1 British Computer Society NORTH LONDON BRANCH Job Lot – or Not? Wednesday 13th October 2004 at...
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Transcript of 1 British Computer Society NORTH LONDON BRANCH Job Lot – or Not? Wednesday 13th October 2004 at...
1
British Computer SocietyNORTH LONDON BRANCH
www.nlondon.bcs.org
Job Lot – or Not?
Wednesday 13th October 2004at PwC Bloomsbury Square
in association with PwC
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Dalim’s presentation
Dalim BasuChairman, BCS North London Branch
‘Just the Job’‘Treat your job hunt as a project - start date Today’
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‘Just the Job’
Distant horizons..
‘Vision & objectives’
– What’s different about me? It’s a tough world out there..
– Where do I want to be in 5 years time?
– Steps along the way Project plans & possibilities
– ‘Business plan’ & Toolkit
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‘Just the Job’
The grass is always greener..
‘Overview the lie of the land’
– DIY e.g. Contracting, Working for yourself
– Market sectors e.g. Education, Public sector, Finance
– Organisation types e.g. Large, medium, small
– Job categories e.g. Testing, Development, Analysis
– Location location re-location? e.g. London, UK, Europe
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‘Just the Job’
DIY ‘Be your own boss’ • Freelance/Contract/Interim? Entrepreneur? How about a Business plan?
• Are you limited? - employee & MD? Sole trader? Partnership? Franchise?
• Buy ‘off the shelf’ - or via accountant? Tax? VAT? IR35? Other liabilities?
• Where to start? Try www.businesslink.org 0845 600 9006 (DTI), www.startups.co.uk‘Self Employment’ LawPack Self-Help Kit + CD (e.g from WHSmith)
• Think it through - Start-up, Finance/grants, Tax, Products/services, Sales & marketing, Employees, Contracts, Trading, Business sale or closure..
• Ups - potential for high earnings, new challenges, work variety, avoid office politics, no fighting for promotion, flexibility - and Independence!
• Downs - administration, possible periods without work, frequent moves between employers/contracts, low job security, may need to work far from home, family life impacted, holidays may be hard to arrange, few chances to upgrade skills, constant need to look/plan ahead..
• Can you manage stress, finance, time, home life, as well as the business?
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‘Just the Job’
Toolkit ‘Be prepared’
– Routine ‘Work hours’, A quiet place, PC, filing system
– Plans Project plans, flowcharts, notes, lists
– CV**
– Cover note**
– Certificates
– Work/university references [ever seen a bad one?]
– Work/project examples
– Job Tracker** & Overview**
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‘Just the Job’
CV tips– Key sales tool - selling You
– Door opener - to interviews at agency & target organisation
– Be bold - within reason - “how I made a difference”
– Be general + specific highlights - quantify if possible
– Bullet points & Active achievements - ‘doing verbs’
– Mind the gaps
– Accuracy & consistency count - so do lies..
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‘Just the Job’
** CV sample format **
‘Dare to be different?’
– 2 pages? Rule of thumb?
– Who is Curriculum Vitae? Your name at top - not ‘CV’.
– Photo - not in UK?
– Email, mobile, phone, address
– ‘Flash Banner’ “You need me because..” ?
– Key skills
– Career first? Or Education & Qualifications?
– Other details
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‘Just the Job’
** Cover note **
‘We can cover this in any of many ways..’
–Which role I’m interested in, & where I learnt about it
–What I’ve got to offer “I’m ideal because..”
–Why & when I’m available
–What I’m sending now
–How I’d like to proceed
Options: [1] No note? [2] Standard CV+note for all jobs? [3] Std CV + individual note per job? [4] Indiv CV+note per job? [5] CV+note together in 1 document? Your choice?
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‘Just the Job’
Tracking - or cracking?..
‘Who am I speaking to?’
**Job Tracker sample format ** e.g. vertical form
– Organisation, contact, phone no. / same for Agency/other– Job title, key info– 1st contact date, Rejection date / same for interviews 1 & 2– Job offer date & notes
** Tracker Overview sample format ** e.g. horizontal spreadsheet
– Status (e.g. ?, x) / Last contact date– Organisation, contact, phone / same for Agency/other– Job title– Via (e.g. networking, newspaper, Internet..)
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‘Just the Job’
• Newspapers
• IT magazines
• Libraries
• Internet job sites
• Target organisations
• Recruitment agencies
• Your Careers people
• Other job hunters
• Job Centre
• Professional bodies e.g. BCS
• Conferences & events eg BCS
• Contacts - ‘Networking’ eg BCS
Desperately seeking..
‘Like looking for a needle in a haystack’
‘Chase/follow up with care - don’t overdo/annoy..’
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‘Just the Job’
Agency interview - Let’s meet..
‘Practice makes perfect’– “Tell me about yourself”
“What is your greatest achievement? And failure?”“What is your greatest strength? And weakness?”
– Learn ‘learnings’ - take notes, use Job Tracker & Overview
– One step Forward - or 2 steps back? How did you do?
– Rejected? - don’t get too dejected - try and try again..
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‘Just the Job’
The Big One (part one at least)
“You’ve been short-listed for interview by the company”
– Read all about it - research the organisation
– List questions to ask - it’s a 2-way process
– Interview questions/tests - what benefits can you bring?
– “What’s different about you?”..
– Try to relax, stay calm
– “Where do you want to be in 5 years’ time?”..
– Forward or Back? - how did you do?
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‘Just the Job’
And then - SUCCESS..
“Please be here at 9 a.m. on Monday morning.”
For this organisation - You are Just the Job!