Tips for landing a job in London

London is one of the best cities in the world. It’s wonderful yet terrifying, is full of people and is always busy. London is an amazing place to develop your career and find exciting employment. Although it is worth remembering that London is the world’s third most expensive city to live in and competition for work has grown a lot within many industries. So if you are searching for London jobs you need to have your interview skills polished to perfection. Below are a few of my top tips to help you bag the perfect job in this amazing city.

1. Be Prepared

Getting ready for an interview does not just mean having a shower, getting dressed and arriving at the place on time, show that you really want this position by researching everything that you can get your hands on about the company. Research their history, goals aims and objectives; mention their competitors, their annual performance and anything you have read about them in the press. Most companies now have plenty of material that you can research online. 

2. Make sure you present yourself well

Remember that first impressions are one of the most important elements within an interview. You need to look professional, clean and smart. Just think about it, would you want to work with someone who is untidy and unhygienic. On the other hand you don’t want to go too over the top. Don’t go in looking like you suffer from the worst case of OCD. Don’t overdo the aftershave or perfume.  Just as long as you have a good standard of cleanliness, clean clothes, look comfortable and remain professional then you’ll be fine.

3. The Importance of the hand shake

On first introduction and throughout the interview remember that eye contact is important. The handshake is also an extremely important element. Handshakes should be confident, firm and complete with good eye contact. A weak pathetic hand shake with no eye contact suggests lack of confidence and can present a feeling of distrust. So walk in be confident and show the interviewer that you believe in yourself. 

4. Get straight to Business

Companies will usually interview a number of candidates for a particular role, so when you go in I suggest that you get straight down to business. The interviewer will normally stick to an agenda, firstly giving you some background information and then moving onto questions and discussing your experience. Stick to what is being asked of you and ask appropriate question about the position and the company. Leave pleasantries to after the interview unless you are asked. After all you are not there to waste anyone’s time. 

5. Answering the dreaded question, ‘So why did you leave your last Job?’

Unless you have just come out of university, talking about why you have left or want to leave your current position can be a bit tricky, but you can count on them asking it so you better have prepared an answer for it. The best advice I can give is to be honest, but also keep it as brief as possible. Remember to remain positive, and mention things such as progression and career development. Never be negative about your last company or boss and remember at the end of the day you will most probably need a reference off them. And remember don’t mention if your got fired from your last position. That will very rarely go down well. 

6. Everyone has a weakness so reveal yours

One thing that I believe impresses an interviewer is to reveal a weakness before they ask for one. This shows that the candidate knows what they are talking about and is already thinking of ways that they can self improve. By letting the interviewer know that you feel you would like to improve your technical skills, learn a computerised system or work on your leadership skills shows that you are a little more professional and don’t sit back waiting for the generic interview format. 

7. Ask the Questions

Make sure you do your research on the position and company. If there is something you don’t understand ask. There is nothing that an interviewer will be impressed more by is when a candidate shows they are interested and ask plenty of questions. Ask about the company culture, their structure or what a working day consists of etc. This will make a good discussion which will normally make the interview flow better. 

8. The next round

If you get invited back to the next round well done, but don’t assume that you’ve got it in the bag. The second round will probably be a little more intensive. The interviewer will want to see if you are right for the position and you may be set a task or asked to sit mini exams. Prepare carefully for this stage and ask as many questions as possible. Make sure you know exactly what is being asked of you and remain professional at all times. 

9. Feedback Facts

After you’ve completed your interview and if you have been unsuccessful the best thing to do is to think upon that interview as a learning process. Don’t be afraid to ask the interviewer or the recruiter for feedback on how they thought you had performed in the interview process. You can take from the feedback what elements you are good at and what you can improve on. Stay positive, accept the feedback and just improve on your interview technique.  

Get rid of stress...Get organised for 2012

During 2011 I’ve spoken to so many people that have found job hunting quite overwhelming. Sometimes they’ll collect lots of Business cards but then can’t remember why, they’ll find scribbled bits of paper with telephone numbers on but no name or they may get a phone call from someone they cannot remember for toffee.

There are so many things to consider when job hunting these days, networking, social media, recruitment agencies, online social networks, checking the papers, word of mouth, it’s not surprising some of you feel like you’re drowning in it all.

