Whether you are part of the three-fifths of job hunters who are unhappy in their current role
due to culture or salary or find yourself needing a new job due to redundancy or relocation,
job hunting is a part of life, and having the right tools to navigate it effectively can make it a
lot more pleasant!
In this blog, we will be answering some recruitment questions and providing some expert
tricks and tips for finding your ideal job, including
Recruiters are experts in job hunting and networking and usually operate within a specific
industry or niche, making them the best people to contact when you are looking for a new
role.
After all, if you had no experience fixing cars, you wouldn’t just rely on your ability to make
the repairs - you would visit a mechanic, and it’s exactly the same with job hunting.
Seeking out the advice of a recruiter and building a relationship with them can be the
difference between getting an interview and not.
There are over 138 recruitment agencies in Glasgow alone, so finding the right fit for you
and your career is crucial.
Finding an agency that specialises in the field you are interested in is the first step to finding
the perfect recruitment consultant for your journey.
Lusona Consultancy is proud to have specialists across a range of different industries,
including accountancy & finance, legal, HR, audit & risk and many more niche areas.
Utilising keywords that are relevant to your chosen career along with locations can narrow
down your potential recruitment agencies.
From here you can check out their website for live roles that they are shortlisting for and see
which consultant is looking after those positions.
You can continue your job search with LinkedIn and connect with the consultant on LinkedIn,
adding a personalised note to the request.
Sending a message through the consultancy’s webform is also a great way to get in touch as
the most appropriate person for your industry will get back to you to discuss further.
CVs should always be tailored to the role you are applying for as it is almost impossible to fit
every single piece of experience you have onto your CV.
During your introductory call, you will be able to go through your experience in detail with the
consultant.
As they recruit in the sector you are interested in, they will be able to pick out the nuggets of
skills gold that their clients are interested in adding to their team and will advise you on how
best to include them in our CV and cover letters.
This will also allow them to add these to your profile on their system, so you pop up when
they are searching for potential interviewees.
No matter how well the interview went, the chances of not getting the job are still quite high.
Rejections are hard, especially when you have invested time and effort into practicing,
researching, and potentially traveling.
Asking for feedback from the recruiter is an important step that a lot of people don’t take.
Recruiters can follow up with the hiring manager or decision maker to find out why they went
with the selected candidate identify any knowledge gaps and give you pointers on how you
could improve your interview performance, making rejections an almost positive thing.
Take your job search to the next level and connect with our Lusona consultants today!
• Discussing past experiences with the consultant can highlight relevant skills that
you didn’t know to mention, and help to tailor your CV.
• Asking for feedback and learning from it to improve future performances is a
positive way to handle rejection and gets you one step closer to your goal.
It is estimated that around a third of employees are looking for a new role, which in real numbers looks like 9.8 million people in the UK who are actively looking to over on from their current employer, according to a study conducted in March 2023.
However, between March and June 2023, only a tenth of this number of jobs were available in the UK, making the job market pretty competitive, especially in certain niche sectors.
In this blog, we are going to investigate:
Job hunting is not an exact science, and every sector has a different approach to recruitment.
In the UK, statistics show that only 2% of applicants will be taken forward to an interview, and on average hiring managers will only interview 6 candidates for every one vacancy.
This means that standing out is crucial to success.
Along with finding the right opportunities that will help you to stand out and show off your unique skillset, utilising the right job boards and buzzwords will ensure that recruiters and hiring managers consider you for your dream role.
Below we are going to explore the benefits of the top three job-hunting approaches:
Back in the day, help-wanted adverts were displayed on notice boards in libraries, local shops, or printed in the newspapers, so anyone looking for work had to do a lot of literal leg work to find a job.
In the online age, however, finding a new role is usually quite a sedentary challenge and involves a lot of scrolling!
Job sites are the new notice boards and are getting more and more high-tech.
On job hunting sites like Indeed, CV Library, Monster and Reed, you can save a standard CV that is linked to your profile so hiring managers can find you through a simple search.
When applying for roles, you can utilising the ‘favourite’ list and save jobs as you scroll to come back to you later so you can tailor your CV.
This process can be very labour intensive, draining, and lonely though.
Dropping CVs into places that job seekers wanted to work was also a common ploy of times gone by (who hasn’t had the ‘why don’t you drop your CV into X, Y, and Z’ speech from their parents?) but this approach is not likely to succeed in careers such as law, accountancy, or engineering.
