achieving your career goalssample

Copyright Owen Weaver Limited 2008 1

Achieving

Your Career Goals


Achieving your career goals

1. Introduction – Why we need to manage our careers

Today’s organisations are placing even more importance on the relationship

between themselves and their employees. Attracting the very best employees who

have real commitment and dedication to the organisation is crucial to their

success. This is called the psychological contract and embodies more than just the

scope of activities that the employee is expected to carry out, in exchange for the

remuneration offered by the employer. It encompasses what the organisation

expects the values, commitment and performance of the employee to be as the

company evolves and also how it intends to stimulate and reward its employees.

Therefore, it is vital that workers expect things to keep changing and are well able

to adapt to those changes quickly.

So whether you are looking for a change of career within your current

employment, or are looking for opportunities externally, it is important for you to

start the process by getting to know who you are, through a stock take of your

own values, strengths, achievements, skills, and what has influenced your life’s

journey so far. That way you are more likely to know for sure what you want from

your career and what you have to offer a prospective employer or give to a new

role within your existing organisation.

2. Key stages to successful career management

Try to approach career management like you would when buying a car or a house

etc. In fact the investment you make in managing your career will have a much

greater impact on you and your family than purchasing any of these items, no

matter how expensive they are at the time. You wouldn’t buy a car without first

considering what sort of car you want or need; what it will cost you to run over

time and its likely depreciation. Neither would you buy a house without first

considering what commitment it will take to meet the payments, how much it will

cost to heat and light and whether it is a good long-term investment. So

preparation is everything. There will always be the unexpected things that

happen, but most of the time researching carefully will help us to go into such a

contract with our eyes wide open. So here is a checklist that will help you manage

your career.

Carry out a personal stock take This will help you to identify what you have to offer a potential employer

Identify and refine your career objective This will help you to understand what sort of career you really want

Produce a self-advertisement This will help you to crystallise your optimal skills and competencies


Draft a self-marketing strategy This will help you to plan your campaign

Establish a strong network of contacts This will provide you with a strong supportive base and a stepping-stone from

which to launch your career offensive

Research and approach prospective employers This will help you to know your market and gauge any competition

Be persistent This will encourage you not to give up when the going gets touch

Prepare for interview and negotiation This will help you to stand head and shoulders above your competitors and secure

the best deal for yourself and your new employer.

3. Getting to know who you are

Your journey so far

Before you begin to take stock of what you want out of your career and what you

have to offer a prospective employer, you should spend some time considering

what makes you the person you are. Let’s consider what have been the key stages

of your life’s journey to date and the things that have impacted on you and driven

you to be the person you are. This will have begun in childhood, especially

through your formative years. Remember, these things may have had a positive or

negative impact on you. So try to list the key stages in your life:

Key stages in my life:

E.g. early family life, school, university, relationships, achievements,

ambition etc


Key stage impact

Thinking about those key stages in your life in more detail, and what you have

gained from them, which of them do you think has had the greatest positive impact

on your life? (It’s worth remembering that some of the things that had a negative

impact on us at one time may have equipped us better for the future and as a result

now has a positive impact on our life.)

Key stage that had a positive impact

Key stage that had a negative impact

at the time but has a positive impact

now

4. Carrying out a personal stock take

Everything that has happened to you in your life, and in your career to date, will

have equipped you with a unique set of skills and talents. Your hobbies and

interests will also have contributed to this unique set of tools that you have at your

disposal. Knowing exactly what these are enables you to understand why you

have the career objectives you have and whether or not you can realistically

achieve them. So let’s start the stock take by looking at your strengths:


Strengths

Your strengths are usually a combination of what

you do well and what you are interested in and

enjoy, i.e. your abilities and interests. The

combination of these two provides you with your

Unique Selling Points or USPs. All successful

products coming to the market place have these

USPs and are crucial to know if we intend to

market ourselves. Where our abilities and

interests cross over are our key strengths.

Complete the following exercise by inserting a cross in the Interest column if you

really enjoy the activity and one in the Ability column if you regard it as one of

your strongest abilities.

Interest Activity Ability

Problem solving

Budgeting

Planning

Decision making

Leadership

Team working

Installing

Operating

Innovation

Empathy

Listening

Mentoring

Negotiating

Written presentation

Oral presentation

Flexibility

Project management

Analysis

Interpretation

Now take a look at your three top scores. What are they? These are your primary

skills and strengths.