So for 2012 Job searches need to be better managed as being organised will improve effectiveness, boost your confidence and will help you perform better at your interviews. 

Start taking control of your job search then you will start noticing what is working and what isn’t.

The first thing I would suggest is to create a dedicated work space where there’s enough room for you to write, use a computer and chat on the phone. If this work space can be well away from distractions the better, once you’re in the zone then the more focused you will become.

Set your alarm clock as if you’re going to work, wake up early and seize the day. You’ll have to be getting up early soon anyway once you start your new job, so get use to it.

Start each day with a can do attitude and get going.

Establish a start time and a finish time, 9am - 5pm, I’m serious you have to dedicate yourself full time to getting a job. There are some people that will make a couple of phone calls then get drawn to the fridge, end up on the sofa and before they know it, have watched a full episode of Jeremy Kyle! or worse still 6 hours on X Box!   This cannot happen to you..Dedication, you have to be dedicated to getting a job.

Always make sure your voice mail messages sound positive and energetic, no one is going to want to leave you an interview date if your message sounds like your granny has just died.

Always review your productivity at the end of each day.

Invest in a business card holder, to keep all your cards in order of name or date.

There’s a few way that you can keep everything organised in one place, first try making a spreadsheet. Have all your contact names running down the left hand side of your page then across the top you can put date ( date you met) introduced by, venue ( where you met) company, position, e mail address, address, tel no:, skype, twitter name, memorable note.. ie Birthday is 6th June, follow up date, result.

Of course you can delete or add to this as you wish.

Have a spread sheet for phone calls made, date who to, time, result and another for C.V’s sent.

Have a todo list, theres lots sites where you can create To Do lists & free apps for your phone. We’ve tried a couple of good ones  http://www.tada.com  and                               http://www.rememberthemilk.com  however you may come across one you prefer more.

There is one great App that I think you should try and that’s http://www.evernote.com You can synch this with your phone, create to do lists, take photos of job adverts & clip them into your folder, all the text is searchable to by just tapping a couple of words into search it can pull the advert to the front for you. You can record your notes and listen back to them at a later stage, this nifty tool will come in use so many times over.  

There are a couple of web based platforms that are solely dedicated to making job hunting a more organised experience for you, the first one is http://www.happyjobsearch.com Here you can track all your job search activities, create action points, review and edit them.

Store a general cover letter so you can just modify it for each potential employer and really keep on top of your growing database.

Then there’s http://www.jibberjobber.com Enter your target companies and create action entries to spur you into contacting them.

It’s free for life but if you do upgrade you’ll get the facility to have an e mail sent to you regarding each action point you create.. ie Tuesday 8th August 3.00pm, must ring Jane re Marketing assistant position. Once that has been logged you will receive an e mail from jibberjobber to remind you to make that call, how cool is that! 

So get plenty of rest over the Xmas period and come back in 2012 a more organised, focused Job Hunter  

Happy Christmas   

Is it the death of the C.V?

Are you still sending out c.vs to employers? or are you just directing them to your online professional profile?

You should still send out c.vs to employers.

It seems unlikely that c.vs will be replaced totally as many employers still like to hold that paper in their hands and peruse your qualifications.

So what to do? Keep sending them out however mention a link to your professional profile where the employer can find out more about you.

Make sure that a professional profile is exactly that with professional photo’s and business like activity.

Employers will go online to find out more about you regardless so make sure all photo’s are professional and untag yourself from any of your friends ones where you look worst for wear.

Always regularly update your profile, share opinions, articles, answer peoples questions, become an authority on your subject. Don’t just decide to update when you think it’s time to look for a job, if you are employed this will raise a few eyebrows in the office, slightly obvious! If however it’s something you do as common practice anyway there will never be cause for concern.

So no for the time being there’s no death of the c.v it’s going to be around for a while yet. However a mix of both will work well for attracting the right employer to you.

Welcome Google+ So how can Google+ help you find a job?

On Linkedin you are asked “How do you know this person?” On Facebook you get the message “Is this person a friend?” On Google+ Nothing, you can connect with anyone and everyone.

