Many job interviews, no job offers

Mary asks: I am a teacher, and am having no luck in landing a job. I am getting a good ratio of job interviews, but in 10 so far have not been offered one job. What am I doing wrong, what could I do to improve my performance?

In answer:
Firstly, congratulations. Getting interviews in this economy is tough, and it means you have past the first three tests of getting a job:

1. Knowing yourself
2. Finding and applying for the right jobs
3. Getting through the telephone interview

There is a different measure in success in job interviews, in that after three you should be hitting job offers. But I am guessing that you have attended more than three interviews, and hence the concern.

Job Interview

The problem normally is nerves related, with too many leading to over verbalisation. Candidates tend to speak too much, and about that situation, not relating it eventually to the job on offer.

Like any conversation, an interview is a two way process: you are not expected to do 90% of the talking. When any question is posed, make sure you understand the question and its objective: always seek clarification “did you mean, what are you trying to find out” etc. Speak with gaps between your sentences/key points, allowing the interviewer to ask points of clarification. Never speak, unless you are presenting, for more than a minute, two minutes absolutely maximum. Try also to make three points in piece of speech – certainly no more than five. And finally, always come back to closing the circle, by showing how that experience relates to answering that question.

All of these tactics break down the conversation allowing the interviewer to seek clarification, and direct the interview. The fact you can then pick up the though train after allowing intervention shows to the interviewer that the claimed experience os real and strong.

One point as a trained interviewer I am always told to mark down on, is candidates who have done little research on the organisation I am employing for, and secondly have no questions of their own about the organisation/position. You need to have done and show your research (place it on the table when you first go it), and have at least 10 questions about the organisation/position that couldn’t be answered by reading their own literature/website. You want to be able to ask three questions at the end of an interview, and a few will be answered through the process, so 10 is always the number I recommend.

Job Interview questions and answers

My tips points Job Interview questions and answers:

• Keep answers to the point, say what you need to cover it. Initially, you shouldn’t speak for more than one minute in any answer. If you find yourself going over that then think hard about why – and don’t be afraid to ask the interviewer if they need more detail.
• Be honest. If you don’t know something or haven’t got a specific example of something then say so, don’t try to make it up!
• Answer the question as asked. Don’t do the politician trick of answering a different question you wish had been asked.
• Always always always have a good set of questions to ask about the job & company – too many people prepare one, so if it’s already been covered they have nothing.
• Find out as much as you can about the company beforehand. In these days of the web there’s no excuse not to know.
• Take a small but effective portfolio in with you, papers that you can produce to prove and illustrate major achievements. Rarely will you have to show one in detail, but just opening it to show you’ve got these ready is a big demonstration of professionalism.

Job interview tips

If you can afford it, get a professional to do mock interviews with you and give feedback. Many finds major gaps, improvements or tweaks to make themselves better. If you can’t afford this what about a friend who does recruitment and is willing to do this for you – anything they can suggest might be the one thing that makes a difference.

One last point: if you do get rejected, always phone in for feedback. Make it clear when you make the call that you know the job has gone to someone else, but that you would like feedback on how you could improve your job interview performance could be improved. You will hence always improve your job interview performance, and possibly even get that job: 1 in 10 successful job seekers are not at the organisation that employed them 30days after starting there, and the first candidates you always seek as an alternate are the ones who showed greatest interest.

Good Luck!

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Professional CV Writers

With the increased number of job seekers recently, there has been a corresponding increase in the number of claimed Professional CV Writers.

Yet, when in the UK, when there are no agencies or professional bodies orientated around the art of defining what a Professional CV Writer is or what level of experience that they need or have to be considered a Professional CV Writer, what could many Job Seekers actually be buying in their chosen Professional CV Writing Service?

Professional CV Writing

There are three basic forms of claimed Professional CV Writing:

• CV Typing: former or existing secretaries and competent typists who take a set of often faxed hand written notes and combine them with a downloaded CV Template into a typed Professional CV. These services most often offer printed paper format CV’s as optional extras. Expect to pay around £30 or less
• Professional CV Writers: there are a growing number of Professional CV Writers in the UK. But, unlike North America where there are three competing bodies in CV writing alone which accredit Certified Professional Resume Writers through training and testing, there is presently no such body in the UK. Most therefore tend to be creative writers or copy writers who have entered the employment market place as another market in which to use their skills. Expect to pay £50 and above
• Employment Professionals: many employment professionals, from either a recruitment, Human Resources or employment background, provide CV Writing Services. This is the fastest expanding part of the market, although the largest number of providers are still CV Typists. Prices start from £75 and upwards, but still low compared to similarly skilled North American providers which start from $150

There are also a large number of part time providers who use the newly evolving Contract and bidding service websites to provide occasional CV Writing and additional income. But all services are charged up front, as in essence CV Writing is factually orientated creative communications.