1..................................................................................................................................

2..................................................................................................................................

3.................................................................................................................................


Transferable skills and strengths

Many of the skills and strengths you have listed above are transferrable from one

employer to another. In order to really appreciate this you need to take each of

these skills and strengths and identify why you feel successful in this area.

For instance, you may have ticked Oral Presentation in the above list. If you have

then try to think of all the occasions when you have given an oral presentation,

which went well. What facts were you presenting, who was your audience, what

preparations did you make, what if any technology did you use? How did you

know it was successful, in other words what did it result in?

You will soon realise that you have more strengths and skills than you first

thought. You may have had to research your facts before the presentation and

formulated them into a visual presentation. Did you anticipate what your audience

needed to know and be prepared for questions afterwards? Did you communicate

well, so that your audience could hear you clearly? Did you listen carefully to the

questions asked afterwards so that you could answer them succinctly?

So, therefore, you have more than just oral communication/presentation skills.

You have research skills, written skills, listening skills, planning skills, and if you

have had to work with others to prepare the presentation, then team working skills

too! These are your sub primary skills and strengths.

Let’s return then to your three top primary skills and strengths. Take each of them

in turn and identify examples that demonstrate how you have used them

successfully in the past. Then consider each of these examples and identify sub

primary skills that enabled you to achieve that success.


Primary skill and

strength and how

I have used it in

the past

1. 2. 3.

Sub primary

skills and

strengths that

enabled me to

succeed

a)

b)

c)

d)

a)

b)

c)

d)

a)

b)

c)

d)

When considering new employment opportunities you can match the requirements of

that job against your inventory of transferrable primary and sub primary skills and

strengths listed above. It is worth remembering that some of your key strengths will

not have come from employment at all, but from life itself!


Achievements

By looking at the occasions when you put your

primary skills and strengths into practice you

were able to identify a whole lot more sub

primary skills and strengths that enabled you

to achieve that success. So let’s take a look at

your major achievements, not only in your career

to date, but also in your life generally. But before

we do, we have to understand exactly what an

achievement is. An achievement is evidence of your effectiveness. It is a tangible

outcome. It is something that started with a challenge or problem to solve, and then

required you to take various actions or steps, in order to receive the result or benefit.

Now consider three of your greatest achievements to date:

What was the

Challenge/problem?

What Action/steps

did you take?

What were the

Results/benefits?

By using the same method as you did to identify your sub primary skills and

strengths, now look at your major achievements above and list all the primary and sub

primary skills and strengths you put into practice to achieve these successes.


List of all my primary and sub primary skills and strengths

Values

As well as your primary and sub primary skills, strengths and achievements, there is

the important issue of your values to consider. So what are values? Well values are

about the things we regard as precious or guiding principles. For instance, they could

be our beliefs, our integrity or the standards that we live our lives by or what we

regard as vital to have. They are the things that make us feel uncomfortable if they are

compromised. Reviewing your values is a good exercise to carry out at various stages

of your life, as they may change and develop as you mature or your circumstances

alter and your experience grows. So let’s consider what they are now, whether they

are being met in your present job and whether or not they should influence you in

your choice of a career/job in the future. Here are some examples to get you started.


Examples of values

Friendships

Integrity Lifestyle

Competition

Morality Honesty

Creativity

Knowledge Truthfulness

Excitement

Decision-making Accuracy

Authority

Travel Supporting others

Freedom

Profit and gain Global

Security

Team working Fast-moving

Risk

Working under pressure Getting along with the

boss

Stability

Community Work/life balance

Recognition

Independence Loyalty

Now list your values:

Value Impact on it in your

current job – positive or

negative

Must be congruent to

future career/job

Yes/No


Now that you have articulated your values, you should be able to see how identifying

a career or job that is congruent to them, and your primary and sub primary skills, will

lead to greater job satisfaction. You will feel good about yourself and your

achievements, which in turn will make you better and more confident at your job.

