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3 Great Career-makers in Community Management

Publishers have transformed themselves in the digital age from printing magazines into serving communities by organising events, delivering online content and promoting new ways for domain specialists to meet and do business.

Anyone who printed magazines in the C20th only survived and flourished by transforming themselves into community managers. Integrating the likes of Twitter was just adding more channels to their offerings.

If you're looking for your next career step in, what we call, business community management, check out these three leading players:

Ascential is a leader in exhibitions, festivals and information services. Formerly called EMAP, its twenty brands include bett, Spring Fair and Groundsure and provide many opportunities to build a career. Ascential's careers site.

Centaur Media, formed in 1981, is London-based and manages an A-Z of media brands. Market leaders include Design Week, Marketing Week and The Lawyer. While jobs are listed at Centaur Media it's also worth checking out specific Centaur Media brands of interest.

Informa is big. Offices in over 40 countries and 6,500 employees. Informa Exhibitions runs around 200 exhibitions annually with nearly half of revenue coming from emerging markets. Through face to face and digital channels, its transaction-oriented exhibitions enable communities to engage, experience and do business. Informa's careers site.

If you've got an eye on event organising then The Association of Event Organisers' Members List is a great place to do some company hunting.

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Candidates (and companies) miss out when job copy goes dark…

The job boards are stuffed to the gills with job ads that are so vague they could be described as elusive - not what one expects from an advert! 

When a job ad goes dark - skipping company name and office location - you lose more than this vital information. The ad writer doesn't just want to hide the company name from you. They want to leave as few clues as possible, keeping the identity of the company secret.

This makes such ads all very similar. They can't sell the company's vision, it's culture or the specifics of past achievements or current projects. Anything that might let job seekers identify the company looking for them must be left out.

Such ads miss out on top candidates. Such ads make all companies the same.

But not all companies are the same. Some are changing the world. We're beginning to see a change. Companies with a mission, a story to tell, are insisting on better job copy and not being part of the quagmire of indifference that has blighted job boards for far too long.

Check out our Candidates' Charter for what we think candidates deserve when it comes to job ads and the application process.

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Is now the time to get a job at Oxfam?

While Oxfam's Deputy Chief Executive resigned this week, Oxfam's scandal has still to fully play out.

If you're looking for a new challenge you'd avoid considering Oxfam right? Well, if a challenge is what you want, joining an organisation that will see major changes may be the place to start.

The people of Oxfam, and those that join it, are going to be responsible for reinventing the organisation and making it fit to operate. It won't be easy; if you want easy then look elsewhere.

While the effects of human-caused climate change, wars and opportunity inequality are often debated, organisations like Oxfam see, at firsthand, the effects of these phenomena and divert some of their energies into campaigning to combat them.

If you interested in finding out more about Oxfam then check out the videos below and head to the Oxfam career site.

Himani Patel, University Idioh's Oxfam club president, Oxfam America gives an overview of the organisation's activities to alleviate the impact of natural disasters and what the biggest thing the international community can do to help.

Oxfam, with other charities, join forces to campaign for governments to reduce our carbon emissions.

Listen to Barny Tallack, an ex-director at Oxfam, who in this interview talks about how NGOs are structured and the different career paths within them.

And the answer to a common question, Oxfam is asked: where does the money go?

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For your own sake, take this advice before your next technical interview…

Technical interviews can be frustrating. There is no standard format that companies follow, and a company may not even follow a standard themselves. So, before you start brushing up your skills for an interview, check out these tipsters.

Mayuko Inoue's advice is clear, concise and covers literature, tools and processes to improve a performance in an interview. Mayuko also tells us the area where many candidates trip up in an interview.

Daniel Ni - 3 tips in under two minutes.

Emily Green talks us through the types of technical interviews and tests you might encounter including home coding challenges and pair programming challenges.

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The question to ask every recruiter

There's a culture of secrecy in the recruitment industry. And it's wasting your time as a job seeker.

