STEP 1: Assess your current industry and situation

Ask yourself why you’re not happy in your job. Any number of factors could be leaving you cold: your hours, the city where you work, a moody co-worker or lack of encouragement from the top. Consider whether switching jobs - not careers - might be the solution. It sounds obvious, but putting the pros and cons to paper can crystallize matters. Is it the people? The role? You have to understand what turned you off. Once you figure out what’s making you unhappy, consider the financial repercussions of a career change. It might turn out that you can’t afford to make a switch yet. Or you may realize the sacrifices aren’t worth it.

STEP 2: Redo and upgrade your CV

Scrap the traditional resume that lists jobs chronologically, create one that itemises your talents instead. Beneath a heading like “Team Leader,” for instance, outline the experience that gave you that skill. Focus on specific accomplishments and quantify the results you achieved. Even if you’re applying for a different job, presenting those numbers shows what you bring to the table. Next, zero in on your target by tailoring your resume for each position. One way to do this is to read the job posting carefully and echo some of its language. Address the specific qualifications listed.

STEP 3: Start the search

Keeping your job while looking for a new one is optimal, particularly in this recession. But juggling work and a hunt for a new career requires organisation. Set clear goals for yourself; commit to at least one daily task to advance your quest. That might mean waking up a half-hour early to send e-mails or working the phones during your lunch break. Establish contacts by joining a professional association or seeking out like-minded groups on social networking sites - sign up at Employersjobs.com and make a jobseeker profile. From here you can apply to jobs in any industry you are interested. You also need to build a body of work in your targeted field. Find whatever way you can to volunteer, take a class or help someone with a project, you need to fill in that gap of experience.

STEP 4: Seal the deal

Once you’re in the door for an interview, focus on the future. Your career switch should be addressed, but don’t get tangled up in lengthy explanations. Show that you’ve done your homework on the company, too. Ask questions that demonstrate your familiarity with the company’s mission and clients. In times like these, it’s more about the employer than it is about you!

More and more employers are checking up on prospective employees online and if a job seeker is not tuned into the social media buzz, or her reputation online is tainted, she may lose her opportunities to have the perfect career.  There are a few simple steps you can follow to make sure you recession-proof yourself to get the right job online.

1.    Look for jobs online that aren’t suffering under the recession
Healthcare, education, security and energy and even IT– these are sectors which will always have to be kept alive, recession or no recession. If you’re looking to change your career direction, go for those hardy sectors that always need people. Many people seem to be thinking in the same vein, as University enrollment at the beginning of 2009 in the UK was up 8%  from last year.

2.    Be seen
It’s advisable that you belong to various online job sites and follow-up on jobs regularly. Pay attention to your online resume; if you’re not sure how to sell yourself, download a template CV to ensure that you’re doing it correctly. Networking has become all the more important in the recession. Networking opens up many business and career opportunities. Fortunately, networking can largely be done online, thanks to social media. So, all you need to do is make sure you’re visible online. More importantly, when you get responses from online recruiters be on the ball and respond immediately before the opportunity goes to a more eager job seeker.

3.    Look at viable alternatives and stopgaps
All of us have the potential to be budding businessmen and women. All it takes is a little imagination. If you’re not finding a good job as a librarian, for example, maybe it’s time to use one of your hobbies to start generating extra income online. Perhaps you make earrings for your friends and family, which you can start selling online in a part-time capacity until you find a well-paid job. Freelancing is also an excellent way to make some income until you find a fulltime job; freelancing work can also be managed to a large extent online. This will also help to fill-up gaps on your CV which could put off a recruiter.

Many of us start biting our nails in fear and anxiety when we hear ‘doom and gloom’ phrases such as ‘lay-offs’, ‘pay-cuts’ and watch as our friends take on second jobs to meet their mortgage repayments. But the important thing to remember is not to give in to the negativity. Stay positive, keep your resume out there, and be smart about your online job hunt and you’ll get yourself hired in no time.

Get the Job You Want Even When No One is Hiring by Ford R. Myers: New Rules for a New Reality - Today’s job market is the toughest in recent history, and the challenges are here to stay. Even so, you CAN get the job you want – IF you discard conventional approaches to the search. It explains the special strategies necessary to land a job during an economic crisis, while integrating comprehensive, practical guidance on both job search and career management. Provides an extensive online “Job Search Survival Toolkit” and addresses the realities of this job market with realistically actionable steps. And positions this downturn in the economy as a positive opportunity to develop a much better career.  Ford R. Myers maps the new world of job search and reveals essential strategies for your success. Learn how to seize opportunities that aren’t posted yet … how to make yourself an instant asset to potential employers … how to clearly stand-out as the best candidate … and how to leverage social media, blogs, and other Web tools like employersjobs.com. Best of all, you’ll learn how to “recession-proof” your career for the long term!