Comfort zones

Finally, before we finish our personal stock take we need to spend some time

considering our comfort zones. These are the zones in which we live and work which

are the most familiar to us. Their familiarity provides us with a certain degree of

security and comfort. Unfortunately though comfort zones can often stifle our

creativity and bring about the onset of boredom. How many times have you been

challenged out of your comfort zone only to find that the general unease you felt at

first was completely superseded by a real sense of achievement and growth when you

successfully rose to the challenge? Fear of change is mainly about moving into

unfamiliar territory. The more we allow ourselves to move out of our comfort zones,

the more likely we are to react positively to the stimulus of change and benefit from

the new skills and experiences we pick up on the way.

Try to imagine coming out of your comfort zone like

moving house and living in a new area. Everything

and everybody look strange and unfamiliar. The

journey to work, the trip to the local shops, your

neighbours, the way your furniture looks in your

new home all seems strange and incoherent. But in

time, these will be as familiar to you and your

current situation is now. It just takes TIME! Think

for a moment about when you were a child. You

may not remember your first step, but that must

have been very scary for you. You may have fallen

over many times before you managed to walk

unaided, but you did it! Every one of us has had to

wander out of our comfort zone at some stage in our

life in order for us to be the person we are today, so don’t be afraid of coming out!

However, here we must sound a note of caution.

All of us have boundaries beyond which we

CANNOT or WILL NOT go under any

circumstances. For instance, those things that

we say we wouldn’t do even if someone offers

us a million pounds! Everyone has these, no

matter what they say. Knowing what they are

will help you to gauge how far you’re willing

to go into unknown territory.


Comfort zones

Boundary

Unfamiliar

territory

Comfort

zone

No man’s

land

Personal Mission Statement

Having analysed your primary and sub primary skills, your achievements and values,

and your comfort zones and boundaries, it’s time to draft a Personal Mission

Statement. Having a Personal Mission Statement will provide you with a “context”

within which you can assess future career and job opportunities.

This statement will encapsulate

� what you want, or want to achieve, out of life

� what your values are

� what you are able and willing to offer

� how far you are willing to go to get what you want

Here are a few examples to get you started:

I want to live my life serving others - in the community, within my family and my

circle of friends - by offering support, advice, a listening ear, in order to make a

positive difference to those around me.

I want the challenge and stimulus of a changing environment, where creativity is

encouraged and a degree of risk provides excitement, and a sense of real

achievement.

I want to achieve a real work/life balance, where I ensure my own well-being and

respect the well-being of those around me. I will bring a sense of honesty and

integrity and high standards to my relationships with others and will challenge myself

to push the boundaries of my capabilities and encourage others to do the same.


My Personal Mission Statement

Personal advert

Have you ever been to a party and someone asks you what you do for a living? Did

you find it difficult to describe what you do succinctly and in an interesting way?

Well let’s try and draft a statement that tells someone about you.

This “personal advert” needs to contain the following facts:

� who you are

� what your key strengths are

� what your primary skills are

� how you are able to apply them to your current job or role

� how a recent achievement has made you feel

� what you want to do next.

Write it out several times until it reads smoothly and then LEARN IT BY HEART!

The more you practice it the easier it will become. It’s worth remembering that first

impressions are powerful and last only seconds, so keep it short and to the point.

Practice saying it in front of a mirror so you have some idea how the way you move

your head and your eyes affects your delivery. This will be particularly important

when you are invited to attend a job interview.


My personal advert

5. Taking a look around you

Changes in work patterns and careers

In the past organisations used to be ordered in hierarchies or vertical structures,

where jobs had very specific responsibilities within limited areas. Careers were

well defined with clear progression paths. Workers didn’t have to like their job,

just to do it. Managers told you what to do, and if you did it well, you could

expect a job for life.

Now organisations have flatter structures. Employees usually work as part of a

team, but are expected to carry out multiple tasks. Career moves within an

organisation tend to be diagonal or horizontal and workers are expected to show

their value to the organisation. Today’s managers support and empower workers

rather than tell them exactly how to do their jobs. In most cases though,

employees are left to manage their own careers. In fact nowadays, most people

can expect to have more than one change of career during their working life.