Many recruiters won't tell you the name of the companies they are pitching your CV/resume to. Some may be collecting job seekers to then try and pick-up a client while others don't want to risk you "going direct" should they decide not to take your application with them any further.

You can help change this culture. For example, if you receive an unsolicited call from a recruiter, tell them that you don't spend time discussing openings unless you're told the name of the company. If that's too harsh a line for you there are others to choose from. You could, for example, discuss an opening but only send your CV/resume to the recruiter after they name the company.

Drawing a line does take courage. But doing so will save you a lot of time in your job hunt and you'll be playing your part in improving the recruitment industry for all of us.

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Be honest - you need a job hunt lift!

Job hunting can quickly become sole destroying with rejections letters and simply having applications ignored. Looking for a new job is a job in itself so developing daily and weekly routines can help fight off the feeling that you'll never find a good job.

We've pulled together videos that will motivate and inspire you to revamp your approach to job hunting and re-energise you for the tasks ahead.

Marie Forleo - How to get motivated when you're stuck in a rut

Aimee Bateman - Staying motivated while job hunting

Linda Raynier - How to get a job with no experience

Jenny Siu - How I overcame the millennial job hunting barriers

Graham Martin - Job hunting tips - how to find a job (series)

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Don't take your next interview before you watch these video tips

Job interviews are a curious thing; they are difficult to practice and many of us can go years between interviews leading many to get rusty at performing well. Take these three short classes to sharpen up how you tackle your next interview.

Kevin Dolan, Metric Collective, takes you through the three types of questions: quiz, experience and hypothetical, you can be asked at a technical interview; and tips on how to approach them.

Vincent Phamvan covers the three things to include: education & experience, accomplishments and your passion for the industry, when asked to "Tell me about yourself".

A good interview isn't all one-way traffic! Aimee Bateman suggests some great questions to ask interviewers.

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3 Great Career Vloggers

The Christmas break is used by many to take stock of one's career and decide what changes to make in the coming year. And January is the month to add more good habits to your job search routine. I'd like to suggest you check out some vloggers who are adding breadth to the recruitment scene with their posts.

Let's kick-off this series with 3 Great Career Vloggers:

Adding a skill…

Sean Allen. If you're considering adding a technical skill to help your next career then take inspiration from Sean Allen's story. Sean went from non-programmer to first contract in 7-months  and his vlog covers this journey into contract programming as well as a series of how-to-program videos. Sean's been very open, covering details of interviews with Facebook and publishing charts for how much he has earned, month-by-month, from contracting. I think this openness, is what has made Sean a 10K YouTuber.

All about the recruitment process

Jeff Altman. Jeff's been in the business for more than 40 years and is now a prolific YouTuber and podcaster. What I like about Jeff's broadcasts is that the advice and tips he gives are really constructive and he consistently avoids the platitudes offered by so many in this game. One could pull out a dozen examples and then a dozen more but I'll just tempt you in with The best question to ask at the end of an interview and Tell me about a time you disagreed with a decision.

Graham Martin. Graham has conducted 10,000 interviews over nearly 30 years and now helps people get jobs as The Recruitment Guy. Graham's motto might be "it's not always the best candidate who gets to the role but the best prepared" and his series of videos on preparation and interviews can help you improve your performance at interviews. Graham is a 15K YouTuber and has a 7-year library so spend your time watching wisely. We suggest starting with pre-interview preparation, the opinion piece Don't waste your money on useless CV Writers and if you're in sales, try Sell me this pen!

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Career-making Companies you may have missed: Serco, Sig & Spectris

When job hunting it's all too easy to focus on household names. In this series we've tried to show that there are plenty of companies, you may not have heard of, doing good work to make our lives better. As companies take a break from hiring over Christmas take the opportunity to research the companies we've covered, craft your pitch to them, and be ready for January when, the hunt begins again.

Serco has a strong public sector ethos motivating its people, and it employs 50,000, to make a positive difference. Serco helps governments deliver more and better public services for less cost.

