New year, new job

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The New Year is a time to celebrate new starts and changes so what better time than to plan a job move or change career.

The challenge for most people is where to begin. Tony Fincher, branch manager at Reed Specialist in Coventry shares her top tips about how to win that dream job this year.

Before you start the job search, plan ahead.  There are several important questions to consider. What kind of job would suit you? Where you want to work and who is your ideal employer?  What kind of environment?  Which industry excites you and how far are you prepared to commute?  Where do you see your career going and what career prospects are important to you?

All these factors should be considered even before putting together a CV as they focus the mind and make the whole recruitment process easier. It also means that you can clearly brief a recruitment consultant so they can immediately begin working on your brief and finding that perfect job for you.

The next step is to update your CV, but make sure you tailor it carefully to each job and highlight your strengths for the specific role – this will greatly increase the likelihood of your CV making the right impact and for you to be shortlisted for an interview.

Brush up on your IT and office skills and ask for you recruitment consultant if they offer any free training on software package as this can help you hone these skills and ensure that you are confident in your new job from day one.

Also, use your recruitment consultant to help you prepare for the interview. They should be able to provide a list of typical interview questions, ideal answers and practice them with you to ensure you put your best foot forward when you in the interview. Some recruiters can now offer psychometric testing which will help you understand what kinds of roles are best suited to your personality. However nervous you might feel on the day, this preparation will stand you in good stead.

On interview day, presentation is everything – dress to impress for your interview, provide a firm hand shake and remember to smile, employers want happy staff and so many people forget that this smiling is essential in creating good rapport.

If the interview goes to plan and you accept the job, take some time out if you can between jobs.  If you have holiday entitlement to use up before you leave, or can take some time to yourself without pay it can be a great time to relax and get yourself prepared for your new role.

Plan your outfits for the first week. If you do have a few days off, you can take everything you need to the dry cleaners or tailors and be brand spanking clean and new for your first week. 

Lastly plan your journey.  When you went for an interview, chances are it wasn’t during rush hour.  Consider making allowances for heavy traffic, train delays and even bad weather, all of which can and will try to prevent you from getting to work on time! 

With a clear plan of action and by remembering my tips, everything should run smoothly. So what’s stopping you – ring in the New Year changes!

About Reed Specialist

Reed Specialist is the UK’s leading independent specialist provider of administrative, clerical and support staff.  Assisting jobseekers and Employers for over 40 years, a combination of a national network of over 150 branches and the industry-leading website, reed.co.uk, mean that Reed Specialist has the widest selection of skilled candidates and job opportunities available in the UK. The research data was supplied by www.reed.co.uk.

For enquiries and more information, please contact:

Reed Press Office
0845 241 9249

press.office@reed.co.uk

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