But what will happen to work and careers in the 21st Century? How do we expect

things to develop? Well, continuing globalisation and greater technological

change will play a big part in the future of employment. More importance will be

placed on interpersonal relationships within companies as their span continents

and cultures. Increasingly, jobs will require creativity and independence, as more

importance is placed on achievement of goals and objectives across disparate

locations. With the rising cost of education, more people will have to enter

employment earlier as a means of funding their education, and with people living

longer, employees are likely to have to work well beyond what is the normal

retirement age now. Outsourcing certain activities that are non-core is likely to

continue, particularly if there is a real financial benefit for doing so. Many people

working for an organisation could find themselves dispersed and having to

manage their own work patterns, perhaps working from home. There is likely to

be a rise in those opting for self-employment and as customer expectations rise,

along with competition, much more importance will be placed on achieving,

managing and exceeding customer expectations.


How that change affects us

Remember what we heard earlier about the

importance of the psychological contract?

Employers today expect more from us in

terms of our commitment to the culture

of the company and to respond rapidly to

its ever-evolving needs. In exchange for

that they provide us with personal develop-

ment training that equips us with the skills to

reach our full potential. It’s not necessarily

that we have to work harder, but SMARTER.

Take every opportunity you can to invest in

your own personal development. This will

broaden your skills base and make you more

marketable. As we learned earlier, most skills are transferable from one

employer to another.

Developing a personal network

Managing your career will, at times, be a frustrating process. Things won’t

always work to plan within the timescales you set yourself. So it’s important

to anticipate this before hand by preparing for yourself a personal support

network. Think of this like a safety net that is there to support you if you fall.

There will be times along the way when your confidence will feel a little

battered and bruised. Your personal network is there to help you to bounce

back and keep the momentum going. Not only does it do that but it also

provides you with a whole host of contacts you would not have had if you had

gone it alone.

So who should we include in our personal

network? Well there are the MOVERS and

SHAKERS. These are the people with

whom you may have had contact in your

previous or current work, and with whom

you have kept in touch and who know the

market sector you are targeting. They are

people who are at the leading edge and

who know which direction the market is

going. They are influential and respected

in their field of expertise. If you find it

difficult to identify such contacts directly, then you can establish a contact

through someone else, e.g. “a friend of a friend”. The second group are the

SMOOTHERS and SOOTHERS. These people may be nearer to home and

are more personal or intimate friends that provide empathy and support when

you need it most. You are not in competition with them and they give

generously of their time and support without expecting recompense.

There are, however, some golden rules to bear in mind in your relationship

with your personal network. Always treat your Movers and Shakers with


professional courtesy and respect. Never offload your personal feelings on

them, as this is unprofessional and may be regarded by them as a sign of

weakness. Always ask for the minimum of help and advice so that it gives

them a chance to offer more if they wish to. Try to reciprocate

whenever an opportunity presents itself.

Remember the people they “name drop” and

ask them if they would mind if you contacted

them yourself. Always keep them informed

of your progress and be honest; it doesn’t pay

to exaggerate your progress. Avoid over

familiarity. But remember to ask for their

advice. A good place to start is by asking

them to look through your CV and suggest

improvements. Whenever you meet up with them, try to arrange face-to-face

meetings as much as possible, and have a clear strategy in your head for what

you want to get out of the meeting by making a list of the questions you want

to ask. If you have asked for a specific time slot, then remember to stick to it

doggedly, even if you both appear to be in no rush to end the meeting. That

way the person will know you stick to your word and are more likely to be

able to fit you in for a further discussion in the future. Always thank them at

the end of the meeting and try to send a follow-on thank you email or letter

afterwards. This will make them feel valued and encourage them to continue

to support you.

Your Smoothers and Soothers don’t need to know

all the ins and outs of your career management.

They are there to provide you with friendship,

care and empathy when you need it most. Their

relationship to you is unconditional, which

means they don’t expect to be rewarded.

However, all of us, even if we don’t expect

it, appreciate being thanked and spoiled from

time to time. So the odd box of chocolates,

flowers or invitation to dinner will be ample

reward. Never underestimate the role of the

Smoothers and Soothers. Remember what we

heard about first impressions. People make their

minds up about us in the first few seconds, so the Smoothers and Soothers are

the ones who will help us maintain our equilibrium and sense of humour.

Feeling confident, alert and in control shows in our eyes, so these people are

enormously important to us in this respect. Seek their advice about the

practical issues such as what we should wear when we meet our Movers and

Shakers, or we attend a job interview and what hairstyle suits us most.

