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Guide to keeping your hopes up during a long job search

Searching for a job can be an extremely draining experience. At first, it seems simple to develop a cover letter and update your resume, but when a job search wears on, you can get pretty worn down. When a job search lasts for more than a month or two, this can become exceptionally true.

If you have been searching for a job for a while and are tired, feeling discouraged, and just want a break, it’s time to employ some rules that will help you to stop overextending yourself. Before engaging in a job search, it’s vital to take some time to develop good habits that will help you stay motivated and optimistic.

Remember that Job Seeking is Job Within Itself

Many people take for granted the amount of energy required to conduct a job search. Neither your mind nor your body are prepared for the activity. In order to become skilled at job searching, you’ve got to put yourself out there every single day, and get used to the idea of searching for a job as its own occupation. Like any other daily job, you may eventually get tired and bored with job searching. So give yourself breaks in between, and even give yourself room to adapt to your “learning curve.”

Take Care of Your Entire Self

You may be used to thinking of yourself as a “worker” and now that you’re out of work and searching for employment, you’re struggling to regroup. A job search can be a great time to get on-the-ball physically and mentally.

For instance, you might have been accustomed to physical activities before you started your last job, but let those die down as you traded them for hard days at work. Whether you’re into running, basketball, or something else, you now have the time to get back into your physical activity and improve your body. It’s also important to watch what you’re eating. As the old saying goes, you are what you eat, so develop a diet that will keep you lean and energetic, focusing on greens, fruits, and other high health menu items. Working out and eating right will revitalize every aspect of you, and you’ll feel much better.

On the emotional side of things, it’s good to pay attention to how you’re feeling during your job search. For emotional drain, which can be pretty taxing, keep a journal to help you stay focused and encouraged. To keep your mind calm during a stressful job search, try meditation, prayer, or even yoga.

Conducting a job search for a long period of time is definitely a tall order. It’s something you don’t want to take for granted because the wear and tear can drain you before you know it. This makes it important to watch all aspects of your health, so take occasional stock of how you’re doing physically, emotionally, and mentally. This will help to prepare you for not just the job search, but also interviews, and essentially your first day on your new job.

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9 Tips to Help You Find a Job

There are numerous things you can do to help you find your dream job. Some of these things are pure common sense, others may require you to think a little more outside the box!

Below we present 9 Tips to help you find your new job!

Network

Think of all the people you know — relatives, friends, teachers, classmates, old co-workers, and others. Now you have to start to make more of an effort to meet with people, and use these conversations to ask their advice and to make them mindful of your job search. Ask them about their job and their organizations. Try to get the names of others who might be useful in connecting the dots in your job search.

Targeted job search and Resume

Make sure your resume is targeted to the employers who are receiving it. Make sure that your resume is easy to read and the most important details stand out on the page. Always have more than one resume ready and available if you’re applying to different industries for a job. Don’t apply to different industries with the same resume. Tailor each resume to a specific industry.

Be prepared

You should always have a copy of your resume on you at all times! You never know who you are going to run into while you’re out. It is also a good idea to have a fresh copy of your resume prepared in case you are called to an interview at the last minute. Always bring a copy of your resume with you to the interview along with a couple of questions to ask the employer.

Create a contact database

Write down all the employers that you contact along with the ones that contacted you. Write down or make note of, the date that you sent your resume, any contact made, people you talked to, and any important info. Keep a notepad with you at all times — take notes any time you hear about an opportunity or when you leave an interview.

Learn how to talk about yourself

I know for some of you this is a hard concept, but you have to get comfortable with it, if you are going to land a job. Throughout your job search you will be speaking with many people in many different positions at different levels. You must be comfortable having conversations about yourself with others. Keep in mind that you never know what or who may end up being useful to you in your job hunt.

Prepare a speech

You never know who you’ll meet in an elevator, in line at the coffee shop, or on the street. Know what your skills are and how to communicate them to others. You should be able to talk to prospective employers along with others you meet about what you can offer there company or industry. You should also be able to talk about how your skills will relate to the industries that you’re interested in.

Find out all there is about the employers in your field

This means research! Try to remain current on all the issues or developments in your field, read trade journals, professional publications, or the newspaper. You can always jump on the Internet and Google it. It is extremely impressive to employers during an interview if you know all about the latest merger or industry updates and news.

