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“I’VE SENT OUT hundreds of CVs but I never got a response, not even a thank you or acknowledgement”. This is what I hear from candidates all the time. They feel frustrated. They look for reasons why this happens – sometimes we seek to blame both ourselves and others.
“I’m the wrong side of 50…” “I’m not good enough…” “I’m the wrong gender…” “I have everything they’re looking for in the ad and they haven’t got the good manners to reply…”
The cold, hard fact is that when you are looking for a job, you’re now in sales, even if that is not what you have your training and experience is in. So it is up to you to follow up on every opportunity that you are chasing, and not up to the business you are chasing. Is it fair? I look at this at being neither fair nor unfair. It simply is the way it is. Hard fact of life, yes, but a fact of life it is.
So now it’s up to you. There are some questions you need to be asking yourself, and issues you need to think about when you are job hunting, and these are not easy, but unless you are clear and specific in your own mind, how are you going to be convincing to any employer?
1. What do you offer?
I’ve seen so many good CVs that start with “20 years’ experience…” In reality, the comment that I have is “so what?” Be clear and concise: what can you offer a potential employer? What problem that they have can you solve with your background and expertise? This is not about age or experience, it is about expertise and a proven track record.
2. What do you want?
Of course you want a job (or a winning lottery ticket). But, specifically, what is it that you are looking for? What type of company, what level of role, what type of industry…?
Many times we automatically go to the remuneration place, and my challenge here is what do you need to earn? Unless you are clear about what you want, you will inevitable waste time looking for roles that you will not be satisfied with.
3. Don’t panic!
Set yourself realistic expectations. I’ve met with candidates, who, for example when facing a redundancy in six weeks will say to me ‘I want to be in my new job in six weeks’. Think about this, normally the recruitment process can take up to three months, and that’s assuming that you find the right job today – so set realistic expectations
4. Does your CV really sell you?
Do you talk about duties and responsibilities in your CV? If so, these are largely irrelevant! Let that sink in… these are irrelevant. What a CV is designed to do is get you an interview, not a job. Therefore it is a sales document, and as a sales document it need to show what impact you have made in your career to date, and show the quantitative measure of success. Don’t use jargon – be direct and concise.
5. Do you “follow up”?
Don’t expect people to respond (and by the way forget about your value judgement as to whether this is good or bad!). You are now in sales, you have to follow up. Be focused and persistent. Clearly you don’t call every day, but follow up three to four days after your initial contact and/or application. As I say, this is the difference between persistence and stalking! Follow up on everything, and send thank-yous after meetings or interviews. This makes an impact.
6. Who are you talking to?
With the greatest of respect to HR people –unless you’re looking for a role in HR, avoid them. They are not decision-makers, they are facilitators. Get to the decision-makers. And a word about job descriptions that you see either online or in the printed media. We all KNOW that these are very broad outlines on the role, so ring up and find out what exactly the role involves. It shows that you are interested in the role, and it gives you an opportunity to find out exactly what the employer is looking for. So you don’t waste your time applying, or it allows you to make a strong case for the company to meet you.
7. What is your job search plan?
If all you are doing is focusing on looking at job ads and the internet, the reality is that you are looking at roughly one third of the jobs market. The majority of roles that are out there are ones that you have to “network” for.
It’s a horrible word, “networking”. I agree with that. Most of us are not natural networkers, but the good news here is that it’s a skill that can be learned. Get out and start connecting with people. That’s how you will hear of potential new roles. Sitting in front of a computer or your phone or tablet searching job websites and LinkedIn is only giving you access to the small part of the market.
8. Do you use the phone?
Most of us are so used to communicating via e-mail, that we have lost the art of using the phone. Ring people – and yes you’ll have to make a few calls each time as it is unlikely that you’ll get through the first time – connect with them and let them know what you’re looking for. Remember people hire people. Of course the skills and expertise are critical but you, as the sales person, need to reach out. Again. And again.