Looking good helps us to feel good and if we feel good then we are likely to

perform more effectively.

So, let’s make a list of the people we intend to approach to be part of our

personal network.


Movers and Shakers Smoothers and Soothers

6. Getting ready to move forward with a self-marketing plan

Market research

You have spent a good deal of time now analysing your skills, strengths,

achievements and values and you have a pretty good idea what you have to

offer a prospective employer. Now you have to consider how you can present

yourself to the marketplace. In order to do this effectively, you have to begin

to see the issue from an entirely different perspective.

For instance, imagine that you are selling your house,

what sort of things would you start by doing? Well,

you would want to provide the “wow” factor, e.g.

emphasising the really unique selling points for all

to see. The advertising material would describe

these in great detail and you would make sure that

each of them really looked good so that when

prospective buyers came to view they wouldn’t be

disappointed. You would give your house “kerb”

appeal so that it looked good at a distance. You

would accentuate a feeling of warmth and light

throughout the house, with flowers in vases and a fresh appealing fragrance in

the background. Basically, you would exaggerate the plus points so that the

rather more negative points do not appear to be important. Well that’s exactly

what you have to do to promote yourself.


Next you have to decide exactly which marketplace is appropriate for you. Are

you happy to remain in the employment sector you’re in at the moment or

would you like to change? Are you happy with the kind of job you have now

or would you like to explore an entirely different job? Perhaps you are even

contemplating self-employment or even voluntary work! Completing the grid

below will help you to target the right market for you.

Yes No

Similar job in a similar industry

Similar job in a different industry

Different job in the same industry

Different job in a different industry

Self-employment

Voluntary work

Next you need to ask yourself a series of questions:

What would your ideal job be?

…………………………………………………………………………………..

What would be the worse job you could have?

………………………………………………………………………………….

How big an organisation would you like to work for?

…………………………………………………………………………………

What kind of boss would you prefer?

…………………………………………………………………………………

What challenges would you like to tackle in the workplace?

…………………………………………………………………………………

Thinking about the above, what would be the things that would stand in your

way achieving it?

………………………………………………………………………………


Now try to piece all the information above together and identify TWO

possible career/job options.

Option One

Option Two

For each of the options above you should carry out a SWOT analysis. A

SWOT analysis looks at the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and

Threats the career/job option could provide.

Option Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats

One

Two

This exercise will give you an idea how closely your current skills, experience,

qualifications and interests match the option you have chosen and if you have

a real gap in your skill sets that needs to be remedied before you can advance

any further in that direction. You might like to bounce some of these ideas off


someone else before going any further and make the necessary changes to the

information above. Your local Further Education College may have a Career

Advisor who can help you identify what courses exist to help you bridge the

skills/qualifications gap.

At the end of this stage you should have a very good idea what areas of

interest you have, the industry in which you would like to work and a specific

career or job in mind.

Self-employment

Having completed this process you may be of the view that you would like to

work for yourself. If that’s the case then you should seek professional advice

about setting up a business. Your local Business Centre will provide you with

very useful advice. You can search for the nearest one to you on the Internet.

Nature of the job market

There are a number of ways you can approach the marketplace. Here are just

some of them:

� Adverts in newspapers, local and national

� Adverts in trade magazines

� Adverts on the internet

� Adverts in Job Centres

� Adverts in shop windows

All of the above falls into the category of the OPEN marketplace. These

career/job opportunities are there for everyone to see. But this is not the

whole picture. Did you know that at least 60% of all job vacancies are not

advertised in the OPEN marketplace? These vacancies exist and need filling,

but the process for filling them occurs through a more CLOSED system of

networks, such as recruitment agencies, or basically people in the know.

Remember the old adage “It’s not what you know, but who you know”? Well

that it still alive and well……………

Let’s take these markets individually and examine how to approach each of

them.

