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Whatever your reason for your career break, whether it’s due to redundancy, caring for a loved one, or travelling, getting back into the job market can seem a bit daunting! Here are some tips that could help you to start on your new job search journey, and stand clear from the crowd of other applicants.

1. Stocktake Your Place in the Job Market

• Put aside some time to really take stock of where you are in your life and, in an ideal world, how you see your future. In reality, you may need to take ‘a job’ to pay the bills in the short-term. However, if you know your longer-term goals, you’re more likely to plan for success and achieve your dreams.
• Don’t just assume that you should look for a new job in the same industry or role that you’ve always had. With the recent changes in the job market, the kind of work that you were doing may no longer exist.
• This could be the opportunity to do something really different or move into a new career. If you’ve always had a dream about changing your working life, this could be the time to fulfil it.

2. Transferable Skills

• When we’re looking for a new role, we tend to think about the skills and experience we’ve gained throughout our careers. While these are of course important, there are many other aspects of our lives where we gain skills that can be valued by an employer.
• Think as broadly as you can about skills from family life, through voluntary work, or even from your hobbies. For example, if you play a team sport, you are literally demonstrating that you’re a team player!
• Changing your mindset can change the way you define yourself. For example, ‘I have time management skills’, ‘I’m able to manage staff in a pressurised environment’, or ‘I have financial management skills’. These are the types of transferable skills you can take with you into any role.

3. Confidence

• You can have all the skills and experience a potential employer is looking for, but if you don’t have the confidence to believe that you can succeed, you’re setting yourself up for failure before you even start. 
• If we constantly put barriers in our way, our chances of realising that potential get reduced as each barrier goes up. Culturally we tend to underplay our achievements. This is not the time to do that! If you’ve personally been responsible for a success in your job, don’t be afraid to take credit for it and tell your potential new employer about it.
• If you’ve been offered an interview, this should be a huge boost to your self-confidence. Your potential employer has seen something in you, so you should have the belief to see that in yourself as well. If you use that confidence, and prepare properly for your interview, you’ll give yourself the best chance for success.

4. Research

• Once you’ve got a clearer idea about what you would like to do and the skills and experience you can bring to an employer, start looking at job sites and job advertisements. This will help you to identify the kinds of jobs that you’d be interested in and see if your skills match what’s being asked for.
• It will also give you a good idea of the kinds of jobs where demand for more staff is growing, and the types of companies that are recruiting.
• Once you’ve done your research, this can help you to be more focussed with the next stage of marketing yourself and actually applying for jobs.

5. Marketing Yourself in the Job Market

• In a competitive job market you need to be really clear on what it is that makes you different from all the other applicants.
• Once you know what makes you unique, you’ll be able to market yourself more effectively and target those jobs and companies where you believe you’ll have the greatest chance of success.
• While it’s really important to be confident, it’s equally important to be realistic. Looking for work can be a full-time job in itself, so you need to focus your effort on activity that is likely to give you the most reward.
• Make sure that you have the right tools to help you market yourself to potential employers. A well thought through, up to date CV is probably your most important tool. A strong LinkedIn profile and social media presence are good ways to let people know what you have to offer. Also, to build networks of people who may be able to help you to find your dream job.

If you’ve found these tips for getting back into the job market useful and would like help with CV writing, your cover letter, LinkedIn profile, job applications or to improve your interview techniques, please get in touch.

We’ve seen in recent months a Government drive to help those aged 50 and over to re-join the jobs market. However, older workers can face a number of challenges when job hunting. From age discrimination, to being told they’re over-qualified and have too much experience. Or, on the contrary, of having too little experience if they’re looking to change career. Against this background, here are some job hunting tips for over-50s to make that search more successful.

Choose the right job

Over the last couple of years many people have either chosen, or been forced, to reconsider their careers and what they want for the future. For some, they’ll have decided on a complete change of career, which may involve retraining or gaining new qualifications. For others, it might be to find a less demanding role that’ll take them through to retirement. Whatever route is taken, it’s important to consider a number of questions in order to choose the right job.

