Tag Archives: Advice

Careers Advice, guest blogger, Interviews, Job Applications

Six Things To Do Before An Interview – Guest Blog

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With the current economic climate in its current state, interviews, let alone job offers, are a little on the rare side. Because of this, when you’re called in to discuss your suitability for a position, you can’t afford not to put on a good show.

Though the interview itself is of course important, what you do before the interview is equally so. When it comes to effective interviewing, preparation is key.

An hour spent preparing for an interview can not only save you a lot of awkward silences and regretful rambling, it can also greatly increase the chances of you actually landing the job. Here are six things that you should do before every job interview.

Research the Company

The first thing that you should do upon landing an interview is to spend a few minutes researching the company in question. Many job candidates arrive at interviews knowing little other than the companies name and this sends a very bad message.

A little bit of research about both the company and the industry in which it operates will allow you to illustrate that you are serious the position.

Ask Yourself What they Want

If you’ve been called in for an interview, you probably meet the positions requirements in terms of both qualifications and experience. The interview is your chance to illustrate that you also meet the positions requirements in terms of personality.

To do this, you need to ask yourself what they are looking for. What specific personality traits would allow you to perform the job well?

Think of Examples

Once you’ve established what personality traits the employer is looking for, you then need to figure out how you are going to demonstrate them. Unfortunately, listing them is isn’t going to work.

You need to come with specific examples in your past employment when you demonstrated said traits. Specific examples speak volumes, general adjectives say very little.

Decide What to Ask

Unprepared job applicants are often stumped at the end of job interviews when they are asked if they have any questions. You can save yourself a lot of stuttering by coming up with a few questions to ask before hand.

Avoid asking about the salary. Instead ask about working conditions and specifics of the role. Doing so allows you to demonstrate that you won’t work just anywhere.

Choose the Right Clothes

Regardless of what position you are applying for, you can’t go wrong with a suit. Some people question the suitability of such attire when they are applying to work somewhere with a casual dress code. Ignore such thoughts.

There is no such thing as a casual dress code when it comes to job interviews. When you wear a suit, you are demonstrating that you are both a professional and somebody that genuinely cares about landing the position.

Map Your Route

Finally, we have the small matter of deciding how you’re going to get to the interview. Many people don’t make a trial run and this is why so many people arrive at job interviews late.

When you go somewhere that you haven’t been before, traffic is difficult to predict and wrong turns are easy to make. And just because you know where the building is, that does not mean that you know where the actual interview room is. Always do a trial run.

Peter Johnson is an established career consultant who offers professional assistance to students seeking designer jobs.

Careers Advice, Job Applications, Q&A, Transferable Skills

Applying for roles I am over-qualified for – Questions answered.

2 Comments

This week we have a fantastic question from someone looking to work for their dream employer – by (almost) any means….

Hi Nicola, can you advise about applying for a junior/admin role at your dream employers … Just to get a foot in the door at the right company. I’d be interested to know how to pitch an application for a job I could be described as over qualified for.

Vicky – Northampton.

Hi Vicky – great question! I’m not sure you are going to like my response though, as applying for roles less senior to your current role can be seen as a step backwards it is often the case that employers will discard your application for a number of reasons such as:

  1. HR / hiring manager may be anxious that you may be looking for a way into the business with no real desire to stay in the role – wanting to progress is great for most employers but when you are already a step or two ahead of the role, this means you will be in the advertised role for a few months before making a move upwards. This leaves HR and the hiring manager with the initial problem of filling the Admin role; this is essentially deemed as a waste of time and money recruitment wise.
  2. Suspecting you are looking for an easy-ride role, as it is more junior you perceive it as a job you can sit back in and not really engage. Whereas a less qualified person would see the role as a challenge and really work hard / demonstrate keenness.
  3. Your potential line manager may feel intimidated by you, especially if you have held a more senior role to them and have more experience – their job feels threatened by your presence.

My advice would be to wait for a role which is more in-line with your current seniority ideally as rejections for roles tends to put a mark against your name as candidates make an impression that they are either desperate for a role and applying for anything or didn’t read / understand the job descriptions – applications would then be rejected or put to the bottom of the pile.