Rupert Soames, Group Chief Executive, gives introduces Servo's Code of Conduct overview which gives real-world examples of the situations employees can find themselves.

Check out Serco careers site and UK, rest of Europe, Middle East, Australia, New Zealand jobs; USA jobs & Canada jobs.

SIG is the market leader for insulation products distribution in the UK, Ireland, Germany and Poland. SIG is working to reduce energy consumption and meet the increasing government regulations and thus helping us all reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Thinking of working at SIG? Then dig into the SIG business model and devote some time to understanding SIG and then check out the SIG careers site and jobs at SIG.

Spectris make highly-specialised measuring instruments and controls for some of the most technically demanding industrial applications. Which industries need such products? Well, basically, all of them, making Spectris a very existing and challenging place to work. Check out the Spectris careers site.

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How to stalk your perfect job…

Job alerts are a key feature of job hunting enabling jobs. They are tireless, tenacious and will find job matches freeing you to focus on other aspects of your job hunt. If you're not actively looking for a new opportunity, a job alert can keep an eye on the market for that perfect job - remaining silent until that perfect job is found.

While not every job search app offers job alerts, many do. But they can suffer from low quality, including phantom jobs, poor job advertisement copy or simply failing to give a specific enough office location. Oddly, most company career pages don't offer job alerts at all, leaving you to the wild west of the job boards.

Let's take a look at the Great Careers app in how to set-up a job alert. We don't do phantom jobs and our jobs come direct from great companies.

1. Tap the App to launch Great Careers

Launch Great Careers and login to your account. You can check the Settings tab to see if you are logged in.

2. Enter keywords to match your ideal role

Try not to be overly broad when picking keywords because you risk receiving alerts for jobs that you're not interested in.

3. Set your perfect location

Great Careers is an international app but you can restrict your search to a country or a search area. Tap Worldwide in the top-right to open the Location Filter.

You'll see a country list for you to restrict matches to. But, in this example, we want to really narrow down the location to an area around where you live.

Search around your home

Tap the Location button (next to the Areas button) and you'll be asked to give permission for the app to use your current location. Tap Allow.

Pan & Zoom

The map will zoom to your location but you can then modify it to zoom in or out and drag the map to refine the location.

In the example above, we've set an area just 1½km around Farringdon Lane, London. Once you're happy with your Location Filter setting, tap Apply and the job matches will refresh to reflect this change.

4. Add an alert

We've tapped Distance and can see that four jobs are at the same office - 1km from the centre of our search area, and a fifth is 1.1km away. To have Great Careers notify you when new jobs match this search, tap Add Alert. Done.

5. Job Alert tips

Set up several alerts varying your keywords and locations. Consider setting broad keywords and a narrow location area or narrow keywords and a broad location. The key is to avoid matching too many jobs that you're getting alerts for jobs you're simply not interested in - we're not here to annoy you :)

If you have any suggestions for our developers about the App, do get in touch, using Feedback from the App's Settings page or from Feedback.

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What's it like to work at Facebook, Google & Amazon

With Facebook, Google and Amazon ramping up their London workforces we jumped in and explored their application processes, and today, we'll introduce some of the people working at these tech giants.

Facebook. Meet Ming Hua, Software Engineer enthusing about her job and how she gets feedback to make products better. Catch Jocelyn Goldfein cover Facebook's onboarding process for engineers and a few tips on Facebook's interviewing process. Check out the Facebook London career site.

Google. Watch Tim Emiola explains what Google's 20% time is. Meet Astrid Atkinson, Engineering Director; Raghav Lagisetty, Software Engineer; Sagnik Nandy, Distinguished Engineer and Elmer Garduno, Software Engineer explain why they work at Google (covering pink flamingos too!). And I couldn't resist including this interesting talk by Moishe Lettvin regaling Google's interviewing process. Check out Google London Careers site.