Instant Interviews - 101 Ways to Get the Best Job of Your Life by Jeffrey Allen:

Instant Interviews includes 101 easy, proven techniques for getting the only thing that counts in the job jungle—an interview. Get face-to-face with your future using these strategies and dozens more: Find your ideal employer online right now, Incite potential employers to interview you today, Immediately reply to only the hottest job listings, Know now what employers want, not what they say, Read between the lines in help-wanted ads to get interviewed first, Develop your interviewing persona fast, Develop a list of personal references by tomorrow, Use temporary assignments differently to get hired right away, Get interviews through the back door this Saturday, Auction yourself to the highest bidder by next week, Develop an endless flow of job offers without delay. Smart, savvy, and sure-these are the ultimate skills for unlimited career success through unlimited interviews in any economy.

How Successful People Think by John Maxwell:

The perfect, compact read for today’s fast-paced world, How Successful People Think (derived from Maxwell’s previous book, Thinking for a Change) guides readers through the 11 secrets successful people know. Arranged in an easy-to-follow format, America’s leadership expert John C. Maxwell will teach readers how to expand their thinking and achieve their dreams. The 11 keys to successful thinking include: Big-Picture Thinking - seeing the world beyond your own needs and how that leads to great ideas Focused Thinking - removing mental clutter and distractions to realize your full potential Creative Thinking - thinking in unique ways and making breakthroughs Shared Thinking - working with others to compound results Reflective Thinking - looking at the past to gain a better understanding of the future.

Working World 101 by Bridget Graham and Monique Reidy:

After graduation, the real world can be an intimidating and foreign place for college graduates. Sure, they’ve spent the past four years cramming for exams, writing essays, and reading books, but they did so in the twentysomething bubble of their college campuses. This guide fixes these problems by covering everything the recent grad needs to know in order to get in and get ahead in corporate life. Authors Bridget Graham and Monique Reidy break down the process of entering the professional world, including how to: Create the perfect resume, Nail the interview, Dress properly, Be articulate and poised, Carry on water-cooler appropriate conversation. With this guide, young people everywhere will develop the well-spoken poise, confidence, and professional attitude needed to succeed in the real world.

50 Best Jobs For Your Personality -By Michael Farr and Laurence Shatkin:

Research has proven that matching your personality to a career brings work satisfaction and success. With this best-selling book’s help, you discover your personality type and the 50 best jobs that relate to it. Part I overviews how personality relates to careers. Part II features a self-assessment for determining you personality type: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising or Conventional. Part III contains the best job lists, including the 50 best jobs overall for each personality type. Other lists for each personality type include the best-paying jobs, jobs with the highest projected growth, best jobs based on education lever, best part-time jobs, and best jobs for the self-employed–145 best jobs lists in all. In Part IV, you find a gold mine of facts about the 50 best jobs for each of the six personality types & 300 job descriptions.

Go to www.employersjobs.com for employers to practice your interview and cv skills on - maybe resulting in landing that dream job!

1. Technical: Web programmers and IT consultants

IT is one field which isn’t diminishing as a result of the recession. The UK Government spends billions per year on outsourcing their IT jobs to small firms and contractors because they don’t have the skills internally to carry out the great deal of IT related tasks needed to run the country smoothly. Being a web programmer also offers the advantage of working from anywhere at any time as you can work online. Because IT workers are most in demand, they can expect to earn in excess of than £40 000 annually in the UK, which is a definite incentive for choosing a job in IT.

2. Research: Market Researcher

The retail sector is becoming increasingly competitive and concerned with customer loyalty. It’s now more important than ever to know what people want and need to stay in business. One way to do this is to stand on a street corner with a clipboard and ask questions but statistics show us that more and more people have been using the web in recent years, so the web has become a valuable resource for the avid market researcher.

3. Language: Translators and Editors

If you want to make a good living as an independent contractor without having to pay overheads, getting into the field of editing and translating is a wise choice. Experts tell us that as people are unable to save for their pension fund, they are delaying their retirement age and one of the major advantages of editing and translation is that it knows no age. In fact, you knowledge of language improves with age, so it can be seen as a definite advantage.

4. Creative: Online Copy Writer or Digital Artist

Whoever said you can’t make a living as an artist or writer did not grow up in the digital age. These days you can study a fine arts degree and still bag a job that is high in demand. Digital art is an essential component of web design, and we all already know that web design jobs are in demand.

Have you ever heard about the guy with the best job? He writes a blog from an island, and makes money from it. Of course, that is an extreme case but if you are able to produce high quality content, which people want to read, you’re already attracting the business, now you just need to know what to do with it. Content writers can direct traffic to most businesses online and get paid for the service. If you can write, you can also submit to offline publications, which often pay handsomely for short articles.

5. People’s person: Public Relations or  Online Marketing consultant

The cheerleader and salesman among you should consider a career in public relations. As advertising and marketing budgets get slashed, companies need to look for alternative forms of getting exposure for their products and services. Public relations professionals offer these alternatives: they will bring the public to the company without charging high advertising rates.  Online PR and marketing is also one of the jobs in high demand, where you can sell a company using its web presence.

