As soon as you walk through the door of the interview room you are being judged, so how do you create the right image from the start?  Audrey Hanna, Image Consultant from CMB Image, the Corporate Division of Colour Me Beautiful has these top tips.

Part of preparing for a job interview is making sure you’re going to come across as a good addition to your prospective company. Appearances shouldn’t matter, but the plain fact is that you are judged before you’ve even uttered a word.

Dressing the part alone won’t get you the job, regardless of how clean your shirt or shiny your shoes. However, it could put the employer off if you fail to follow some basic rules:

1. Interview clothes should be appropriate and understated. Neutral colours are safest, but that doesn’t mean that black is best. Sometimes black can make you look drained and pale, especially if you have blonde hair. Try charcoal, navy or pewter instead.
2. In a formal environment men should aim for a two-piece suit and tie.  Avoid wacky ties or bow-ties; you might find them hilarious, but your prospective employer may feel you aren’t a serious contender. Make sure you have dark shoes with dark socks. Musical Christmas socks are an unwelcome distraction and might make employers think you’re a joke. Women should wear a tailored skirt or trouser suit. Tights are essential, whatever the time of year.

Continue reading “10 Top Tips: interview presentation” »

How can you be sure that making a career change is the right decision for you? What if you dislike your new career as much as your old one? These thoughts are all normal says Life and Career Coach Michelle Bayley, but don’t let them stop you moving forward. Just follow these 3 simple steps to get your career back on track.

If you don’t like your current work but have a nagging doubt that making a change could mean moving to something you dislike just as much, what should you do? It’s a familiar question that I hear as a career coach and I know from my own experience of going through career change that it can lead to ‘analysis paralysis’.

You might have spent years feeling like you want a change, so you obviously want to get it right, which boils down to three things:

• take the time to look at what you really want from your work;
• think about what interests and/or excites you; and then
• do your research.

Letting go of the idea of a cast iron guarantee about a positive outcome is also essential. It’s human nature to want one, but essentially you have to take a well-thought through calculated risk, based on the three steps above and then get on with it! So, what do those three steps involve?
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My name is Nick Warne and I was one of the first people to take part in the Premier League Into Work programme at Portsmouth Football Club. It’s a 10 week course to support people like me who are over 25 and haven’t been able to find work for the last six months. It’s a brand new idea from the Premier League and is currently being trialled with four football clubs (Portsmouth, Chelsea, Sunderland and Everton) with the support of their local Jobcentre Plus.

I wasn’t sure what to expect at first but it’s been such a great experience for me that I wanted to tell you a little more about it in case it’s something that could help you too.

For me, the course ran on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for a total of 15 hours. Morning sessions were held at the Pompey Study Centre by Portsmouth’s ground Fratton Park, with afternoon physical training sessions held at a local leisure centre.

At the study centre we were given advice and did practise sessions around things like CV writing, health and safety, employer expectations, interview techniques, team building and first aid.
Continue reading “Can the Premier League help you get back to work?” »

In a difficult jobs market, how can you make yourself more employable and safeguard against redundancy? Dave Snow, Academic Director at Home Learning College, offers his advice.

Question:

“I work in a small marketing firm that has been hit quite hard by the recession. We are a small team but I am worried that we will have to make some cutbacks soon. How can I make myself more employable and safeguard against redundancy?” asks Melanie Abbot from Surrey.

Answer:

As we enter a new year and a new decade, many financial commentators are keen to highlight that the UK economy is either poised on the brink of recovery or already firmly on that path. However, there are many people who share your fear that we’ve not yet seen the end of widespread cut backs and redundancies. With that in mind, it makes sense to evaluate your professional position and conduct a realistic assessment of your value as an employee.

The first step is to make sure that you are fulfilling the functions specified in your job description. Where possible, get hold of a written job specification and make an honest appraisal of how you are performing against each area of responsibility. If possible engage a trusted colleague to help you with this process, in order to gain a rounded view. Where there is room for improvement you should develop some clear, measurable goals that will act as a framework for development in these areas. This kind of approach will always deliver benefits within the workplace, even in times of greater economic certainty.

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Our TV adverts have been running for just over two weeks now and have really struck a chord with people who have been thinking about finding a new job.

January is traditionally one of the busiest times for job hunting but in the current economic climate some people are more reluctant to move companies. They need reassurance that there are still opportunities available and that someone will support them in their search. Our TV ads have been providing this reassurance and are giving candidates the confidence to look for a new job through Jobsite.

This Monday we had a record-breaking 199,218 visits from 159,260 people in a single day! The combination of new people adding their CVs to Jobsite and previously registered candidates updating theirs also means that our CV database is growing at a phenomenal rate and now stands at 1.1 million searchable CVs. This is fantastic news for our clients who now have a wider choice of great candidates to fill their roles.

Continue reading “Job seeker confidence rising in the new decade” »