• How long would it take to become fully qualified if needed?
• What are the financial implications? Is it financially viable to work in a lower paid job?
• If you’ve previously been working in the private sector, would you consider working in the public sector, and vice versa?
• Is taking a temporary job or fixed term contract, rather than a permanent job, an option?
• Would flexible working be possible if you have caring responsibilities?

Identify skills gaps

• Once you’re clear about the direction you want to take for your next job, this will help you to identify any skills gaps. Remember that you have transferable skills, not only from previous jobs, but from non-work activities, such as hobbies or voluntary work. Make sure you take these into account.
• You may need to take training courses or gain new qualifications to fill these gaps, or because they’re an essential requirement for particular roles.
• Think about how long it could take to retrain and the financial implications. Be realistic about whether you can bridge the skills gap between where you are now, and where you’d like to be with your career. How much time, effort and money are you prepared to invest?

Gain practical experience

• In a highly competitive market place, having a qualification might not be enough for an employer. They’ll want to know that you can apply any academic learning into their business or organisation.
• If you’re planning to change career, consider whether there are other steps, apart from a qualification, you’ll need to take to achieve your goal. For example, will you need to take an entry level role to gain some practical experience?
• Consider doing unpaid or voluntary work relevant to your new career to show that you have some practical experience.
• If you have a plan of what you need to do, and when, you’re more likely to be successful.

Marketing yourself

• Older workers generally have the advantage of having more work experience than other groups, in addition to a wealth of life experience. Use this as a starting point in thinking about how to market yourself to a potential employer.
• Your CV is your key tool to demonstrate your skills, experience and achievements. It’s therefore important to make sure that it’s well written and concise. It should ideally be no more than 2 pages long. It only needs to cover the last 10 – 12 years of your career. If you’re changing career, make sure that you highlight transferable skills that show you’re a good fit for the role you’re applying for. Include relevant non-work activities such as volunteering or hobbies, as well.
• Using social media and networking are excellent ways to find work. A lot of jobs aren’t advertised, and getting a recommendation from someone who knows you will always be to your advantage. Make sure that you have an up to date LinkedIn profile. Not only is this a good way to build your contacts, but recruitment agencies also use this site to search for candidates.
• Once you have a strong CV you can use this as the basis to complete job applications. Avoid copying and pasting. Make sure that you tailor the information to demonstrate that you can meet the specific requirements of each role.

Be proactive in addressing concerns

• One of the key job hunting tips for over-50s is to address concerns in a positive way ‘up front’. Answer the questions before they’re asked, so potential employers can see that you’re aware they might have concerns. For example, if you’re applying for an entry level job to gain experience for your new career, make this clear in your CV, cover letter or application form. Acknowledge that you might be considered as being over qualified for the job, but explain the reason why you’re applying for it.
• Check your social media presence to make sure you’re conveying the right message. You want to highlight that you can be flexible and are happy to embrace change.
• Make sure you go into your job search with the right mental attitude. Ways of working have changed massively and are unlikely to return to pre-Covid practices. You might think that the way you’ve done things in the past is the best way, but most employers won’t want to be told that. Show that you’re open minded and ready to take on new ways of thinking and working.

If you’ve found these job hunting tips for over-50s useful and would like support with CV writing, cover letters, LinkedIn profile, job applications or interview techniques, please get in touch. We’d be very happy to talk to you about the services we have to offer.

The economy and the job market has changed a lot over the last 3 years There are traditional roles in some sectors that may no longer be required, and there are new roles and sectors that are growing in response to these changes. When looking for your next role, identifying your transferable skills can be more important than ever in this changing world.

If you’re actively job hunting, or facing the prospect of unemployment, it could mean considering a change of career. The more open minded you can be about roles you’d be interested in, and organisations you’d like to work for, the greater your chances of success in finding a new job. Being open minded is the first step. Identifying your transferable skills is the next step that will help you be proactive in your job search.