No gatekeepers, no approvals, you can immediately connect with the right person, so if you know the name of the employer at a certain company & they are on Google+ you get an immediate connection.

Google+ will undoubtably help with getting in front of employers & to get jobs.

The straightforward, simplicity of the navigation makes everything feel very easy to operate. One of the features of Google+ is the circles, it gives you the ability to drag and drop your contacts into circles that you the user creates.

So these contact circles can be potential employers, contacts at a certain company or a circle of people that will keep their ear to the ground for you. So now when it comes to updating your posts it can be relevant to the group you are speaking to.

Another feature is the ability to directly e mail someone on their profile page, of course there will be some that will start hiding their e mails the minute their inbox starts filling up.

All in all we think Google+ is great & another way of easily getting in front of the employer.

We shall keep you posted of Google+ developments 

Blog a Job

So how do you put your head above the competition?

Well one way of getting noticed by employers is Blogging

Blog about your skills, expertise, your experiences, the funny things in your line of work & the challenges, especially the tactics you use to overcome them.

Make sure your Blog is personally branded and is linked up with your social networking platforms.

Make sure your Blog content is key word rich and attractive for the search engines to pick up. When employers search relevant keywords it’s your Blog that you want them to stumble upon.

Share your Blog across Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn/ niche platforms etc..

Social bookmark it ( Digg it) & tell others to do so

Change 15% of your Blog & let others use it as a Guest Blog  Please note that you must change at least 15% or the search engines will just see it as duplicate content and it will not do you any favours at all.

Record the Blog through Audioboo ( or others) & link it out as an audio file...You can also record yourself reading your Blog...known as a Vlog!

Attract your next employer by Blogging & all the tips we give you.

Want to find a job using social media?

Then make sure you are socially acceptable!

You know that thing, that search engine called Google? You know it 
right? Good, then you have an understanding as to how it works. It finds 
things. As well as finding jobs it also finds out information.

When was the last time you Googled your own name?

Stop reading, and go and search now and then come back and tell me what 
you see on the first 5 pages and then tell me you are happy with it all. 
Because if you are happy with it all then your potential employer will be happy.
 If you have anything at all that does not portray you as a normal, 
happy, hardworking soul now would be the time to remove it.

Those party pics on Facebook, you know the ones? Where you are falling 
out of a pub obviously as drunk as a rat.. you had a great night that 
night and guess what? You didn't check your Facebook privacy settings 
and now they are in Google images - you did do an image search as well 
didn't you?

Your new employer will also check out your Twitter account if you 
mention it on your application form...

And your blog, they will check out your blog as well.

Make sure you are socially fit for employment or you could find you 
don't even get an interview.

I read a social media blog where the blogger called various people 
"knobs" it wasn't funny and and I had no idea who they were calling 
knobs but I won't be hiring them to do my social media stuff. If they 
call publicly call people names then what are they going to be saying 
about me? Careful what you blog.

Ok, so the tweet above is a tweet from one of my own Twiter accounts - 
phew, but what if it was in your Twitter stream? It may turn up in 
Google as search engines index Twitter as well as Facebook and lots of 
other social media sites. and let's not forget the fully social sites 
such as dating sites...

Ever put your details up on one of those? No? Oh good, only lots of 
people have and again they have missed the privacy settings and that's 
how their partners found them online looking for love. Of course it was 
the divorce court for them, and it will be you too if you are not 
careful in with the information you share online.

Unhappy at work?

Share it on Facebook... only your mum reads your status updates and 
hey... all those new friends you made at your new job, well they can see 
it too. Not only can they see it, they can show it to your new boss. 
What can you say when they fire you? You were unhappy in the first 
place, they were doing you a favour.

Social media is a powerful tool, in the right hands

Using tools like Crowdbooster you can find influential people on 
Twitter, you can find casual work and you can find full times jobs. be 
yourself only better. Be the person that is the model employee and 
remember your search engines as well as sharing all your secrets will 
share the employers secrets too...

Sarah

Sarah Arrow is the director of special projects for 
href="http://www.arrowlighthaulage.co.uk" target="_blank">same day 
courier company, Arrow Light Haulage based in Essex. She is also the 
author of Always Be Creating - the 
href="http://www.saraharrow.co.uk/whats-this-site-about/advanced-blogging/" 
target="_blank">business bloggers guide to blogging. Subscribe for a 
free Zero to blogger ecourse whilst you are there and take a new skill 
into your new job.