Open Marketplace

This is relatively easy to break into once you have identified which

newspapers or magazines are relevant to the sector you want to work in. Look

through your local business directory and find out what organisations exist in

your area that might offer you opportunities similar to the ones you are

seeking. Go on the internet and search for these organisations, which usually

have reasonable websites that may well outline the vacancies that exist

currently. A trip to your local Job Centre will provide you with a contact who

will search for vacancies in the area of work you are targeting or will keep

your name on file in case something comes up at a later date. During your visit

to the local shops keep your eyes open for job advertisements in shop


windows. If you identify a job opportunity that interests you, then ask for

more details so you have a clearer idea exactly what they’re looking for. Once

you have that, you need to compare it with the skills, strengths, achievements

and values you identified earlier.

The following grid will help you to do this:

Skills and competencies

they require

Is there a

match with

your own

Yes/No

If Yes

High

Medium

Low

Once you have completed the above and have identified a number of key

matches with your own abilities and interests, you need to prepare your CV

and covering letter. (We will cover preparing your CV and covering letter in

more detail a little later on.) Remember to refer directly in your CV to the

particular skills and competencies that exactly match your own. These need to

appear both in your covering letter, AND in a prominent place at the

beginning of your CV. Where there is a medium match, these skills and

competencies should appear in the body of the CV only, and where there is a

low match then you should include them merely under your employment

history at the end of the CV.

Before you send off your CV, there are a few guiding principles to bear in

mind.


� Never send a CV without a covering letter. Prospective employers get

really annoyed with this, as it appears you haven’t taken sufficient time

and effort to make contact with them in a professional manner

� Make sure you identify a specific person to send your application to

and remember to include any reference number. Employers run a

number of advertisements simultaneously, so you will need to point to

a specific vacancy

� Unless particularly asked for details of your current salary, don’t give

it, as this may weaken your negotiating position later on if they offer

you the job.

Closed marketplace

Let’s look at two specific aspects of the Closed Marketplace; Recruitment

Agencies and Networks. Basically, there are three types of activities

undertaken by recruitment agencies:

� They act as brokers bringing prospective employees to employers

seeking matching skills and competencies

� They act as agents for organisations carrying out all their

recruitment activities, from advertising to short listing, but often do

not take part in the actual interviewing stage

� They headhunt staff from one employer and try to tempt them to

move to a competitor.

Whichever role they carry out, it’s worth

noting that they may have hundreds of

clients on their books at any one time,

so the responsibility for keeping your

details uppermost in their minds is down

to you. Contact them every few days and

make notes of the progress made. Their

commission for carrying out this role

comes from the new employer and is

usually based on a percentage of the

starting salary for the first year.

Remember your personal network contacts? Well filling vacancies through

networking works in a similar way. People recommend other people for

vacancies that exist. So start with the people on your personal network and

ask them the following:

� Do they know the names of people who make decisions on

recruitment matters for companies that you are interested in?


� Ask them to keep their eyes and ears open for information on

career/job vacancies in the organisations in which you are

interested

� Do they know of any companies that may be interested in the skills

and competencies you have that you haven’t heard of?

� Are they able to make any introductions on your behalf, and if so,

would they put in a good word for you?

� Would they read your CV and give you any advice on improving it

and making it more effective for the organisations you are

targeting?

� Are they able to recommend a particular recruitment agency?

You will find that the people on your personal

network will have different ways of helping

you. Putting them into pigeonholes according

to their interactions with you will enable you

to target which one to contact at particular

stages of your career management process.

Please complete the boxes below by entering

the name of the person on your personal

network that fits the bill better than anyone

else. Having boxes that you cannot fill will

show you where your personal network is in need of updating.

A member of your fan

club - ex client or

customer

Can give you honest

feedback

Will challenge you

Will stimulate you

with creative ideas

Influential person who

might be able to

introduce you to an

organisation or broker a

deal

Mentor who can act as

both a Mover and

Shaker & a Smoother

and Soother


An important part of managing your career is to keep in touch with your

personal network contacts REGULARLY and keep a note of your

meetings with them, such as when you last met, what the agreed outcomes

were and when you next intend to meet. Producing a simple spreadsheet as

at Figure 1 will enable you to do this.

Figure 1.

Contact

When last met Items discussed Outcomes Next meeting


Preparing a CV

A curriculum vitae or CV for short is an important document that you will use

over and over again as you manage your career development. It’s a record of

your qualifications, skills and interests and your complete employment history

to date. It’s a tool, which if used properly, can draw comparisons between

what you have to offer a prospective employer and what the prospective

employer is looking for. Keeping your CV up to date is really important, as

much of what is of importance to the skills sets we develop can easily be

forgotten with the passage of time. It’s good to record all forms of technical

and personal development training and the dates these were carried out. That

way a prospective employer can gauge whether or not your skills are up to

date.

