeping it up to date. You can also use the research tools to research organisations and people within those organisations.

Tailor your curriculum vitae and cover letter to the role for which you are applying. When you are applying for a job you need to make sure that your CV and covering letter are tailored to the particular job.  Before you send off your CV and covering letter ask someone else to read it to check for spelling and grammar mistakes. It will really help your chances of being invited for interview by making sure there are no errors. If you do not hear back, we encourage all clients to contact the organisation and ask for some feedback.  This will help you with your future applications. 

What other help is available?

Whilst you are looking for employment you can consider doing voluntary work or you can consider doing a course to up skill.  If you decide to volunteer decide what you are hoping to achieve and how much time you are prepared to commit. A rough rule of thumb would be a morning or afternoon or a whole day. I would be very reluctant to commit to more than that unless I saw a really good opportunity that might arise now or in the future.

There are many universities and other organisations offering free courses, for example Futurelearn. There are a lot of online groups which you can join to help you to continue to develop your career too.

Are you considering a career change?

If you are considering a career change, we can help you plan your future career too. We will introduce you to a career planning model which will help you plan your career going forward. Also, we offer psychometric assessments which will give you further options and careers related to your skills, attributes and strengths.  Psychometric assessments are particularly useful if you are not sure what careers you are best suited too or alternatively you may want confirmation your chosen career is right for you.

How we work

  • We offer a free initial telephone conversation to find out about your current career situation and discuss your previous job roles you have held.
  • We work closely with you to listen to you and understand your background and career aspirations.
  • We will discuss putting a tailor-made programme together to suit your needs.

The more sessions that you have the more likely you are to be successful.

We deliver one-to-one career coaching sessions through Skype, Zoom or telephone.  We then follow-up with additional information and resources and email them through to you.

For a Free informal chat please call Alistair Stirling on 0790 461 4946, or Email us at info@stirlingcareersconsultancy.co.uk or contact us via our contact form on our website: http://stirlingcareersconsultancy.co.uk/contact-us.html

We look forward to hearing from you.

Bromley Careers Consultant Alistair Stirling offering careers advice in & around Kent, London

Alistair Stirling is a registered careers adviser with over 20 years’ experience of supporting people back into employment.

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