Which Professional CV Writing Service?

With the diverse number of Professional CV Writing Services, the question is: what do they provide, and why the price differential?

The market is still dominated by singular operators, often home based, over the three largest company based providers. The service demands of the job seekers means that most Professional CV Writing Services are orientated around:

• Taking your career history
• Interviewing you for 30mins or more to understand what you want to do next
• Creating in 24 to 48hours a draft CV

This approach panders to the Job Board orientated modern employment market, where by recently redundant or unemployed job seekers wish to gain work as quickly as possible.

Professional CV Writing Tips

But, in a recent experiment, a professional employment body took 20 job seekers to find the affect of Professional CV Writing on their job search. 10 were given a Professional CV Writing Service, while 10 were trained in how best to apply for jobs, using their existing Professional CV.

The results showed that both groups did equally as well in job applications, but that the affect for either group was multiplied five fold when both aspects – a Professional CV Writing Service and guidance on how best to apply for jobs – were combined.

Hence, if all you are shopping for is a CV Writing Service, expect your job seeking results to improve, but probably not as dramatically as you may wish.

NB: read our article on Professional CV Tips

Professional CV Services

If you look at the headline price of any CV Writing Service, it should be easy to understand the level of expertise you will be engaging with.

After taking away a profit margin and overhead costs of one third, and the minimum three hours time required to take your career history and place it into a standard CV format, you can see that any service charging £30 or less will be employing people on UK minimum wage. If that is the skills level you are happy with, then at least you are now aware of the choice you are making the results should expect.

To engage a full time CV writer or Employment professional, expect to pay around £50 for a two page Professional CV. When taken into account with the results of the recent study, ask to speak to the actual person who will be writing your CV so that you know you will be happy with the engagement.

If you want a Professional CV Service, then look for CV Writing Services which provide additional information and guidance to you as a job seeker. Worry less about free rewrites and the quality of the paper printouts – something your local copy shop can do cheaper. Focus on how they can use their expertise to help you with written guides and advice on how best to use your new Professional CV in getting the job you want.

Good Luck!

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IT jobs board?

Chris, a systems analyst, asks: Do you know an IT job website that doesn’t involve going through employment or recruitment agencies? I am fed up of having to convince every agent I speak to that I can do the job – just want them to send off my Professional CV!

In answer:
I am a recruiter and operate an IT recruitment agency, but I do know what you mean.

IT Career options

Firstly, what type of IT career do you want next? Do you have the experience to do that job now at a competent level, or do you need further training or experience?

If you want a contract career, then agencies are your way forward. If you want a permanent career, but don’t yet have the experience, then you need to built that competency through contract positions, and hence – agencies are your way forward!

IT Recruitment agencies

All recruitment agencies are – mostly – very annoying. But to understand why you need to understand their commercial drivers.

They only take on new people to their books who fulfil roles they have right now. If you see a new role in four weeks, time, then you need to apply again. Once an agency takes you on, then they accept two things:

1. You can do the job advertised
2. You won’t let their brand down in front of their customer

Recruitment agencies have tighter sets of criteria for taking people on as opposed to employers, as if you let the customer down, then you jeopardise the agencies future income from that customer

IT Jobs

The only way an employer will take you on as a permanent employee at present is through being already experienced, and willing to accept a lower wage than that which you were earning 12months ago. There are enough good and capable people on the market right now who are seeking work, that employers have too much choice. Employers do advertise on job boards, and you can spot them over agencies – its just that at present there are five agency adverts for each employers advert.

I would suggest you keep spotting the job boards, and look out for a helpful contact at an agency. I always tell our CV clients to build a relationship with a few select agencies/recruiters, and not make yourself look like you are available to anyone at the right price. Also, sit down and create a list of 50 employers you might like to work for, then keep an eye on their website for jobs, or make an approach via an informational interview to see what they are like/have any opportunities.

Keep plugging away, you will get there, but it sounds like at present you are sounding to the agencies as too desperate and hence too much of a risk to put in front of their customers.

Good Luck!

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Job Search: what type is yours?

There are probably as many types of Job Search as there are Job Seekers.

But the global increase in unemployment has brought about a new surge in job applicants, many of whom have not have experienced the task of the Job Search in many years. The result is many dissatisfied job seekers, who feel that their Job Search efforts are not being appreciated by the employment profession, with a resultant increase in long term job seekers.

However, if they knew which type of job search they were undertaking, they would know what type of result they should expect.

Direct Offer: The insider

The direct approach and offer from a company, is often a surprise to the person, who probably as not an active job seeker. This type of job seeker is already directly known by the organisation, normally through being an existing employee. You could also be presently working for a competitor, supplier or an existing customer of the organisation. If you are approached, you have a 90% chance of being employed using this method.