Here are some tips on how to identify your transferable skills to show a potential employer your uniqueness in a crowded career market.

5. Research career paths that match your skills

Identifying your transferable skills will truly give you an understanding of what you have to offer a potential employer. Not only will it help increase your self-confidence, but it will also strengthen your CV and LinkedIn profile, give focus to job applications and improve how you perform at interview.

Take a skills assessment and find out about careers that might be right for you through the National Careers Service

https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/skills-assessment.

If you’ve found these tips useful and would like help with CV writing, your cover letter, LinkedIn profile, job applications or to improve your interview techniques, please get in touch.

ATS stands for Applicant Tracking System. It’s a piece of software that many recruiters use to carry out a first review of CVs. This means that your CV needs to pass the test of a mechanical process before it’s seen by a person. Research by Capterra found that 75% of recruiters use some form of ATS. To get your CV through to the next stage, it’s therefore very important to understand how these systems work. We look at how ATS affects your CV and the steps to take to make your CV ATS friendly.

1. Keywords: give the employer what they are asking for

• It can be tempting to include information in your CV that the employer isn’t asking for in the specific role you’re applying for
• ATS will look for keywords and is more likely to reject those CV where there isn’t a match
• Look carefully at the information you’ve been given about the job. Identify the keywords. Make sure that your CV contains evidence that you have the skills and experience being asked for
• Write your CV based on the keywords that the employer is asking for, not on what you want to say. These can be quite different things!
• To have the best opportunity for your CV not to be rejected by ATS, tailor your CV to each job you apply for

2. Use the exact language in the job description

• Not only do you need to provide evidence of your relevant skills and experience, you should also mirror the words used in the job description
• For example, if a requirement is to be able to deal with people in “an engaging and communicative manner”, use these exact words in your CV
• Do this in a way that will not just pass the ATS test. It also needs to make sense to the recruiter when they read your CV

3. Include the exact job title

• Ideally the job title of your current, or previous roles, will match that of the job you’re applying for
• Be mindful that different employers might use slightly different names for the same job, so use the job title given in the job description
• If you haven’t worked in a role with that job title before, then you could include it if you’ve reported to someone with that title
• You could also say that you’re aspiring to work in a role with that job title, or you’re developing your experience to reach that level

4. Format

• Keep the format simple, with clearly defined sections
• Include a section for your Personal Profile and Areas of Expertise (hard and soft skills)
• List your career experience chronologically, starting with the most recent first
• Use bullet points to make it easier for ATS to “read” your CV
• Submit your CV in Word, rather than PDF, as it’s more ATS friendly

5. Think about your audience

• Although it’s really important to write your CV in a way that will pass the ATS test, don’t forget that ultimately you want it to be read by a person
• Avoid making your CV so ATS friendly that when it reaches a recruiter it won’t make sense, or give them the level of detail they need
• Remember, on the whole, a recruiter will only take a few seconds to decide whether to put your CV on the ‘yes’ or ‘no’ pile, so don’t fail at this stage of the process

We hope you found these tips useful. If you’d like support with CV writing, cover letters, LinkedIn profile, job applications or interview techniques, please get in touch. We’d be very happy to talk to you about the services we have to offer.

The world has changed over the last 3 years, including the economy and the job market. Whether this means redundancy, more opportunities to work from home, or a growth in some sectors and a decline in others. Has this made you feel that it’s time for changing career?

If you’re ready to take that leap, here are some tips on changing career, both in the short term and for the future.

Find the Link

• When you’re changing career, you may not have the skills and experience to walk straight into your dream job. You need to find the link from where you are now, to where you want to be.
• Start by identifying some transferable skills that can be used in a broad range of jobs. For example, if you want to move to an office based job, admin is something that is common in a lot of work. You probably have admin experience without even knowing it.
• You need to be methodical and identify what elements there were in each of your previous roles that relate to the jobs you apply for. The pool of jobs available will be larger if you don’t choose a niche skill, so you’re more likely to be successful. On the flip side, there’ll probably be less people applying for these kinds of roles.
• Think about other experience that might be relevant to the company and make you stand out from other applicants. For example, if you’re applying for a job in an IT company and your hobby is designing websites, include this in your application. It’ll show the employer you have relevant skills and a genuine interest in IT.

