Your stuck in job search hell...?

Jobsearch requires a multi pronged strategy were your job search plan of actions are made up of several elements. So typical elements can be

1. Networking with friends, family, past work friends
2. Online job searching on specialist job sites and company websites
3. Speculative approach (even during COVID-19 lockdown)

Top Tip 1

Never say "I'll do any job!" As much as people think they mean it in reality no. Top Executive to Street Sweeper is not realistic. Set a job goal or two.  Think about what you have done before and how much you liked the jobs, the best elements of the job.  Don’t be unspecific be specific, clear direction. VPPs (Values, Passions, and Work Preferences) will help answer this question.

What I am most interested in doing next is.......................

Top Tip 2

Headlines Get Results include Job title. In your career objective on your CV, in your Linkedin Profile have job titles. Recruiters understand job titles and use this to search for the right person regardless of the recruitment process. Now each company can have the same job but different job title but at the heart of the job it is the same

Top Tip 3

When doing online job searching make sure your CV is up to date (all versions) before you upload and create job accounts with job alerts on your best specialist job sites and company websites.  Jobsearching online is a bit like a fisherman trawling for fish. So as a fisherman casts his net wide to draw in fish the same applies for jobs.

If too specific you may miss a job because they have used different terminology, location is different. So you can do your sector or job title searches but also consider geographical searches and then narrow down. So you could search for jobs in Scotland and then narrow down to local authority areas that are close to you, or pick the part of your country your from e.g East Scotland. This way you can find golden nugget of jobs that you may have not thought of before, see actually what companies are recruiting, what type of positions and how you match to those jobs.  You may feel from that you want to consider re-skilling / up skilling to help you progress to work. The question is how long do you wait for that ideal job? Compromise and adaptability.

What skills are needed to be an effective Administrator

Administration is a job role in itself supporting other colleagues do their work but also it is a task and skill that people now do as part of the role they do for an organisation. Now the problem is you assume everyone works the same way and applies the same level of standard which in my experience is not the case. So are here 3 skills that have helped me be a good administrator

Skill 1 - Organise your work

In my employability roles I always had to be compliant and follow business/project processes in order to maintain compliance standard of project funders & business. So I had to keep a constant record of client meetings and make sure they were recorded on the company database system. So during the 1-1 meetings I would take a mental and written note of the meeting and either after the meeting or towards the end of the day review the notes by typing them into a Word document. Once I had internet access I would copy and paste these into company database system and record a meeting had happened. I found this effective system for me and make the sure the notes would make sense to a colleague reading them

Skill 2 - Planning ahead
My role as employability worker involved up skilling clients to help them be job ready with new or refreshed skills. So every month I worked with the Skills and Training Department organising training courses in my delivery area. First I would speak to clients to find any specific training needs they have, promote what is courses are available and book clients in. Depending on the course I would have to liaise with booking specific Trainers and find out their availability, source and book venues and organise refreshments such as teas & coffees.

Skill 3 - Managing your time well
Working on my own, office and community based, I had to be self motivated and outcome focused on what I need to achieve daily, weekly and monthly. So at the start of the week I had to review my workload and make a list of activities I need to a things to do list. Then I would priortise these activities, in terms of deadlines, does another colleague need info from me to help them do their job e.g. completing reports. Once I have my list I would work through and review as I go as competing priorites creep in, new tasks added in but having the list is a good foundation to work form and kept me being outcome focused.

Look at these skills to see if you feel you have them and how you have used them. There are more skills you can have to a be a good administrator so I may come back on another blog on this.

In the beginning

This is small introduction to see how this blog works.  

In this current COVID-19 lockdown I am facing my job coming to end due to a reduction in public funding of department projects. 

Up until end of April working life was different and certainly first 6 weeks I was settling into it and beginning to dread returning to normal working life. Quite liked working from home, actually sleeping better than ever (I was told this is a good gauge on how someone is feeling). Anyway towards end of April I got an email with details of an HR video appointment on TEAMs as they have been reviewing temporary staffing levels. Well you know want comes next but doesn't make it any better.

I was going to say loads of things but the reality bombshell hit and my mind went blank. Your finishing up end of May.........I thought curtail this call before it gets more awkward for anyone including myself. So the morning after was feeling positive and upbeat thinking the guy that helps people get a job can help himself get a job. Weekend comes and goes until Monday comes round and emotions went to angry. Reflecting on past decisions on leaving companies like management and/or better options and now questioning my own judgement.

Back to the present I now need to juggle working notice period and resurrecting my own job searching with the added caveat during the COVID-19 lockdown / pandemic. Non essential worker seeking a job. What job? My list of hits include Payroll Administrator, Senior Recruitment Consultant, Employability Adviser, Retail worker, Employment Consultant, HR Assistant, Paper Boy and Running Coach / Coordinator.

What skills do I have that are useful?  Planning & organising, Building relationships, Problem Solving, Quality orientated, Caseload management to name a few.

So this blog is to be a little hub of content with bite-sized portions of stuff that I know and have learned that can help others, future employers and myself.