Can you really say that you have thought of many different ways to get a job?

Have you tried changing your thought pattern & said "If I wanted to get in front of a particular person/company how do I do it?"

This question itself will open loads of doors for you.

Are you 1 of the 648 million registered users on Facebook?  Wow that's a big number, there must be lots of employers on there! 

Now there are so many ways of marketing yourself on Facebook & that would take hours, however a quick easy way to get in front of employers are Facebook Adverts.

It doesn't cost much & you can really target your advert to particular people in particular areas. A little bit of time studying how Facebook advertising works will enable you to tweak your adverts so they are showing up on the company decision makers profiles.

Remember Facebook is social so keep it social, keep your ad social. ie Should Mike The Events Manager be employed or be Freelance, you vote... once clicked it could link to a video of some super events that you have put on for clients, you get the picture.  It could be though that Mary from Cpp London is looking for an events Manager & your ad shows up on her profile!! hey presto!

As you know Version 2 of Job Hop will be live soon however we are already working on version 3 where we are going to tie in some of this marketing oneself from Job hop across to FaceBook.

Whilst we are working on that I really urge you all to be trying it out yourself.

Finding Jobs In Norwich

Norwich is a lovely place to work with plenty of scenic places to walk during your lunch break!A huge variety of different Businesses Bernard Mathews, John Lewis, Bertram Books, Makro's, Bupa as well as many small businesses.

Norwich boasts a huge Research Park, Norwich Research Park where you'll find Norwich & Norfolk University Hospital, The University of East Anglia, The Sainsbury Laboratory & The John Innes Centre.

The East side is the place to watch with The Broadland Business Park which already has plenty of businesses on there & continues to grow.

The Tourism Sector is always busy In Norwich, it is a place people flock to on sunny days & a great Holiday destination.It also has it's own airport, Norwich International Airport & guess what it's expanding, so that means jobs!

Whenever you hear a company intends to expand then you must act immediately find out who the right contact is & find out when they are interviewing.Read The Eastern Daily Press religously as they will report when companies are intending to expand.

If you want to get a job in travel then get in front of the companies & you'll find them at Travel fairs which you'll find being held at The Norwich International Airport & Hotels such as The Holiday Inn. Here you can find out who the contact is , perhaps introduce yourself to them there & then at the event & offer to ring them or send your c.v to them.

It doesn't have to stop at Travel fairs check out all the fairs & see whether you would like to work in that field. If you're a dressmaker or a cake decorator perhaps you should check out the Wedding fairs & put yourself in front of the companies that exhibit there. There are numerous weding Fairs in Norwich, The Caistor Hall Hotel, The Oaklands Hotel & Sprowston Manor hold them regularly.

Get in front of employers at Business to Business events. Be fully equipped with a 1 page summary about yourself with a photo attached, hand them to the businesses that you know you would be suited for. You can ask for them to be passed to whoever recruits for the company or you may get to speak to that person at the event. By leaving them something you can say that you will contact them in a couple of days to talk some more. Businesses love pro active people.

 Try out the All about Business event at Carrow rd in March & The Challenge Norfolk 100 in February.Get a list of all the networking events in Norwich & start attending them. At these networks you will be chatting over a coffee & some nibbles with the Managing Directors of companies, what a perfect opportunity to get noticed. Some that you will find in Norwich are 4N, The Business Club, Business Womens Network , Wire, The Weetu Network , Antidote & 25am

Of course you can also register at the many recruitment companies around Norwich Cocoabean , select  ,  14recruitment  & have a look at whats on offer at The Norwich Job Centre. 

The Passive Candidate

You know who you are!

You are really playing the game, you're working smart not hard. You have created the perfect profile & it is on JobHop & Linkedin. 

You've branded yourself, you're known as an expert in what you do, your profile photo is professional & is consistent throughout the networks. You regularly blog, post videos & contribute to groups & forums.

If anyone asks you are you looking for a job you will say No however if your dream job was offered to you then of course you wouldn't say no!

