New year, new career? Bag your dream job in 2017 with our guide to acing the interview
The careers market is becoming more competitive, as are job interviews - breeze through yours with this guide
IF you want to bag your dream job in 2017, you will have to answer some tough questions.
As the careers market becomes ever more competitive, interviews are getting harder too. So preparation is key. Here, interview expert and Knockout Interview author JOHN LEES gives his tips on how to answer five tricky questions.
Tell us about yourself
This apparently simple question is actually pretty tough. Where do you begin? How long should your answer be?
If you try to summarise your whole career you’ll probably bore your interviewer. But you may be talking to someone who has not read your CV in detail, so it’s a great moment to get your career headlines across.
Give a short summary of your work and skills then ask if more detail is required.
Example: “My background is in retail but I’ve had supervisory experience in catering.”
Why do you want this job?
This question gets straight to two important topics.
Firstly, how are you a match for the job? Look at the employer’s list of requirements and talk about how you match the top three or four points, even if your experience is not obviously perfect for the job.
Secondly, talk about why you want the job — the challenges and opportunities you find exciting in the role and why it is the obvious next step in your career story.
Example: “I’m really excited about this role because it builds on my customer service experience.”
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
For strengths, resist the temptation to make wild claims or provide a predictable list of clichés, such as “self-starter”, “team player” and “high achiever”.
Use stories from your past to communicate hard evidence of things you have done. And talk about how these relate closely to the job on offer.
For weaknesses, don’t admit past failures or beat yourself up. Talk about skills you are improving right now.
Example: “My last boss said I was a great organiser, but I’ve been working on my IT skills.”
What makes you think you can do this job?
You are more likely to hear this if your background is a bit unusual. It is no use hoping that an employer will make an imaginative leap about how your experience is useful. Explain what you have done, using concrete examples.
But do your homework, too. Match the way you describe your abilities to the language the employer uses to describe top performers.
Example: “My background may look a bit different but it gives me a unique mix of skills.”
Where do you want to be in five years' time?
This question checks your ambition but you won’t get very far by being wildly unrealistic or cheeky, such as: “In your job!”
You probably don’t know enough about the organisation to project exactly where you will be. Be clear that you plan to learn fast and make an impact, and then try to expand your skills as new challenges come up.
Example: “I’d like to make progress, but perhaps I can suggest how I think I can make a difference in the first six months.”
Hiring in a hurry
HALF of employers are cutting the length of their hiring process to take on staff more quickly.
Research from recruiter totaljobs found that 46 per cent of employers said they had reduced the time it took to recruit a candidate, as it becomes increasingly challenging to find and compete for top talent.
This follows recent news from the Office for National Statitics that unemployment had reached an 11-year low.
Totalsjobs’ survey – as part of its Understanding Talent series – found 59 per cent of employers take less than two weeks between the role being advertised to the first round of interviews, with 92 per cent making an offer in a week or less after meeting candidates.
Director of totaljobs, John Salt, said: “With employers cutting the length of their attraction and recruitment process to draw in the best talent, the role that technology plays in delivering a more agile experience will continue to grow.
“Helping candidates find the jobs they love and employers hire the talent they need – fast – is essential, especially as the candidate market tightens.”
It's Miss Popular
FIFTY-SIX per cent of women think it is important to get along with workmates – compared with just 37 per cent of men.
But women are slightly less confident than men about asking for a pay rise.
Eighty-nine per cent lack the confidence to approach their boss about money versus 81 per cent of their male counterparts.
A good work-life balance is also a priority for women, according to the poll of 2,000 workers commissioned by recruitment firm Reed.
Three-quarters believe it is very important in working life, a significantly larger proportion than for job security (63 per cent), satisfaction (61 per cent) or salary (51 per cent).
Reed’s head of marketing Catherine Maskell said: “For employers looking to recruit in 2017, it is important to offer a package that appeals to both the hearts and minds.”
Working wounded
PARALYMPIC champion Kadeena Cox has had her UK Sport funding suspended while she takes part in winter sports show The Jump.
It is also unlikely British Cycling and British Athletics will financially support her if she is injured. The situation for employees in regular jobs is also confusing. Should bosses be able to dictate what workers do in their own time?
Paul Wimpenny, clinical governance officer at PhysioMed, said: “Statistics show in the average working population most musculoskeletal injuries are sustained in leisure activities. For most workers, such an injury would not have a big financial impact, as they would get sick pay.
“Legally employers are not responsible for helping employees get back on their feet but it is in the interest of all parties for them to do just that.”
Bloom Monday
GRIM weather plus post-festive weight gain and money worries means next Monday has been identified as the most depressing day of the year.
But bosses can make “Blue Monday” – and in fact any day of the year – cheerier, according to wellbeing expert David Price.
David, chief of workplace support firm Health Assured, said: “Staff can feel demotivated at the best of times – especially if they’re feeling overworked and their achievements are going unnoticed. It’s important that employers recognise a good job being done when they see it.
“Make sure your employees feel comfortable taking breaks.
“And during the winter months it’s great to encourage them to get outside and enjoy the little bit of sunshine we do have.”
It's Avon ladies... and lads
GENTLEMEN are now taking on the Avon Ladies – with record numbers of men working in direct sales.
There has been a a 28 per cent rise in the number of men in the industry since 2010, according to figures from the Direct Selling Association.
The trade body says more than 92,000 of the UK’s 400,000 direct sellers – who find customers through parties, face-to-face or online – are now blokes.
Director-general Lynda Mills reckons the job’s flexibility attracts men.
She said: “Sixty-two per cent of direct sellers have another job, which means direct selling is the ideal choice for those who want to design their own working week or supplement their income.”
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The only way is hard up
ONE in four Brits has money problems so substantial it is harming their working life.
Among 18 to 24 year olds, it is nearly a third (31 per cent) and in London it is 32 per cent, according to research by the CIPD and Close Brothers Asset Management.
The problem is not limited to low earners, with a fifth (20 per cent) of those earning £45,000 to £59,999 saying financial anxiety has affected their ability to do their job.
The CIPD’s Charles Cotton said: “Money worries affect people regardless of age, gender or pay.
“Organisations should focus on financial wellbeing as part of their workplace agenda.
“This will be increasingly important over the next 18 months, as rising inflation is likely to lead to a pay squeeze.”