Have you tried making a direct approach to the business in question? LinkedIn can be a great way-in, by looking up heads of departments etc and making contact you could start to form some relationships with the right people and then once a relevant role comes to your attention you can make an application and your name will already be known in the right circles. When you do make contact – ask questions about what career backgrounds the business tends to attract, how often XXX types roles come up and if you can get a fluid correspondence flowing – ask if you can meet for coffee. It’s playing the long game but it is more likely to harvest positive feedback and a way-in at a level you deserve to be at too (whilst gaining some valuable insider information which you can use to strengthen your application).

Careers Advice, Cover letters, Friday Snippet, PMO, Project Management, Q&A

Portfolio , Programme, Project – What’s the difference? Friday snippet

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OK so today we are going back to basics, talking through what a portfolio, programme and project actually are. I was in consultation with a project manager last week who was describing his current project list, as we talked through his input into the business he asked if he was in fact a programme manager – which lead me to write this blog piece. Having spent more years than I care to remember delivering and studying in the field of project management it dawned on me that a great deal of professionals currently working in the field of project management rarely get an outsider perspective and certainly won’t have read through the skip load of books I have. So those of us who are well into the field of PPM are sat inside a rather well oiled bubble and there are hundreds of effective and hard working PPM professionals out there who are just beginning to learn of our bubble. So for all those new to the bubble – welcome and here’s a basic overview of the 3 Ps.

  • PROJECT – A piece of work with a definite start and end, and clearly defined deliverable.
  • PROGRAMME – A programme is a number of related projects run collectively to obtain specific strategic objectives and benefits.
  • PORTFOLIO – A portfolio is an assortment of projects or programmes categorised to facilitate meeting strategic business objectives through effective management. This is a centralised management of programmes, projects and sometimes portfolios which aren’t necessarily interdependent or related directly.

 

OK so now we have cleared that up in the simplest form – here’s a couple of useful links for further information (APM MSP MoP) . Once you start to get a grasp of the basics, I assure you, you will be drawn into wanting to know more.

If you are in need of some advice about what it is you actually do – get in touch, no question is a stupid question and with a little consultation we will have you well placed for taking that next step to finding a new role: www.thecvrighter.co.uk

Careers Advice, CV Tips, CV Writing, PMO, Project Management, Q&A

CV Length – Questions answered

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In-line with my regular Q&A sessions this week we have a good question from a candidate who wants to understand what the acceptable length is for a CV.

Can you please answer me how long my CV should be – I have lots of experience in the PPM domain covering an expanse of different types of projects and programmes, when it comes to writing a CV I find I am not able to keep the document down to a short list.

Sharon, Programme Manager; London.

Hi Sharon, many thanks for your question – it is a question often asked and one which can simply be answered by stating “2 or 3 sides”. However as you are finding it difficult to keep the document to a length deemed acceptable in the recruitment field I would like to address a few things:

When compiling your CV you should look to take the following guidelines on board.

  1. It is important to include all your employment history; however I suggest you keep the bulk of the detail to your most recent roles. Roles over 10 years old need only be a line on the CV including dates, employer and job title.
  2. When writing the detail in your remit for the more recent roles – look to address the following: number and type of projects, stakeholders, benefits, how you deliver, size and complexity. Additional information such as any major issues – simply stating delivered on time and to budget doesn’t tell us a great deal. For example you may have had to gain “buy in” from teams / senior management etc. or globally dispersed stakeholders with cultural differences and availability may have been a challenge.
  3. Rather than adding achievements to individual roles; you could look to address “key achievements” at the top of the CV – these can be interchanged for particular job applications, ensuring you have relevant detail available to the hiring manager for that role.
  4. The key achievements must not be too lengthy, try to keep to a structure of describing what the project or piece of work was, your input and the results achieved – employers like to see how you can add value so £ and %’s are good to add here if appropriate.
  5. Do not list skills in a separate section, integrate them, thus adding context to the role remits.
  6. Ensure to use terminology common to project management, especially if you have been working through a structured method such as Prince2, Agile etc.
  7. Treat the document like MI; clear and concise – do not say in 30 words which can be stated in 10 or 15. Keep to the point but do not just write a job description.

The good news is that you have too much information – now it is time to edit the document back down to a shorter version, you can keep the long version as a master copy and pick and choose relevant information for specific applications. By creating more than one version of your CV you will be in a position to swiftly apply for a range of roles specific to your skill set.

At The CV Righter we provide a free CV review and career guidance to project professionals and those wishing to enter into PM. Send your CV through our contact page at: www.thecvrighter.co.uk