In fact, 44% of employers have recently cited that lack of experience is one the greatest recruitment challenges they face.

This poses a serious dilemma – how do you gain experience if you can’t get on the ladder, especially in a growing industry like digital marketing?

Here’s how you can get a graduate job in digital marketing with next-to-none industry experience.

How important is degree-relevance for your chosen career?

Believe it or not, as many as half of graduates end up choosing a career outside of their academic field.

So, arguably, degree-relevance isn’t that important.

Rather than focusing on specific job skills then, many graduates will have relied on transferable skills acquired at university, joining the dots between education and attributes needed to perform the required tasks.

What are your transferable skills?

The digital marketing industry has seen huge growth and this is predicted to continue resulting in plenty of opportunities for young job hunters.

Plus, with high-paid jobs like data scientist and more fun roles like social media assistant in the mix, digital marketing is a desirable industry to enter for most graduates.
To start making yourself look like an attractive hire, it’s time to work out what transferable skills you have in your repertoire to add to your graduate CV.

Transferable skills come in many forms, from basic literacy and numeracy, to more abstract skills like creative problem solving and social skills, like being able to “read a room”.

Let’s take a look at some transferable skills gained throughout your degree.

Browse all Marketing jobs

Numeracy

Maths, Computer science, Economics, Statistics, IT (Excel)

Digital Marketing is all about data. If there was one thing that sets digital apart from traditional marketing, is the ability to track, measure, compare, quantify and so on.
Being analytically minded will put you in good stead, whether you’re assessing budgets, reporting on performance or providing insight to decision-makers.
Numeracy skills are so transferable and you could apply for any of the following exec roles: pay-per-click, display advertising, SEO, email, e-commerce and analytics.

Soft sciences

Behavioural Sciences, Psychology, Sociology

People are at the heart of marketing. Customer intent, persuasive writing, brand messaging and so on, are all about understanding behaviour and what motivates people.

For example, when posting on Facebook as a Social Media Manager, you have to consider the audience and how they will interpret the message. It must be crafted perfectly in order to get the intended result, while sense checked to avoid a backlash.

Influencer outreach is all about persuasive written communication. You have to put yourself in the recipients’ shoes and consider their motivations, what will interest them and how to effectively grab their attention in a short window of opportunity.

If these aren’t your thing, then account management may be. Again, it’s a people-centric role. Building strong relationships with clients, getting under the hood of their problems, working together to provide solutions, solve challenges and optimise results.

Anything creative

Art, Design, Graphic Design, Multimedia

While we can all dream about being the next Banksy, what better personal interest to turn into a career than art. At least, while waiting for that all-important break into the art scene.

As a Graphic Designer, you play both interpreter and visionary. You’ll be expected to push boundaries, deliver something cutting edge, wow and inspire people. All while getting a reliable pay-cheque.

Furthermore, you’ll be creating assets to be handed over to the marketing teams to promote. You can see your work shared, liked, tweeted and featured across leading online publications – which is more attention than most aspiring artists receive.

Creativity is far more than just design and there are many other strands of creativity to get involved in. Fancy yourself as an ideas person? The industry needs people who can come up with engaging campaigns, shareable ideas, inspiring concepts, innovative solutions and do so, on demand.

Literacy and the written word

English, English Literature, Media, Journalism, Creative Writing, PR

Content is the cornerstone of online marketing. After all, the internet is content and not a day will go by when you don’t hear the phrase “content is king”.

Job hunters with strong written communications are sought after for many roles, so don’t settle for library work when you can be crafting your own mini masterpieces.

The obvious role is becoming a Copywriter and this role is mission-critical. From website copy to guest posts on leading blogs, from captivating slogans to press releases, you’ll have every opportunity to make an impact and showcase the power of the written word.

The role of someone in content marketing is so much more than just copy. It’s about interpreting brand values, defining “tone of voice”, researching new ideas and topics, generating exciting editorial calendars designed to engage a target audience, all while cultivating an online following.

Exciting stuff.

We all have transferable skills, therefore, relevant experience

The examples above cover a huge range of academic areas which can be made applicable to digital marketing, and the above isn’t exhaustive.

There are loads of different ways to demonstrate your transferable qualities. All in all, proving candidates have far more experience than meets the eye.

So, how do you demonstrate relevant experience in the absence of actual experience?
By understanding your relevance through transferable skills.

Browse all Marketing jobs

About the author: Dave Clough heads up the Digital PR team at Belfast-based consultancy Glaze Digital. His background includes Marketing Management at Argos and senior positions for numerous leading digital agencies in London.

Image: Unsplash

The post How to get a graduate job in digital marketing with no experience appeared first on Career Advice.

That 15 or 16 year-old looking for a summer job, willing to do anything for minimum wage, from waiting tables to stacking shelves and other sorts of manual labour, has evolved into an adult with a university degree under their belt.

A graduate CV is a significant evolvement from a pre-existing CV you had in your teenage years and throughout your university career – that’s if you had a CV at all!

To help you secure your first job, use the following tips to help your write a graduate CV.

Name and contact details

Your name and contact details should sit proudly at the top of your CV.

Never title your CV with the phrase “curriculum vitae” as this is a waste of valuable space.

