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Welcome to "Great Tips for Jobseekers!" Issue Three
This newsletter is for people who wish to increase their ability
to "get that job"! If you know someone who might find it interesting please
send it on to them so they can subscribe also!
In this issue
* CV: Your Education Statement
* That "Salary Question"
* Don't forget your Values
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CV: Your Education Statement
There's been plenty of talk recently about lying on CV's. many
people think they won't be found out if they exaggerate here or there, and often
they won't, but that's because CV's are not checked thoroughly enough. As more
employers get wise to the practice the chances of "porky's" being
noticed are increased.
Often people upgrade their educational achievements because they
don't want to be selected out of the process. It's annoying to think that you
might not get a chance to prove yourself just because you didn't get top
grades. Maybe it would be better to look at other ways of impressing on
potential employers that you are the right person for the job?
People frequently put their educational information right at the top
of their CV. Your career history is much more important - your
education is old news, so leave until after the professional sections.
If your formal education went beyond school, give full details of your
highest level of achievement by including the name of the institution, type
of qualification, subject and date completed. If you started work
straight from school, give the name of the school the level of education you
achieved and dates.
Professional courses and training should be included in a separate
section directly following your work experience.
That "Salary Question"
Salary negotiations should not be entered into until you have been
offered the job, however, many employers will try to begin this process very
early on, sometimes even before you have been invited for an interview.
Almost all application forms ask for salary information, for example.
They often use this data to decide if you are likely to accept an
offer before wasting time at an interview. The assumption they make, and
it's a big one, is that you won't accept less than you're currently earning,
so if your current salary is more than they wish to pay, they won't bother
to interview you. That's the real waste. How do they know what is
motivating you to apply for the job? Money might be the last thing on your
agenda.
Importantly for you, if you tell the employer your current salary
details, needs or expectations, you're bound to be in a weaker negotiating
position. The name of the game is to get the employer to make an offer for you
to respond to.
Here are some simple ways to handle the salary question:
Q: What is your current / last salary?
A: I'm happy to tell you, but I must emphasise that it will bare no
relation to what I would expect to be paid in this or any other position.
Please will you let me know what you see as the appropriate salary for this
position?
Q: What are you salary expectations?
A: I'm looking for a salary that fairly reflects the expectations and
responsibilities of the role. I'd also hope to fit into the salary
structure of the organisation I'm working for. Please will you let
me know what you see as the appropriate salary for this position in your
organisation?
Q: What's the minimum salary you are willing to accept?
A: What's the maximum you'll offer!
For application forms, write "Salary Negotiable" in or near the boxes
provided.
Don't Forget Your Values
Many people get stuck when they are considering job change because
they don't include a consideration of their values in the decision making
process. Without exploring what's important to you, both at this
point in your life and overall in your life, you are missing one of the key
components of the choice. In future issues we'll look at Interests
and Capabilities, but for now, here are some things to consider in terms
of Values or, "What's important to me":
1 What are the key principles upon which I live my life?
Examples might include integrity, religion, or helping others.
2 What is going on in my life at the moment that
affects my work choices? Examples here could be "being available for elderly
relatives", "financial security" or "taking care of my health".
3 What do you want from the workplace? Perhaps you
prefer to have a lot of autonomy, perhaps you like a sociable environment,
maybe you like to be out of the office and on the road as much as possible?
4 If you need a list of human values to work with take
a look at this site where over 500 are listed: humanityquest.com.
You'll find some work related values here:
www.careercenter.sjsu.edu/download/WorkValues.pdf or here:
www.findaresume.com/career/Analyze%20Work-Related%20Values.html
5 Think about what you "must have" in your next job,
what you'd "really like", and what you definitely "don't want". When you
evaluate a role you are considering you will be expecting to see all
of your "must have's", none of your "don't want's" and the more of the "really
like's" you see, the happier you are likely to be.
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Thank you for reading "Great Tips for Jobseekers!" Please
send us your comments and questions. We're particularly interested in any
areas of job search that you're keen to know something about and if it's
likely to be of general interest we'll write a piece for the newsletter.
If you are not a subscriber of "Great Tips for Jobseekers!" and wish
to receive it in future please follow this link:
www.workjoy.co.uk/10.0.html
ŠNick Gendler, Workjoy Ltd, 2004
Feel free to use this material and pass it on to others as
long as you acknowledge the source. Failure to do so will constitute a
breach of copyright.
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