Jobsite

One of the key parts on any interview is when the interviewer asks the interviewee if they have any questions. Many jobseekers are never sure how much detail to go into at this stage and it’s not always easy to strike a balance – ask too many questions and it can seem presumptive but ask too few and it can give the impression that you’re not interested in the role.

Yet the key to doing well at interview isn’t always just giving good answers…sometimes it’s about asking good questions too!

You won’t always get the opportunity to ask as many questions as you answer so it’s just as well to have some prepared. You may well be looking for some clarity around the company’s business or structure, and any logistical issues you see around the role, but to give yourself the best chance to success you’ll need to get answers to these questions:

Why is the role open?

Is this a newly created position or has someone left or been promoted? If it’s new you’ll probably want to find out more about why it’s been created and what expectations the company have for the role. If the previous incumbent has left you may want to find out why. Continue reading “5 Questions to Ask Your Interviewer” »

Every quarter we publish a Recruitment Review of jobseekers’ changing attitudes and behaviour, plus business confidence in the recruitment market. It’s produced for us by independent brand tracking agency HPI and helps us to better understand how candidates and recruiters are approaching the job market.

The Winter 2011 Recruitment Review has just been published and it has some interesting findings on the way that Jobseekers are approaching the market:

• Online job boards remain the most used method, though searching company websites is becoming increasingly popular.
• Newspaper ads are still a valuable source as are recruitment agencies
• Almost 50% are now using social & business networking sites Continue reading “Latest Research Shows Changing Approaches to Job-hunting” »

Our Winter 2011 Quarterly Recruitment Review of jobseekers’ changing attitudes and behaviour, plus business confidence in the recruitment market is now available to download

This report, run by independent brand tracking agency HPI, shows two key changes from our last report:

• Jobseekers are becoming a little more passive and pessimistic
• Businesses are responding positively, embracing more online recruitment methods whilst remaining cost conscious

The mood of the candidate community is downbeat, with only 23% feeling that their job situation will improve in 2012, and there are signs that they are becoming less active.

For recruiters, the new financial reality seems to have led to more of them embracing job boards – for the first time since our research began in 2008 they have become the number one route to market, with CV search proving the most popular feature.

Other key findings in the report include: Continue reading “Jobseekers Concerned, Recruiters Becoming More Resourceful – Exclusive Recruitment Research” »

Looking for some fresh impetus in your job search? Read this guest post from Simon North, career expert and co-founder of career consulting company Position Ignition, who has some suggestions!

“CVs are so yesterday! For as long as we can remember, the CV has been the ‘passport’ to jobs and to work. But it is such a one-dimensional document in so many ways. It usually starts at the moment where we’ve finished full-time education and ends up being a list of jobs that we’ve done for different organisations. It has its use as far as it goes; which frankly isn’t very far.

Those reading it (in the recruitment sector particularly) probably spend less than 1 minute reading the cover letter and the CV (typically 2-pages). These days it’s probably nearer 30 to 40 seconds, including the click-through from one document to the other. How does your CV ever get through to who you are trying to reach?

The CV is part of a transactional process, over which we have little or no control. We are dealt with by organisations without any courtesy and the whole process, which is driven by the CV, is full of uncertainty and anxiety, leaving us feeling frustrated and sometimes utterly depressed. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a recruitment agency or an internal HR department. The CV gets processed pretty much the same way. In summary, the CV makes it easy, makes the users lazy, it’s a boring document and it is anything but comprehensive. It suits the intermediaries, but not us – the talented job hunter! Continue reading “Rip up Your CV and Start Networking!” »

When preparing for interview it’s easy to focus so much on preparing answers to questions that some of the softer skills, that may be just as important, are overlooked.

Career coach Steve Nicholls recently told us about the importance of talking to everybody you meet during the interview process, and here he shares with us a case study with some useful lessons about using social skills.

“When a prospective client called me to say they were bored in their current role, but weren’t sure what they wanted to do, it was music to my ears! Being a career change specialist I’m used to helping those looking for new career ideas, and thought “This is bread and butter to me”! I was to be proved wrong… Challenges lay ahead…

It transpired that she had been in the same middle management role for almost nine years, had gained some influence within the company, enjoyed the social aspects of the role but felt a little nervous in these situations (she worked for a private company funded by a government contract – an unusual situation in the UK). Her role meant she was able to attend senior level meetings, sit on some important internal groups, and have the general day to day line management role. She was “comfortable” I guess you could say.

She knew that she wanted a change but really had no idea where to start. We started to work through a Career Change Programme, but alongside this I was also coaching her slight lack of social confidence, as I was very aware that this element would probably be a feature in any future interview process. Continue reading “Keep It Social! – Using Social Skills During the Interview Process” »

We’re only a few days into 2012 and already our diary is filling up with some really interesting events. This could well be the year of the conference as Recruitment, HR and Social Media combine in ever evolving ways to bring the best of current practice and thinking to wider audiences.

At Jobsite we are looking forward to these events – sponsoring and supporting as many as we can -and will bring the key learnings to you though this blog and our @JobsiteUK twitter stream.

In our last blog we announced our on-going sponsorship of the Tru Unconference series, but even before TruLondon5 in February there are four events in January that we are keenly anticipating!

Growing SME Recruitment Businesses

We are joint sponsors at this one day conference which has been organised by leading recruitment industry publication Recruitment International, and is aimed at directors and owners of SME recruitment businesses. It takes place in London on 17^th January.

The day will cover many topics that are vital to these businesses, including financial management, technology, staff retention, brand building and negotiation. There will also be a session on the way that social media is impacting the industry (delivered by Jobsite!) and ample networking opportunities. Continue reading “Four Conferences and an Unconference – 2012 Springs into Life!” »