Career coach Denise Taylor explains how to write covering letters in 10 easy stages.

1. Presentation – address the letter to a specific person. If the advert doesn’t say, ring the company and ask who to send the letter to. Don’t forget to put the job title at the top of the letter and reference number where applicable. Avoid long paragraphs, type the letter neatly, always spell-check and never exceed one page
2. Grammar – avoid the phrase ‘I am writing’ in your opening paragraph, as this is obvious. Also, avoid starting each sentence with ‘I’ or ‘my’. You need to focus on the company rather than yourself


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29 October, 2009 – Jobsite are pleased to announce the finalists for the RecruitRank Awards 2009. Recognising best practice and quality customer service in recruitment agencies, the RecruitRank Awards are the only awards in the industry where finalists and winners are chosen by feedback from candidates and not a panel of industry judges.

Launched by leading online recruiter Jobsite (www.jobsite.co.uk) in November 2005, RecruitRank allows candidates to feedback anonymously on the quality of an agency’s service after they have applied for a vacancy advertised by them on Jobsite. Recruiters have personal, private access to this free market research and it enables them to monitor and, if necessary, improve their service offering. The finalists within each category of the Awards were selected through a culmination of this feedback from candidates over a 12 month period.

Finalists are categorised by ‘High Volume Jobsite User’ and ‘Low Volume Jobsite User’. This enables us to fairly recognise even more first class agencies, by rating their performance against agencies attracting similar levels of candidate feedback through RecruitRank.

Many of the finalists appear in more than one category, which proves that it is possible for recruitment agencies to provide an all-round excellent service to candidates. The finalists are listed in alphabetical order in each category.

Best Candidate Communications: High volume Jobsite user
• Adam Recruitment Ltd
• CG Consultants
• DATS Recruitment
• Elan Defence
• Michael Page (Engineering & Manufacture)
• Michael Page (Property & Construction)
• Michael Page (Procurement & Supply Chain)
• networx
• Page Personnel
• Wynnwith Group Ltd

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Recent research suggests that in today’s economic slowdown, employees are choosing not to take sick days because they fear for their job security. We look at the dilemma now facing employees when they are ill and give you our top ten tips on how to beat the bugs so you can stay fit and healthy this winter.

You wake up on Monday morning with a throat like sandpaper, a head like a hammer and a nose streaming like a hose – what do you do? Dose yourself up with anti-flu drugs and force yourself into the office or pull the duvet over your head and try not to think about what your boss is saying about you?
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This is my first blog post on Insider, you may have seen me mentioned last week, after winning the Jobsite penalty shootout competition. My name is Christian, I work in Jobsite’s Marketing team and due to last week’s fancy footwork I had the privilege of attending an exclusive day at Portsmouth FC’s training ground on Monday.

After arriving 20 minutes late due to traffic, the humiliation was made worse as my S-reg Vauxhall Corsa entered the car park of dreams…BMWs, Mercedes, Porches; it was like Jeremy Clarkson’s driveway. Thankfully fellow Jobsiter Paul and the 2 lucky Jobsite clients (Richard from STR and Drew from Eurotech International) were also at the mercy of the Motorway traffic.

We were greeted on arrival with our own full Portsmouth FC training kit consisting of shorts, socks, top, trousers, jersey and rain jacket. Then headed to the food lounge where Hermann Hreidarsson chatted to us mid table tennis match, whilst players arrived for their ‘hard working’ day (if a player is late and arrives after 10am, he is fined £1000).

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How do you convince employers that you are right for the job when you have been out of work for a while? Career consultant, Sherridan Hughes, answers one reader’s dilemma.

I left a reasonable job as an IT manager four years ago. After a short time of unemployment, I retrained as a driving instructor, where I have been working self-employed ever since.

I enjoy the job, but for several reasons would like to venture back into corporate life. I recently had three interviews for a position that I was unsuccessful for – the reason being that I have been away for too long and other candidates would be able to hit the floor running.

How can I overcome this break from industry?

Regards,
Nick Shaw

Hello Nick,

This is not such bad news, because you did at least make it to the interview! You are not being discounted at CV stage, so you are evidently still deemed employable. In the current economic climate, few people can expect to walk straight into the first job; competition is fierce due to a bigger pool of experienced applicants.

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