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Can You Follow Instructions

Can you follow the instructions? Quiz

I often use this fun quiz at the beginning of a group session for  “completing applications forms”

See if you can complete all the questions in under 3 minutes-most cannot. You will need to print this quiz before starting:

Time Limit: 3 minutes

CAN YOU FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS?

1. Read all that follows before doing anything.

2. Write your name in the upper right hand corner of this page.

3. Circle the word “corner” in sentence two.

4. Draw five small squares in the upper left hand corner of this page.

5. Put an “X” on each square.

6. Put a circle around each square.

7. Sign your name under line 5.

8. After your name, write “yes, yes, yes.”

9. Put a circle around number 7.

10. Put an “X” in the lower left hand corner of this page.

11. Draw a triangle around the “X” you just made.

12. Call out your first name when you get to this point in the test.

13. If you think that you have followed directions carefully to this point, call out, “I have

14. On the reverse side of this paper add 6950 and 9805.

15. Put a circle around your answer.

16. Count out loud, in your normal speaking voice, from 10 to 1.

17. Put three small pin or pencil holes in the top of this page.

18. If you are the first person to get this far, yell out, “I am the first person to get to this spot and I am the leader in following directions.”

19. Say out loud, “I am nearly finished. I have followed directions.”

20. Now that you have finished reading carefully, do only those things called for in the sentences numbered 1 and 2. Did you read everything on this page before doing anything?

Hope you enjoyed and passed the quiz- Quiz author – Unknown

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How to gain an Interview from a job fair

Gain an interview from a job fair

Job fairs are held throughout the UK, being organised by recruitment and job advertisement companies as well as local councils and public service companies. Job fairs can be held for both general job roles or targeted to a specific sector.

First find out which company/sectors are attending, if even one company for the industry you are interested in is attending, then it is worth going.

Before you go to a job fair ensure you know which career and job role you are interested in. Many people gain career ideas by meeting with a qualified career advisor.

How to prepare for a job fair?

1. First, the impression you make at the job fair counts, often the same person who interviews you for a job position, will also attend the jobs fair. We all know that First impressions count.

2. Research the company you are interested in like you would for an interview. Companies are always impressed if you know something about the company’s history.

3. Check and update your CV, if you’re unsure how good your CV is, have your CV reviewed by professionals. You need to take a targeted CV to the job fair.

4. Dress smart, people make instant presumptions on your appearance.

5. Most importantly, prepare a 60-second introduction you can use with employers. Don’t make it sound too scripted, but it should quickly explain why you are attending the job fair and what you are looking for.

Example: “ Hello, my name is Dave Smith, I currently work at (Company Name) I am interested in applying for a position as a (job role) within your company, I have 3 years experience working in this field and feel that I would fit in well with your company”

How to act during the job fair.

1. Timing is everything, job fairs can be very busy and when you speak to an employer you want them to listen to your excellent prepared introduction. Wait until the employer is free and head over and introduce yourself.

2. Carry all your documents and CVs in a smart case; remember people judge you on appearances.

3. If an employer is busy talking to an employer on a different stand as they sometimes have inside information regarding the employer you really want a position with. Need careers advice?

4. Shake hands with the employer and be prepared to answer question regarding your skills and experience, like any informal or formal interviews prepare questions to ask the employer.

5. Discuss the application process and ask the employer what type of examples/skills they like to see on the application form. This way you know your application form will be targeted to each individual employer.

6. Finally, thank the employer; shake hands and move on to the next employer’s stand. Need a new CV

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I can’t get an interview

Struggling to get an interview?

Many job hunters become frustrated after applying for large numbers of job advertisements, only never to receive an interview.

As a careers advisor, I would always check how the job hunter had applied for these vacancies.

As an example you may in the main, be applying for jobs using your CV, if your CV does not gain you interviews it will either be because:

  • Your CV is not targeted to the industry you are applying for
  • The CV you use is more then 2 pages, so the employer is not reading the whole of your CV
  • You have not sent a Cover Letter with your CV; in some cases, employers see this as essential, while other employers don’t.

