This is a new regular BLOG looking at current market trends in employment, industry news & information, tips / advice if you are job seeking or going to be entering the job market and hopefully through our members own posts & comments, their own personal advice or information that has helped them whilst job seeking or making their own transition from a military to civilian career and / or news from the industry sector they are now employed in.
So many of us joined HM Forces either straight from school, college or university and have not really experienced the whole civilian recruitment process and with so many different outlets available to apply for jobs, how do we approach this, at times, formidable task in the right way?
As we all know in this economic climate, there is huge competition for each vacancy advertised – but how can you stand out from the crowd? Or get your CV on a recruiter’s desk? Or appear in database CV searches?
Hopefully the following tips will help, but please do share what has worked for you, as I know many members would welcome any advice you can provide.
Let’s start with National Job Boards…
- You upload your CV and wait for it to be sourced by recruiters or a company?
NO – You need to re-upload your CV a minimum weekly, as the vast majority of companies will only seek the most recent CVs that have been added when they create their search criteria on a job board.
- When applying for a role, adjust your CV accordingly to the job description.
Don’t just hit the apply button and forward your generic CV no matter how good you think it is. As we know, job seeking is a full time role in itself and you need to ensure your CV hits the spot, especially in this employers driven market
- Follow up your on-line application.
Once you submit your application do follow up with a phone call, (give a little time for the recruiter to receive it though!) Ask for initial feedback, the processes, etc, they are consultants – make them consult!
- Keep a record of your job applications.
Print off or make a note of vacancies you have applied for – If you get a call and your not on your computer at least you can act in a knowledgeable and informed manner.
These are just a few tips that we recommend, but there will be many, many more out there that our members use or have used……………What do you recommend??