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for May, 2010.
Archive for May, 2010
27
May/10
Leaving university and entering the job hunting world is a daunting proposition today. With more budget cuts and redundancies on the cards, competition for work is increasing, and the value of a degree has become questionable since graduates are struggling to find work in the field in which they studied.
More and more students are applying for postgraduate degrees to avoid the recession’s scarce job market. Postgraduate study has reached record levels in elite universities such as Oxford, as candidates strive to raise their level of qualification. Does this mean that an undergraduate degree is worthless in the current climate?
Now more than ever, the importance of an outstanding CV and interview skills are paramount. According to a study by the Centre for Higher Education Research and Information, only 49% of British students believed their degree prepared them for future work. This suggests that the “soft skills” of communication, networking and working under pressure are what graduates are relying on.
So why are they struggling to gain employment? An employer has to sift through sometimes hundreds of applicants for any one job. If your CV shows your abilities, experience and drive clearly and succinctly, and suggests a flair for innovation, it is more likely to be noticed. Recent developments in social media and networking have brought the Video Enhanced CV to the forefront of candidate showcasing. Most CVs are sent via email these days, allowing you to take advantage of internet technology. By including a link to a professional Career Management Website, your prospective employer can view an essential first impression of you, before you even meet. Eye contact, a smile, enthusiasm and energy are integral parts of appealing to recruiters. In a rehearsed and polished Video CV, you can give them all the information they need to know with just one click of a button.
Visit AccendoCV for all aspects of Career Management, including CV writing and editing, Cover Letters, Interview Skills and to create your own Video Enhanced CV.
Tags: Accendo CV, career counselling, career management, CV Services, CV Writing, Professional CV writing, Video CV, website cv
Posted in CV Articles, CV Help, CV Tips, CV Writing, News | No Comments »
25
May/10
A recent poll of 500 graduates has revealed that 60% of students who have made use of their university careers advisory service complain that it has failed them. Graduates are leaving university unprepared for employment and more than a third interviewed were forced to claim Jobseeker’s Allowance in the last year due to difficulty in finding a job.
In the survey by recruitment website totaljobs.com, results show that upon completion of their degree, one in ten students are assuming they will earn more than £35,000 from their first job, rather than the average £25,000. The stark reality of official figures is that nearly 150,000 graduates are re-entering university to pursue further studies rather than to attempt finding work. Of those 500 polled, two thirds were taking work simply to pay the bills. Only 6% managed to find a graduate job.
Graduate sales director at totaljobs.com, Mike Fetters, said: “Having invested heavily in securing a decent degree, it is not unreasonable for graduates to feel they deserve a job that matches their career expectations.
Unfortunately, competition for professional roles has never been fiercer.”
These “shocking” figures reinforce the importance of full preparation for job-seeking, including a well written, professional CV, cover letter and sound interview skills. In the current competitive market, securing a job and building a career in their area of study is becoming increasingly more difficult for graduates, and finding a way to stand out from the crowd to showcase their aptitude and talent could make the difference. The rise in candidates submitting video CVs is a reflection of our media-driven age, and can be winningly impressive to employers.
Accendo CV can help prepare you for job hunting and the workplace from career counselling, CV writing and interview skills, to a slick website or video CV to wow potential recruiters.
Tags: Accendo CV, career counselling, CV Services, CV Writing, graduate employment, interview skills, Job hunting, Professional CV writing, unemployment, Video CV, website cv
Posted in CV Articles, News | No Comments »
25
May/10
Deep cuts in public spending are heavily affecting education budgets, resulting in a lack of funding for the next generation to attend university and a cut in university places.
Following a 16.5% rise in demand for university places, the previous Labour government had promised funding for 20,000 extra places on degree courses – a number which has been slashed by half by the new coalition government, due to budget cuts in The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, under which university funding falls. The 3.9% cut comes to a grand total of £836m, “dash[ing] the hopes of thousands of people” hoping to attend university in the future, according to The Lecturers’ Union.
General Secretary of The University and College Union, Sally Hunt, was quoted to say: “Our competitor countries are increasing the number of graduates to compete in a high-skill knowledge economy. We are denying thousands a place at university and increasing the burden on our benefits system.”
This news has also sparked discussion of universities to consider private funding by selling bonds. Mainly considered by elite universities like Oxford, the scheme would hope to target “major investors” and even alumni wanting to support their university. US universities such as Harvard and Princeton have been issuing bonds to fund themselves for many years now, and it was revealed in January this year that Cambridge University plans to raise up to £400m by issuing its first bond.
The recent announcement to cut Child Trust Fund donations from £250 to £50 may also have repercussions on the next generation’s hopes to attend university. Children born after 1st August 2010 will not be eligible for the tax-free savings grant, which was put in place to help parents save to assist their children financially once they are 18, for example to help with university fees.