Contact details you should include are your phone number, email address and even a link to your LinkedIn profile if you have one.

Next to your name, you might like to include what you’re a graduate in like so:

Forename Surname | X Graduate

This will instantly show your prospective employer where your expertise lies.

Personal profile

A personal profile, otherwise known as a personal statement, is the next thing you want your future employer to read.

In your personal statement, you want to explain your graduate status, your skillset you can bring to the company, as well as future aspirations in a few short lines.

Education

Your education is likely to be the most important qualification in your repertoire and so it should follow your personal profile. However, if you have a range of relevant work experience, you can put this ahead of your education.

Start your education section by listing your schooling in reverse chronological order – this means you should start with your degree.

Lay each academic placement by including the name of the school, college or university, the dates you attended and your qualifications. For example:

University name – Dates attended (from – to)

• Degree subject – Classification

For your degree, expand on details of modules, specialisms, projects and papers as this is the most relevant qualification to your prospective employers.

Employment history or placements and projects

Employment history and noteworthy extracurricular activities are the heart and soul of content on a graduate CV.

If you’ve had a significant amount of jobs over the course of your teenage and university years, make that evident on your CV.

However, not every job is worth mentioning. The many jobs you’ve had should illustrate your strong desire to work, not that you quit your job every two months because it gets boring, need more free time, or any other juvenile reason.

It’s important to think about the purpose of the roles you’re listing and tailoring your employment history to show you’re a suitable match for the job.

Therefore, do not simply list the places you’ve worked and the extra-curricular activities you did. Think about the message you want to communicate to your future employer, including your most noteworthy skills, responsibilities and achievements. Employers are on the lookout for creative thinkers, so don’t be afraid to draw on your soft skills too.

It’s also possible that you have little to no job experience upon finishing your degree – and this is OK.

If this is the case for you, simply rename your employment history section to read “placements and projects” and list any extracurricular activities, volunteer placements or university projects work you have completed, including the skills you developed along the way.

This will illustrate why you’re the right candidate for the job despite lacking work experience.

You could lay out the section in one of the following ways:

Project and placements

mmm yyyy – mmm yyyy                Project/placement             

Outline

Key Responsibilities

• xxxxx

Key Achievements

• xxxxx

Employment history

mmm yyyy – Present                      Company Name, Location

                                                                Role Title

Outline

Key Responsibilities

• xxxxx

Key Achievements/Projects

• xxxxx

Optional sections

Hobbies and interests

You should only include hobbies and interests of substance that illustrate a correlation to the job you’re applying for in terms of skill and character. You may like to include interests that relate to the company, role or industry, or anything that makes you unique. It’s therefore worth avoiding run-of-the-mill hobbies like reading and socialising.

If you choose to include this section, keep it towards the end of your CV as it’s not as important as your education or employment history.

Known languages

This section is an important asset if you speak more than one language, especially if the position you’re applying for is related to communications. In today’s multicultural environment, it’s simply another way to connect with your employer and others in the company on a more intimate level.

Honours and awards

Over the course of your life, there may be some honours and awards that are very noteworthy, such as a scholarship, or being part of a prestigious society.

But it’s important not to get too carried away.

Being a captain on a sports team and accomplishments of that nature are best served for a cover letter, perhaps where discussing your leadership qualities.

Style and formatting

You want to keep your CV to two A4 pages, heading up each of your sections with bold titles.

If you’re struggling to fit the content neatly onto two pages, you can adjust margins and the font sizes – although don’t go below size 10 or the recruiter will need a magnifying glass to read it.

Be sure to keep your formatting consistent and professional throughout to ensure an easy read.

Browse graduate jobs today or discover more graduate advice.

About the author: Matthew is a freelance journalist from Montreal, Canada, currently teaching English full-time in Ishinomaki, Japan until April 2018. After that he plans to travel throughout the summer and pursue a Master’s degree in Theological studies where he plans to establish himself as an journalistic expert on matters of religion in the public sphere.

Image: Bigstock

The post How to write a graduate CV appeared first on Career Advice.

But now is the time to start filling out job applications and heading to interviews. A daunting moment for many, but perhaps even more so if you have very little professional work experience under your belt.

Read on to learn about the best ways to get a graduate job with little to no work experience.

Remember what university taught you

Not having work experience did not prevent you from getting a degree in your field.

Your degree is more than just a piece of paper and a trip down the convocation stage with a gown and picture.

However long it took to earn your degree, you learnt a great deal of transferable skills during your university career that are applicable to any graduate job.

From finishing essays on time and completing group projects, to managing time with other classes and balancing a range of tight deadlines, these experiences have developed useful skills you can bring to the office.

Be professional

In the real world beyond education, there’s a common expression that makes a lot of sense in this context: “fake it ‘til you make it”.

You’re not a CEO just yet, but you have to act professionally, in a way that illustrates your passion and determination with the people you meet, especially your prospective employers.

Being a professional involves communicating with people in good character and with sincerity. It also involves making your CV look appealing for the credentials that you have.

A professional attitude can be the difference between securing a job and an interview flop. Even if your credentials don’t match up to the other candidates, because of the way you speak, dress and generally conduct yourself could give you the competitive edge.

