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New Year - new career?
by Angela Kelly5/ 1/2007
THE New Year is here and you have definitely decided you want to
change your life. In fact, you want to change your career
direction.
This kind of life-switch is undertaken by more and more of us these
days - all a far cry from the recent past when people might stay in
the same job for 30 years.
In fact, current graduates can expect to change professions at
least three times in their working lives, and showing your
flexibility by the number of different skills you have acquired is
a definite plus in 2007.
Starting a new year is a classic time for all those negative
feelings to surface about your current job.
Perhaps the work is no longer challenging or enjoyable. You are
working long hours for little recognition, the daily travel is
getting you down or your domestic situation has changed and you
need your job to reflect it.
But before you leave your comfortable, well-paid post in a city
accountant's office to dive into a new career in teaching or leap
out of teaching to re-train as a train driver, it's worth heeding
some general expert advice.
Even if relations in your current place of work are stretched, it's
important to be civil and professional before, during and after you
have handed in your notice.
However, as Victoria Adams from Manchester agency McCarthy
Recruitment stresses, do plan this move properly and don't just
jump.
"It is better to go to another position from a current position,"
she says. "Because it can take a minimum of a couple of weeks to
arrange a job - and it may realistically take a few months. So, it
is safer financially to keep your job and look around."
Get your CV up to date, with no excess information like too much
personal detail.
"There are websites on the net which will help with creating a CV
and Microsoft Office has a CV template," adds Victoria. "But, for
the retail industry in particular, put your information on bullet
points, and keep it all concise to make it easy to read and
absorb."
If you are hoping to join a particular, large company do your
homework. "Ask around and find out as much as you can about the
company, and about its competitors," Victoria advises.
Some fields value experience more than qualifications, so it's
worth finding out what is needed.
And if you are having a complete change of career, as Victoria
states, you may also have to accept less pay, "in fact, taking a
backward step initially" to get onto the first rung of this new
career ladder.
Looking on the net and elsewhere for vacancies is useful, and
getting on the books of an agency is also a sensible move. But
don't go to too many agencies, she adds, "in case three copies of
your CV appear on the desk of a prospective employer. It just
doesn't look professional."
Far better, join one or two and make a good relationship with them.
"There is more background work going on for clients in agencies
than might be realised," says Victoria. "So you as the client need
to be really committed to making that job move."
Agencies also provide a useful method of objective assessment of
your talents, and suitability for individual firms, and can provide
a practical retrospective on interviews that fail to get you
jobs.
These days, she says, it is also important to understand the
culture of different companies.
"People now are more concerned about work-life balance and want to
know about benefits within the job package - childcare and flexible
working for example," insists Victoria.
"And if you don't get a particular job you apply for, it may well
be that, culturally, it really was not the right one for
you."
Jonathan Dobkin, director of recruitment agency Connections with
offices in Manchester, Sale and Stockport, says that at the start
of the New Year employers "up the ante" in the search for new
staff.
"New projects abound in January, and management is buoyed up with
big plans to get the year off to a great start," he explains.
"Naturally, headcount increases to help cope with the extra
workloads. And, with so many employees out there looking for a new
job, companies are losing their workforce so are on the lookout for
new recruits."
Many people are also becoming self-employed today, and it's worth
keeping in mind that there is helpful, free business advice
available.
Check your nearest Business Support Centre in the phone book or on
the net. They may offer free courses on subjects like book-keeping,
advertising and promotion with practical, objective information
from qualified advisers.
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