Professional Networking

Should I join a professional network such as LinkedIn?

In today’s tech savvy business community, professional networking sites such as Biznik, Opportunity, PartnerUp, VisualCV, Meetup, Xing, Plaxo & LinkedIn all provide excellent online locations to help you grow professionally, but to date as stated by Forbes.

LinkedIn is far and away, the most advantages social networking tool available to job seekers and business professionals today

With 2 people joining every second, LinkedIn is the largest professional network in the world with over 400million users of which 40million are students, its available in over 200 countries in 40 languages and your basic account is free set up.  You can use LinkedIn for a variety of different reasons from promoting your company, job seeking, growing your brand, attaining information, promoting your blog, promoting jobs and most importantly it’s a super location to network with professionals across the globe.

Setting up a LinkedIn account

To setup your free LinkedIn account you will need to submit your email address and create a password and please make sure your email address is a professional one.  You will need to add your contact details, summary section (include up to date industry buzz words), work experience, qualifications & your interests. You can also add in specific skills which people will endorse you on and you can also get recommendations from colleagues and friends to strengthen your claim to professional knowledge.

Things to remember about LinkedIn

Things to remember, LinkedIn is a professional networking site not Facebook, only post work related topics in a professional manner.  Have a professional photo, keep your profile current and without spelling or grammatical mistakes, try and get recommendations from people you know and be specific.  Join groups and forums and contribute value adding information.  Connect with people you know, people that might benefit from knowing you but do explain why you would like to connect.  Connect with recruiters but be careful connecting with companies you would like to be employed with particularly in the way you approach them, and before you do any of this ensure your profile is completed fully.

Top Tip: Ensure your LinkedIn profile matches your CV.

Dealing with a difficult co-worker

I think it is safe to say that we have all encountered situations in our working environments of colleagues whose main aim in life seems to be to push our buttons and drive us crazy.  This can be quite annoying to say the least.  However, in more serious cases this constant annoyance can lead to stress, unhappiness at work and can ultimately result in an individual leaving employment because of it.

We all know some of these co-workers, they tell you everything that goes on in their personal lives, constantly complain, they are serial advisers, chatters & gossips, they correct your work continually, they argue with everyone.  Then there are the more serious individuals who are just arrogant and mean.  Most co-workers act professionally and are acceptant of our boundaries and do manage to get the hint when they go too far but some unfortunately do not and this requires a different more structured approach.

It might be an idea if you can’t avoid the difficult co-worker to approach the individual directly in a friendly & non-confrontational manner and explain to them that you find their actions uncomfortable to deal with constantly.  If this does not work or the situation deteriorates further, then approach the person you report to and explain your issue, again in a friendly non formal manner.  If this still does not work, then ensure you are recording every occurrence in a diary and formally report the situation to your direct manager and to the human resource department or to a member of the senior management team for them to resolve.

You will know yourself if the situation is serious enough to formally report and don’t be afraid to do so. Most of us work hard to earn a living and we should not have to put up with people giving us an undeserved hard time.  So don’t accept it and approach the individual first, 9 times out of 10 this friendly approach will be enough to resolve your woes, if not, then escalate.

How to job hunt effectively

How to Job Hunt Effectively.

Job hunting can be a very stressful and difficult time for most of us especially when it’s the result of losing your job rather than choosing to leave.  As hard as it may be, try not to look at your current situation as world ending because it isn’t, instead look on this situation as the universes way of telling you loudly that what you were doing in the past needed changing, so take this time given to you to reflect and plan your next move strategically.

Most people at this point make a critical mistake, they simply dust of the old CV and blitz the market place with it by loading it up on to every job board and submit it to every recruitment company known to man, this is a DISASTER and a fatal mistake.  Take the time to review your CV first and ask yourself if this CV represents me and my skill-set effectively? am I proud of myself when I read this CV? If not redo your CV until its excellent, if you can’t, get help. In addition, get yourself an excellent LinkedIn profile and make sure it reflects your CV.

Identify the job that suits your skill set, if you don’t have the skill then up-skill.  Seek out the companies you would like to work for and research them, check out their website, check out the latest vacancies onjob boards, newspapers and seek out recruitment companies that specialise in your industry.

When the above is complete, connect & network in person, don’t expect the internet to do the work for you, you are one of thousands looking for a job so hunt effectively.  If you would like to send your CV directly to an employer or recruitment company, find out the contact name in that organisation and ring them in person, let them know you are on the lookout or interested in the job advertised and ask them if it is ok for you to send your CV to them directly, in doing this you are building a rapport and putting a voice and a living person behind your CV, vitally important

Look at your job search as a project and remember don’t panic, reflect and plan strategically.

What makes a good CV?

What makes a good CV you may ask. Despite the plethora of free information available, 1000’s of CV’s have passed my desk for junior and senior candidates and most of which are simply not presentable! To this day, it still baffles as to why a candidate would expect to get to an interview when it is quite clear to the employer that they have put little or no effort into the presentation/content of their CV.

There are a number of key ingredients in creating an excellent CV, but most of them fall under two very important headings which are Layout & Content. Layout is the visual impact & aesthetics of your CV. In simple terms when your CV is opened it must automatically please the reader’s eye and subconsciously lure him/her to engage & read this fine specimen of a document further. You can achieve this by ensuring the correct use of indentation, bullet points & bolding throughout your document and don’t overdo it. In relation to the sections to be included, we find the following sections in this sequence most logical, 1. contact details, 2. summary section (written in the third person), 3. qualifications, education, 4. work experience and 5. additional details. Keep your CV to two pages, max three. 

Your content or text needs to be engaging, professional, up to date and do make sure that all of the information included is in date sequence starting with most recent has no spelling or grammatical mistakes. Your work experience needs to be in bullet point format not long paragraphs, and each bullet point gives you the chance to explain your responsibility in a key area and your impact within that area, for instance management of waste, reduction by 20%.

Most importantly your CV is never finished, you need to tailor your CV to suit each and every application you make. Read the job spec in detail and make sure your CV is clearly applicable to this job.  Remember the importance of your CV, it’s your professional passport, get it right and you will certainly attend more interviews. If you are still unsure, contact info@elkrecruitment.com and we will send you on a free CV template.