This is why expanding your professional connections can be one of the biggest steps to your dream job.
In fact, 70% of jobs are never published and 85% of vacancies are filled through networking.
LinkedIn is a great place to start and gain confidence in ‘cold messaging’, but attending networking sessions locally, job fairs and industry-specific seminars are an even better way to get in front of people who could be making their company's next hiring decision.
This does, however, take a lot of time, patience, and the ability to play the long game.
Using a head-hunter or recruiter to find your next role can take a lot of stress and pressure off the job hunt process.
Recruitment consultants have the ear of hiring managers, contacts across a wide variety of industries, and insider knowledge on the job market, hiring practices, and work on a commission basis, meaning that they are just as invested in your success as you and can provide key job search help.
Following businesses that you would like to work at on their social channels can allow you to be an early applicant when they are looking for the next great hire.
Recruitment consultants know the market better than anyone else and can sometimes have exclusive access to roles that are not advertised publicly.
Along with giving you a foot in the door, they can also advise on CVs, point you in the right direction for what to include on your cover letters, and give your CV a once over before it goes to the hiring manager.
It is also a good idea to make sure your LinkedIn profile matches your CV!
If you don’t get the job, don’t see it as a waste of time or be too disappointed. Requesting feedback from the hiring manager directly or through your recruitment consultant is instrumental in improving your interview technique or pinpointing the areas that you need more experience in.
Check spelling, contact information, and formatting before sending your CV, especially if you’ve recently made an amend or addition.
As discussed above, networking and recruitment consultants can open up a lot more doors than just scrolling through job sites, giving you a lot more exposure to the jobs that you might not know about otherwise.
Looking for a job is hard. It takes a lot of time, energy and can have a negative effect on your mental health if you get rejected, especially if it keeps happening.
If you feel like you’re struggling, take a break. Don’t constantly scroll online and don’t start panicking and applying for everything. Reach out to recruitment consultancies specialising in your desired industry and let them do some of the heavy lifting!
In today's competitive job market, successful job hunting requires a strategic and proactive approach.
Understanding the intricacies of recruitment, such as the low interview selection rates and the significance of standing out, is crucial.
Job seekers must embrace the power of job-hunting sites, utilising platforms like Indeed, CV Library, Monster, and Reed to save tailored CVs and stay updated on potential opportunities.
Networking is another key aspect, with many jobs being filled through personal connections.
Leveraging platforms like LinkedIn, attending industry-specific events, and introducing yourself to recruitment agencies can significantly enhance your chances of finding your dream role.
Need help with job hunting?
Speak with our expert teams and find the right job for you.
TL;DR
Let’s start with a quote.
‘Perfection is boring. Getting better is where all the fun is’. (Dragos Roua).
I am conflicted here. Quarter of a century in recruitment and in the fourth of worrying ‘boom and bust’ cycles over this time I hold rigidly to my view that finding a ‘perfect candidate’ is as hopeful as finding a unicorn. I have told hundreds and hundreds of clients this over the years. They listen but nonetheless continue the search.
We need to clarify the definition of ‘perfect’ when it comes to hiring new employees.
Let’s work on the definition and how best you can fit it.
There are three perspectives in any recruitment process. Yours, your recruitment Consultant’s and the potential employer. To succeed you must always remember this. By ‘succeed’ I mean achieving the opportunity which gives you all the best options and all the best outcomes.
Your perspective should be about opportunity and nothing else. A 20% salary increase sounds excellent – but is it? Imagine your career as a three-dimensional situation. Salary and benefits are but one dimension. The others are opportunity to develop and learn and quality of life. Salary hikes are always a short- lived phenomenon. The market always corrects itself. Then what?
Now, your recruitment expert – assuming they are of the highest quality- which at Lusona they are – wants just these things from you; -
Your potential new employer often is chasing the impossible dream of perfection I mentioned. The best employers are not filling roles in the ‘here and now’. The best employers are planning where you can be in three or five years’ time in their Organisation with their support and direction. A recruiter makes an introduction. The employer makes the decision. The best employers don’t just fill vacancies, they make an investment. In you.
So – have we defined ‘perfect’? No. In recruitment it doesn’t exist. Is there a perfect career? I doubt it. Contentment is possible in all fairness. After all, the majority of people would rather not have to work at all but darn those pesky bills!
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