You are not an active Job seeker you are a passive job seeker, you are the one that employers really want & you know it! 

So you're in the job market voluntary or you've been put there, or you're considering entering the job market. It's such an effort though you have to update your c.v , register with recruitment agencies, read untold job adverts, constantly phone people and buy a new suit!

There are a few things that you can do to make it slightly easier for yourself. The main thing is to be organised, make a job folder & get a job diary.
In your job folder (fold out type or on your p.c)you should keep research material, contact names, copies of c.vs & your daily call list ( this is a list of companies that you cold call on a daily basis, companies that haven't got a job advertised but you have to convince them that they need you) In your job diary keep interview dates and details & follow up call dates recorded. Make sure reminders are set either on your P.C or your phone so you never ever forget to make that important call.

Do not procrastinate write out your daily plan the night before & make sure your most dreaded/difficult call is done first ( Eat that Frog) then the rest of the day is easy.
Experts say that 75% of jobs are filled by referrals so keep circulating!
Subscribe to Trade magazines & look out for events & seminars where you can meet new contacts.

Do not send out the same c.v to everyone, always make sure it matches the job description & highlight what they are looking for.

Make sure that any on line c.vs/resumes are packed with key words therefore making it quicker for employers to find you.

Don't send c.v's in as an attachment make sure you paste them into the body of the email, you have to make it as easy & quick as possible for someone to read it. If the attachment takes a while to open then it may never get opened.

If you've received an application form then always send in your c.v also, however never put on your form as a reply to a question "see my c.v"

Look out for Business expansions because expansions means Jobs!

And that suit, do you really need a new one? Look through your wardobe & see what you can put together before you rush out to spend your money.

We'd like to give you a phone interview. O.k it's not quite a full on interview however this is your chance & you must make it your objective to get a face to face interview.

If a representative calls you to make an appointment time with you make sure that you get the details of the person ringing you. You want their full name and their position in the company.

With this valuable information you are then going to google this person & find out as much information as possible about her/him. Have they recently won any awards? Has there been any press releases involving them? Do you have any mutual interests which you could slip into the interview somehow...  ie If you get asked "What additional skills did you bring to your last company that you worked for?" and you say "I use to voluntary organise the annual golfing tournament so that we could network with our clients in a fun way" Knowing full well the interviewer is a keen golfer then you will get a big tick!

It's also handy if their e mail addresses appear in the search as you could then send them an e mail just saying that today his/her colleague booked a phone interview on Tues at 10am with them and that you are looking forward to it. ( Little things like this can really impress an interviewer)

Whilst you are on Google I shouldn't have to tell you that you must find out as much as possible about the company and the position that you are applying for.

You will get asked "So tell me what do you know about our company?" and you say "I don't really know anything but I do see your vans now and then" Will not go down well.

So the day & time has been set & you know who is going to ring you and the number they will ring you on is... I hope you haven't given them a mobile number to ring you on. The reason being is that sods law they will be slightly early & you'll be driving, parking the car up, still in the middle of the shopping mall or worse still you have no signal! Always make sure they ring you on a land line & pencil out 15mins prior to the call so you are sitting by the phone in case they ring early.

Don't play games & wait 10 rings before you answer, you will be expected to answer  the phone immediately.

If the interviewer hears Jeremy Kyle, Loose women, or Countdown in the background they will be immediately put off. The television must be switched off. Even if you think it sounds cool to have the stocks and shares on Bloomberg going on in the background it's best not to, most interviewers will want the environment totally quiet.

Children and dogs must be as far away from you as possible, you do not want to be trying to talk over a dog barking madly at the postman or a baby screaming because it's hungry, or a child asking for a biscuit..no no no! The interviewer may love dogs and children but all they will be hearing at the end of the phone is chaos and they will think that you are chaotic.

Never let your children pick up the phone and then shout out Mummy/Daddy it's for you, or I had one once where I had booked a 2pm phone interview and the child answered and said Daddy is sleeping! I didn't ring back.

Once you are on the phone chatting happily to your interviewer remain standing as this up lifts your body & helps your breathing and remember to smile. An interviewer can detect in your voice if you are miserable, not smiling, stern or generally don't have a good attitude. Always smile and sound focused and positive.