Therefore, never fail to pay attention to your professional gravitas on paper and in person.

Tailor your CV

While you may not have any official work experience, it’s important to think about how you’re going to make the skills you have shine on your CV.

Firstly, think about the structure of your CV. Since your degree is your most valuable qualification to date, place your education section ahead of your employment history.

Then consider other forms of experience you have in your skill set, such as skills and achievements gained from extracurricular activities or volunteer work.

Then, instead of including an employment history section on your CV, consider swapping it for a projects and placements section. In this section, list noteworthy placements and projects you have completed throughout your degree that show why you’re a fit for the role.

Utilise your network

Networking is a timeless skill that is beneficial no matter where you are in your career.

In the working world, networking essentially means making connections with people that could benefit your job or career in some way.

In your own immediate circle of connections right now, you may have friends, family and contacts from university that can help you land a job you’re looking for.

Consider what these people do and what kinds of people they know. You may be able to set up meetings for coffee and appointments to introduce yourself to others in their network or even send a LinkedIn request to start the conversation.

By reaching out to your network, you might get a job interview out of it, but if not, at the very least you’ll get some great advice to take with you on your search for a graduate job.

Gain knowledge during the process

Learn to appreciate the process that you’re going through now to find a job, because the skills you develop will benefit you throughout your career.

Job searching, applications and interviews utilise a range of soft skills such as self-motivation, communication and organisation. These are transferable skills every employer values.

In addition, during your job search you’ll be familiarising yourself with the industry and hard skills you need for the job. This will make you appear more employable in your interview and will help with onboarding in your new role.

Be confident

You can put in all the work in the world to get that graduate job that you want and know all the right things to say, but if you don’t act confidently during the application process, it could all be for nothing.

A confident attitude says that you’ll be able to do all the things you say, which is essential when applying for a graduate role. Employers don’t expect candidates starting out in their career to have a developed skill set. If anything, they expect a can-do attitude and a willingness to learn, and your confidence will help portray this.

If you’re not an overly confident person, try practising interview questions in the mirror or recording yourself to see where you can perform better, and making note of where “coulds” and “mights” can become “cans” and “wills”.

You’ll be convincing employers you’re the best match for the role in no time.

Search graduate jobs today.

About the author: Matthew is a freelance journalist from Montreal, Canada, currently teaching English full-time in Ishinomaki, Japan until April 2018. After that he plans to travel throughout the summer and pursue a Master’s degree in Theological studies where he plans to establish himself as an journalistic expert on matters of religion in the public sphere.

Image: Bigstock

The post How to get a graduate job with no experience appeared first on Career Advice.

Recruiters encountered this scenario in 2013.

You’d hope this was an isolated incident. However, just last year, head hunter Gary Chaplin was given a resume 13,700 words long and covering 19 pages.

So, how long should you CV be? Read on to find out.

The perfect length

It’s easy to say that the examples referenced above are extreme. But if you ever feel the urge to submit a job application with a CV of this length, don’t.

Recruiters don’t have time to read an autobiography longer than War and Peace.

The correct length of a CV depends on your experience level and length of time in the industry. If you’re a recent graduate who has limited experience in the field, your CV will be much shorter than someone with fifteen years’ experience.

On average, your CV must be no more than two pages.

It’s a good starting point for those in the first stages of their CV writing and a nice solid number to stick to.

However, if you’re an experienced professional with a range of experience, you can fill up to three pages.

Therefore, figure out where you sit in terms of experience and adjust your CV accordingly.

A CV beyond two pages: The 10 second rule

If you have over 10 years’ worth of work experience, it can be difficult to reduce your CV to two pages.

If you do try, you might be left with yawning career gaps where you’ve failed to include enough detail. Alternatively, your CV may be impossible to read because although you’ve detailed every ounce of experience, you’ve had to reduce the font to size 4 to make it fit.

Therefore, if you have a wealth of work experience, you can afford to bend the two-page rule and take up three.

The key is to make sure your CV fulfils the 10 second rule: sell your most relevant information on your CV in 10 seconds.

If your CV’s heading into the lengthier realms, ensure the most important information like contact details and relevant information are on the first page.

Therefore, tailor and tweak with every application to make your abilities stand out.

Many recruiters and employers don’t look past the first page upon initial glance so you must make sure hiring managers can identify the information they’re looking for as quickly and easily as possible.

How to cut it down

Your CV should be punchy and easy to read even if it does spill over onto three pages.

Here’s how to reduce the word count if you need.

Only include relevant information

If you’re describing skills from a previous job that have no relevance to the one you’re applying for, leave it out or reduce the detail slightly.

To make sure that you’re referencing the details that matter, scroll through the job description and identify the key requirements that you fulfil. This is what you should showcase in your CV as it proves why you’re a desirable hire.

Bullet points

If paragraphs are dragging on, bullet points are a neat way to be concise. They can be used to discuss your skills, achievements and duties.

To make your bullet points even punchier, try leading with a range of action words such as: created, developed, lead, maintained or managed.

Your most recent roles in your employment history should include the most detail as they’re more relevant to the prospective employer. Therefore, for positions of employment from over 10 years ago, remove the bullet points and reduce the detail to a two-line summary of what you did there.

