The Job Seeking Experience
Finished, 26 years’ service all over and here I was out in the big bad world, hadn’t seemed this daunting when I 16 years old and leaving school but now I was joining the rat race at 43. Dine out went well and I had received my letter from the senior soldier within my Corps thanking me for everything I had done.
That letter was joined in the post by my Veterans badge, pension details and a load of ‘gumf’ from the tax man.
First thing for me was a job placement with an Exhibition company whose boss was a friend of the family, very interesting, enlightening but unproductive as to a job offer!
A sabbatical was what was needed, take some time off I thought a job will find me! This was going against everything I had planned, didn’t want to fall into the rut of not employed.
I still kept up ‘jogging’ aka running but I have got a bit older, the thought was, in keeping the body fit the mind would remain fit and fresh in preparation for the knocks I was undoubtedly going to receive?
I joined as many agencies as possible, thinking they can find me a job, applied for a bit of everything still not sure what I wanted to do but figured jobs would be like buses, once one came along…. I worked on my CV and within 2 months and hundreds of applications I had attended three interviews. Two of which I reached (apparently) the last two, success? Nope failure in both! Devastated never failed in anything I started to lose confidence in both myself and the system.
A weekend freshen up and a debrief from the wife was what was needed and I got my head back down and started to hunt work again. Eventually rather more luck than judgement I applied for a job after noticing two names I remembered from the past, I prepared and went through the interview process (details in another blog) and eventually was accepted and offered a role.
The process was more difficult than I thought so I have put together a few tips (some of which were given to me) to help where possible?
Applying for Jobs
- Focus on your talent and target jobs that match your skills set.
- Tailor your CV for each job application. It must match the Job Specs.
- The Covering Letter is just as important as the CV.
- Networking is invaluable, friends, colleagues, cold calling and social networking.
- Be contactable
1. Carry business cards.
2. Personalise your answer phone message.
3. Set up a new email account (as the majority of us have military ones with callsigns or nicknames in them).
Marketing your ‘brand’
- Identify what you want to do.
- Advertise yourself as a commodity.
- Be careful not to oversell or undersell yourself.
- Be prepared to start at the lower levels and work upwards.
At Interview (I bought a book)
- First impressions.
- Have pre-prepared stories or examples of how you did things.
- Know your CV.
- What can you offer the employer; your CV has got you to interview so they believe you can do the job.
- Answer fully and bring closure to each question.
- Research the company thoroughly.
- Use humour where appropriate.
Remember PMA always remain focussed and never give up on yourself! Just a few pointers from my experience and good luck – you have a lot to offer.