The Careers Adviser

Planet jumping

careersadviser — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 23:13:23 +0000

Fancy being an astronaut? Check out how to here.

The weirdest question I have had was where does one get a job that pays well, allows you to travel around the world, and allows lots of annual leave? How about a busking gypsy….

Mixed bag

careersadviser — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:27:22 +0000

I had a real mixed bag of clients today. But that’s half the fun of the job.

Mr Cocky wanted to know where he could get a job. His attitude was abrupt, superior, unfriendly. I am wondering, wouldn’t that come across in interviews….?
Miss Pleasant was an absolute joy to meet. She wanted to work in research. She had an unusual background, of Irish nationality but educated in Pakistan. Very bright, motivated and pleasant. I wished I could have handed her a job there and then.
Mr Too Bright was Chinese and sooo nice. He had a string of top class degrees. He had been awarded the 2nd highest place for the Chinese version of the Nobel Peace Prize. My jaw dropped when he informed me the person who obtained 1st place was awarded half a million pounds.
Mr I Want To Be an Investment Banker had majored in Computer Science. He was worried about the relevance of work experience (outside investment banking). It doesn’t matter if you worked selling cans of baked beans, as long as you can show the skills you demonstrated were RELEVANT to the job you’re applying for.
My last client was a soothing cup of tea

Anything else we should know about?

careersadviser — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:15:42 +0000

I had a client in for a mock interview today. Jim has an interview tomorrow with a well-known financial services company. He was a bright lad, he had an impressive CV, a string of top qualifications to his name, and he was tall and well built – it turned out he was a rugby player.

I took him through the interview questions, giving him feedback on each one. Then we came almost to the end of the interview. I asked him,

- Is there anything else the firm should know about, that isn’t on your CV?

A question like this gives a candidate the opportunity to express qualities about themselves that are not on their CV, such as personality traits that would enhance their ‘asset value’ to the prospective employer.

Jim ponders the question, and says, in all seriousness,

- Well, in my spare time I like to travel all around the country to shopping malls and sell people goldfish.

WTF?!!!

Covering letters in a nutshell

careersadviser — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:44:34 +0000

It’s quite straightforward to write a covering letter but so many people get it wrong. The covering letter accompanies a CV – not an application form. It does not repeat what your CV says. That’s just silly. It’s the first thing the prospective employer reads so it’s important to get it right. Remember the adage, ‘First impressions count’ and make sure your covering letter is clear, concise and relevant.

The prospective employer wants to know the following things -

What job you’re applying for
Why you want the job
Why you want to work for them
Why they should hire you
Your availability for interview and contact details

That’s it. Simple really, when you know how.

PhD students

careersadviser — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 23:36:42 +0000

Think outside the box

careersadviser — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 18:56:22 +0000

Employers and what they REALLY want to know

careersadviser — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 00:36:29 +0000

Just three little things.

Are you able to do the job?
Think knowledge & skills (technical, competencies)
Are you willing to do the job?
Think dedication & motivation
Will you fit in?
Think ‘team player’ and company ethos

It’s really that simple.

Kris’s interview

careersadviser — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 00:41:26 +0000

Kris is a bright lad and he’s had a bunch of awful jobs. He is working abroad and often comes back to the UK on leave, and decided to go for a job in the UK. I asked him how his interview went for an emergency planning job in Durham.

K – The Durham emergency planning job doesn’t seem to be good

CA – So how did the interview go?

K – It went really well, until I asked them questions

CA – I wish I had been a fly on the wall! (I know Kris fairly well)

So, the interview went like this…..

K – What particular role will I be undertaking, seeing as there are 11 EPOs, and specific tasks assigned to them?

Interviewer – Sorry Kris, we just don’t know until a decision is made on whether the EPO unit will remain as is or to split up to represent their service areas.

K – Well, who will be paying my salary and pension scheme, is it the Fire Service?

Interviewer – Sorry Kris, I do not know the answer to that until we know what happens with the unit. You may be funded by the local authority, fire service, police or the NHS.

Kris was sat there, thinking, why the fuck are you interviewing?

K – When it is likely a decision will be made with regards to the future of the unit?

Interviewer – Sorry Kris, we don’t know when that decision will be made, it could be next month but it will be before April 2009.

(LOL)

So it’s back to Cambodia for Kris. For the moment. After he heard all that, he told them he won’t be available until April.

A common question

careersadviser — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 21:34:43 +0000

Q. I have no dreams. I have no goals. My job / course is boring. I’m not particularly interested in anything. But I want to be happy. I just don’t know what to do. Help!

Get the books Build your own Rainbow, What Colour is your Parachute?.

Voluntary work, it’s sooo nice to help others.

Take a vacation, a change of scenery clears the mind.

Try different places, e.g. the new pub, an art gallery you haven’t visited before. Variety is the spice of life.

Talk to strangers (yes, honest!)

Take a course, it will change your perspective on life.

Join a gym, get a haircut, get a new wardrobe. Feel better about yourself.

Change your job or course. Think about what jobs or courses might excite you.

Don’t think. Just do it.

Try 43 Things.

- It’s depressing how many clients come to me with this question.

Today’s memorable client

careersadviser — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 13:44:43 +0000

Kris told me about the number of jobs he’s had.

He started off as a farmer’s helper, shovelling cow shit from one pile to another and back again, then worked as a construction helper where he had to poke out the mortar from the stonework of a country house. Then he worked as a park attendant in a run-down estate where they burnt his office with him in it (they eventually decide to smash up the cricket pavilion and burn down a marquee tent when it turned out that he wasn’t that combustible). After that lovely job, he was a shelf-filler of exclusively washing powder boxes and household scents (he thinks he’s lost a few cells in his nose), then a warehouse porter where he ripped the skin off one of his thumbs, then data entry where he typed in 8-10 digit numbers for 8 hours, then a kitchen porter washing 20,000 dishes a night, then a hotel porter in a ski resort in France, then emergency planning for a council, then data quality control in Holland with the boss from hell, and now he’s quality controlling stuff he doesn’t understand in the oil industry in places like Libya and Cambodia.

And he’s got a job interview next week. Wish him luck!