Networking from: The Virtual Insider

This type of direct approach offer again is a delight to a person who is probably not an active job seeker, but is presently not known to the employing organisation. The result of this approach is a testament to their clear personal elevator pitch and track record of delivery, and the advocation by others often within the employing organisation, or by people within a common mutual network. This is a fast expanding area of recruitment, with companies now paying existing employees for successful introductions of new hires. If approached, you have a 50% chance of being employed using this method

Executive Headhunter: The Star!

Modern headhunting is about direct from client business orientated briefs, which are fulfilled quickly. While the client side of the business has changed little but niched more, the search and find side of the business has been transformed by the boom in social networking. Now, techniques like Boolean search allow headhunters to create larger lists of suitably qualified applicants, and hence offer better candidates who are more researched in a quicker timescale. The result is that these types of job seekers are again often not active job seekers, but can be concluded as stars within their chosen profession or market. You have a greater than 35% chance of being employed if approached using this method

Networking to: The Inside track

We now move from mainly passive job seekers to active job seekers, those who are either employed or presently between positions. This next two types of job search require the job seeker to:

• Know themselves, and what they offer
• Know what they want to do
• Be able to communicate the combination in a personal elevator pitch
• Be willing to research the desired/targeted organisations

This type of job search requires effort, and hence most job seekers avoid it not because they are more successful – often ten times as successful as other active types of job search; but because other options require less thought and effort.

The inside track approach requires that having decided to job search, that inside your target organisation/s you already have a previously developed contact/s. This inside contact may be as a result of you being a customer, supplier, competitor or business network contacts. Your initial approach is based on person to person conversations often over cups of coffee, making a subtle research based informational interview approach to asses who you should be talking to, and what they are seeking to achieve for the business. If you use this method, then you have a 20% chance of being employed from companies you target

Direct approach: The Navigator

The navigator approach is similar and statistically as successful to the inside track, but as you have no developed contacts inside the target organisations (start with a list of 50, whittle them down to 20 through simple research), you need to develop a contact base. With the development of business orientated social networking, and the increase in the number of companies offering existing employees bonuses for the successful introduction of new hires, this method is a lot easier than it ever was. It requires the same clarity of though on who you are/what you want out of your career as the inside tack, with similar levels of research effort on the target organisations, but development of suitable insider contacts. On average five times more successful than applying via job adverts in newspapers or job boards, with a 15% chance of being employed from companies you target on your researched list. This can easily be improved to virtual insider levels of success of 50% or greater with some more simple research and networking techniques, it just depends on how much you want a job with that company?

Recruiter: The Mountie

The next set of three job search options have differing rates of success, but have two things in common:

• You will follow a defined HR process to be hired
• As the positions are openly advertised for, you will have high levels of competition. Expect 5 people to make it to the interview stage for each single position being recruited for, multiplied by three fold back down each stage of the recruitment process (ie: application, CV sift, online testing, telephone interview, etc). This could presently result in 100 original job applications

If you undertake your job search via a recruiter advert, and having checked out the strength of the recruiters relationship and brief to make sure you are not being CV fished, and further have not broken the “three recruiters and out” rule; then your chances of employment via this route are 15% or greater. You can easily improve this to 35% or more if you know the right tactics and questions to ask. The recruiter often works in a competitive environment, against other recruiters and the organisations own HR people, to fulfil a position. If the recruiter successfully fulfils the position and gets their man, then they get paid; if not, then its on to the next opportunity. Good recruiters always get their man, and after introduction to the employer you follow the organisations defined recruitment process

Newspaper or company website job advert: The Jockey

Newspaper adverts and company websites are a good source of real job opportunity. Firstly, they require effort and or cost on behalf of the hiring organisation, which means that the jobs are real and not CV fishing exercises. Secondly, you are direct on to the organisation, although you have to accept that you probably won’t be talking to the hiring manager, but about to ride through a sanitised, wholly locally legal/ethical and HR managed/monitored recruitment process. Don’t expect to be treated like you or a human being, the process is designed to be selective in a non-judgemental way. You hence have little choice in the race you are about to take part in, expect that you chose to enter it, and hence have little ability to affect its outcome. Your chances of being recruited via this method once you hit the apply button or send your application through the post are between 3% and 5%, although this can easily be doubled with some simple effort

Job board: The donkey

Of all the methods of job search, the job board is the most common and actively used by many present day job seekers. Yet, the statistics show that only 12% of all positions are fulfilled by job boards in any market. If so few jobs are fulfilled by job boards, why do most unsuccessful long term job seekers spend most of their days trawling job boards? Simply, it doesn’t require much effort to find or apply for jobs on a job board, but gives the job seeker the regular internal satisfaction of being able to say at the end of each day “yes honey, I spent the day job seeking!” As a recruiter, I know that some of those jobs “advertised” on job boards do not exist. The job board market is so competitive – with around 50,000 job boards in North America, and 50,000 around the rest of the world – that the cost of advertising a job on a job board can be as little as free. If the cost of doing something was free, and add in that you can repeat the same job advert for ever simply by ticking a repeat button, how often would you do that task? In a recent test, of 126 jobs advertised as available in a large city, an employment organisation found that the actual number of jobs fulfilling the search criteria was 10! When there are so many “false” or repeat job adverts, and when it is so easy to CV fish, is it any wonder that you chances of success via a job board can drop as low as 2%?

