Friday 17 December 2010

Christmas Top 10

Hello Again
New Year News 
Well that went quickly! Another festive period is almost upon us here at the expanding Picture More office. We will be announcing exciting new members of the team in the New Year and have continued to place more and more high quality candidates into permanent and contract roles. Our consultancy is now an official supply partner of another “Magic Circle” law firm in London.

We also stretched our global wings again by placing some great professionals in America. As usual we would like to thank our client organisations for working with us and send our congratulations and gratitude to all the people who have represented us so brilliantly in 2010. We told you the downturn was going to ease!

Christmas Top 10 
Despite our positive news we know many of you are still looking for your next roles. Our vision is to become the first choice IT recruitment consultancy for professional services and because our clients demand the highest standards we like to share the insight you need to help you to fit the profile. It seems you like this too because we have looked at our most popular blog posts over the last 2 years and it is the job hunting advice that really gets you going. So Pop Pickers, this December we present our seasonal top 10 tips…

At number 10: Make sure that the interests on your CV are genuine and try and have one each that cover the following criteria:

• Evidence of teamwork

• Something eye-catching

• Something you really enjoy and can enthuse about

Mr X had done that back in August 2009 and he was a very employable man.

At number 9: In October 2009 we talked about online job boards. This was surprisingly important because it is one of the places recruiters will look for you. The tip is to complete the online forms and use different ways of describing what you do to make sure people find you.

At number 8 there are various elements to this idea including one of our top 3. A tip from December 2009 was to increase your profile. You can blog, write articles and white papers. You can set up a LinkedIn site and share expertise in online discussion groups. You could put your CV on the job-boards. Be visibly good at your job, let people know what you are doing and who for, make it easy for people to find you.

Number 7. In an ambitious blog in October 2009 we advocated adding new skills to your toolkit. Branch out from your core competence and learn about marketing, trading, HR or a language – anything that could differentiate you from the other 300 people with the same core skills applying for the same job.

Moving up to number 6 we remind you to be business focused. Hopefully this seems obvious to you, the best candidates for IT roles are not mere techies but understand wider business concepts and their own effect on the bottom line. We talk about this a lot and brought it up last January incidentally we also said that the first quarter is statistically the best for finding a new role so why not go for it in the New Year!

At number 5 we remind you of a very simple tip that some people forget is to be polite to everyone you talk to in your search. This includes recruitment professionals, people in your network, journalists and people from industry bodies. Recruitment consultants want to place the best people for their clients and the best people are not rude. Remember that when the phone rings.

Holding steady at number 4 is this combination of tips from August 2009: Be prepared for interviews. Back then we broke it down under key headings:

• Only go for jobs you really want.
• Be ready for any question

• Practise!

So that’s three tips really and there are plenty more if you look at our permanent interview tips page.

Actually you can have three more straight away. We like to share current themes and we have had candidates miss out recently due to the reasons below so straight in at number 3 it’s avoid interview faux pas:
  • Not wearing a jacket or tie.
  • Not appearing motivated by the job in question. 
  • Saying terrible things about one’s current or past employer.

These faux pas will guarantee interview failure. If you have been guilty of these in the past we suggest you line up your New Year’s resolutions right now!

Just missing out at number 2 is being referred; the most powerful weapon in getting a job. In our first ever blog we advised networking. It’s a question of letting your professional network, including at least one recruitment professional, know what you’re trying to achieve.

…and our Christmas number 1…

Tailor your CV to the company and role you are applying for. This is vital for any application made directly or through a consultant. Look at the role requirements and the company’s values and make sure you are presenting a good match in a concise, clear way.

We hope that was a fun way to share some good advice. We at Picture More wish you and your families a wonderful Christmas and a peaceful, prosperous New Year. See you in 2011!

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