Although CVs can be constructed in different ways, all must contain some

basic information such as:

� Personal and contact information

� Education and Qualifications

� Employment History

� Skills relevant to the job you are applying for

� Interests

� References

It’s worth remembering that employers see many hundreds of CVs, so you

need to develop one that is clear, concise and deals with the most important

issues early on. Employers don’t have time to read every word on the CV.

Therefore, keeping your CV to two sides of an A4 is advisable. Try to draw as

many similarities as possible between your skills, experience and interests to

the job you’re applying for. Always sound positive, without exaggerating or

being untruthful.

Identifying the right people to provide references is really important. Your

current employer is a certainty, but you can request that they only be contacted

if you are successful at interview. That way it will not jeopardise your current

job if it turns out that you are unsuccessful. You will be asked to suggest

someone who can provide a character reference. Try to identify someone who

knows you well, and who knows what your responsibilities have been in the

past, particularly your successes. Someone will a degree of gravitas in their

own field would be ideal!

You can obtain help constructing your CV by searching the Internet for sites

that offer free services.

Covering letter

Always send a CV to a prospective employer or recruitment agency with a

covering letter. This will create a good impression and should encourage them

to want to read your CV. Here are some tips as to what the covering letter

should contain:

� Use plain white paper and only one side of an A4 sheet


� Use a clear type font, such as Arial

� Try to contain the letter to three main paragraphs

� Always use black ink, as many letters and CVs have

to be photocopied

� Use confident and positive language without exaggeration

� Address it to a named individual within the organisation

� Never use a template letter that you’ve used before for another employer,

as each one should be tailored specifically for each application

� Don’t repeat everything in your CV.

Here at Figure 2 is an example of a covering letter:

Employer/Agency Details Your contact details

(Name, address, telephone

& mobile numbers and

email address)

Date

Dear

TITLE IN BOLD TEXT – INCLUDING REFERENCE NUMBER

Paragraph One

Explain why you’re writing, what you’re applying for, why you’re interested

in the position and why their company interests you. (It’s good to research

their website before hand.)

Paragraph Two

Tell them what you can offer them and why they should consider you for the

role. Include a summarisation of your experience, skills and qualifications and

a brief example of work you have carried out in the past that is similar the job

they’re advertising.

Paragraph Three

Refer to your enclosed CV and ask to be considered for interview. Thank the

reader for their time and attention and that you look forward to hearing from

them shortly.

Closing

Yours sincerely

DON’T FORGET TO ENCLOSE A COPY OF YOUR CV!


Preparing for interview

If you are fortunate enough to be successful

through the first sift, you may be asked to

go through selection testing before being

called for interview. Some selection

testing involves exercises to gauge your

cognitive skills and the completion of

personality questionnaires. Whichever

it is always take your time and answer

honestly, without second-guessing what

they want to hear.

If you are called for interview, then it may take various forms. Interviews

nowadays are mainly one to one in a fairly relaxed atmosphere. Sometimes the

company may ask you to have more than one of these one to one meetings.

If the company is more traditional, then you could be faced with an interview

panel of 2 or 3 people. Always be clear about where the interview is taking

place and arrive in plenty of time. Look smart and alert, as first impressions

are really important. Listen carefully to the questions you are being asked and

answer clearly. Try to maintain eye contact, including all the members of the

panel in your answers. If you don’t know the answer to the question then say

so. Don’t waffle! Never discuss confidential information about your current

employer with them.

The interview is designed to test your

knowledge, observe your behaviour and

give you a chance to demonstrate how

you can think on your feet. If you have

been asked, or intend to use, a presentation,

then ring the company beforehand to check

on the technology that will be available to

you in the interview room. Take paper

copies of your presentation with you just

in case the technology breaks down. This

will show them that you are well prepared

for anything! Finally, try to enjoy the experience. The panel want you to do

your best; otherwise they are wasting their time.