Job Search: conclusion

So, what type of job search are you undertaking? Statistics from various parts of the world show that a majority of job seekers focus most of their efforts in responding to job adverts from recruiters, newspapers or spending their time on job boards, where at best their average chance of success if 15% or less. Yet, over three quarter of jobs fulfilled in the past year have never been advertised, of which at least half of them are open for application from job seekers who just have to put in a little effort and know a few simply learnt tactics.

For instance, one job search tactic takes: 1second to understand; 1minute to learn; and within 5minutes applied to take your job search success in responding to job adverts from 15% or less to 35% or greater. Yet most would just prefer to go on proving the well known and proven job search results that they and others have always achieved.

The job search: what type is yours? Good Luck!

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CV Writing Service

With competition in the Job Search market increasing, and job seekers wanting to secure a good position in a suitable time scale, the demand for a Professional CV Writing Service has increased.

But, when price differentials between the UK CV Writers and those in North America or Europe are compared, what are many Job Seekers actually buying in their chosen CV Writing Service?

CV Writing UK

There are three basic forms of CV Writing Service:

• CV Typing: former or existing secretaries and competent typists who take a set of often faxed hand written notes and combine them with a downloaded CV Template into a typed CV. These services most often offer printed paper format CV’s as optional extras. Expect to pay around £30 or less
• Professional CV Writers: there are a growing number of Professional CV Writers in the UK. But, unlike North America where there are three competing bodies in CV writing alone which accredit Professional Resume Writers through testing, there is presently no such body in the UK. Most therefore tend to be creative writers or copy writers who have entered the employment market place as another place in which to use their skills. Expect to pay £50 and above
• Employment Professionals: many employment professionals, from either a recruitment, Human Resources or employment background, provide CV Writing Services. This is the fastest expanding part of the market, although the largest number of providers are still CV Typists. Prices start from £75 and upwards, but still low compared to similarly skilled North American providers which start from $150

There are also a large number of part time providers who use the newly evolving Contract and bidding service websites to provide occasional CV Writing and additional income. But all services are charged up front, as in essence CV Writing is factually orientated creative communications.

What CV Writing Service?

With the diverse number of CV Writings Services, the question is: what do they provide, and why the price differential?

The market is still dominated by singular operators, often home based, over the three largest company based providers. The service demands of the job seekers means that most UK CV Writing Services are orientated around:

• Taking your career history
• Interviewing you for 30mins or more to understand what you want to do next
• Creating in 24hours or less a draft CV

This approach panders to the Job Board orientated modern employment market, where by recently redundant or unemployed job seekers wish to gain work as quickly as possible.

CV Writing Tips

But, in a recent experiment, an employment professional body took 20 job seekers to find the affect of CV Writing. 10 were given a CV Writing Service, while 10 were trained in how best to apply for jobs, using their existing CV.

The results showed that both groups did equally as well, but that the affect for either group was multiplied five fold when both aspects – a CV Writing Service and guidance on how best to apply for jobs – were combined.

Hence, if all you are shopping for is a CV Writing Service, expect your job seeking results to improve, but probably not as dramatically as you may wish.

Professional CV Writing Service

If you look at the headline price of any CV Writing Service, it should be easy to understand the level of expertise you will be engaging with.

After taking away a profit margin and overhead costs of one third, and the minimum three hours time required to take your career history and place it into a standard CV format, you can see that any service charging £30 or less will be employing people on UK minimum wage. If that is the skills level you are happy with, then at least you are now aware of the choice you are making the results should expect.

To engage a full time CV writer or Employment professional, expect to pay around £50 for a two page Professional CV. When taken into account with the results of the recent study, ask to speak to the actual person who will be writing your CV so that you know you will be happy with the engagement.

If you want a Professional CV Writing Service, then look for CV Services which provide additional information and guidance to you as a job seeker. Worry less about free rewrites and the quality of the paper printouts, and focus more about how they help you with guides and advice on how best to use your new Professional CV in getting the job you want.

Good Luck!

===================================================================

If you need an interview winning solution, sign-up for our Professional CV service

If you want to check the suitability of your existing CV, then get a FREE CV review

===================================================================

St David’s Day Sale!

As we are a Welsh based organisation, it seems only appropriate that we have our first sale celebrating St David’s Day!