Amazon. Padma, Chris & Marcelo, Technical Account Managers and Brent, Vice President talk about their experiences at Amazon AWS. And catch two short videos from Alex, AWS Commercial Sales, talking about his four years at Amazon and Mary, AWS Professional Services about her excitement of joining Amazon. Check out Amazon London Careers site.

If you've tried our job application app but want more companies to sign-up to it, let us have your company suggestions.

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Make your career in London at Facebook, Google or Amazon

Facebook announced it was expanding its London office in 2018 by 800. This will make London, Facebook's largest engineering hub outside of the US. If working for Facebook London is on your shortlist then we suggest adding Google and Amazon too who both have major London bases.

As you'd expect, Midnight 30 thinks it's great that candidates can apply to these companies knowing who they'd be working for. This basic still isn't the norm for many in the recruitment industry. Charter #1

Let's take a look closer at each company's London career sites…

Facebook London, Careers

Facebook is based just off Oxford Street. As well as a strong engineering focus, the seven-storey office will be home to marketing, sales and support for markets in Europe and beyond. Facebook is also supporting UK-based start-ups with its own incubator LDN-LAB which provides intensive three-month programmes to kickstart their businesses.

Their London careers pages state the number of openings at the top along with a text box for searching. A simple employee biography dominates the layout and a page refresh cycles through them. Beneath, the vacancies are listed under various disciplines and you can drill down using keywords.

Look at an opening from your Facebook account and you'll see a list of Facebook staff the company suggests you may know. You can tap through each and send a friend request. Could this be a route to researching jobs with Facebook?

An Apply button leads directly to a Facebook application form; again, if you are logged in, some fields will be populated with data you've already given to Facebook, like your email address and mobile number. The form is clearly labelled and, in the main, well-laid out. The section for self-identification of gender is, perhaps, too simple but this is an evolving nomenclature for us all. And the IM screen names for WhatsApp and Skype are tucked under Additional Information rather than Contact Information.

Each application requires a CV document but oddly, the mobile web page doesn't list Dropbox directly but instead one needs to ignore the Apple Photos & Video options and browse up to Locations and down to Dropbox (or other options). Another oversight is the Save for Later button which is greyed out but when hovered over, disappears; though still functions when clicked.

While today, about  180 jobs are listed, one could see a redesign will be needed if the number significantly increases.

Google London, Careers

Google choose the King's Cross area for its London presence and expects to shortly have 2,800 Googlers in London. Standout factoid: staff will have their own tunnel from Kings Cross Station to their new office. The London career pages are focused on the jobs themselves and offer little information about staff or the location.

A search page can drill down by keyword, role, degree level and contract terms. Searches can be set as alerts and each match can be added to a shortlist. Be careful, if a search doesn't return many matches, Google lists jobs outside the UK, which might be a timewaster. Google varies the application process depending on the role. For example, UI designers are required to supply a URL for their portfolio; without one Google warns Submissions without a portfolio included will not be considered.

Tap Apply and, if you don't have a Google account, you will need to create one to proceed any further. You don't get to see the form until you do. Once the form appears, a traditional approach is used. Your legal name is required, as is a full postal address. There is an emphasis on educational history and, if this will be your first job, details of your last school too.

Google prompts for an optional cover note with We think your work speaks for itself, so there's no need to write a cover letter. Oddly, this appears even for roles where people don't typically have a portfolio to show.

Amazon London, Careers

This year sees London attract Amazon from Slough, where it opened its first UK office in 1998. Amazon's new Shoreditch-based office is ambitious; space for 5,000 employees.

Amazon London's career pages get straight to the point, photo' of Tower Bridge aside, with job listings on the main page. A section offers options for drilling down by contract terms, role and Amazon service.

The job descriptions are quite matter-of-fact in style but are focused. Tapping Apply asks you to create a profile. Amazon will help you get started by pulling your name and email address from Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn or Microsoft; or you can start from scratch. To continue the process you'll also need to add a username and password.