If you’re unsure how good your CV is, have your CV reviewed for free.

If you have a good 2 page targeted CV, with the text split up by headings and bullet points and you always send an individual tailored covering letter. Basically, your CV is great and sell’s your strengths to the fullest.

If this is the case you may need to re-look at the job positions you are applying for, as some job hunters apply for jobs out of their ability.

• Are you applying for job you feel has a large salary, compared to your ability to fulfill the role?
• Do the job roles you apply for ask for skills and experiences you do not have?

It is always good to aim high and follow your dream, as I always believe everyone can achieve their goal-sometimes you first need to overcome a couple of small barriers.

If you don’t have a career goal, you can use a career coach to help you move forward.

If your job goal is set high, you need to ask yourself if you first need to apply for a vacancy a level below your career goal? And use this as a stepping stone towards your dream career.

How to check if you are applying for job at the right level.

Pick 4-5 job adverts you have applied for and highlight with a highlighter the common skills, experiences and qualifications needed for all the job adverts. you now need to be honest with yourself, you may already know you would be a dedicated worker but if the advert is asking for a certain qualification or a certain number of years experience as an essential requirement – do you have what the employers are asking for? Be honest, as we want to increase the amount of interview you receive.

If the answer is yes, you do have the essential requirements, then you need to re-look at your CV or application forms review them.

If you answered no:

You can apply for any job and hope that your other strengths will out way the criteria you do not have, but if you have already applied for a large number of similar vacancies with a good CV or application form and you do not make it through to the interview round, if you want a different result, do something different, you may now need to re-look at the positions or salary you are applying for (the higher the salary the more strict the employer will be when it comes to flexibility around the essential criteria)

Still apply for jobs in the same industry, jobs that suit your skills and abilities and use this experience to make you more employable for future industry job roles on a higher scale.

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What is a Targeted CV?

A targeted CV

Many unsuccessful job seekers in fact will not have heard of targeted CVs, having just one CV. Often this CV is of a good standard and records the job hunter’s employment and education history. So, why do you need a targeted CV?

A targeted CV will make you more marketable.

If you’re applying for several job roles, which many job hunters do to help increase their chances of gaining employment you need to create a targeted CV. A targeted CV is a CV aimed at an individual job role and company; research has shown that targeted CVs increase offers of interviews.

First write your general CV, or if needed ask a CV writing service to write one for you. A general CV should record your contact details, personal profile, employment history, education, hobbies and your references.

Once you have a CV, read the job specification for the job you are applying for. The job specification will tell the job hunter what key skills and qualities are essential for this particular job role in this particular organisation, if you possess these essential requirements RECORD them on your CV-it’s these skills the employer is looking for, so many job hunters record information that they feel is relevant, where as the interviewer does not.

The personal profile is often the first section on the CV the employer will read, this is the section on your CV to really sell yourself. Look at the personal profile as a “sales” paragraph, why should the employer interview you? What makes you stand out from the other applicants? Before you write your personal profile, re-read the job specification and only record your transferrable skills needed for this opportunity.

How long does an employer spend reading your CV?

Need a CV writing service?

An employer can receive over 300 CVs for every advertised job role, for any organisation that is a large amount of CVs to read and time is money! In many cases employers will spend 30 seconds “skimming” through your CV quickly looking to see if you have the essential skills and qualities needed for the job role. If you do, the employer will put your CV through to the second round of the application process, spending more time dissecting your CV, helping the employer decide which 6, on average, applicants to interview for every one job position.

Unhappy with your job?

If you Enjoyed this Article, you will enjoy:

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How to get rid of gap’s in your CV

Do you have a CV with gaps in your employment history? Don’t worry, so do many other job hunters. Some gaps can be easily explained, while other normally longer gaps may not be so easy to explain.

The secret to writing a CV is to keep the CV positive, especially when explaining employment gaps. If you can not avoid the gap in employment, you should record an explanation rather than just leaving a long gap.