Follow-up with leads immediately

I cannot stress this enough. If you find out about a position late in the day, call right then. Don’t wait until the next day. You have to jump on any lead that you find when you find it. And if all possible get a phone number and call them directly to get them on the phone.

Stay confident and positive Job hunting is going to take time and energy.

Remain confident, but prepare yourself for all the challenges ahead. Don’t get disgruntled if you are still looking for a job and it seems like everyone you know has an offer. You will find something if you keep positive and keep moving forward.

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Jobs in London

There are literally hundreds of thousands of jobs in London, UK being advertised at any given point. Some of these jobs are for high-level executive work, with pay and bonuses in the millions of pounds and demanding commensurate experience and skills. Others are for part-time or casual positions, pay relatively little, and are commonly taken up by students or people recently entered into London in order to secure themselves financially.

The London job market is a constantly evolving situation, and requires diligence and application in order to find the right job within the many options are available at any one point. Traditional approaches to job hunting still work very well; that is, actively networking, handing your resume into appropriate environments, and learning how to get past gatekeepers like administrators and receptionists in order to talk to people in HR and find positions that may be available for you.

In addition, the advent of the Internet has meant that the playing field has been levelled, both within London and also internationally. The longer constrained by selecting only people within a certain geographic location, employers can pick and choose from applicants throughout the UK and even overseas.

Especially amongst executive and high-level positions, many applicants from overseas are attracted to London’s thriving economy, enjoyable social life and shopping, and the fact that London is one of the world’s largest transport hubs, and is effectively a gateway to Europe.

What sort of job you are after in London will determine significantly how you go about finding it. If, for example, you are after work as a taxi driver, security guard, or retail assistant in London, the easiest way of securing one of these positions is to simply hit the street, and apply directly to the people you would like to be working for. In many working environments, being able to fit a name to a well presented face as a bonus. Personal networking still holds the greatest weight among peoples memories, and that to create a good and professional impression from the word go.

In contrast, some employers prefer not to be approached directly, and instead outsource their employment consulting to a agency. Whether they are looking for one employee to fit a particular role, or a batch of new employees to fill a need, for example, factory workers or employees within a call centre, outsourcing the selection to an agency with the relevant expertise in HR is a good way of saving time and winnowing through the applicants to a select few, or a shortlist, who can then be chosen by the managers directly.

Pay and conditions for jobs in London, UK. Pay and conditions the jobs in London vary dramatically depending on whether you are employed as a contracter or as an employee, and whether you’re employed full-time or part-time. Casual employees had the least legal protection in terms of guaranteed wages, overtime, shifts, and sickly. Full-time and permanent employees are affordable most protection, as the unions in London, UK have fought for individual rights over several decades.

Unlike many other environments around Europe, pay is not generally negotiable in London. Instead, a pay range is advertised for most positions, and unless you have particular skills or can demonstrate relevant experience in the field, you start at the bottom of the pay range and then incrementally move up over time. This is most relevant for people in full-time positions. Casual employees are usually paid a fixed hourly rate, which is then multiplied by a set percentage in instances of shift work, overtime, or working on weekends or nightshift.

Outside of pay, conditions the jobs in London are relatively benign. There are strict laws on how long one can work without a break, on both OH+S and other labour conditions.

Unfair dismissal and leaving the workforce laws are carefully spelt out under a variety of acts of legislation in the United Kingdom. Generally speaking, if you are a full-time or permanent part-time employee, you need to be given a certain amount of notice before your position is terminated, or paid in lieu of notice.

Again, if you’re a casual employee, you can be fired for less clearly spelt out reasons, and given less motors. Because of the complexity of the laws of human resources in London, UK, if you have any concern that is best to contact your local employment offices or a local government branch, and there will be able to advise you further on the specifics of your situation.

Obviously this protection granted employees does not give you carte blanche to act inappropriately. Sexual harassment, inappropriate workplace behaviour, drug safety regulation abuse can all get you fired instantly, and with no chance of financial compensation. Generally, if an employer asks you to oblige with certain safety procedures or drug testing, and those not create an undue imposition on you, you have no choice but to comply or to resign.

Strict equality laws also apply in London, UK. It is illegal to discriminate against people in terms of age, race, religious beliefs, colour, disability, or any other factor that is not inherent requirements of the job. If you feel that you are being discriminated against, contact the local government office and see what information they have to give you.