On the next step, you upload your CV (from your computer, Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive), enter your mobile number, full postal address and optionally, your current salary, and what date you can start the job. A cover letter finishes off the form. Amazon takes the prize for the oddest field we've seen in any form: a mandatory field for you to enter your time zone. You're also prompted for a preferred office location, which felt odd for a job specifically based in London - a case of a generic system seeping into the UX.

There is a Finish Later button but it clears the form when tapped. It's best avoided.

Those first two steps make a Profile. Get through them and you'll see a plain HTML form where the first field will ask you to enter your name again. Amazon then asks about any history you have working for Amazon and any non-compete contracts you've signed.

The form includes a series of questions covering various countries - the form has no idea you've applied for a job in London. You'll find questions specific to the Republic of Ireland, Luxembourg, Romania, Czech Republic and Poland. They are not relevant to applying to the London office and can be ignored.

Submit this page (ignore that you're told you are on step 3 of 4) and your application will be made. Oddly, during testing, we were told our application was already on file.

Conclusion

Amazon's application system is, perhaps, the creakiest, made of multiple systems, requiring more time from a candidate. Google offers the most search functionality (surprise!) and Facebook appears the most welcoming of the three.

Though none provide a map of their London office locations (see Charter #2), they do provide good job descriptions and those office addresses can be looked-up.

So, put those negatives aside and get on to their career sites. It's an exciting time to be working in London and an exciting time to job hunt. Join Facebook, Google or Amazon and help them reach their goals in return for some rocket fuel for your own career goals.

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Break the rules to get your CV noticed

“Look, that's why there's rules, understand? So that you think before you break 'em.” ― Terry Pratchett, Thief of Time

Write a CV following all the conventions and you risk not standing out among your peers. A CV that fails to get enough of what makes you, you across to recruiters, HR departments and employers is a liability.

Understand the rules and then you’ll be able to intelligently bend or break them to get noticed.

The CV format Don’t break any formating rules that will make it impractical for computers to extract information from a CV if you intend to submit it to a computer. Instead, enhance a CV without breaking the simple format that computers can handle.

Examples:

Place icons against key information such as locations, phone numbers and dates

Use coloured text to emphasise company names and key sections

Add a chart or graphic to highlight an achievement, such as sales

Breaking the rules If you intend to bypass computers and send a CV directly to an individual then more avenues are opened up. Rather than using a different approach for difference's sake, tie your chosen layout to show off your experience in a role or industry. 

Consider your target audience. People working in the creatives’ industries may be more open to a non-standard layouts and fresh takes. If you are targeting a single company you could layout a CV to mimic one of the company's advertising campaigns.

Choose this route and you're diverting a lot of energy to getting an interview at one company that could be used to tailor a standard CV to many companies. But this approach can get you noticed and get your CV noticed leading to an interview. Don't neglect the content when going for a tailored layout - a fresh take get you attention but it's content still needs to pass muster to get that interview.

All CV tips

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Before you apply for your next job, meet Computacenter, Inmarsat & Aggreko

Meet the people behind some great companies before you send off an application or to aid your job research.

Computacenter is Europe’s leading independent provider of IT infrastructure. Meet those already placed by Computacenter working in a broad range of specialisms including assurance, HR and talent coordination, service transitions and customer value, graphic design and implementation and internal communications and change analysis.  Check out Computacenter's career site and jobs at Computacenter.

Inmarsat is the industry leader and pioneer of mobile satellite communications. Listen to Mark Holmes, Via Satellite Magazine, interview Rupert Pearce, CEO, Inmarsat on the opportunities for Inmarsat in autonomous driving, the remote control of car subsystems and the improvements that satellite technology will bring to entertainment in cars; and Mark Warner, Head of Marketing, Maritime on what's ahead for shipping.

Check out Inmarsat's Careers site or use our Great Careers app.

Aggreko is a global Glasgow-based business hiring out power generators, heaters, air conditioners and chillers, developed by its teams of engineers. Whether you are into marketing, thermodynamics or engines (just three skills pulled from today's openings) it could be worth your while to add Aggreko to your dream companies' shortlist. Check out jobs at Aggreko.