Leave reference details and work addresses off

Prospective employers don’t need to know the exact street address of your last workplace or the ins and outs of your references. These often take up a valuable line or two that could be used to showcase another skill set.

Therefore, you can afford to leave off references and work addresses. For each position, simply detail the dates of employment, the company and your job title, followed by your skills and responsibilities.

Ready to start constructing the perfect CV? Check out our guide.

About the author: Leaving behind the sunny weather of Australia, Emma Mackenzie traipsed to beautiful Scotland last year to continue her writing pursuit. With a wide variety of interests Emma loves writing about anything and everything. And usually drinking endless cups of tea while doing so.

Image: Bigstock

The post How long should your CV be? appeared first on Career Advice.

Whether the idea fills you with joy or dread, here are some tips to help you work from home effectively.

Routine

If you establish your routine early on, you’ll find you’re more productive.

Without a set working pattern, it’s easy to succumb to distractions – the cheeky lie-in, a spot of housework, a pop to the shops, the household admin and the leisurely lunch. Decide what your working hours will be and stick to them religiously.

That said, when you’re settled into your routine, you will reap the benefits of this flexible lifestyle.  Being able to look after a sick relative, meet your children from school or even just walk the dog when it suits you is priceless.

Human interaction

If you don’t enjoy the solitary life and thrive on contact with other people, you’ll need to think about how you can make this work.

Just because you’re working from home, it doesn’t mean you need to be isolated. It just means you need strategies in place to prevent it.

The options are endless, so it’s just a matter of deciding what works for you.

From a daily call in to the office to customer visits to working from the local coffee shop, there are plenty of ways to schedule your time so that human interaction becomes a normal part of your routine.

Staying professional

Even though you may not be seeing customers or colleagues, it’s still important to act like a professional.

Try getting out of your pyjamas or sitting at a table rather than on the sofa. Do whatever you need to do to help you stay focused and to separate your work time from your relaxation time.

Distractions such as noisy workmen or screaming neighbours don’t come across too well on a business call, so either schedule calls when you know it will be quiet or ask for a few minutes peace until you’re off the phone.

Take a break

Once you’re settled into work it can be hard to know when to stop.  Even when you think you’ve finished for the day, there’s still the temptation to log on later to check your email or finish a piece of outstanding work.

Just as you would in the office, take regular screen breaks and don’t feel guilty if you’re not logged on 24/7.  You’ll be more productive if you come up for air occasionally and your contacts won’t get unrealistic expectations about your availability.

Know thy fridge

If you do take a break, where do you go?  Unlike an office, where you can pop out for a coffee or stop for a chat with colleagues, your most likely go-to is the kitchen.

Need to stretch your legs?  Raid the fridge!  Dealing with a tricky customer?  Raid the fridge!  Procrastinating over an unpleasant task?  Raid the fridge!

You’re going to have to find some kind of snack control system if you’re working from home.  You might also want to build some exercise time into your routine, because most homeworking jobs are pretty sedentary.

Rein in your friends and family

You say “I’m working from home”, but somehow everyone else hears “I’m available for coffee, golf, gossip and favours”.

You’ll also find you get to know your neighbours a lot better, as word spreads that you can now take in parcel deliveries for the entire street.

Establish from the start that the concept of working from home does not mean a day off, and explain to people that this is your job: this is how you earn your income.  If they wouldn’t interrupt you at the office for it, they shouldn’t interrupt you at home.

Stay in touch

Working on your own can make you feel a bit out of touch with the rest of the world and you may miss the opportunity to bounce ideas around.

Try to arrange chats with the office to catch up on company changes, projects and news, but also connect with colleagues on Skype or LinkedIn for informal, ad hoc chats.

Here at CV Knowhow we have a huge network of writers all connected via a virtual office where we can ask questions, share stories and even keep up the office banter.

Regular contact with the office also reminds colleagues that you’re there and productive, so could ensure you’re not overlooked when promotion opportunities or new projects arise.

If our survival tips make you feel ready to take the plunge, join us and go for it!  The horror of rush hour could soon be a distant memory.

About the author: Jen David has been a CV Consultant since 2010 and currently works for CV Knowhow, the UK’s leading career and CV writing consultancy. 

She has written CVs for thousands of job seekers from all industries and at all stages in their career, from students to senior executives.  Jen aims to add value to CVs, enabling her customers to increase their chances of securing an interview and progress in their chosen career. 

Image: Unsplash

The post Tips to help you work from home effectively appeared first on Career Advice.

But where do you start?

Looking for your first graduate position can be a daunting task and is often an overwhelming experience as you’re officially breaking out on your own.

Bear in mind that embarking on a journey to the working world is not necessarily all about what job you need and how you’re qualified, but rather, the way you’re thinking.

Moving on from university requires a different state of mind in order to face a new set of challenges which accompany this new chapter of your life.

Here’s some advice on how to adjust your mindset when searching for your first graduate job.

Move into a professional state of mind

First you should establish who you are professionally, or at least, who you want to be. Therefore, consider how you will present yourself to potential employers.

Almost every employer that considers inviting you to an interview will search for you online before making the decision, so it’s essential to have a professional or concealed online presence.