So who am I to be giving this advice, another recruiter or someone like that? No. I’ve had to do this myself, having gone through redundancy twice (one in my 30s and once in my 40s), having experienced a separation and illness which put me out of work for 18 months. I’ve also tried to run a small business and been unable to take a salary for over a year in that space. So, yes, there have been other pressures. As there always will be.
I have the large corporate background at director level also, having worked internationally in Europe and Latin America. But one of the toughest and most important lessons I’ve learned is that I am only as good as my last sale. I have had to re-invent myself, and dig deep. In fact I do that every day – and I’m 56 in two weeks!
Oh, and I’ve just started a new business of my own, supporting people in taking control of their careers.
So, shake off the invisibility cloak. Pick yourself up. Know your skills. Sell those skills. Be persistent.
Peter O’Connell set up his own business to proactively support people in building and managing their own careers, following on from personally experiencing redundancy and career change from large multi-nationals and SMEs – “by taking ownership of your career, you can achieve success” – peter@careerdevelopmentassociates.ie’
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I love to know why we’ve shifted from let’s vaccinate the vulnerable before we can open up safely to we need everyone vaccinated including all children before we can go outside again.
The facts are clear 93% of people who died with covid had an underlying condition. The median age of those who died was 80+. There is very limited risk to those under 50 and virtually no risk for people under 35. Obese people are at risk so they should be vaccinated with people with underlying conditions. There is no need to vaccinate people who have recovered as they have the antibodies from the virus.
PS there was no increase in deaths in Ireland in 2020 and is similar to numbers for the last 5 years.
If there is no risk, why are we still in lockdown? There is no scientific or factual reason for it.
@Diarmuid O’Braonáin: fluck out Tony and bring in Diarmuid. Sorted.
@Diarmuid O’Braonáin: so to put it another way 7% did not have an underlying condition and died. Half the people that died were under 80+ years of age. there maybe be a limited risk for those under 50 and a very small risk of dying for those under 35 but there were 1700 hospitalized under 35 and many more with long Covid that only had mild cases of the disease.
There were around 600 excess deaths last year over a 9 month period of 2020 since the first person died of Covid. There were as many deaths from Covid in first 2 months of 2021 as there was of 2020.
We have no way of knowing how long the antibodies will last and protect us.
23% of the population would be regarded as obese.
There are still 37% of 60-70 year olds not vaccinated, they will be completed the middle of next week and will need 15 days for 2nd dose AZ Vaccine to work. there also a lot of 50-60 year old waiting for their 2nd vaccine
@Diarmuid O’Braonáin: what you miss is that, for our health system, all that matters is how many people need to be admitted to hospital sick.
Vaccines help keep people from getting sick.
If we reduced our limited restrictions, with Delta being so contagious, our cases would rise a lot.
They are rising already and look set to hit a thousand + a day in the coming weeks.
We know this as other countries (Scotland, Portugal etc.) have done, even with higher vaccination rates than us in the case of Scotland.
Cases result, after a few weeks, in hospitalisations.
We will see lower rates of this due to vaccines but thousands of daily cases will still mean numbers sick with Covid in hospital rise.
Rise too much and the hospitals struggle.
It’s that simple….and it’s not ‘just the flu’.
@Kevin Thompson: you say died from Covid. That’s factually incorrect. They didn’t die from covid. They died with covid or they died and tested positive for covid. We had people who died from heart attacks and cancer who retrospectively were tested for covid and included in the numbers. Look up the CSO stats and a TD asked the question to Leo in the Dail.
To your other point. Their is no risk to young people who are largely left un vaccinated. There is no Risk to young people. They have virtually zero chance of dying after getting covid. Plus what about all the people who contracted covid and recovered. Their in no risk to them. They have the antibodies to fight any new strain of covid and are as safe as vaccinated people. No mention for our govt. The risk is gone it’s time to open the country.
Treatment of Irish people like kids will end bad for them. People won’t forget this.
