Job hunting

[Shadow]

1 minute ago, Saint 1 said:

You are right, I should have said fixed, not finite.

Founder member of the UK Pedants society. 

[JohnM]

4 hours ago, Shadow said:

Founder member of the UK Pedants society. 

Pedants, pedant's or pedants' ? 

Society of UK Pedants.

[Northern Eel]

On 16/04/2018 at 6:26 PM, Shadow said:

Founder member of the UK Pedants society. 

Any vacancies there?

or should I say, 'Any vacancie's their'?

[Spidey]

Officially started job hunting on Friday. Getting a few calls from recruiters. Hopefully some interviews will follow soon  

Absolutely detest interviews. Never walked in confident in 20 years, much prefer being the interviewer.

My least favourite interview was about 3 years ago where I had 5 x 40 minute interviews over the phone with various stakeholders, didn’t get the job as cocked up one question with the one who was going to be my line manager.

Obviously I’ve got a few right as this is the first time I’ve ever been without a job since starting full time work at 19

 

[ckn]

30 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Officially started job hunting on Friday. Getting a few calls from recruiters. Hopefully some interviews will follow soon  

Absolutely detest interviews. Never walked in confident in 20 years, much prefer being the interviewer.

My least favourite interview was about 3 years ago where I had 5 x 40 minute interviews over the phone with various stakeholders, didn’t get the job as cocked up one question with the one who was going to be my line manager.

Obviously I’ve got a few right as this is the first time I’ve ever been without a job since starting full time work at 19

 

Good luck in the hunt!

[Shadow]

35 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Obviously I’ve got a few right as this is the first time I’ve ever been without a job since starting full time work at 19

Depends how old you are 

Good luck

[tonyXIII]

2 hours ago, Spidey said:

Officially started job hunting on Friday. Getting a few calls from recruiters. Hopefully some interviews will follow soon  

Absolutely detest interviews. Never walked in confident in 20 years, much prefer being the interviewer.

My least favourite interview was about 3 years ago where I had 5 x 40 minute interviews over the phone with various stakeholders, didn’t get the job as cocked up one question with the one who was going to be my line manager.

Obviously I’ve got a few right as this is the first time I’ve ever been without a job since starting full time work at 19

 

The last interview I had, I totally messed up on a question which was, "What achievement are you most proud of during your career?" It floored me for two reasons. First, I have never liked blowing my own trumpet - I was brought up to consider pride as a sin, or at least, not a nice thing. Second and most important, I had not prepared for the interview. After it, I checked the TES online and the first piece of advice was to think of something you have done and of which you are proud. Talk about kicking yourself!

So, my advice for your interview is to prepare. Use relevant online advice and try to anticipate questions.

(I'm sure you've done this, but I offer it just in case.)

PS. Good luck.

[SSoutherner]

I would add to that - if you have a job description and it mentions certain competencies (such as "Extensive experience in a customer-focused role in a service oriented environment") make sure you have some relevant examples ready to real out to provide proof (ie in that case an example of when you have had to deal with a difficult / irate customer and left them feeling happy without costing your company loads)

 

You can usually guess a lot of the question from the spec if you have a decent one provided

[JonM]

Some years, I did hundreds of interviews (hiring a lot of new graduates.) Pretty much all the technical questions I used ended up on Glassdoor and similar websites. The kind of people I'm looking for are the kind of people that will look on Glassdoor and make the effort to prepare for the kinds of things I'm going to ask. Ssoutherner has it spot on.

Good luck Spidey.

[ckn]

A number of NHS organisations have gone to generic job descriptions with an add-on bit that’s kept as conceptual as possible. You have a significant number of roles where the JD has barely been wafted over the actual job’s responsibilities. Idiot ideas that make getting the right people in for the role very difficult. 

[ckn]

Imagine this scenario, you're having a seriously bad week after a catastrophic update of your bank's IT software and then someone shows you your job has just been advertised on LinkedIn as vacant.

Some more on that from The Register.

[Griff9of13]

18 hours ago, ckn said:

Imagine this scenario, you're having a seriously bad week after a catastrophic update of your bank's IT software and then someone shows you your job has just been advertised on LinkedIn as vacant.

Some more on that from The Register.