Taking the time to update your LinkedIn profile is a strong step in the right direction as 94% of recruiters use LinkedIn to vet candidates. What’s more, keeping your experience and skill set up to date on LinkedIn can make you 18 times more likely to be found in searches by recruiters.

In addition to this, you should take steps to ensure you are either portraying a professional image on your social media accounts or alter your privacy settings.

Almost half of employers will reject a potential employee after looking at their Facebook page.

Research shows that 1 in 10 candidates are rejected for boasting about taking drugs or drinking online, 13% are rejected for making racist comments and 9% are overlooked for placing inappropriate pictures on their Facebook page.

Peter Linas, EMEA Managing Director of recruiting software firm Bullhorn has offered some very wise words regarding this matter, suggesting that sealing Facebook off from the outside world completely and only using Twitter and LinkedIn to maintain professional online presence is best practice.

So, start separating your personal life from your career. This may mean changing the way you think about your relationships with those around you.

Remember, the people you used to chat to at university are now potential colleagues or even interviewers! Now is the time to get into a professional state of mind.

Be mentally prepared to start job hunting

It can be easy to lose yourself in the excitement of graduating; you’re taking on a new level of responsibility and entering the adult world.

However, leaving university can be a shock to the system and so you need to prepare yourself for the next steps.

The most important first step is to research yourself. This isn’t something that can be done a couple of nights before the interview; it’s something that you need to work on as soon as you graduate.

There are some interview questions that you need to get straight in your own mind before you meet prospective employers.

For example: Why do you want to go into that particular industry? What is it you enjoy about it? What do you want to get out of it? What are your strengths and weaknesses?

Make sure you identify all of these common interview questions and have a clear pathway in your head before even applying to any graduate jobs.

Make sure you have the right attitude

Having the right attitude towards your job search and employment is essential. You’ve worked hard for three years, perhaps completed an internship or had some part-time jobs, but that doesn’t mean you are automatically entitled to walk into a high responsibility position with a good graduate wage.

Recent reports suggest that an increasing number of bosses claim millennials are a nightmare to employ, with 63% reporting that 20-somethings and those in their early 30s require more guidance than any other age group, as well as displaying a strong sense of entitlement and poor decision-making skills.

That doesn’t mean that every millennial, including yourself, has this mentality. In fact, it might be that older generations are misinterpreting millennial’s attitudes.

For example, a study found that generation Y characterise being able to work flexibly and retain a good work- life balance as aspects high on their agenda when looking for a job, as opposed to their Baby Boomer counterparts.

However, it’s important to remember there were people there before you who have different opinions and ideas about the way their company works and you have to be prepared to listen to this.

With this in mind, remember that generational ways of thinking do exist and you must maintain an open mind and professionalisms at all times while job searching and through employment.

You may be the right fit for a great job you’ve found, but without the right attitude to accompany your expertise, you’re unlikely to succeed.

Keep moving forwards

It’s very easy to become unmotivated quickly when looking for a job. After all, it’s a competitive world out there and finding your place in it can be challenging.

You could treat searching for a job like a full-time position, in order to make yourself a desirable hire and increase your chances of success.

To begin with, make the most of all this newfound free time you have rather than sleeping until noon. You could develop or buff up your skills, set up a LinkedIn profile and get networking, start a blog or further your portfolio – the list is endless.

You may not be employed at the moment but treat finding a job as being self-employed, make the most of your time and above all keep moving forwards.

Ready to continue your search? Browse jobs today.

About the author: Bec Cartwright is a graduate of Communication, Media and Culture from Oxford Brookes University and has also studied at Zhejiang University, China and Macquarie University, Australia. Rebecca now works within the marketing sector for 3D print technology company, Stanford Marsh Group. She has a passion for writing and creates all types of content from email campaigns to brochure content and blog articles. 

Image: Unsplash

The post How to adjust your mindset for a graduate job search appeared first on Career Advice.

It’s especially worrying considering the findings of Todd Rose, a leading professor at Harvard University, who has offered scientific proof that tried and tested methods of recruitment are gradually becoming fundamentally flawed.

But for some, the idea of a professional networking or a careers fair can make you feel like a caterpillar wanting to be a butterfly, but bottling it at the key moment that you need to emerge from your chrysalis.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

With the right approach, and a strong set of goals and objectives in place, you can make a success of attending your next professional networking event and get a positive step forward with your career that will make all the difference with our handy guide.

1. Get your facts right

Going to a networking event without doing your research is the professional equivalent of making a cheese sandwich without the cheese.

And it’s not just a case of doing a quick scan of the event website — or if it’s for a specific company, its website or social media platforms.

Remember, you’re looking to see if the employers are the right fit for you as much as they are looking for a fit for them.

Whilst not an exhaustive list, these are some key things from which to start your research that you should be looking to find out about the company or representatives that will attending your next networking event.

• How long has the company been running for?
• What’s the financial status of the company been like for the last five years?
• What’s their predicted level of growth and expansion?
• What edge do they have over their competitors?
• Are they looking to recruit in specific departments and functions from this event?
• What’s the professional history of the representatives or key speakers that will be there (if any)?

2. Under the skin

Once you’ve got a bit more information in these areas, you can then start to consider more specific areas of research. Again, while not limited to these areas, these are key to consider:

• What do current and former employees think of working for the company?
• Are there any big clients or projects they’ll be working on or undertaking?
• What’s the typical recruitment process for the company?

