johnh wrote:I was made redundant at age 49 (can't complain as the package was so good I did nudge the decision along a bit!). I paid to go on a 'job seeking' course which was quite expensive but well worth it. Some useful tips: Keep your CV to ONE page if possible but NEVER more than two. Concentrate on 'Achievements'. The course also included interviewing techniques. Make a list of all the questions you are likely to be asked and have answers ready.
There will usually be KEY questions such as: Tell us about yourself. Memorise your answer so that you can respond in a confident and positive way. Also, they may ask Why us? Do some homework on the Company from the internet or local sources. Keep answers relatively brief, don't bore the interviewer/s. At the end, they will always ask 'do you have any questions'? Have at least two questions ready, well thought out and/or researched. Remember to thank the interviewers for their time.
One of your questions shouldn't be 'how many days holiday do we get?'
This reminded me of some training I had in writing CVs. Definitely two pages max - make the type font smaller if necessary!
- Do NOT list the tasks you perform/performed in a job. It's boring to read and, as said above, recruiters are interested in your achievements in a particular role.
An example from my CV
I could write 'responsible for sales of oils'.....which is true, of course......but something like 'gained a new account which resulted in a 61% increase in oil sales' implies the same thing but also gives a quantifiable example.
- The 'tell me about yourself' question is one that you MUST prepare a factual, yet succinct response to. Mine is 'I am an oil industry professional with over 20 years of customer-facing experience in a variety of roles including technical service, product management and business development. A significant proportion of these roles was international allowing me to use my language abilities'
It does sound pompous, even boastful, and I'd expect to be laughed at big time if I said it in the pub with my mates. But recruiters need to know how you see yourself and you do have to 'sell' yourself at an interview - even if the job is not in sales!
Practice, practice, practice this, best of all with someone to listen to you.
Might have to take an interest in the Premier League now....