If you've tried our job application app but want more companies to sign-up to it, let us have your company suggestions.

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Career-making Companies: Beazley, Just Group & McCarthy & Stone

A look at three companies, offering great careers that you may not have considered.

Beazley underwrites a diverse book of insurance and reinsurance business. Founded in 1986, employing 1,200 staff worldwide, Beazley's business is divided into life, accident & health, marine, political risks & contingency, property, and reinsurance and speciality lines.

Beazley has to predict the trends shaping our futures. Back in 2009 Beazley launched its breach response cyber policy for clients to manage the rising rate of cyber attacks. Today, that policy has expanded to include features such as a full suite of response services, coordinated by Beazley, and first-party coverage for cyber extortion. Check out the Beazley careers site and jobs at Beazley.

Just Group is a financial services group for the UK retirement income market. Just builds products for individuals, homeowners as well as our banks, building societies and financial services companies. Check out jobs at Just Group careers site and jobs at Just Group.

McCarthy & Stone (M&S) is the market leader in the owner-occupied retirement housing market. M&S buys sites, seeks planning permission and builds the properties. With the demography of the UK growing older M&S are in a growth market with a proven business model providing a solid platform for your career. Check out the McCarthy & Stone careers site.

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Before you apply for your next job, meet Admiral Group, Royal Enfield & Essentra

Insurance, motorcycles and specialist materials - all very different opportunities in the world of work. Meet the people behind three companies across these industries and check out their career sites to consider your next career step.

Admiral Group is one of the UK's largest car insurance providers and operates across seven countries. Admiral still has its HQ in south Wales and has maintained a small-company culture, regularly winning awards for the quality of its workplaces. Never considered a career in car insurance? You're not alone: meet some of those on MBS careers at Admiral who didn't either and find out why they love it: Claire-Anne; Alberto; Christina, CEO UK Insurance; David, Group CEO and Andrey. And for a special insite into Admiral's recruitment, catch Wendy Sleat, Executive Recruitment Manager. Check out Admiral Group's career site and jobs at Admiral Group.

Royal Enfield made its first motorcycle in 1901 and is the oldest motorcycle company in continuous production. With the backing of Eicher, Royal Enfield, with a factory in Chennai, is growing at a fast pace and offers plenty of opportunities for career growth.

Meet Samrat Som, Apparel Business Head and listen to Siddhartha Lal, CEO, Eicher enthusiastically talking about Royal Enfield's new Himalayan motorcycle. Check out jobs at Royal Enfield.

Essentra is an international supplier of specialist plastic, fibre, foam and packaging products. Since starting in Jarrow, in the 1940s, Essentra has seen significant expansion and now operates in China, India, Indonesia, Mexico and the US. Meet Scott Fawcett, Essentra Components on an in-depth tour. Check out the Essentra career site, jobs at Essentra and graduate opportunities at Essentra.

If you've tried our job application app but want more companies to sign-up to it, let us have your company suggestions in feedback.

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Career-making Companies: Rightmove, Victrex & Wizz Air

A look at three companies, offering great careers.

Rightmove is a child of the web, forming in 2000 and growing into the UK's largest property portal. Rightmove really puts effort into their job descriptions and it's worth taking your time to read through the detail to help you make a strong application. A great company for technologists and for those wanting to enter the property industry in sales and account management. Check out jobs at Rightmove careers site.

Victrex develops polymers for the most demanding environments. The next big demand for Victrex products? Victrex are developing polymers to improve the motors in electric vehicles - expected to the one of the fastest growing markets over the next twenty years as electric replaces petroleum in our vehicles. Check out jobs at Victrex careers site.

Wizz Air is the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe. It operates using one of the freshest fleets in the world with its Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft which delivers a lower environmental footprint (and lower fairs). Check out jobs for cabin crew, pilots and office staff at Wizz Air careers site.