St Davids Day

Saint David’s Day (Welsh: Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Sant) is the feast day of Saint David, the patron saint of Wales, and falls on 1 March each year. The date of March 1st was chosen in remembrance of the death of Saint David on that day in 589, and has been celebrated by followers since then. The date was declared a national day of celebration within Wales in the 18th century.

A poll conducted for Saint David’s Day in 2006 found that 87% of the Welsh wanted it to be a bank holiday, with 65% prepared to sacrifice a different bank holiday to ensure this. A petition in 2007 to make St. David’s Day a bank holiday was rejected by the then British Prime Minister, Tony Blair.

Our first sale!

Yes, our first sale, for three reasons:

• ^· It is Wales national day (and our motorcycle riding boss has a secret love of daffodils)
• ^· As Tony Blair wouldn’t give us Welsh a Bank Holiday
• ^· As the UK economy is picking up even quicker, but the chances of employment will probably fall after the 2010 UK General Election and the effects of the already announced emergency budget

The sale is on our Interview Guaranteed Professional CV, with a discount voucher issued for each new joiner to our newsletter. The voucher gives a 12% reduction, and using the service means you could be enjoying your new job offer within the next four weeks.

The discount vouchers will be issued to all new Newsletter registrants from now until 12:00 on Monday, 8^th March.
So don’t delay, sign up today:

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If you want to check the suitability of your existing CV, then get a FREE CV review

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Why recruiters reject you

As a recruiter, it some times surprises me when job applicants and job seekers complain about being rejected by recruiters.

They some how think that we are a personal service, and therefore should always care about them, by:

• Acknowledging their communication
• Always calling them on the telephone, no matter how they applied for our advertised job
• Giving them full and frank reasons for rejection, and hence….
• Another opportunity at another job

Having not been a recruiter all of my life, I have some sympathy with this position. As a job seeker, you will be applying for positions advertised by both employers and recruiters, and you will be wondering why some treat you one way, and others another way. In fact, the long term job seekers will know that the difference between the best employers and the best recruiters is quite small but distinct, while the worst are just – the worst!

So, why would a recruiter reject you?

Recruiter motivations

The first insight into recruiting is not that recruiters are driven by people, but by money. The average placement fee in the UK market is around 15% of basic salary at the present time, while management and executive recruiters drift upwards from that level to around 30%. Head hunters fees start from 30% of total package, to two times total package for a FTSE CEO. Yes, the head hunter could get paid more than the CEO of a FTSE company in his first two years of employment!

Once you understand money is the prime driver, then everything else becomes clearer.

Hence the second insight into recruiting is the tightness of interpretation of the client brief. If I send a job applicant that I have chosen in front of a client, I am not just sending a job applicant in front of my client, but also my reputation and hence my future income stream. With this in mind, and being driven by money, do I want: good, great or excellent candidates in front of my client? Right, I want the best. So if I want the best, I am going to interpret any job applicants for both suitability to do the job and their ability to represent and develop my brand reputation in front of my client. Hence, all recruiters but particularly head hunters at a managerial and executive level will have tighter criteria for candidate selection than employers

Thirdly, recruiters live in the NOW. Driven by money with open client briefs on one side, the quicker those briefs are fulfilled, the quicker the recruiter gets paid. Hence, you see a job advert, you think – not know, just think – you could do that job, and apply. The recruiter applies their (tighter) brief, and rejects you. Do they save your CV for later, or give you a call to say “Hey, thanks for your application, but on this occasion…” No, most do not. We do save the CV’s of all job applicants, but most recruiters do not because they live wholly in the now. You are suitable now for that brief, you get engaged in the process; you are not suitable, and you get rejected, and never hear from the recruiter again

Three recruiters and out rule

The fourth reason for rejection is a little more subtle, but well worth understanding. For those recruiters and mainly head hunters who retain CV’s of all job applicants, the key they will want to know is your availability on a regular basis moving forward. These recruiters will call you, but it won’t be the recruiter who fronts the client, but a person called a researcher. These are important people in your future relationship with that recruitment or head hunting company.

Researchers have multiple briefs to find candidates, and are not wholly driven by money. But, researchers want job seekers who are new, fresh and communicative. Researchers make their money by providing lists of vetted job applicants to recruiters, who are then further vetted before being passed onto the client. If the recruitment company has taken a specific brief in a competitive situation against another recruiter, the key question the researcher will ask you is:
How many other jobs have you applied for, or sent you CV to recruitment companies?

If you answer three or more, then however suitable for the job you applied for you are, you will be rejected. Why? Because it is likely you have sprayed your CV around much like water, and now it has the same value to a recruiter. Only job applicants who are: clear about what they want to do; are communicative; and don’t show signs of desperation, which would include spraying your CV around; will get engaged by recruiters. The fourth recruiter you send you CV to, will go through the motions, but most likely reject you.