As you can see, working in London can be both rewarding and enjoyable. There are a variety of jobs in London greater than can be found in any other city in the world, and every person can find a job that will meet their skills and particular preferences in terms of employment. We wish you all the best in finding the most appropriate job in London, UK for you.

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LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP – DON’T JUMP INTO THE FRYING PAN WHEN CHANGING JOBS

There will be many things on your mind when you are looking to change jobs, better money and prospects, better salary, less travel, but you also need to think about what obstacles your present employer may have placed in your way. There are often ways around these problems but you do need to be aware of the key issues. Here are a few areas that are worth considering before you take the plunge. Restrictions in Your Contract The first consideration is to see if your contract tries to control what you can do after your employment comes to an end. An employer can seek to do this in many ways, whether by banning competition, banning approaches to clients, banning dealing with clients (even if it is the client that makes the initial approach and not the former employee), or banning the poaching of former colleagues. Many employees take the view that these types of restriction are worthless, but as recent cases have shown, courts are prepared to uphold restrictions if they satisfy the necessary legal requirements. Preparatory Acts Even where your contract contains no express restriction, certain types of preparatory activity during employment will be prohibited by law. These include anything done in your employer’s time, soliciting clients, soliciting exclusive suppliers, entertaining offers from clients and memorising trade secrets or confidential information. Loss of Rewards It is common place for bonus clauses to state that no bonus payment will be made if an employee is not employed or is under notice at a specified date. If you are lucky enough to be able to pick your time of leaving should always be in your mind when you are considering the timing of your resignation. Similarly share options will often lapse at the end of employment, or will have to be exercised within a limited time of the last day of employment. Pay back and return of property Contracts often contain clauses requiring an employee to pay back all sums due to the employer at the end of the employment, or to allow the employer to deduct these sums from the final salary payment. This can come as a nasty surprise if you have just taken out a large season ticket loan. Contracts also often require all property to be returned at the end of employment, which should be borne in mind if you have personal information on computers or mobile phones. Clearly there are many issues to be considered, with the starting point being careful and professional consideration of your employment contract.

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Interview Techniques

General Hints and Guidelines

Surviving an interview can be a nerve-racking experience or exciting, depending on which way you approach it. Either way, the interview could be a life changing experience.  

An Interview is essentially a business meeting. The employer will be selling the position, and the applicant will be selling their skills, strengths and ability to successfully undertake the particular role. Like all business meetings, preparation is the key!

Following is some information and tips about surviving the interview process, and working towards obtaining the job you want!

Always go Prepared

 Assess your strengths

 Be Prepared to sell yourself

Outline your Skills and Achievements

Know all of the details of the Interview (Interviewer, Address, Company details etc.)

Focus on your strengths

Common Strengths include:

   Team Player

    Leadership Ability

    Enthusiasm

    Initative

    Flexibility

    Ability to work independently

    Creativity

First Impressions

So you've made it through the initial stages, and hopefully you've prepared to tackle the interviewer's questions, now its time to impress!

When arriving at the interview, try to remain calm and confident, offering your hand for a firm (within reason) handshake, keeping eye contact at all times. Be polite and courteous when initiating communication with the Interviewer, remembering the importance of tone of voice.

Dress Appropriately

The initial impression you give the interviewer as you enter the room could make a huge difference to your chances of getting a second interview, and being offered the position.

What you wear for the interview depends on the job you are going for, but portraying a professional image, and dressing smartly is generally advised. Make sure that whatever you choose to wear you feel comfortable in, self-confidence is of great importance.

Some Points

     A Suit always makes a good impression

     Be Modest with accessories and make-up in keeping with a professional image

     Polish your shoes

     Make sure you are clean- deodorant and breath fresheners are a good idea.

     Keep Make-up to a professional standard

Sample Interview Questions

Every Interview is different. It is important to recognize this when preparing for your interview. Ask yourself the question, what type of role am I interviewing for? Why have they chosen me for interview? Will the interview be technical or theoretical?

Some Sample questions for an interview might include:

      Why do you want this job?

      What do you know about the organization?

      What would be your ideal role?

      What did you like about your previous roles?

      How successful are you?

      How did you make a difference in your last organization?

      What motivates you?

      Are you able to work independently?

      What have you got to contribute to this organization?

See the Industry Links Page for other useful contacts and information.

Please be aware that this is general advice and guidelines, and will not be appropriate for all interviews. If you require further information, please take a look at some of the industry professionals on the Industry Links Page.