The Easter break, and now spring has seemed to have sprung, is a great time to be job hunting. With a long weekend just gone, and with more bank holidays coming up soon, it will give you extra time to have a think about your next or first career move!
So here at Scout we thought we would share our eggs of guidance on the best way to make the most of getting ahead on the job hunt.
- Set Goals
If you don’t set goals, how are you going to know how productive you have been? You need to think about what you’ve been doing so far, what is working? What hasn’t?
Aiming to have an interview within a day or two isn’t very realistic – employers have a lot on their plate as it is. But a good goal would be to have applied for a couple of jobs in which you feel confident you will get through to interview stage with. The key is to set goals you know you can realistically achieve.
- See what’s out there
You may have your heart set out on what you think may be the perfect job, but we always advise everyone, especially graduates, to keep their eyes open to opportunities that you may not have thought were an option.
If you are applying for roles which have similar titles but not seeing any success, maybe its time to rethink tactics and go back to the basics and double check that the exact job description does match your skill set. An Account manager in Sales is very different to an Account manager in Advertising.
What are your strengths and weaknesses and how you can match them to a job, which is best, suited to you? Take your time going through job descriptions and pick out the requirements and assess how you match up – this is exactly what the employer will be doing.
- Refreshing your CV
So you have found a job or a selection that you want to apply for. What do you do next? You may hear this all the time but don’t send a generic CV! Have a think about what you can do to try and stand out from the other people and get noticed.
The key is to make sure your CV marries up and matches to the job description you are applying to.
For example, if the job description asks ‘experience within AfterEffects’ make sure within your CV you can give an example of when you used it and on what project! Employers want to see what you did and what the outcome was.
If you are a recent graduate and cant give such specific examples, there is no need to panic. Use an example from University, the outcome of a skill you used and how it peaked your interest in that area.
- Get the professionals in.
We would always advise applying for the roles that interest you and match your skill set but you can always call up a trusted recruiter in the specific field you operate in and have a chat with them about what they have on at the moment, how the marketplace is currently and to bear you in mind for any roles that come up in the next few weeks. We are happy to hear from Candidates, even if they are not necessarily applying to a specific role and will offer free advise when asked.
For a list of our latest roles, please visit http://whitewavedev.co.uk/scout/jobs/ and Happy Easter from the Scout Team!
