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Job hunting advice
'Take care to get the job you like; otherwise you will have to like the job you get' Anon
 If you know that you're about to lose the job you've got, it's pretty important to start gearing up for your next one if that's what you really want. However, whether you need to get a new job or you just want to do something different, take some time out to really think about what you want before you start. It's not a luxury, it's a necessity.
Don't start job hunting without a plan - first check out getting promoted, choosing a new direction, training & personal development, assess yourself, CV help or perhaps be your own boss.
Job Hunting Top Tips
- First things first - determine your job goals, write them down and then focus your efforts towards them
- What kind of job hunter you? Try out our quick quiz here.
- Redundant? - find out if your employer will offer to help you with outplacement services
- Use the web to help organise your job hunting. If you're not that confident about your searching skills go to intute for a free on-line searching tutorial.
- Track your efforts - keep a spreadsheet or record of site passwords and user id names - it's easy to get confused! You can download our sample version at the bottom of this page and stay on track.
- No internet access? - if you don't have access to the internet at home (preferably with broadband) check out access at your local JobcentrePlus office
- Local newspapers are still the most common medium for recruitment advertising, to save money read the job pages in the comfort of your local library. More and more jobs are now posted on the web so you must incorporate this channel into your research
- Apply to companies directly - it might not pay off immediately but you never know what might be around the corner. Many companies now allow you to apply for jobs with them online or register speculative applications with them. If you can't apply to a company directly online, call the switchboard, find out who the chief contact person is, talk to them about potential vacancies and what you have to offer, or write to them
- Write your CV and make sure that you keep it up to date so that you can send it out as soon as you spot an opportunity
- Make sure your CV sells you, not sells you short, this is no time for modesty!
- Create one core CV and then adapt it to the position you are applying for, save each version with a clear rationale you can identify for reference purposes later
- Sending CV's and applications by email is faster and it saves money on postage
- Get CV help - see our more detailed CV advice on the site, ask trusted friends or recruiters for their help or consider paying a professional to evaluate it. Write a punchy covering letter to go with your CV tailored to each job opportunity.
- Use your networks of friends and family to find permanent or temporary work if you find yourself between jobs
- Referees - think about who can or will act as a referee for you
- Interviews - turn up on time, calm, prepared and well groomed - click the link for more practical interview advice
- First impressions count - smile, firm confident handshake & good manners! Click on the highlighted link to find out more about improving your personal impact
- Interview questions usually revolve around 'The Big 3' Check out tips on how to succeed in the interview advice section.
Question 1 - Can you do the job? Tests skill, experience & track record
Question 2 - Will you do the job? Tests motivation, commitment & enthusiasm
Question 3 - Will you fit in? Tests your cultural fit with others - Personality profiling - many firms use profiling to find out more about you - get ahead of the game and complete your own free test here - assess yourself - Personality profiling
- Save questions about salary and benefits when they are making you an offer not before
- Offers - don't accept any old offer that comes along unless you are really desperate, you may well live to regret it
- Effort - put in plenty of effort, job hunting can be a bit of a numbers game - find out your style here
- Record keeping - keep a thorough record of all your applications, status, follow ups, interview dates etc - you may need it if you are claiming benefit. Use our sample download at the bottom of this page
- Keep at it - it can be discouraging if you get a few rejections, so if you get a bit downhearted, don't pretend it isn't happening, get it off your chest, write it down in a diary or confide in a trusted friend
- Replies - don't expect a reply to every enquiry you send, it just isn't an industry standard
- Recruiters - many recruitment consultants are excellent, many of them are not, don't take it personally! Read more about them below
- Get noticed - many recruitment firms are little more than 'CV' farms with online databases using key word searches, make sure your CV contains the right key words for the job you want to be selected for
- Be proactive - just putting your CV on a few sites is not a proper job hunt, make some calls too.
- Once you've got a new job, don't forget to come back to look at our tips on exiting your old job and starting your new one
- Register your CV with recruiters now - there are literally hundreds of recruitment websites, you can search for jobs, register your CV and set up job alerts here,
- Leave no stone unturned - research our unique job hunting sites directory or selection of Executive Search Firms.
Recruitment Consultants
- There are lots of different types of recruitment consultant out there - excellenet, good, bad and indifferent ones. You'll probably meet all three at some point!
- How do they make their money? Essentially from the company that is looking to hire someone, an important point to remember when it comes to understanding where their loyalties lie.
- They may be paid a flat fee or a percentage of the final package they negotiate for a successful candidate.
- If they’re lucky, they are paid a retainer by certain firms but that is fairly rare these days. It stands to reason, therefore, that they will make more effort to hire a finance director on £100,000 per annum at, for example, a 20% fee than someone applying for a low paid admin job. It also explains why they will try their best to get you the most advantageous pay and benefits deal. For that money, however, the company will expect certain things.
- There are two basic reasons why employers commission external recruiters - to save them time – by refining shortlists and only sending along suitable candidates for further interviews, and/or because they have inside knowledge and access to the best candidates (or who know others who do).
- So, it pays to know which recruitment agencies specialise in your type of work because it is more likely that they will attract the best vacancies from the best companies.
- General recruitment agencies may have lots of volume but they often lack specialist industry knowledge that allows them to understand what you have to offer and to help you to exploit it correctly. That is why some agencies are known dismissively in the trade as ‘CV farms’ – they don’t add a lot of value and probably don’t offer candidates much of a service, but they still charge high fees.
- You will find plenty of options for research and the best places to entrust your valuable future career in our job hunting sites directory.
Executive Search Firms (popularly known as Headhunters)
- They usually employ researchers to go out and look for candidates against a specific brief, so while it never hurts to be known to them, simply sending in a CV and hoping that they will be sitting on the right job for you won’t usually work. It is a system that favours the employed, of course. Savvy receptionists usually know when researchers are calling to get the names of their star performers and are often taught how to foil them.
- Good executive recruiters are worth their weight in gold but there are those who give the industry a bad name. For example: if they ask you to agree to be considered for a position and then don’t call you if you fail to make it to the next stage; if they don’t know or share the full interview process with you; if they don’t know who the players are or can’t add any value beyond a job description; if when you’ve been down to the final two or three and then they don’t call to thank you or commiserate with you, they generally don’t understand simple manners or the basic rules of professionalism.
- Many people tell us that although they have made no complaint about the recruiter in question at the time, if they were to be in a position to put business their way in the future, they would not do so.
- Generally there will be a claw back or refund clause in their contract which means they need a candidate to stay in a job for a particular length of time, usually linked to probation periods, so it is in their interest that you stay. For that reason they should usually call you once you have started your new job to see how you’re settling in. If you want to know more about the way that they operate go to the Executive and managerial section and read the section on how to get headhunted.
- Click on the highlighted link to search our directory of top Executive Search Firms.
If you want to rate the recruiters you have been dealing with, or to see how others have rated their performance, pay a visit to Hirescores.com.
Happy hunting!
Useful resources
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