How to improve your chances of a job offer

Job hunting can be a tedious task and one that often requires quite a lot of work from you to find the right position and land the job. Following the recession, many employers had to cut back on staff but as their businesses started to pick up again they started to look to recruit more people to cover the additional work load. Employees are always on the look out for skilled individuals that can fit into their business and work hard. They are often a little worried about employing people that they have to invest a lot of time and money in as there is no certainty that they will stay afterwards.

Ideally to have the best chance of getting a job you need to ensure that you not only have a good CV but conduct yourself well in an interview. After the initial review of CV’s the next step is usually to attend an interview. This is where the interviewer can get a real feeling for who you are, what your experience level is and if you would mesh well in to their team.

If you feel your CV is lacking in order to apply for the jobs you want to then you may need to do some work first before applying for positions. This may include going on additional training courses, obtaining further qualifications or even doing some voluntary work to gain experience.

Using sub-contractors in your business

If you are a sole trader, partnership or limited company you may find there comes a time when you need to use sub-contractors. Sub contracts are great if you need the skills of someone else but have not got enough work to take them on an employ them. Many people use sub-contractors for short periods of time such as to complete a one off project or to do a certain part of a project that they cannot do such as an electrician.
You will usually have to pay a sub contract more than you would pay an employee but you won’t have the added overheads of sick pay, pensions and employers contributions to pay. It is important to understand who is responsible for the work they do and the guarantee if they offer one. If you are invoicing the customer for all of the work and paying the sub-contractor then the customer’s contract will be with you and if any issues arise it will be your responsibility to sort it out with the sub-contractor. If you ask a sub-contractor to come in and invoice the customer directly then any issues will usually be the responsibility of the sub-contractor but it is important to make the customer aware of this.

Discussing your CV at an interview

A CV is vital when applying for jobs. You need to allow plenty of time to write your CV and ideally have it looked over by at least one other person to ensure that it is correct and reads well. A good CV can be the difference between being invited in for an interview and not.

There may be things that you need to include on your CV that you are a little bit worried about. This may include gaps in employment or short periods of time in a job.  Although you will often have the chance to discuss these anomalies when attending an interview, you may not even get that far. It is advisable to put a little comment on your CV next to the anything that may cause a red flag, just explaining briefly the reasons why. Employers to not have the time to read pages and pages of information, but a little note to say why, is perfectible acceptable.

Try and keep your CV to a maximum of two pages and be sure to use a clear font so that it is easy to read.   

If you are invited for an interview, be prepared for any questions they may ask you about it. Always be honest but do not give more information that they need to know.

Using the internet to help find a new job

When starting the search for a new job, you have many different ways in which you can find potential work opportunities. Some people use agencies where they can upload their CV and then wait for companies to contact them. Others like to be more productive and sign up to jobs boards which they can browse on a daily basis and then apply for any job that takes their interest.
Agencies will search jobs for you and contact you if they find anything that they think you may be suitable for. This can save you a lot of time but you have to be able to trust that the agency is on the ball and will give you plenty of notice of jobs that you may want to apply for.
Newspapers still often have a jobs section, but you may find that over the last few decade less and less companies advertise job vacancies in this way.
The internet is often the most popular choice when it comes to job hunting and this is because it is updated regularly with new jobs. Often it is also pretty easy to apply for a position as you can upload a copy of your CV and submit directly to the agency or employer.
When sending your CV to a company be sure to include a covering letter and tailor your covering letter to the job you are applying for.

Returning to work after an illness

People are signed off sick from work for a number of reasons. These may be physical conditions that prevent them for working or mental conditions. They may be off work for a number of days, week’s months or even years but there may come a time when they feel they are ready to return to work. This can be a very daunting process, especially if they feel that previously, work contributed to the reason they became ill in the first place.
Before you start looking for work it is important to speak to your GP and check if they think you are ready to go back. They will be able to talk to you about if and how your conditions may affect you working and help you in making the right decision. Your GP can provide you with a “fit” note which can be given to employers to tell them about your illness and explain ways in which they help you at work.
Before jumping straight back into a full time job with high reassure you may want to look for something that offers part time hours or casual work to get you back in to the employment lifestyle. Often it is better to do it gradually.