It has never been more important, therefore, to be able to show employers that you are the ideal candidate for a job, honing interview skills, providing them with an excellent CV which clearly shows your skills and strengths, and to innovate in your job hunting skills, perhaps by recording a video CV which can be emailed, uploaded onto video sharing sites and job boards.
Accendo CV can assist with all aspects of career development, helping candidates find and secure the job they are after in the current fiercely competitive marketplace. Visit Accendo.com to find out how we can help you beat the budget cuts and find the career you are looking for.
Tags: Accendo CV, budget cuts, coalition government, CTF cuts, CV Services, CV Writing, education, professional CV writing services, university places, Video CV, website cv
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22
May/10
As all sales professionals know, people buy from people. Professor Cialdini in his book ‘Ethical Persuasion’ shows that the first and most important of his six ‘laws’ of persuasion is LIKING. We will buy from people we like.
All sales professionals prepare and refine their toolkit, which will range from a lift speech, to an introductory email, to a business card, demonstration etc. The professional will develop appropriate tools to meet the needs of the business he/she is managing. However there are common tools which include the dress code (to match the customer base, B2C, B2B, sector sales, etc), the business card and more.
At AccendoCV we noted that these tools have not moved significantly with the rise of the internet. The introductory letter or follow up letter has become an email. However little else has changed. We suggest that a new type of business card can be of great value in many sales processes, particularly at the early stages of a business relationship.
By sending a potential client a single page professional resume, which bullet point’s the advantages of your product or service as an email, you can also add a short streamed video. It’s here that technology helps enormously. The video is short, 30 to 60 seconds and is of you (the professional sales person) emphasising a few of those bullet points. The video sits as a link on your resume, well positioned and inviting the reader to click through. Who can resist that? And with modern streaming rates the video is displayed almost instantly in a separate small box on the screen. The potential customer has your resume on screen which he/she will scan while seeing you.
Two things are now happening:
1. The potential client lingers longer on your document.
2. That all important first impression is established.
As we all know first impressions in a sales situation are very important. By practising the short video (see our instructions) you can define the impression which you transmit – you know what it is. And this can be a significant advantage when you first meet the client. It’s no longer a ‘cold’ meeting; you have a starting point and can repeat a couple of the points in your video to reinforce the impression before moving deeper into the offer.
This is a new application of the internet and one that is rapidly spreading. The technology is available (most modern laptops have a camera built in). There are a few hygiene factors – host the video on a professional career website (do not ‘embarrass’ your client by inviting him/her to view YouTube or the like), keep is short, and smile (key to professor Cialdini’s research). For more information visit www.accendocv.co.uk where a full package is available (resume writing, video preparation training, video hosting, etc).
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14
May/10
A couple of facts about Recruitment:
1. Modern recruiting methods affect us all. In January of this year Microsoft published a survey showing that 7 out of 10 recruiters researched candidates online before meeting them. Most of us rush some or all of the profiles when we join social and business networking sites. This data can often be found by those recruiters by using Google, Pipl and other search engines. Consequently this information is seen out of context. This effect is more profound when considering Facebook, YouTube and the like. Whether we like it or not we are all being “branded”.
2. Recruiters when undertaking a first screening review spend less than 10 seconds on each CV. Research and adverts will typically produce a response of up to 100 applicants, and they have to identify a shortlist. Although they report that they are seeking the best candidates, studies have shown that they do this by exclusion rather than inclusion. In other words they are seeking reasons in the CV to exclude it rather than include. So pre-selection is rushed and exclusive.
How do we deal with these structural flaws which apply to all recruitment processes?
First – prepare a good, accurate, well structured and targeted CV. Get professional advice and help on this.
Second, we have to manage our brand, and to do that we have to create one. This is the simplest method of overcoming the “Inadvertent Branding” described above. Create a personal career website, using a career management organisation, to ensure that searches by recruiters turn up what you want them to see. Have a look at simple packages to do this online by people like AccendoCV.
Third, to ensure that the recruiter when screening applicants resumes spends more time on your CV, enhance it with a short (30 – 60 second video). Place a link at or within the profile section of your resume which takes the reader to a short video in which you describe the profile. Again, host stream your video from a professional career website to demonstrate that you take your career seriously and to avoid the recruiter (who is probably in a corporate environment) linking to YouTube and their potentially being perceived as time wasting or worse (there is a lot of dubious material on YouTube with which you should not be associated). Even a 30 second video will treble the time the recruiter spends on your CV in comparison to the average. And he/she will play your video while continuing to read your CV – eyes AND ears focussed on you. The short video also manages his/her all important, and lasting, first impression. Psychologists tell us that first impressions last and influence relationships for a long time after the initial meeting. At interview the first few moments can be critically important, and it’s one that a well rehearsed short video can control. That is to say at the subsequent interview the very important first impression has already been established, allowing you to focus on the job, its challenges and content
Posted in News | 1 Comment »
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