I'd have thought that they'd be looking for a new test manager; a classic case of inadequate V&P testing.

[ckn]

7 minutes ago, Griff9of13 said:

I'd have thought that they'd be looking for a new test manager; a classic case of inadequate V&P testing.

In times of financial trouble, people cut "luxuries" like test teams.  It's a massive false economy cutting back on testing.  If they've cut testing, they've more than likely cut requirements gathering.  When I took over my job in the NHS, the projects team had zero requirements specs, not a single one I could use to gauge quality.  If they've no requirements specs than you know there are no test plans.  You'd think I was asking them to self-flagellate when I asked them to at least start documenting basic requirements to prove they'd done SOME analysis of what was really needed.

I know a few folk in the banking IT industry and I wouldn't do it.  The banking problems of 2008 onwards saw IT and back-office folk take the absolute brunt of the cuts to the bank, after all why get rid of a banker friend when you can get rid of an anonymous IT worker.

[Griff9of13]

2 hours ago, ckn said:

I know a few folk in the banking IT industry and I wouldn't do it.  The banking problems of 2008 onwards saw IT and back-office folk take the absolute brunt of the cuts to the bank, after all why get rid of a banker friend when you can get rid of an anonymous IT worker.

And now they wonder why banking IT failures are so common.

 

[Spidey]

First interview done. Bit of a wait to find out results as interviewing until next Friday

Was quite a relaxed affair, first time I’ve not worn my suit to an interview after reading this:

“We’re straight-talkers here, not corporate wafflers. We turn up for work in trainers and t-shirts, not suits and ties. And we’re not afraid to do things differently. Especially if it means doing things better.”

Glad I did, made me more relaxed and certainly didn’t stand out in their office walking through like I’ve felt at other places

[DoubleD]

Came across this thread by chance as don't come on AOB, but found it really interesting so thanks for all the contributions. Having been with the same company since graduation in 2006, in various different guises and roles, I'm now for the first time seriously looking at leaving. I still enjoy my role, the autonomy, got a good boss (often makes a big difference), all reasons that have put me off looking previously (the grass isn't always greener). However, I feel i'm becoming a bit stagnant and need a new challenge. 2 of my friends who joined at a similar time are now directors of other companies (albeit much smaller ones), and I feel i should be further on with my development when I look at them and others internally. The division that i'm currently in, which i helped start up in 2009, now returns in excess of £1 million PBIT annually for only 6 direct employees. The company has bought an aviation business in Denmark and i hoped they would integrate, giving me a wider European role, but that doesn't appear forthcoming as they're looking to continue the businesses separately for the time being, which doesn't leave me much progression in aviation and i don't want to move divisions as none of the others interest me. If I leave though, they will likely come back calling for me if anything does materialise that way, as they know my value and it's such a specialist industry.

So first time i've properly looked, I had a recruitment agent (one of many) reach out to me on linkedin and coincidentally he has a role for me that would suit me. They're had a number of candidates at 1st and 2nd interview stage but not found the right one. I'm frantically bringing my CV upto speed (whilst battling man flu) to try and get their interest. I'm genuinely excited (I'm sure it will wear off!)

Think i will have to navigate the minefield of other recruitment agents to find some good ones and look on Reed? or whatever online. I'll search some major local employers websites too as i know more companies are going down this route too.

Thanks for the tips and sorry for the long post

[DoubleD]

On 16/04/2018 at 11:15 AM, Bleep1673 said:

2 weeks ago, Esther McVee MP suggested that school children should get part-time jobs to prepare themselves for real work when they leave school. I wrote to her suggesting she shuts her mouth until those of us over-50 have full or part time work, as we have bills to pay, and are not living off the Bank of Mum & Dad. I got a reply this morning suggesting that there are plenty of jobs available for the over 50's who want to work. I have drafted a reply to ask her if that is why I have only had one Interview in 2.5 years.

Did you get the role in Debenhams in the end Bleep?

[DoubleD]

On 09/03/2018 at 3:59 AM, MattSantos said:

I didn't get the job - no feedback. I've heard that they gave it to a 'local'. Why even bother if that's the objective from the start.