How to handle recruiters

You may be asking yourself after reading this far: is it worth dealing with recruiters?

Yes, because often they will take more difficult to fulfil or sensitive jobs that a companies HR or managerial teams just don’t want the companies logo spread all over. Hence, they tend to be higher paying jobs.

Now that you know how recruiters work, and why you will be rejected, how can you handle recruiters to make sure you don’t get rejected?

Firstly, be clear and focused about what you want to do next. Any Job Will Do syndrome will get you into a longer and longer employment cycle

Secondly, don’t spray your CV around like water. Be cautious of posting it.

Thirdly, don’t engage with any old person who calls you/networks and calls themselves a recruiter. Test them out, and ask a few questions: how long has this organisation been a client of theirs; how many briefs have they had from this client before/how many people placed; what is their brief for this job; how many job applicants/CV’s will they put forward; when does the client want a person in place; how/when will they get paid. Some feel that last question is too arrogant, but if they are asking your pay or package requirements, and you know they live in the now, then knowing what and when they get paid equates to motivation.

Fourthly, when they ask for your CV, offer them your LinkedIn profile. If they press, offer them a coffee. Remember the three CV’s and out rule! This tactic also means you appear cautious, and hence a sought after “passive” job seeker.

Recruiters are a great asset to the jobs and employment market place, adding value in a specialist area that is based on human relationships and business results. But fail to engage properly and you will get rejected, quickly.

Good Luck!

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If you want to check the suitability of your existing CV, then get a FREE CV review

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UK Unemployment: an issue of immigration or education?

The BBC had two excellent programmes shown last night, which addressed the key 2010 UK general Election issue of immigration.

The first was Evans Davies programme on BBC1 titled The day the immigrants left; the second was BBC2’s Newsnight investigation into the Education Visa issue.

The day the immigrants left

Evan Davis went to Wisbeach in Suffolk to raise the question, could British unemployed workers take over work currently undertaken by immigrant foreign workers? The migrant workers being replaced were mainly EU Eastern European migrants, plus the staff of a local Indian restaurant.

Three presently unemployed workers were sent to a potato packing factory, where only two turned up: the third considered it work below him. Three were sent to an asparagus picking farm, where all three turned up: and produced at best half the productivity of the mainly Lithuanian workforce. Four agreed to work in a locally well established “Indian” (actually, Bangladeshi like most in the UK are) restaurant: two didn’t turn up for work on day one, three failed on day2, and the fourth made it half way through day2. The final placement was of skilled carpenter who replaced a Lithuanian team on a wall lining job in a refurbished property, where he did such a good job (according to the Landlord; not according to the Lithuanian man he replaced as he used nails over screws) that he was eventually retained for two weeks over the nominal two day trial.

So, of the 12 positions created by the BBC which over 200 people applied for, the chosen twelve only turned up 68% of the time. One wonders why British employers like turn up on time, more productive and cheaper foreigners?

English Education Visa

BBC Newsnight investigated the apparent fraudulent and unauthorised issuing of Visa Letters (not visa’s!) by West London based Gateway 2 UK Education. For a sum of £200 on two occasions in early February, Newsnight obtained two Visa Letters, which nominally when sent with a proof of funds letters would gain a foreign student the required nominal 40points for an officially authorised education visa for entry into the UK.

As the story developed, it became clear that a legitimate UK private college that had been owned by a succession of “front” people was being used as a source of fraudulent Visa Letters, issued by one of its own administration staff. With the full co-operation of the former owner of the business and the current head of the college, the BBC collected 160+ fraudulent Visa Letters – all nicely and timely delivered by DHL.

In a later debate on the programme with Immigration Minister Phil Woolas (he of the media dressing down by Joanna Lumley), and shadow Damian Green, Kirtsy Walk got stuck in what was at its low point “lively” and its highest point uncontrolled/antagonistic debate which Woolas kept interrupting. The BBC were quite clear on their time scales, obtaining their Visa Letters on the 3^rd and 5^th of February, while the UK Borders and Immigration Authority only suspended the colleges ability to issues authorised Visa Letters on the 18^th of February. As always Mr Woollas, check your facts!

This is a next-stage immigration issue to “ghost” colleges which Woolas cleared up in the majority last year by rightly shutting 2,000 colleges. But fraud in existing/legitimate colleges over ghost was again missed (ignored? Bulldozed actually…) by Woolas in the debate.