@Diarmuid O’Braonáin: Diabetes for example is an underlying disease, but you would have a life expectancy of around 81 years old if well managed. Life expectancy is around 82. By your logic if they die in their 50s or 60s then the diabetes alone caused it and it is ok for them to die. Each one of these people are either someone’s father , mother, sister brother,husband or wife, partner son ,daughter or friend etc.
@Diarmuid O’Braonáin: no risk of death maybe for younger people maybe but there is a risk of serious illness and long covid and 10% of 50-60 y/o and 37% of 60-70 y/o still to be have their second vaccine and will need to have 15 days for it to protect them as most of them have got the AZ vaccine
@Kevin Thompson: There are so many contradictions to our govt policy. How is it safe to have a meal or a pint in a pub in Derry City and 5 miles out the road its not safe? We have 1000s of young people travelling up North every weekend partying and coming home safely. Our govt tells us its not safe but we can see it with our own eyes. Proof that it is, they aren’t dead, they are not sick in hospital, their grannies or parents haven’t got sick or died.
Everyday we step outside our door we are taking a risk that something might happen to us. Our young people rolled in behind the govt and stayed at home and now we have protected the elderly yet we are still applying severe restrictions. We’ve flattened the curve yet the govt have moved the goal posts. Every time we hit a target the govt moves the goalposts and then makes up some excuse. We are now at a point where we were the only EU county to have MHQ and have legislation that contradicts new EU laws around freedom of movement.
I get what you are saying. You are 100% right but we should have everyone with Diabetes vaccinated. I’m saying that people with an underlying condition should be vaccinated. IE my friend who’s 20 and has Astma is vaccinated(Two shots bang bang).
@Diarmuid O’Braonáin: On average, 10% of people who get Covid-19 develop Long Covid, a debilitating condition that lasts for months, possibly years. The incidence of this is even higher in younger people. This is why over 100 medics and scientists in the UK have written to Boris Johnson asking him not to remove all safety measures.
@Kevin Farrell: There no evidence with what you are saying and there are no facts to back up any of what you say. First of all there is still no established definition for long COVID. 2nd there are studies but use the words ‘suggest’, ‘likely’, ‘indicate’ again this would not constitute facts or proof. 3rd some of these studies use people who have tested positive. There is a large number of people who contracted Covid and were never tested. We also do not mention say a family of 7(Who I know), where 2 test positive(Weren’t sick) and the other 5 had no symptoms or are asymptomatic (Despite all coming into contact with the virus).
So of you’re 10%, the reality could be less the 1% of the whole population. Its doesn’t justify the restrictions that we currently have in place and are outliers in EU.
@Diarmuid O’Braonáin: they have 14 % more of their population fully vaccinated up North. But everyone with Diabetes is not vaccinated yet, it is a lottery depending on where you live in this country , until all the people , who are vulnerable , over 50 or underlying conditions,have been given the vaccine and on two weeks unto that for vaccine to kick in. This will take nearly a month to happen. Our help service will not be able to cope with a lot of young people being hospitalized at the same time.
When you think about it , the last 17 months has been an endless large scale lecture !
It would be fantastic to get students on campus in Autumn 2021, make it so.
@Emer Caffrey: If people aren’t permitted to consume a coffee indoors, it’s highly unlikely that universities will be returning to full capacity in the autumn semester.
@Emer Caffrey: I’d say it will be half online and half in class then rotated . A full lecture theatre can be a sweat box At the moment everything from a class to the Library even having lunch has to be booked in Trinity due to contact tracing .
My daughter due back to UL Limerick in 7 weeks approx only 1 chemist out of maybe 10 is doing vaccinations in our town. It has now closed for registration so she will be very lucky to have a vaccination before she returns to college I fear many more won’t be so lucky
What benefit is gained in a large scale lecture that could not be got by listening and watching online or indeed a recording of same. I see a reason for genuine tutorials where there are questions and debates etc.
have your say