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How to Resign Professionally

Ashley — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 09:00:31 +0000

Since leaving university I have only had two jobs – I have friends who have lots of experience of leaving jobs where as myself I had no idea of the process. Once I made up my mind to leave my previous job, I (luckily) had a great recruitment consultant who offered the following advice on how to resign professionally:

1)            Write a short and sweet letter of resignation letter
2)            Thank the company for all the support and training they have given you
3)            Stick to your guns – do not accept a counter offer to persuade you to stay
4)            Finally, your employer may want to know the real reason why you are leaving – in this instance it is really important to be professional – you do not want to burn any bridges by saying anything too negative or immature.

Good luck with your new job!

The importance of Work Experience

Katie — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 10:00:27 +0000

For any new graduate or someone looking to change career, one of the most important things for their CV is relevant work experience. Getting the right type of work experience is vital, as many companies will simply ask their interns to make tea/coffee, hand out the post etc. However, it is essential that people on work experience ask their employer for more responsibility and tasks that will challenge them, giving a realistic portrayal of working life in that industry. Ensure that the tasks they give you will be transferable to your CV because at the end of the day that is the reason why you are doing it in the first place. Two weeks is regarded as the minimum amount of acceptable work experience, with a month being the standard but it can range to up to six months.

And you never know if you make the right impression on your work experience it might even land you a job at the end of it.

Career advice- get as much help as you can!

James — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:04:09 +0000

Having attended university myself I very aware of the pressures placed upon young people when they are approaching the end of their university degree. I can imagine it has never been more difficult to find work, and the competition has possibly never been stronger. As a result I would certainly encourage graduates to make the most of the help and support given within universities regarding career advice. The sooner you start looking in to the options available to you, the more time you have to fully investigate your options and choose a career path which will suit you. It is a very big decision which will have a significant impact on other aspects of your life.

Government reviewing flexible working legislation

Ashley — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 09:26:04 +0000

Recent plans unveiled by the government suggest that they are considering extending the right to flexible working to all staff from day one of their employment. The Work and Pensions secretary has advised that the government was considering extending the right for employees to request flexible working hours from the start of a new job. This comes only a week after the Equality and Human Rights Commission called for flexible working rights to be extended to all employees and not just parents and carers. As it stands at the moment the current legislation enables only parents with children under the age of sixteen and carers to request flexible working hours.

New employment legislation set to cost businesses billions

James — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 10:00:58 +0000

In recent months employment has been in the news consistently particularly due to the impact the recession has had on the work force. Apparently a new wave of employment legislation and taxes looks to cost businesses approximately twenty five billion pounds over the next four years and as a result could hold back the recovery for many firms business leaders have been warning this month. The British Chambers of Commerce has written to ministers to protest that businesses who are already struggling to survive in the current economic climate are going to struggle further if the planned changes take place. This follows news that the Labour Government are going ahead with plans to allow fathers with new born children to share maternity leave with their partners and have up to six months off work.

10 Interview Tips

James — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 09:32:26 +0000

Look the part – it is very important to set a good example and dress smartly and to speak clearly and in a confident manner. Remember that amazingly, only 7% of the interviewer’s opinion of you is formed by what you say – the rest is formed by how you appear and behave.
Be prepared and plan ahead – find out where the interview is exactly, how to get there and how long it takes. Maybe even do a quick recce of the journey to plan ahead.
What kind of interview will it be? Will it be one interviewer or more than one? Formal or informal?
Examine the job requirements and your CV and think about what type of questions you may be asked. Is there anything on your CV you can’t fully justify or back up?
Prepare your key strenghts and weaknesses and show how they will relate to the main tasks in this job.
Show working examples of when you’ve used certain skills in the industry/market.
Sell yourself. Don’t appear over-confident but be honest about your skills.
Prepare some questions of your own for the end of the interview. It is best not to ask about money or perks just yet, this is usually discussed at a second interview or when the company come back to you with an offer.
It is important to get feedback on your interview, whether you were successful or not.
Turn off your mobile! Treat the interviewers with respect and give them your undivided attention.