Employment: education

The reason for writing this blog post was three fold:

1. Its employment related
2. Its highly topical
3. Immigration will be a key issue for the 2010 UK General Election. It will be a core policy for each of the main parties over how they will improve/tighten/repel immigrants to the UK. I really fear but expect to see the political debate go to the latter point as we near May 6^th

But some of the key issues in the Newsnight debate are key for UK employment, and the debate on immigration:

• The potato factory manager pointed out that if the were compelled to employ less productive and hence more costly British workers, then from a production cost view point they would deploy more automation. British jobs for British workers becomes British jobs for robots – much like they do in Japan, or any other high-cost economy
• The asparagus farmer pointed out that if he had to employ less productive British workers, then he wouldn’t be in business. There would not be alternate work, just no work
• The debate in the Newsnight studio moved to the Governments “back to work” programmes. I would agree with the unemployed worker from Davies programme who joined the debate: I am not sure that these are working as well as they could, or why would long term unemployment be rising in the last set of unemployment figures?

The final point from the Newsnight studio debate was quite simple: the UK needs a better educated workforce. The fact that the number of educated people under the Governments own measuring system (five or more GCSE’s at grade C and above) has fallen by 2% in the last 13years: says a lot above the effectiveness of the investment made. Tony Blair’s promise of “education, education and education” as the key priority doesn’t seem to be born out by the results: either graduating from school; or into the workplace.

I don’t think business people should get involved in politics: we simply have wider agendas than one party could accommodate. But as citizens it is our place to get involved in political debate.

My conclusion from watching both programmes: that the scale of the long term UK unemployment problem is a result of poor education over a lack of opportunity. The jobs the foreign workers are doing exist because it makes that business production model the most economic to create the lowest factory gate price at the best quality. That’s business! But leaving the barn doors of the borders open means we have a country which will not develop as quickly as it should, either economically or productivity/creatively.

If I had to pick a single agenda item for the UK General Election in 2010, it would be the same one: education, education, and education.

Good Luck!

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Job Application: employer direct

As a recruiter, of course I would always prefer that as a job seeker you come to me over going to an employer to find a job. I get paid a fee for vetting out the unsuitable job applications, and reduce the time an employer takes to fill a job.

But I actually make more money in hard to fill positions, and employers are making more use of new Social Media. So more job seekers and potential employees are going direct: our are they?

Job application: jobs boards

Many job seekers find that the job they thought they were ideally qualified for in actual fact is advertised by a recruiter. In fact, in a recent straw poll, I found over 60% of the jobs on a well known jobs board were recruiter advertised over employer direct.

As I have said before, recruiters have tighter tolerances and a different view to an employer over who could fulfil a position. While both have the same core brief and view:

• Employers – are happy to accept less than ideal qualified candidates who could become a long term employee
• Recruiters – think as much about their future income as they do about the ability for the candidate to deliver results from day1.

Hence, many job seekers find if they apply via job boards to what are often recruiter advertised posts, they are rejected.

Job Application: quick

How do you solve this job seeking problem? Go direct, and try to avoid the jobs boards! One reason that so many jobs end up advertised on jobs boards is the cost of collecting CV’s for future roles, or those skills which know the market is short off. Jobs boards don’t do themselves any favours by competing on price, and hence the cost of that ideal job advert you see could be as low as zero to the recruiter/employer! Job boards often offer special deals for either new clients or repeat posts, and hence the effective cost of advertising could be zero.

When the cost is zero, you can see how 60% of jobs on a jobs board end up as recruiter adverts.

Job Application: employer direct

In example:
David, a part-qualified financial planner, asks: How do I find jobs direct with employers without going through recruitment agencies? I am fed up with being rejected. can you tell me where I can find many finance jobs where I do not have to go through recruitment agencies and can submit my CV for jobs directly to the employer?

In answer:
The key here is to make a direct job application to the employer and have a conversation, over using an anonymous internet process in which you will will be rejected.

Firstly, do some research. Define the job you want/are skilled for, and the geography in which you wish to work. Then – and here’s the useful use for job boards in a job search – see how many of those types of jobs you can find posted. less than 20, and you need to widen your job specification or geography.

Once you find your job search is possible, now make a list of target employers. Use free resources like Yell.com, Kelly’s Directory and your local newspaper: spot for the job adverts or read the business section. From this you need a list of around 50 potential employers.

Now go to the websites of each listed employer and see if they have an employment section. If they have posts advertised, then don’t fall back into the anonymous job seekers trap, by applying online. Either call first using a Telephone Interview technique called the Informational Interview, or even better attend some local networking events for the local professional society, in your case an IFA society or group.

If you can not make contact this way, either because you are remote, then see if you can use Social Media to make an online inside contact via a website like LinkedIn.

Going direct to employers make a lot of sense.

Good Luck!

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Workplace Bullying

This weekends launch of a new version of a book by political journalist Andrew Rawnsley, and the relaunch of the Observer in a new format, all in the year of a UK general election have brought to the front pages of many newspapers the issues of Workplace Bullying.