If you leave a gap, an employer reading your CV, will notice your employment gaps and may come to their own conclusions why you have the employment gaps.

How to get rid of gaps in employment.

1. On your employment history only record the years of employment rather than the day, month and year as this will quickly delete any small gaps of unemployment between jobs.

2. Record if you have had time off for becoming a parent or taking a gap year to travel-you can even record what skills and qualities you have gained from this experience that you can use in your new job.

3. If you have had a custodial sentence and completed any qualifications while in custody, you can record the qualifications and governing body. This will look like you have attended a training establishment. You don’t need to record criminal convictions on your CV, when completing an application form you have to answer honestly the question “do you have a criminal record” Remember with many industries you don not need to declare “spent Convictions” for more information visit the Nacro website.

4. Many people at one time throughout their career have a long term illness, leaving them with an employment gap. Explain that you have had an accident or illness and you are now completely recovered and ready for continuing with your career. I recently worked with a client who had recovered from cancer, while having treatment the client became a mentor for other cancer patients, from this he gain a wide range of skills that he could add to his CV.

5. Have you been unemployed for several years? Many job hunters find a large unemployment gap hard to explain. To overcome this type of employment gap you need to highlight any positive activities you undertaken, this could be voluntary work, attending a short course or a hobby that has given you transferable skills that will be useful to your next employer.

Need help? Use a professional CV writing service.

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Employment Opportunities

Job hunting is only hard when you don’t know how to find the job vacancies and employment opportunities. If you want to quickly increase the amount of job opportunities you can find:

1. First, use job search engines – the Internet is an important tool for job hunters. You can quickly find hundreds and thousands of job adverts by entering your job title and location into a job search engine. TIP * try inserting different job titles, as search engines are word sensitive.

2. Company WebPages – You won’t find many employers without a company webpage, in most cases companies will save money on job advertisements by advertising their own jobs on their own website. To find company recruitment WebPages, quickly Google “the company name” and “recruitment”

3. Speculative Applications – Don’t just wait for companies to advertise vacancies, show them you are interested in them and send a speculative letter along with your CV. Research has shown there is a 40% success rate using this approach. If you need to create a CV, use a CV writing service.

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Some of the worst and weirdest jobs in history

Many of us fall into our careers, only to realise that the career we are in does not meet our needs. As a careers coach I meet a large number of clients looking for a new career as they dislike their current or past job roles, feeling they have greater career potential. Many do, I once met a client who cleaned chicken droppings off eggs and is now employed as an accountant.

Discover your potential.

People often tell me about past job roles and I am constantly surprised with the amount of unusual job roles on offer. Throughout history, there have been many strange and horrid job roles people did and I have listed a few for you to read. After this you may change your belief about your current job and how “bad” it is.

The Mud Lark

Mainly young children; a mud lark worked on the banks of the Thames in the Victorian times collecting scrap metal and coal to re-sell. In the Victorian times, the Thames would wash the London sewage out to sea and the Mud Larks, would often gain infections after cutting themselves on the litter. This job worsened in the Winter months.

Whipping boy

Another job for young children; In the 15th century, a prince would have a whipping boy- a boy who would be whipped as punishment for the prince when he was naughty or when he fell behind with his studies.

Knocker up

Before alarm clocks how did you when it was time to get up for work? A Knocker-up would come around in the morning carrying a large pole that he would use to knock on your bedroom window to wake you up. He would stay there until you were awake. But who woke him up?

Potato chip inspector

A more recent role, standing on a production line looking for over-cooked potato chips to dispose of.

Need careers advice?

Dog Food Taster

To carry on with the food theme; a dog food taster will taste dog food and write a review about it. I was told about this role from a colleague and still have my doubts.

The pure collector

“Pure” meaning Poo; The pure collector would find and collect animal faeces off the road and sell it to the leather works. The lucky ones put their collection in carts while others may carry their findings in a sack. The “Tanners” in the leather works would dip hides into a smelly lime solution and soak them with the animal faeces that the pure collectors had amounted over the course of the day. Many of the Tanners lived on the periphery of society as their stench left from their job was unbearable to the people of the town.

