Articles From the Team

Job hunting a competitive market - top tips

The Hunt Is On...

Job hunting is difficult enough at the best of times, but during a global pandemic when there are less roles and fiercer competition you must be extra vigilant about giving yourself the best chance of securing a new role. With some firms having made redundancies there is even more choice in the market, so you need to make sure you have covered of all of key real basics to give yourself the best chance possible.

The CV

The first big hurdle is making sure your CV is strong and will stand out. This includes not just content but the layout, structure, and even down to the font style. It’s important to proof read and ask someone else to check it over to ensure you haven’t missed something.  We often get calls from candidates wondering why they haven’t been selected for interview, which for us is always a difficult question to answer…  But sometimes it is just because the CV format wasn’t as strong as others, or the information wasn’t easy to read and didn’t highlight their relevant experience well. I always suggest bullet pointing the main information first. Break it down. Consider that hiring managers and teams are busier than ever, so they don’t want to read large paragraphs of information. Make is easy to digest and get the most relevant detail in there in a succinct way.

Some things to consider:

Is there a time gap on the CV?

The likelihood is you have skipped over the date, it might be time out for travel or study etc., but it’s important that you to highlight this and acknowledge it within the timeline on your CV. You run the risk of the CV being overlooked if there is information missing that raises unanswered questions.

Contact details

A real basic bit of info to include as a starting point, but as an agent we see it far too frequently where candidates don’t put on a mobile number or get the email address wrong. It’s always best to triple check this for any errors.

Timing

Time is definitely of the essence when job hunting, so to give yourself the best chance of securing your ideal role, make sure you respond quickly, returning calls as soon as you can, and replying to emails as soon as you see them. In a competitive process unfortunately it can be first to the post. Get time off booked for interview as soon as you can and ensure really open lines of communication to maintain process momentum.

Before the interview

Take some time to review the spec and research the company… Get on LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Google! Connect with the team and just get yourself educated on clients, work-flows, partners backgrounds and get a feel for the firm’s culture. Also don’t forget to prep a list of questions to ask and have them to hand just in case your mind goes blank at the end of the interview. Preparation is key!

For further advice on how to manage your job search in a competitive market please get in touch.