Transferable Skills

• Identifying your transferable skills will truly give you an understanding of what you have to offer a potential employer.
• Don’t dismiss your life skills. When we’re looking for a new role, we tend to think about the skills and experience we’ve gained throughout our careers. These are of course important. However, there are many other aspects of our lives where we gain skills that will be valued by an employer.
• Think as broadly as you can about skills from family life, through voluntary work, or even from your hobbies. For example, if you play a team sport, you are literally demonstrating that you’re a team player!
• Think about the way you define yourself. When describing themselves, most people will define themselves by their job titles. People will say ‘I’m a chef’, or ‘I’m an accountant’. Rather than thinking in that very restricted way, by changing your mindset, you can change the way you define yourself. For example, ‘I have time management skills’. ‘I’m able to manage staff in a pressurised environment’, or ‘I have financial management skills’. These are the types of transferable skills you can take with you into any role.
• Research the transferable skills employers value. Spend some time looking at job vacancies, whether these are advertised in newspapers, on job sites or by agencies. This will give you a feel for the kinds of skills employers are looking for. These may be skills such as problem solving, creative thinking, or communication.
• Make a list of the 10 skills that come up most often, then think about examples of transferable skills that you could demonstrate to an employer. This will also help you to understand which are your strongest skills, based on the number of examples you can find for each one. You can then use this information to target your job search on roles that best fit your strongest skills.

Have a Plan

• You need to be realistic about the time it could take for you to reach your ultimate career goal. It could take years, so have a plan with the steps that you’re going to take to make sure you stay on track. Set yourself targets.
• You might need to start by working in an entry level job for 12 – 18 months to give you some initial experience to put on your CV.
• You can train or gain a qualification while you’re working, either through your employer, or by distance learning that you fund yourself. Make sure you research the training providers for your course and that the qualification has an accreditation that will be recognised by future employers.
• Depending on the course, it might take you a number of years to become qualified. As you get more theoretical knowledge from studying, you should be looking for your next role that will give you more practical experience and take you further towards your end goal.

Think Outside the Box

• You might have skills from hobbies, or things that you learnt when you were younger, but haven’t used for a long time. Think about how you can make these work for you now to support your change of career.
• You might have to do something in the short term that you don’t enjoy very much, but it’ll give you some time to look for the job that’ll start you on your new career path. On the other hand, you might find that you enjoy it much more than your old job. It could lead to a whole new change in direction for your career.
• When changing career, friends, family and people in your social networks can all be a good way to find roles. These could be jobs that you hadn’t even thought about before, or wouldn’t normally have access to. Don’t be hesitant to let people know about your situation and ask for help. The more people who know, the greater your chances of success.

Tap into Recruitment Agencies

• Not all jobs are advertised, so even if you’re using job websites, you could still be missing out on opportunities. Recruitment agencies will have relationships with local businesses and organisations, and have access to vacancies as they arise. These could be temporary, contract, fixed term or permanent roles.
• Taking a temp job can be a good way to find an entry point to start your new career. There are usually fewer hurdles to overcome than when you’re applying for a permanent job. Also, employers tend to want someone in the job quickly, so you shouldn’t have a long wait to get started. Another benefit is that once you’re in the company, you have the opportunity to show your employer how good you are at your job. Temp roles often lead to a permanent job because the employer can see the value you’re bringing to their company.
• The Recruitment & Employment Confederation provides tools for jobseekers and information on what recruitment agencies can offer.

If you’ve found these tips on changing career useful and would like support with CV writing, cover letters, LinkedIn profile, job applications or interview techniques, please get in touch. We’d be very happy to talk to you about the services we have to offer.