Careers and Job Hunting

This page is an ongoing project initiated from my being invited to address students at University of Keele on 14th May 2008. It brings together useful links and other information for new graduates and others looking for work.

I had hoped to deliver a short introductory presentation on the day but was unable to. For anyone who is interested I have made the presentation available here (Microsoft PowerPoint 2003 .ppt format).

If you could give one piece of advice

In preparation for the trip to Keele I asked a question:

If you were giving job seeking advice to a recent graduate or final year student, what is the one thing you’d want them to remember?

I posted this question to two fora I use:

• Manager Tools Forums
• LinkedIn Q&A

I also asked an assistant director at my employer, his response was "Do your homework, find out about the company before you interview. Turn off your mobile phone before you go into the interview."

Useful (non-recruitment) websites

The following list of websites are sites not directly related recruitment (although they may have a recruitment element) but which are useful for job seekers

• LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a professional networking site (taking the social networking concept of sites like MySpace, Facebook and Bebo and applying them to professional job seeking). As well as being able to post your CV/Resume and link to people you know (the goal is more to link to people you know rather than as a way of making new connections), you can ask questions in the Q&A forum, join groups (e.g. alumni, former employees of large companies, industrial &c), make and recieve recommendations/references and find out about jobs.
• Manager Tools. Manager Tools is a weekly series of podcasts aimed at managers and aspiring managers. Whilst there is some US bias and the content is aimed at managers much of it is useful to anyone looking for work. Check out the complete list of podcasts, in particular listen tot he ones about Resume writing, interviewing and how to shake hands. The weekly podcasts are free and do not require you to sign up, there is an additional monthly cast that is also free but does require you to become a member. The site also has premium content consisting of shownotes and slides for each cast (via a monthly or annual subscription), a set of podcasts and other materials on job seeking and interviewing and a resume review service.
• Online DiSC. DiSC is a psychometric behavioural test used by many employers to fit people to roles. If you're unsure as to what sort of roles you might be suited for the test can help give indications. At time of writing the cost of a basic test is $25.95.

Recruitment Websites

• JobServe. Search for jobs based on location, job title and keywords
• Monster. Post your CV for recruiters to view and search for jobs. The majority of calls I get from recruiters are from my CV on Monster.
• Fish4Jobs. Post your CV for recruiters to view and search for jobs.