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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
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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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9
May/10
There are lots of reasons you should have a video enhanced CV, and one of them is to control the first impression that an employer has. With a short video (30 – 60 seconds of you outlining the profile section of your CV, about 40 or so words) you can take control of that all important first impression. We have all heard the stories of candidates making gaffs in the first few minutes of an interview and recovery then being impossible, but fewer of us appreciate that recruiters are known to spend less than ten seconds on the initial scan of a CV. If we can increase the time the recruiter spends on your CV we increase the chances of your getting to interview and winning the job. A link on your CV, under the profile which invites the reader to see you briefly, is something that no hiring manager will resist. By hosting your video on a Career Website you remove another of the recruiter’s issues – of not wanting to be seen in a corporate environment of viewing YouTube or similar sites. But what we achieve is the recruiter spending 30 – 60 seconds on your CV, reading on through the document as your short video plays on his/her screen. That’s x3 or x6 the time he/she spends on other candidates CVs.
If that is not sufficient to convince you of the value of a video enhanced CV, consider in more depth that all important first impression. To make a 30 – 60 video needs care and attention and you should view our training video to learn many tips, such as to use a free download teleprompter to make you look fluent on screen, dress as you were at an interview, smile, and mare techniques. A short video isn’t difficult to make (long ones really are) but it does need structure and beginning and thank you to end. But its value is immense as it gives you control over that first impression. Because you have practiced your video and are aware of its content, you have taken control over the first impression. When you meet the recruiter for interview you already know his/her impression of you, because you created it. This is a new situation in the interview dynamic, where you have the initiative.
At AccendoCV we have put together a training video together with secure hosting of your video on a major Career Website (which itself shows to interviewers that you are serious about your career). This is in addition to our CV and Career Website services, all of which are aimed at helping you make the very most of your career.
Posted in CV Articles, CV Help, CV Tips, News, Personal Branding | No Comments »
9
Mar/10
Employers’ expectations of job applicants continues to rise. Why? One important reason is the increasing competition from home and overseas (the rise and rise of China, India, the Far East) and the growing need to respond to the challenge. Consequently when they recruit they will tend to become more specific and demanding. Universities and Colleges try to respond to this by expanding the courses offered and provide ever more specialist subjects. Research work at Universities is trending toward more exotic and refined areas, in the hope of getting ahead of the competition.
Many speculate that job applicants need to become ever more prepared for and capable of performing specialist tasks and functions. Simple examples: an expectation that you will be able to type – twenty years ago managers were not expected to have this ability. Ten years ago applicants were not expected to be able to use Microsoft Excel, and five years ago PowerPoint. The pressure of competition experienced by employers is being passed to job applicants.
Harriet Sergeant in a series of articles featured in a major UK newspaper – the Times & timesonline – forcibly points out the duty of teachers to equip students with adequate tools to face these challenges. Education professionals taking the role of ‘facilitator’ or ‘head learners’ are failing their students by not providing the practical learning that is necessary. Harriet applauds the president of Cristo Rey, a Catholic coeducational school in East Harlem, where he focuses his underprivileged students one day per week on the practical aspects of employment. He places them in firms one day per week, he trains them on how to apply for a job online – asking how much research they had done on an employer, what do they produce, who are their competitors, how many employees do they have, etc.
How many schools in the UK are this dedicated? How many teach their students how to undertake these absolutely basic steps towards successful job applications and interview? From our experience at the sharp end – recruiting people – we are pretty sure that the answer is very few. It is such a shame as the steps are relatively easy to explain, learn and apply.
Job applicants must appear interested in the employer they are approaching – otherwise why approach them? They must appear professional, project that image, that brand. They must have done their homework and they must be prepared. Here technology can help, and increasing numbers of job applicants are beginning to use it successfully. The ease with which we all now embrace the digital age is very different to ten years ago. It is relatively simple to research the companies you are targeting. You can find contact details of the people you should be approaching and you can send your CV via email – even have your own career microsite – such a huge advantages. What is more you can go a step further and create your own digital ‘brand’ by building a career website. This is one way to show employers that you are serious about your career and gives
Tags: CV Writing
Posted in CV Articles, News | 1 Comment »
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