There’s a wealth of good sources online to start your research. Glassdoor, the employer review site, is a good starting point, as if you’re looking to approach a well-known company, then you can usually find independent, but honest, reviews from employees past and present.

Publications and journals targeted at the company’s industry are also a good source, particularly in the case of key speakers or representatives who might guest write on certain issues within the industry.

3. Devising your game plan

So, you’ve established key things about the company or the representatives running the networking event you’re attending.

Now you need to establish what your plan of action for the event is:

• Is it a new job you’re looking to obtain from this event?
• Is it to gain some more industry contacts?
• Is it to get some expert advice and guidance from key industry players?

Once you have ascertained your main objective, your life will be a lot easier.

If it’s a combination of all three, or maybe another reason, that’s OK too. It’s just a case of prioritising what you’re looking to achieve or establish first, and then letting everything else follow.

Usually the event advert will tell you what the itinerary of the day is, what times certain activities or talks are happening to and from, and if there’s an opportunity for Q&As or to speak with employees or representatives.

Make sure you plan your day prior to the event to ensure you don’t miss anything important to you.

You’ll also need to consider what to take with you when you attend.

For example, if it’s an all-day event, and it’s not stated that refreshments are provided (which is unlikely, but may happen) it may be an idea to take a small packed lunch and a bottle of water just in case.

It goes without saying that you should take a notepad and pen, at least a couple of copies of your CV, or if you have business cards a dozen or so of those too.

4. Let it shine

On the actual day, as you would with a job interview, make sure you get there in plenty of time for the start, and dress smartly. Even if it’s not necessarily a full suit and tie, dress like you’re aiming to impress and make a name for yourself.

On arrival, you can usually expect some sort of ‘ice breaker’ activity for all the guests.

Whether that’s having your photo taken for the event’s social media pages with a funny prop, or, as I experienced myself at a recent event, building a small house from Lego bricks and marketing it on the spot, embrace it and go with the flow.

This is usually a good chance to show off your personality and for people to get an idea of your sense of humour and what you’d be like to work with or keep company with.

Ask questions and show an interest in everyone you meet. Knowledge is power but also the strongest point from which you can start a discussion or find a way into what you’re looking to achieve from attending the event.

For example, if you happen to meet someone who’s in the same position you are, get talking, and ask them about their background that has bought them to this event.

Tell them a bit about your own background, and what experience or knowledge you have. Swap contact details, and if it’s appropriate, your CV or business card. If you don’t have a business card, you might connect on LinkedIn.

Aim to spend at least five minutes with as many people as you can, or that you feel comfortable with.

5. After care

Before you know it, the careers or networking event will have come and gone. You’ve done it, so give yourself a pat on the back!

Well, you’ve almost done it.

You’ll have swapped contact details with people you met, have found out from the company what the next stage of their recruitment is, and hopefully have answers to the things you  wanted to learn more about .

Now it’s about keeping up those links that you made and developing them.

The main things you should always do after attending an event are:

Touch base

Call or email the relevant people you swapped contact details with – ideally no more than 24 hours after the event has taken place – to say thank you for their time, and to follow up on a lead they gave or a discussion you had.

For example, you might say: “It was lovely to meet you, and it was insightful talking to you about how you got started in accountancy. If you are free this week, perhaps we could meet again for a proper chat over a coffee to discuss this more.”

Leave a positive review

If you can, leave a review on the company’s website or social media outlets. Tell people what excited you about the company, what you found interesting about the day. The power of word of mouth cannot be underestimated.

Follow up

If you’ve left your CV or business card with a company for a vacancy or opening, follow them up in the time they specified regarding the next stage of recruitment – that’s if they haven’t got back to you already.

With these handy hints in place, you too can spread your wings, and be more butterfly at your next networking or careers event.

About the author: Alex MacGregor is a content writer and blogger, and has worked for Trent and Hanover, a creative agency based in West London, and the online music magazine AMAZEPOP.

The post How to get the most out of a professional networking event appeared first on Career Advice.

The bottom line is that if the job posting asks for a cover letter, you must provide one if you’re keen on getting the position.

Whether they read it or not, that’s another question. If they do, you don’t want to be the candidate without one or one that’s sub-par.

You need any leg up over the competition so having every detail, including the requested cover letter, perfect is important.

After some research, we’ve rounded up 10 essential guidelines for a cover letter below:

1. Address a specific person

If at all possible use the name of the recruiter or the person who posted the position if that is clear in the job advert. If it’s not included in the job posting, check the website and see if you can find who is the most probable to have posted it.

This will most likely be someone in HR or the recruiter. Taking the extra initiative to address the correct person with a personalised greeting can only help you stand out, particularly if the name was difficult to obtain.

2. Custom

The number one touted thing to include in a cover letter is that each letter must be tailored to the job you’re applying for.

You can use a template to guide you, but just inserting your name and the position you’re applying for as you churn out hundreds of applications isn’t beneficial to your application.

Really consider the role and why you’re the best candidate.

If you don’t put in the effort to write a respectable cover letter, why should the hiring manager bother to read it or review your application?