Do not mumble or umm and err. Do not keep using the same word over and over again, like "you know what I mean, so I had to get the clients to use it, you know what I mean" or " Basically, yes it's simple really, basically what you do is basically" or "you know where I'm coming from, it was quite funny really but I had to say it, you know where I'm coming from"  I hear so many and I cringe. My advice is that perhaps you get a member of your family or a friend to regularly get you to talk for a few minutes at a time about any old object & you are not allowed to umm or err or say anything repetitive. Doing this regularly will definitely improve how you present yourself, you will become a lot more aware of what you are saying.

The interviewer will ask you a list of questions in front of them and they are either the same questions that they ask everyone or a couple will be swapped round.

They may ask about your present or last job, what type of person you are, what salary you're after, what are your strengths & weaknesses, why are you applying for the position with them and so on. You must be prepared to just reel the answers off.

Remember that your objective is get a face to face interview so ask them some questions, have your list in front of you. Saying something like " When I was looking at your web site I noticed that you were expanding the design side more, would my skills be useful here as well?" This sounds great because it shows you've really researched the company & that you could be put to many uses.

Always ask " What additional information would you like from me?" and give them a link to your professional profile on JobHop or LinkedIn.

When the time comes for them to say Good bye make sure that you say "When is the best time to follow up with you?" If they say give it a couple of days you must make sure to say that will give them a call at a particular time on a particular day, then proceed to say Thank you very much & I look forward to talking more on Tues, Weds,or whenever you'd arranged.

Good luck

Job Hop continues to stress the importance of self promotion & that these days you must be able to sell yourself & your skills.

With everyone competing for a very limited number of jobs you have to shine above the rest, you have to be the first person that employers/recruiters want when they are thinking about filling a vacancy.Today's Job Hunters/Hoppers need to know every trick in the book & have every tool in the box to get ahead.

When Job Hop comes across anything worth shouting about then we shout it from the roof tops & we are shouting at every Job Hopper & Job Hunter to obtain the book Job Hunting 3.0  Buy it , Borrow it, put it on your Xmas pressie list. 

This book is the must have manual for anyone looking for a job or thinking about changing their job.

It's a system, a plan & a map , giving you hints & tips to stand out from the rest. It gives you a valuable insight to what Employers & recruiters are thinking & what they really want.

Sometimes it's great to have a manual to refer to & with Job Hunting 3.0 you can do that even if you're feeling slightly stressed there's a section on coping with stress.

Job Hop continuously goes on about promoting yourself, networking, advertising your skills & within the pages of Job Hunting 3.0 you will learn all this & so much more.

Look at it this way Job Hunting/ Hopping is a process so make sure you follow a good process then you'll get a good outcome.

The Best Tip to get a Job

is to Brand & promote yourself.

Make getting your dream job your business &  take tips from successful businesses.

A successful business has a brand & always promotes itself,  their aim should be to create a fan base.

If you wanted to buy a computer you would probably get loads of people who have & love Apple, they will try to convince you to buy an Apple.

If you wanted to buy a good quality beautiful smelling soap with no chemicals, then Fans of Lush may convince you to buy Lush.

So the same with you, you need to create a fan base via branding & promoting yourself.

How?

Lets look at what you want to do.

Make up artist, goes without saying your make up should be impeccable however there are lots out there that don't even try at their own & how many times have you come across a hairdresser with awful hair! A wardrobe stylist should dress well, a cleaner should have a clean home, A declutterer should have a well organised office & a  P.A shouldn't be dizzy & constantly losing their keys!

You need to become the person & start your personal brand, it's about how you look, how you act, how you talk, what makes you unique?When you are branding yourself make sure it follows through with everything ie if you are telling people you are a family man make sure you're not seen out every week end with a different woman. If You want a top job at a law firm then dont let the photos of you with your boobs out on Face Book be seen.

Get out there & promote yourself, let everyone know what you do & that you're available. Eventually you will gain fans,once you have fans they will talk about you & promote you. i.e If somebody asks me if I know a good builder, web site designer, haidresser, dog groomer there is someone  I would promote for each of those jobs because I am a loyal fan.

Become the person become the brand then promote & gain fans.