Dealing with Redundancy

James — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:38:38 +0000

Redundancy is a fact of life that unfortunately nobody ever wants to experience. There are many reasons why you may be made redundant including a company losing money or cutting back, takeovers, technology advances, poor management or even increased competition.

It is likely that most of us will have to deal with losing a job at some point in our working lives. The most important thing however is to react to it the right way by being positive and thinking about where we can improve and develop.

How to React

To avoid confusion when dealing with redundancy here are some important things to do and things to avoid.

Do:

React in a calm and composed manner.
See the opportunity as a chance for a change in career or role.
Believe that moving forward can be positive and look at your options.
Get advice and opinions from professional advisers and talk to your friends and family.

Don’t:

Take it personally, it is likely that the job role was no longer necessary, not you.
React by panicking and making rash decisions.

Choosing a Career

James — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 09:40:09 +0000

Job or Career?

Are you looking for a stop-gap job to pay off any bills you have or do you have a master plan for a career? Would a new environment help you adapt for your career and have you done all you can in the current job you are in? Maybe you want a new challenge and have more responsibility – a job and a career are two very different things. You do not have to know which you want, but if you have a plan then it’s likely a career path is available to you.

What do you enjoy doing?

What is it that you actually enjoying doing and what can you bring to a company? It could be a good idea to develop your skills in a certain industry or if you wish, learn something new. If you enjoy something but don’t have the necessary skills then there are a number of options. Many courses are available part-time and you can often get courses through your company. It is a good idea to check out which qualifications and experience you need for any role you aim to work in.

Things to consider:

Working for a large company where you can move roles
Working for a small company where you get experience of all aspects of the business
Working for a well-known and reputable company
Having training opportunities
How far do you want to travel?
What kind of salary are you looking for?

Temporary or permanent work?

It’s important to decide if you’re looking for temporary or permanent work. If you have been returning to work from a long absence it may be a good idea to do temporary work first and build up to permanent later on.

Returning to Work After Time Off

James — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:00:57 +0000

The important thing to remember when you have had time off work is to be positive about your time off. Employers will understand why you’ve been off if you’re honest about the nature of your illness or injury. But it will help them to build up a positive image of you if you mention any personal development activities you’ve been doing whilst you’ve been off.

It sounds really simple and that is because it is, these sorts of activities could impress employers:

completing courses
joining societies
volunteering
being active in your community
undertaking projects in the home
spending time with your family

Give your confidence a boost

Whilst you’re out of the workplace your confidence can take a knock. You build confidence from doing things and achieving things, and work can play a big part in this. It is more than likely that you’ll start to gain confidence again if you take a positive step and do something new and challenging. As mentioned above, starting a course or doing some voluntary work could be the way to do this.

Update your skills

If you want to get back into the same line of work you were in before, check your skills and knowledge are up to date. You might need to update yourself on developments in the field and new working practices may have come in. One thing that could help is to contact old colleagues to ask them what’s been going on.

Local Job Centres

James — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:10:14 +0000

There is a misconception about Job Centres these days. Many people think it reflects badly on them as a person to “sign on”. This shouldn’t be the case. It may have been the case years ago that job centres had a huge amount of certain types of jobs, but more niche, professional or unique job roles weren’t necessarily catered for. This is no longer the case. Job centres across the country have a huge selection of jobs in a wide range of industries. What’s more, job centres can substantially help your local job search simply because they offer a great place for local employees to reach local candidates. The job centre is there to simply get people working and sometimes that means offering jobs to candidates that may seem like a step back in their careers. This is just life, and it is something that is fact.

I don’t believe it is not always about the financial side of things and every job doesn’t need to be a step up in the career ladder. Being unemployed can take its toll on your motivation and confidence. Surely even a low paid job that is a step back from what you were doing before can be beneficial? This must be better than doing nothing all day and feeling sorry for yourself. Local job centres are here to help so help yourself and use them.