But, unfortunately the political tones and repercussions in a general election year, plus the address and behaviour of the main players, has tilted the debate towards politics and media intervention over bullying in the workplace

Political bullying

Lets start with the basics, before we get into what happened on Sunday 21^st February 2010. Journalist Andrew Rawnsley re launches his book, which focuses on the 13 years (so far) of Labour power in the UK. He has added sections which focus on the term of Gordon Brown as Prime Minister, which includes some input on Gordon Brown’s well politically documented temper. But Rawnsley steps a little further ahead and alleges he has solid sources.

On Saturday 20^th February, Labour (unofficially) launches its 2010 election campaign with a slogan “A fair future for all!” The day after Rawnsley launches his book with much media coverage, thanks to the relaunch of the Observer. Hence the next headline is a set of denials from both the Cabinet Office and the Labour party denying the allegation.

By midday, the political journalists have spotted the holes in both set of responses – no investigation, but no denial of a conversation between Cabinet Office Secretary Sir Gus O’Donell and Prime Minister Gordon Brown. This results in a second set of press releases or repress releases from again both the Cabinet Office and the Labour Party tightening their positions.

National Bullying Helpline

Come late afternoon, and the media cameras have moved to the home of Christine Pratt, founder of the National Bullying Helpline. She appeared earlier in the day in interview to Adam Boulton on SkyNews, alleging that the fist set of denials by the Cabinet Office and the Labour Party were incorrect, and that the charity had been contacted on 3 or 4 occasions with issues associated with 10 Downing Street.

This results in a third set of press releases or repress releases from again both the Cabinet Office and the Labour Party tightening their positions, with private briefings suggesting that the charities position was politically motivated. They also state that there are procedures for dealing with such issues.

By today, Monday 22^nd, the politics and media scrutiny of the politics has overtaken the issues of bullying. Professor Cary Cooper resigns as a patron of the charity, Former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith rebukes Pratt for opening one of her constituents to the media, and Pratt’s local Labour MP advises the media that she cut all ties to Pratt in 2008 over issues of judgement.

Workplace Bullying

It seems sad to me that the issue of workplace bullying have been lost in the whole political debate. But by that in a general election year should come as no surprise, even though Christine Pratt keeps trying to say in interviews this morning that is not the issues. She’s either politically or media naive, and I don’t know which.

The key for me comes down to: what is bullying? The Oxford English Dictionary says that it is “a person using strength or power to coerce others by fear.” If I then refer to Roget’s Thesaurus for politics tactics, it refers me to 688 Conduct, under which it notes Governance 733 with the words: lifemanship, gamesmanship, one-upmanship.

So, politics is a game of one-upmanship, and bullying is an issue of strength or power coercion. If you place a man with a well-documented short temper and high drive in the highest political office, should we be surprised that some working around him interprets this as bullying? I don’t think so either, not that in any way that I am accusing Gordon Brown of being a bully. It’s a matter of workplace environment and perspective.

Bullying environment

All bullying personally is an issue of environment and personal perspective. I don’t know any boss – myself included – who hasn’t been accused of bullying at some point in their career. Sorry, but it comes with the territory, when one person feels that they are not being heard or not making the progress that they want to be.

Is this an excuse then to reject it? I hope not, much like the debate around what does go on in 10 Downing Street has moved on to politics.

Much as though I do believe that all bosses have to accept that personal perspective of some employees at some times will lead them to accuse the boss of being a bully, there is real issue here.

There are bullying bosses, and there are bullying workplace environments. The reason they exist is because bosses feel the power, and want to exert it over everything in their environment. Then the line managers pick up on this “what’s OK” culture, and it all filters down. I am a great believer in the trickle down theory, and this is one of the pieces of evidence.

The problem with workplace bullying comes when it goes unnoticed, or known but unaddressed. That’s why we should all be supporting the National Bullying Helpline as a way in which such affected employees can get out from workplace hell, over the numerous I see seeking new opportunities because they didn’t get on with their boss. However, those in employment they enjoy and are good at but feel bullied probably now won’t engage the charity because of the media attraction it has gained through Christine Pratt’s poor timing judgement and naivety. Cary Cooper is right in his resignation statement that she has wrongfully broken confidences.

Workplace Bullying advice

If you are in a situation where you think you are being bullied, what should you do?

The best guide I could find was at Direct.gov.uk, which states:

• Before taking action – speak to a friend or trusted work colleague
• What to do if you are bullied at work – Employers have a ‘duty of care’ to their employees and this includes dealing with bullying at work
• Get advice – Speak to someone about how you might deal with the problem informally, such as: employee representative (ie: trade union); human resources department
• Talk to the bully
• Keep a written record or diary
• Making a formal complaint – if you are getting no where, and still feel bullied, then make a formal complaint

It is a great pity today that the message of workplace bullying has been lost in the politics. But then in an election year, what did we expect?

Good Luck!

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