Career Top 10 – To Boldly Take Your Career Where It Has Never Been Before…

The festive period is often a time for family, friends and reflection. If you find yourself considering a warp jump in your career in 2014 then follow these Top 10 Tips to boldly take your career where it has never been before.

Communication channels open, Heading 2014, Warp factor 9….Engage!

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Star Base 1.  Research yourself. Identify your core skills, values and key achievements

Mars Colony 2.  Research the world of work. Create a list of the industries, sectors, organisations, locations and roles you are specifically interested in

Titan 3.  Create you ideal job description. Given the information from items 1 and 2, what would your ideal job description look like?

Shuttle 4.  Create a master CV. Written for your ideal job description with as much detail and as many examples as you can

Desk 5.  Create a 2 page chronological or functional CV. Written for your ideal job description, and with a clear personal profile which describes who you are, what you have and what you want

Transport Room 6.  Register with no more than 5 online job boards for daily email alerts for jobs matching your search criteria

Deep Space 7.  Make contact with specialist recruiters and search agents who will take the time to get to know you personally. If you get no response, move onto the next

Voyager 8.  Remember that 70% of jobs never get advertised on the open market. Most jobs are filled from internal moves & promotion or from personal recommendation or introductions

Earth Colony 9.  Spend 70% of your search developing your personal and professional network and raising your profile within your industry, location and sector. If you use only one tool then make it LinkedIn

Warp 10.  Get some help, advice and guidance. There are a range of services available for jobseekers at every level. For more from me, please visit www.CareerWorkbook.net

During my 2013 journey, I have interviewed over 300 people and my continuing mission is to help people from all sectors and backgrounds travel from where they are now in their career to where they want to be.  If you’d like to share this mission log and engage with these top 10 tips I know you’ll be starting out on your own new adventure very soon.

Have fun, enjoy work, share knowledge.

Mission complete.  Live long and prosper.

Dean

For some more great CV, Career and Job Search Tips check out my Videos or see my Facebook page

PS – My team and I offer 1.2.1 career planning support from £150 so if you’d like to check into a local Star Base for a quick chat drop me an email to info@deanweller.co.uk

PPS – The Kindle edition of my book is half price until 6th Jan. Amazon

101 Career Planning & Job Search Tips [21 – 30]

Here is the extended list of 101 Career Planning & 

Job Search Tips which have featured highly on Twitter.

Spend ¼ of your time online doing job searches. Maximum.

Spend ¾ of your time generating pro-active connections. Minimum.

It’s easier to find work when you’re in work. Consider taking a part-time role or volunteer to keep your mind active and connected to work in some way.

Temporary or part-time roles often grow. Is there an opportunity for you to create your own future by building and growing within a role.

Make one new connection each day. Either in person, or virtually.

Have at least one face to face meeting each week. You cannot talk to too many people when your job hunting.

Create a 30 second personal pitch.

Create a 1 minute personal pitch.

Consider: Situations, Tasks, Actions & Results. STAR answers are considered the best way to respond to competency style questions.

Practise S T A R answers for common questions. Ask a friend to help. 

Don’t forget to catch the latest updates on twitter. and follow @TheCareersGuy

You can also get additional FREE resources and information at www.deanweller.co.uk

101 Career Planning & Job Search Tips 11 – 20

Here is the extended list of 101 Career Planning & 

Job Search Tips which have featured highly on Twitter.

101 Career Planning & Job Search Tips [2 – 20]

• What would you do for free and why?

• Volunteer your time & try new things

• Which brands do you associate with & why?

• What would be your ideal location

• Create a list of your top 10 companies to work for. Get addresses and research contact names. Letters to The Manager get opened in the post room.

• Could you create your own business. What’s your niche? Your angle?

• Could you have more than one role, a portfolio option?

• Create a list of agencies in your local area

• Create a list of agencies in your specific field

• Get to know the employment agencies in person. It’s much easier for the agent to place someone who they’ve met and spoken with.