Even better if you can inject a little originality that better shows the reader you may also be a good culture fit for the company. Use the 20-30 seconds they take to read or skim your letter as an additional opportunity to stand out.

3. Highlight your experience

In the body of your letter, it’s essential to list a few key achievements from your work experience that make you a highly qualified candidate for the role.

You can use bullet points to ensure easy reading and make an impact with some results-driven data points.

Relate that experience back to the specific job you’re applying for and why that makes you an excellent fit for the role.

Be sure to include words and phrases from the job description, but don’t try and jam a bunch of keywords in there, keep it natural and make sure it makes sense.

4. Fit

Be sure to explain exactly what it is that makes you a perfect fit for the role.

Make it clear to the hiring manager exactly what you bring to the table that is beneficial to the company.

It’s not so much as to why the job is a perfect fit for you, but rather why you’re a great fit for the job.

5. Keep it brief

It’s also agreed by all careers experts and recruiters that your cover letter should be no longer than one page in length, and really a few paragraphs should be enough.

Try to avoid repeating the things in your CV. Instead, use this opportunity to expand on the skills, abilities and experiences that are a specific benefit for the role you’re applying for.

6. Contact information

Include your name and contact information, even if it seems redundant as it’s also on your CV. It is also a good idea to include links to your professional networks, like LinkedIn.

You can do this at the end of the letter when you tell the recruiter your availability for an interview or call-back.

7. Formatting

Your cover letter, along with everything else we’ve mentioned, needs to look nice and be properly formatted. Your best bet is to use a professional business letter format which includes the address in the heading.

8. Proofread

Proofread your cover letter carefully and then proofread it again before sending on to the recruiter. Have a friend or colleague look it over; you don’t want a grammatical error to be the thing that stands between you and your dream job.

9. Close

Close strong by restating your main points and why you align with the company’s mission and goals. Include your point of how and why your experience will help the organisation and be sure to thank the reader for their time and consideration, offering your availability for an interview.

10. Follow up

Following up after you have sent your CV is an often overlooked step in the application process.

Candidates who may have been overlooked in initial phases will often have their CV reviewed after a candidate has reached out to follow up. This is where that perfectly written cover letter has a chance to shine.

We know the process of applying for jobs can be tiresome and the thought of writing another custom cover letter can seem daunting. It is important to stay positive during your search and remember that the job of your dreams will be worth it all in the end.

About the author: Jamie Tapia is a Digital Marketing professional living in Boston, Massachusetts who dabbles in content marketing and writes occasionally for CV-Library. Connect with her here.

Image: Christin Hume on Unsplash

The post 10 essential guidelines to follow when writing a cover letter appeared first on Career Advice.

That’s a rather telling stat, and one to use to your advantage when it comes to landing a sweet gig.

Besides being able to air your own opinions and develop an expertise in whatever area tickles your fancy, social media is a great way to network with organisations and individuals to get a foot in the door.

Here are some top tips from around the web on using social media to make you more employable.

Build your brand

Everyone needs a personal brand nowadays and standing out from the clutter online has never been so important.

“’Personal branding’ is simply building a brand around your career and personal name – it’s all about marketing yourself as an expert in your given industry, which is why people should trust you and your opinions,” says social media guru Jade Beckett from the University of Surrey. “It’s basically optimising the way in which you’re presented to others.”

Personal branding also develops you into the buzziest of buzz words, a ‘thought leader’ in your industry.

What you can do

Figure out what you want to stand for and create posts based on your values and beliefs for your brand. Beckett recommends choosing one to three areas of expertise and building your social media profiles around these.

Become an expert

On that thought leader note, a banging way to stand out on social media is to become an expert in your field.

If you can become a key opinion in an industry, or at least become someone who is engaging with relevant and up-to-date facts, people will start to take notice of you.

Women’s magazine Marie Claire says show off your expertise by blogging. Anyone with an internet connection can start one. “Write thoughtful commentary on the work topics you’re passionate about. Find industry forums and professional groups online and start participating (side bonus: networking!).”

LinkedIn and Medium are two platforms great for airing your opinions. Both allow you to follow companies and people and engage with their writings. And you can write and post your own stuff, too.

Just remember to publish well-researched opinions. Shallow expressions based on nothing don’t generally sit well with people, and using them with potential bosses would probably not be the smartest move.

Therefore, ensure the companies or people you’re engaging with match your values and you know what they stand for and are interested in.

What you can do

Write a list of specific topics in your area of choice. Each day read one thing about your field and create an insightful post or piece in response.

Engage regularly, but not too much

Depending on the platform you’re working from to hook into your chosen organisations, engaging regularly, but not overdoing it, is key.

If you’re trying to become an expert in a field but are churning out posts on every social platform left, right and centre, you’re going to become a nuisance of yourself.

So, where is the sweet spot in how often you should post and engage?

It all depends on the size of your followers already, says Forbes contributor Neil Patel. If you’ve got under ten thousand followers on Facebook, it’s generally less than the standard “two posts a day”.

With Twitter, it depends on your goal. If you’re looking for people to come along and engage with your tweets than anything between 1-5 tweets a day is recommended, he says.