Crime Scene Cleaner

If squeamish do not apply-this job can be mentally disturbing, cleaning up after crime scenes; blood, loose remains and decomposing bodies.

Fuller

Similar to the Tanner job role, a fuller would dip wool often used in hat making into urine to get rid of the grease (Lanolin) to stop the wool from falling apart.

Learn the secrets of gaining work.

Snake miler

A dangerous job, collecting venom from snakes to make anti-venom.

Navy (Georgian Times)

We owe a lot to our Navy, but to be in the Navy in Georgian times was one of the worst jobs in history. Due to a lack of volunteers civilians may have found themselves waking up one morning travelling out to sea with the Navy after being banged on the head and smuggled aboard the night before.

To keep discipline, the Navy would hand out server punishment for any slight disobedience.

A Top Man would climb the rigging to the top sales know as sky scrapers, in stormy weather using no safety equipment.

Monkey boys would carry bags of gun powder to the cannons during battle.

Many sailors would die during battle, through cannons, splinters, gun fire, drowning and during on-board ‘life saving’ surgery.

Which careers suit your personality?

As you may well know most of these roles no longer exist. As industry and technology changes so do jobs and careers. Some of the jobs we see today will not be around in the next 10 years, as a job hunter and career-person you need to know what jobs the future holds and which of these jobs will suit your skills and qualities.

Make your own CV in minutes, learn how complete

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Space Jobs

Space – the new JOB frontier

The government have planned to expand Britain’s space industry, creating a £40 billion business. This will have a positive in pact on Space Industry jobs, creating a predicted 100,000 jobs over the next 20 years.

Need careers advice? The space sector is set to grow over the next 20 years; the future of the space industry is unpredictable as the fast pace of new technology can change the direction of this sector.

Space will be the earth’s eyes and ears with satellite observation and telecommunications.

Under UK plans, space-based observations will be used to monitor activity in war zones, deforestation, policing greenhouse gases. Employers will be able to monitor projects such as construction without having to leave their office.

With a high demand for high-definition and 3D television via space as broadcasting via satellites reduces our carbon emissions and is more cost effective, shows the increasing need for space communication.

The UK launch industry is set to rocket, as this will be one of the first space industries to see an increase in job demands.

 Manufacturing industry also benefit form the space industry, as we create and test goods and tools to be used in space. Manufacturing job roles will be highly skilled jobs.

The private sector is already a success story for British Industry, growing at a steady rate of 9% since 1999.

It has been forecast that Britain could take 10% of the global market, which could be worth £400 billion by 2030. First the government needs to invest in this industry to ensure we are not left behind by other world leaders.

Who knows, in the near future our tourism sector may also change in direction with space holidays and space airports.

The jobs of the future are changing Learn how to gain employment – quickly What we know is that the Space Industry will be creating new jobs and new careers, these will, in the main be skilled roles:

Space Science                                                                                                         

Sat Comms                                                                                                                

Manufacture Industry                                                                                      

Space Observers                                                                                                   

Satellite Broadcasting                                                                                          

Telecommunications                                                                                             

Earth Resources                                                                                                       

Navigation                                                                                                                 

Launch Industry                                                                                                    

Astronomy                                                                                                               

Planetary Science                                                                                                       

Space Engineers                                                                                                        

Support Staff search for vacancies today.

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How to gain work

Knowledge is Power

Successful job hunters make every effort to ensure employers know they are the right person for the job. Once you see a career or job you want, put every effort into getting it.

· Spend time researching the industries find out which skills, qualities and qualifications employers are looking for.

· What industry jargon and terminology do employers use?

· Which websites do companies from your sector advertises on?

Remember No-one owes you a job; you have to make yourself employable by selling your skills, qualities, experience and attitude to a potential employer.