 

A number of places do this, just for process reasons. Annoying isn't it - complete waste of your time

[DoubleD]

On 02/03/2018 at 3:57 PM, ckn said:

This is a huge problem for me for future work as most companies use agencies to find employees.  When I get through to the decision makers, even if I don't know them or there's no other link I can use to promote myself, I get work; when I have to go through agencies I'm just wasting my time.  Now I look back, it should have been very noticeable when I was self-employed, I did about half consulting and half contract work with the consulting work (normally notoriously difficult to get) being far easier for me to get than contract work through agencies.

 

I suppose it depends on your industry. Businesses like ours and others i know are moving away from agencies as the return often isn't that great for the commission paid (too many candidates who haven't met expectation). We now look internally, put on website/social media and with the likes of Reed and Jobsite first. If we don't get any decent candidates from this, then we're permitted to utilise agencies

[DoubleD]

One question I do have, that's been bugging me since the conversation with the recruitment agent. So he asked me what my salary was so i told him and the whole package, which is quite generous. He then told me the level this job would be at. Given it's a Director level, it seemed quite low and only marginally more than i'm on. I did query this with him and he said a couple of people had made that comment to him.

What i want to know though - is can a recruitment agent low ball me in effect? Is there any benefit to them? Would the business seek them to do that?

[Shadow]

10 minutes ago, DoubleD said:

One question I do have, that's been bugging me since the conversation with the recruitment agent. So he asked me what my salary was so i told him and the whole package, which is quite generous. He then told me the level this job would be at. Given it's a Director level, it seemed quite low and only marginally more than i'm on. I did query this with him and he said a couple of people had made that comment to him.

What i want to know though - is can a recruitment agent low ball me in effect? Is there any benefit to them? Would the business seek them to do that?

Agencies normally work on a percentage of annual salary basis so it's in their interest to get it as high as they can, it may be an indication why the employer hasn't found the right person yet, that person may need to be prepared to accept a low salary.

[DoubleD]

9 minutes ago, Shadow said:

Agencies normally work on a percentage of annual salary basis so it's in their interest to get it as high as they can, it may be an indication why the employer hasn't found the right person yet, that person may need to be prepared to accept a low salary.

Thanks, that might play into my hands then, given i just want the next step up on the ladder

[SSoutherner]

It is why it can sometimes also help to say - I am willing to start on x with the idea you set me some development goals and if I have hit them by end of probation you give me a rise to Y. Not only does that show you being flexible, recognising it is a step up for you with a learning curve etc but as the fee is on starting £ it also drops the introduction fee slightly that they have to pay for you

[Bob8]

14 hours ago, DoubleD said:

Came across this thread by chance as don't come on AOB, but found it really interesting so thanks for all the contributions. Having been with the same company since graduation in 2006, in various different guises and roles, I'm now for the first time seriously looking at leaving. I still enjoy my role, the autonomy, got a good boss (often makes a big difference), all reasons that have put me off looking previously (the grass isn't always greener). However, I feel i'm becoming a bit stagnant and need a new challenge. 2 of my friends who joined at a similar time are now directors of other companies (albeit much smaller ones), and I feel i should be further on with my development when I look at them and others internally. The division that i'm currently in, which i helped start up in 2009, now returns in excess of £1 million PBIT annually for only 6 direct employees. The company has bought an aviation business in Denmark and i hoped they would integrate, giving me a wider European role, but that doesn't appear forthcoming as they're looking to continue the businesses separately for the time being, which doesn't leave me much progression in aviation and i don't want to move divisions as none of the others interest me. If I leave though, they will likely come back calling for me if anything does materialise that way, as they know my value and it's such a specialist industry.

So first time i've properly looked, I had a recruitment agent (one of many) reach out to me on linkedin and coincidentally he has a role for me that would suit me. They're had a number of candidates at 1st and 2nd interview stage but not found the right one. I'm frantically bringing my CV upto speed (whilst battling man flu) to try and get their interest. I'm genuinely excited (I'm sure it will wear off!)

Think i will have to navigate the minefield of other recruitment agents to find some good ones and look on Reed? or whatever online. I'll search some major local employers websites too as i know more companies are going down this route too.

Thanks for the tips and sorry for the long post

May I ask which business?  PM if prudent.

[Phil]

Totally disenchanted and ###### off after 16 years in this job but at my age I’ll just have to tough it out till retirement ?