Preparing for contract negotiations

As we mentioned previously your current salary has no real bearing on the

new offer you are likely to get, so avoid being drawn into disclosing it at the

interview. If you are asked then you should state that the range of

responsibilities in this new job is quite different from your present role, which

makes drawing a comparison of salaries rather pointless.

Also it’s worth remembering that the recruitment

process itself is a very costly business for

companies and so if they see you as the preferred

candidate then entering into salary negotiations

with you is worth it. But you can only push them

so far. Always try to see it from their point

of view as well as your own.

In order to be as prepared as possible for the

negotiation process you need to take some

First Steps:

� Find out what range of salaries the company offers, or what generally

the market rate is for the type of job you are applying for

� At the interview ask the company about what benefits it can offer its

employees, such as amount of holiday entitlement, health care,

bonuses, training opportunities etc

� When you have this information think carefully about the lowest salary

you think you could accept from them: this is your bottom line.

� Then you have to wait until such time as you get an offer from them,

either in writing or verbally.

Next Steps

� When you get the formal offer, always acknowledge it in writing

� Evaluate the offer in terms of what your gross salary and net salary is

likely to be

� In addition calculate what the fringe benefits are likely to be worth to

you

� Compare the offer with your original career objective/goal; does it

match?

� If you feel the offer falls short then produce a counter offer, but explain

fully the reasons behind your request, and remember to make it

realistic

� Finally accept or decline the offer in writing.


Preparing a reason for leaving statement

Once you have been offered, and officially accepted, a new job you should

provide your present employer with a letter explaining your reason for leaving.

You will need to include formal notice of your intention to termination your

employment contract, but also to explain why you wish to leave. Keep it short

and factual, trying to be positive and avoiding any negative statements. It’s

also helpful to rehearse a brief statement for your close colleagues and friends

to explain why you’re leaving.

7. Making a success of your new job

Settling in – understanding how change affects us

Remember what we discussed earlier about comfort zones? You have moved

out of your comfort zone and will be feeling a

little insecure in your new environment.

Remember to reward yourself for your

achievement and celebrate. This in turn

will make you feel good and confident.

Make every effort to get to know your

new environment, including your new

colleagues. This stage can’t be rushed,

so take your time. Some of your colleagues

will respond very readily to your appointment,

others may be more sceptical; so be sensitive.

Early successes – winning confidence and staying positive

The first few weeks and months in your new role will require a lot of learning

and listening. Take notes where the detail is important, but never lose sight of

the big picture. The more senior you are, the more important the bigger picture

is. Try to draw any associations with experiences you have had in your

previous roles, as some of the ideas you put into action there might work

again, but refrain from always pointing out “We did it this way in my previous

job……” Your colleagues will soon get very tired of this phrase and wish you

had stayed where you were! Make sure you clearly understand every aspect of

your job description and aim at achieving at least one of your objectives

within the first couple of months. This will boost your confidence, and provide

evidence to your new employer that you can indeed deliver on your targets.

You may be subject to an initial probationary period, if so, achieving one or

more of your objectives during that period will go towards providing evidence

in support of your contract being confirmed.

Staying ahead – anticipating and adapting

Avoid complacency at all costs. Early successes can lead to a false sense of

security. You must always maintain the momentum. If you are not moving

forward then you are slipping back. Try to identify who the MOVERS and

SHAKERS are in the organisation and show them how interested you are in

helping to make the company successful too. They are more likely to know of

an likely changes in company direction, so you would be fore-armed and able


to plan well ahead. This will encourage your staff to have confidence in you if

you appear to be prepared.

Keeping in touch with your personal network

Just because you have successfully moved into a new job doesn’t mean that

you should sever all links with the people on your personal network. Your

experience could be useful to them and you should reciprocate and thank them

for their efforts to help you. Also it is very useful to keep your finger on the

pulse and know what’s happening generally in the marketplace, particularly in

your market sector.

Managing your career is a challenge, but an equally rewarding process. If you

try to stay ahead, keep your skills set up to date and embrace change with a

positive attitude, then you will achieve your career goals.

Good luck!


Other modules in the series include:

Having a positive and confident self image

Learning to relax

Enjoying a complete work/life balance

Organising your time more effectively

Motivating yourself to achieve everything!

achieving your career goalssample

Technology

personal network

covering letter

negative impact

subprimary skills

current salary

local shops

key stages

unique set