Timing is everything

On average job hunters spend 3-4 months from looking for work to gaining employment. IT DOES NOT HAVE TO TAKE THIS LONG! Let’s break this down a little:

Often job hunters spend 6 hours a week looking and applying for vacancies (less then 1 hour a day) this is a short amount of time and if we doubled this, we could be employed within 2-3 months, what would happened if we spent 3 hours a day job searching? Even job searching for 3 hours a day will leave you with enough time for all the things you want to do in your day! Many different factors affect the time it takes for an individual to gain work and it is not possible to know exactly how long it will take you to gain employment. All job searches need to plan their week and decide how much time a day/week you give yourself to job searching….then stick to it.

If you want something different, do you something different

Successful job hunters are adaptable and will changes tactics when needed. If you can’t gain employment ask yourself why? Can you find jobs to apply for? If not, do you use the same job websites every time you job search? Most people do, if something doesn’t work, change it. If you send your CV to 10-20 employers and you don’t gain an interview, then you need to change your CV.

If one person can do something, other people can learn to do it

Do you know someone who has recently gain employment? Do you know someone who works in the industry you are applying for? If so, you need to ask them what they did do to gain employment. Sometimes our best resources are the people around us, lets learn from the successful one’s and then we too can be successful.

Gain detailed intelligence; if they sent a CV ask them what information they recorded on their CV. During an interview; what did they wear, how did they sit, what answers did they give. It’s always the small details that give you an edge over other job hunters.

If you feel like a job hunter, you will be a job hunter

See job hunting as a full time job; get up at 9:00, wash, shower and dress in your casual business wear. Now you will start to feel like a job hunter. Have a diary of all the tasks you have to complete in the week (research, preparation, strategies, networking) and carry them out. Take breaks at the same time every day and at the end of the day or week review what you have achieved. You will feel like a Job Searcher Employee and this will motivate you to gain full time employment.

Planning your finances

Job searching is not expensive, successful job hunter will plan their finances ahead. First look at your income and/or savings and work our how much spare money you have after paying for the essentials of living. How much do you have leftover?

Now make a list of all the items you need to spend money on to gain you employment; Interview Clothes, Transport, Stationary, etc. *Depending on your situation you may be entitled to financial help. Some items you will need to buy in advance, while others can wait until you move forward with your job searching. Be aware many people gain invitations to invites with only a short period of notice.

There is no failure, only feedback

How do marathon runners keep on going, when after 18 miles their muscles ache and their chest is tight with pain? Determination! We can all achieve anything we put our mind to. Most job hunters give up after the first week or two (or after the first rejection letter) as they thought gaining employment would be easier than they thought it was. Step back and ask yourself-

· What am I doing well?

· What can I improve?

Successful job hunters reflect on a daily basis and find their personal feedback helps them achieve their goals.

Think outside the box

Successful job hunters will have several job goals they are looking for, they will all have similar duties and responsibilities, by widening their job search successful job hunters will be able to find more vacancies.

Successful job hunters will look for advertised vacancies and will also contact

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Do I need qualifications to gain work?

The top 10 in demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 1994, in the next 10 years there will be very few UK none skilled jobs, and an increase in highly skilled UK jobs. The world we live in changes at a rapid pace, it wasn’t too long ago when mobile phones didn’t exist! Job hunters need to be moving with these changes.

Employment King has been researching the jobs of the future for the UK; job hunters need to know which careers will be in demand in the next 5 – 10 years and the qualifications and experiences employers will be requiring you to have.

· The pace in some industries is moving so fast, that students can be studying a subject only to find by the graduation date the industry has already moved on.

The UK job market is set to change; our research has shown that there will be a demand for highly skilled jobs while low skilled jobs will be in decline. We can already see signs of this happening now, with Petrol Stations and Supermarket already started to use self-service check outs and a large amount of low skilled manufacturing jobs has been moved abroad.

Do you need careers advice?                                                                                    

Skills and Training

Lord Leitch, released a skills review in 2006 stating that the vision for the UK is to be a world leader in skills by 2020.