And Instagram is all about consistency – do the same amount that you’ve always posted, but keep doing that. Don’t dip and shy away from images or suddenly cram a heap more in.

What you can do

Figure out how often you should post based on your followers, and then post whatever frequency works best for you.

Some social media platforms such as Facebook have scheduling functions, so you can backlog posts to be published at your desired frequency. Or, engage with a social media management program to keep everything on target. This will make having a social presence much easier, especially if you’re likely to forget.

Clean up your social media pages

And a point that can’t be stressed enough; don’t have drunken party photos plastered all over the internet.

Despite a movement from the EU to clamp down on employers snooping on social media, it’s best to keep your pages clean and professional. According to The Telegraph, LinkedIn is the most looked at social media page for employers, followed by Facebook, then Twitter with Instagram in fourth.

What you can do: Go through your personal social media pages and clean them up. If there’s anything in there that gives your gut a little wobble, best to delete it.

There are a multitude of tactics you can use with social media to up your online presence and get noticed by top employers. Social media’s prolific nature means it’s hard to be ignored, but work it to your advantage and you could be rolling in offers.

Ready to start you job search? Click here.

About the author: Leaving behind the sunny weather of Australia, Emma Mackenzie traipsed to beautiful Scotland last year to continue her writing pursuit. With a wide variety of interests Emma loves writing about anything and everything. And usually drinking endless cups of tea while doing so.

Image: Pexels

The post How to use social media to make you more employable appeared first on Career Advice.

According to the Central Statistics Office, while 13.5% of Ireland’s population is disabled, people with a disability only account for 6.5% of the workforce.

From understanding job descriptions, to writing a persuasive CV and shining in an interview, the path to securing long-term work can be fraught with additional obstacles that the rest of the population simply don’t have to overcome.

Although employment discrimination is illegal in Ireland, whether due to age, gender, disability or race, it is widely accepted that such prejudices still exist.

Maybe employers feel that making reasonable accommodations will mean additional expense or resentment from other employees, maybe they are concerned about lower productivity levels or maybe they are simply unsure about how to interact with people with disabilities.

Whatever the reason, if the 643,000 disabled people in Ireland are supported in accessing work, and companies are supported in providing this access, it will clearly have a significant positive impact on the wider economy.

The company will benefit from a more diverse workforce, with disabled employees frequently among the most loyal and keen to prove themselves, and the employee obviously gains not just from earning a salary, but also from improved self-esteem and a sense of belonging.

When should you tell an employer about your disability?

Before even applying for a job, the disabled candidate has to decide whether to declare their disability up front.

If you do, the employer legally has to make reasonable adjustments. However, you are also risking bias and prejudice, and your CV may end up in the bin before you’ve been given a chance to prove yourself.

We advise thinking of your CV as marketing document, and only including facts that you know will sell you to an employer.

That way, your disability can be explained face-to-face in an interview or when you receive a solid job offer, when there is a human element to the interaction rather than just a factual document.

However, there are different approaches, such as adding explanations to an application to avert any prejudice arising from ignorance or simply declaring the condition to enable candidates to filter out biased employers.

There is no correct answer as there is no legal obligation to declare a disability on a job application, so you can only do what you think is right for you.

The application process

Obviously the challenges in applying for jobs will vary depending on the disability, but the end product needs to be the same: a CV or application form that enables a recruiter to see what your skills are and understand how you will be an asset to the company.

Disabled or not, this is a great time to rope in a friend or family member – they can explain the job description in language you can understand if that would help, they help you realise what you have to offer, they can proof-read your CV, and they can provide moral support.

Focus on the skills and experience you’ve gained so far in your life and make sure these come through on your CV, but also think about why your disability could be a benefit.  Even if you choose not to include details of your disability on your application, you will have ready answers further down the line and it may give you some ideas of additional skills to include on your CV.  For example, a person with autism might have excellent concentration, logical thinking, loyalty, strong subject knowledge, good attention to detail and so on.

Alternative routes into work

Nowadays there are multiple routes into employment and the traditional route of CV > Interview > Job Offer isn’t always necessary.

Consider voluntary work, which in the short term enables you to build your CV and in the long-term may lead to a paid role.

It’s also possible to access supported internships, apprenticeships or home-working opportunities.

Work trials are a risk-free way for both sides to see if the arrangement will work, enabling the employee to prove themselves whilst gaining valuable experience and the employer to provide opportunities that they may otherwise be hesitant about offering.

Starting a new job

When you finally start your new job, you are entitled to request that your employer make “reasonable adjustments” if they don’t do this automatically.

Do bear in mind that they key word here is “reasonable”, so your request can be turned down if it is deemed to be too expensive or impractical, for example.

With the right support and the right employer, it is entirely possible for many more people with disabilities to access the employment market, secure a rewarding position and contribute positively to both the organisation and the economy.

About the author: Jen David has been a CV Consultant since 2010 and currently works for CV Knowhow, the UK’s leading career and CV writing consultancy. 

She has written CVs for thousands of job seekers from all industries and at all stages in their career, from students to senior executives.  Jen aims to add value to CVs, enabling her customers to increase their chances of securing an interview and progress in their chosen career. 

Image: Pexels

The post Accessing the employment market when you have a disability appeared first on Career Advice.