Don’t forget to catch the latest updates ontwitter. and follow @TheCareersGuy

You can also get additional FREE resources and information at www.deanweller.co.uk

101 Career Planning & Job Search Tips

Here is the extended list of 101 Career Planning & 

Job Search Tips which have featured highly on Twitter.

101 Career Planning & Job Search Tips [1-10]

·         Know yourself before you transmit messages to the world

·         Identify your performance strengths

·         Be aware of your performance weaknesses

·         Be specific in what you’re looking for. The world isn’t recruiting generalists anymore.

·         Create your own perfect role description.

·         Explore all of your interests for options. Create a list of at least 40 things which have interest or attraction for you.

·         Ask others to tell you what you’re good at. We never know what were like on the receiving end of ourselves. Getting 180 degree feedback is very powerful. Remember to ask those who will be objective and honest.

·         Know what success looks like for you. Yes there the financial stuff but what about other rewards like, training, location, flexibility, benefits, share options, the chance to do what you do best.

·         What motivates you. What’s the one thing your role must have to make you get out of bed on a cold and wet UK winter morning.

·         When do you find yourself in flow, what are you doing? The things you do when you lose track of time.

Don’t forget to catch the latest updates on twitter. and follow @TheCareersGuy

You can also get additional FREE resources and information at www.deanweller.co.uk

What questions might I get asked at interview (A – F)

The most popular type of interview question is based on a competency. A competency is a skill or task which you are expected to demonstrate your capability. The most common phrase associated with the question is ‘give an example of when…’

To prepare your response consider the following thought process: STAR + R

S. The Situation you were in.

T. The Task you were asked to do / responsible for.

A. The Action you took.

R. The Result of your work

+

R. In Review, what did you learn.

Some example questions from our library

Adaptability      

Can you tell me how you adapted with the change from School / college / university to full time employment?

Can you describe a work situation where your manager has required you to change immediately from one role to another?  How did you react?

Can you give me an example where suggestions from your staff have caused you to change your mind?

          

Analysis              

What is the most significant problem you have had to confront in the last six months?  How did you go about solving this problem?

What was the last problem to surprise you?  Why was it a surprise?  Could you have foreseen the problem by keeping in touch with relevant sources of information?

Describe a situation when you have been recruiting staff.  What approach did you use for recruitment and selection?

               

Attention to Detail        

How do you control for errors in the work you do?  Provide me an example?

Can you give me an example of when things have gone wrong because you have missed the detail?  What caused the error?  What was the result?

Describe a key administrative process that you have had responsibility for.  How did you operate this process (look for attention to detail, rather than details of the process it’s self)

               

Control

What processes do you use for assessing the performance of your staff / projects / Work?

How do you ensure that the work in your department is proceeding according to plan?

Do you have staff meetings?  What is the structure of these meetings?  Is there a review mechanism?  Are actions recorded and assigned?

               

Creativity           

Describe some of the more imaginative things that you have done in your current / last job?

Do people come to you with particular problems to solve?  Give me some examples?

Is there anything in your department that colleagues would recognise as resulting from your innovation?

               

Decisiveness    

How have you taken the important decisions that have affected your career?

Give me an example of a decision when you have taken a long time to make up your mind?  Why did you take a long time?

Describe a decision you have made without all the relevant information.  Why did you make it? What was the result?

               

Delegation

In your current job, what kind of decisions do you delegate to your staff?  Why do you delegate these decisions?  What have been the results of these delegations?

Can you describe a situation where you have delegated responsibility to a member of your staff and been disappointed by the outcome?

Describe a situation where you delegated responsibility and were particularly satisfied with the outcome?  What did you do?

               

Development of subordinates 

Think of people you have managed, who have become successful.  What part did you play in their development?

Describe the ways in which you help your staff to improve their performance in their jobs?

How do you involve your staff in decisions you take?

               

Financial Analytical Ability         

Have you ever prepared or contributed to the budget for your unit?  What issues did you have to face in preparing the budget?

What kind of financial reports have you had to prepare in your previous jobs?

What are some of the more difficult problems of financial analysis you have had to cope with?