Employers of the future will be looking for highly skilled employees; to help with this the government are funding a wide range of courses and training opportunities.

Employers, working alongside the government to increase the UKs skills shortage, will be looking for employees with a minimum of level 2 and 3 qualifications.

· If you like many others have not yet achieved these qualifications you would benefit by accessing the funded training below:

Learn direct offer funded Numeracy, Literacy and ITC courses

You can gain funding to gain NVQ qualifications while working through an apprenticeship and Train to gain

Qualifications and What they mean.

Having recognised qualifications and industry skills help make you more attractive to employers, helping you gain employment and succeeding in your career.

There is a mixture of qualifications you can gain through education establishments and in the workplace, below you will find a breakdown of UK qualifications and what they are equivalent to.

NQF level Examples of qualifications                                                                      

 

Entry Level                                                                                                      

Entry level certificates                                                              

English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)                 

Skills for Life                                                                                       

Functional Skills at entry level (English, maths and ICT)   

Level 1                                                                                                    

GCSEs grades D-G                                                                                    

BTEC Introductory Diplomas and Certificates                                 

OCR Nationals                                                                                              

Key Skills level 1                                                                                            

NVQs at level 1                                                                                                 

Skills for Life                                                                                                       

Level 2                                                                                                               

GCSEs grades A*-C                                                                                           

BTEC First Diplomas and Certificates                                                       

OCR Nationals                                                                                                   

Key Skills level 2                                                                                             

NVQs at level 2                                                                                                   

Skills for Life                                                                                                        

Level 3                                                                                                                

A levels                                                                                                                

Advanced Extension Awards                                                                      

GCE in applied subjects                                                                                  

International Baccalaureate                                                                     

Key Skills level 3                                                                                            

NVQs at level 3                                                                                                  

BTEC Diplomas, Certificates and Awards                                                

BTEC Nationals                                                                                                    

OCR Nationals                                                                                                   

Level 4                                                                                                               

NVQs at level 4                                                                                                 

BTEC Professional Diplomas, Certificates and Awards                       

Level 5                                                                                                              

HNCs and HNDs                                                                                                

NVQs at level 5                                                                                                 

BTEC Professional Diplomas, Certificates and Awards                    

Level 6                                                                                                                

National Diploma in Professional Production Skills                             

BTEC Advanced Professional Diplomas, Certificates and Awards   

Level 7                                                                                                                  

Diploma in Translation                                                                                     

BTEC Advanced Professional Diplomas, Certificates and Awards                 

 

Jobs in the Future

Having a highly skilled workforce is effective for a healthy economy, ensuring that the UK has a sufficient supply of labour, with the skills needed for employers to increase the supply of outward services and the receiving incoming business from abroad. The job market is global; the UK competes for work against the world’s leading countries.

We will be seeing an increase in jobs over a wide number of high skilled sectors and a decline in low skilled job roles:

· Areas such as care for the elderly and nursery nursing will be both looking for an increase in staff throughout the UK, with level 2 and 3 qualifications.

· With several new power stations being built in the UK we will soon be looking for skilled engineers.

· Low Carbon industry will create 1 million jobs with a wide mixture and skilled roles.

· A new wave of jobs will be created with the 2012 Olympics, creating a wide range of apprenticeships and trained jobs – leaving a skilled workforce in the UK.

· The Digital sector is a fast growing industry; the government has already spoken of the need to invest in new opportunities to support the UK to compete against other countries. “This will mean new jobs in environmental technologies, digital industries, the creative sector, in advanced manufacturing, in pharmaceuticals and healthcare industries and in education itself,” said Brown 2009.

Click for More future jobs information.

It time to look towards the future, where do you want to be? Will your career be here in the future? Do you know which industry you can transfer your skills to? Don’t get stuck, this is time to be proactive. Employment King can help you choose a future career that will suit you.

This is the time to look at your skills and qualifications, how employable will you be in the future? With the large amount of funding available to re-skill, this is time to think about the future and your future career.