Recruiters encourage people who are struggling to find a decent job to learn a new skill or study something that is in demand, but it doesn’t help if you go back to get a masters degree and still have no job afterwards. Do you research online about what jobs are in demand and take your cue from that to choose what course or night class to take.

If you present your CV well ensuring the most relevant information to them is easily visible you dramatically increase your chances. If you need help with writing your CV don’t hesitate to get in touch…

Thanks
Ben

========================================================================================

(CV Strucutre)

YOUR NAME
Date of Birth

Address:
Email address:
Telephone: Mobile &/or Home
Driving License (if you have one)

A one paragraph in length summary about you, your skills, your experience and your ability. State clearly what you are looking for out of your next job. You should tailor this paragraph and write a new one for every new job you apply to ensuring that it is directly related to that employer/job need.

Education

Professional Body + qualifications + level
University + qualifications + level
School 2 + qualifications + level
School 1 + qualifications + level

Employment History

Most Recent Employer/Company + Location
JOB TITLE
Date: from – to

Details of all jobs held including part time and unpaid work. Start with your current or most recent employer/job first, and work backwards. List your job title, period of employment, responsibility and achievements.

Previous Employer/Company + Location
JOB TITLE
Date: from – to

Details of all jobs held including part time and unpaid work. Start with your current or most recent employer/job first, and work backwards. List your job title, period of employment, responsibility and achievements.

Previous Employer/Company + Location
JOB TITLE
Date: from – to

Details of all jobs held including part time and unpaid work. Start with your current or most recent employer/job first, and work backwards. List your job title, period of employment, responsibility and achievements.

Interests
Hobbies and interests, basically what you like doing in your spare time

References
Both professionals and personal references are available on request.

Some of you reading this article may snigger at the thought of working without getting any pay. I understand how you feel; after all you have bills to pay and other financial commitments to honour. However from my own personal experience, volunteering can be very beneficial.My first job in IT actually came by volunteering. One very cold winter about 10 years ago, I got a call from an agency to say that they had an IT support job in the NHS. It was supposed to be a 3-month contract. The catch though was that the budget for the job hadn’t been sorted out, but they still wanted me to start. That didn’t bother me as much at the time because although I was strapped for cash, I was given the impression that the budget would be sorted and that I would be paid for the work I did. However after working at the hospital for a week or two, it became apparent to me that there was no money for the role. I had a choice to make. I could either stick it out and see what I could learn and until I got a paid position somewhere else, or I could just go back home and devote my time to finding paid employment asap. I chose the former and decided to volunteer while using the internet at the hospital to look for another job.

It was not easy and it took a lot of determination and commitment on my part. I used to get up early in the cold weather and take a bus, 4 underground trains then another bus to get to work. At the end of each week, I was only reimbursed for my travel, about £20 at the time. This went on for 3 months. I started volunteering in December of that year and was offered a paid position at the hospital in March of the following year. This happened when one of the guys I worked with quit so he could devote more time to his landscaping business! Phew! I went on stay at the hospital for 6 years. I learnt a lot and met some great people. Looking back, I am glad I decided to volunteer for those 3 months. Volunteering can be challenging from a financial point of view. However some benefits include:

· Learning relevant skills and gaining valuable day-day hands-on experience. Many industries to like when you have qualifications but in most cases a premium is put on ‘industry experience’. Employers want to know that you can do the job in the real-world, not just in theory.

· Gaining not only technical skills but also ‘soft skills’ – how to interact with different people on a professional basis i.e. customer-facing skills.

· Keeping yourself busy will help your confidence in that you will have to be disciplined to get to that role on time, meet deadlines and contribute to the company’s success even if you are not being paid.

· You will get to meet new people, some of whom may prove to be valuable contacts in your career later on in terms of finding work elsewhere, getting a reference of getting advice.

· You can negotiate with the organisation to allow you time to look for paid work while with them and possibly use their facilities (i.e. internet and telephone) to help you in your job search.

In the current climate, I know for a fact that there are many organisations – public sector and small businesses especially that are willing to take on committed and hard-working people on a voluntary basis. If you are in a position that you are seeking work right now, I would recommend offering your skills for free, even for a little while. You have nothing to lose, and potentially a lot to gain!

Please visit employersjobs.com to see if any volunteer work is available!

Teens and graduates are now more than ever going to be facing a market that has fewer openings and increased competition. These Teens and graduates will need to more than ever before use their networks to find possible job openings. Many of the jobs they might apply for may not even be advertised this year and the only way to get the opportunity is to be telling everyone you know that you’re looking for a job. Getting the word out to friends, family and other acquaintances could lead to job prospects you wouldn’t otherwise have found.

May recent surveys of more than 1,000 hiring managers indicated 65% of their summer staffs will consist of returning workers. Teens that had a job last summer may already have their foot in the door for this season. Those employers will be interested in return workers because those workers already are trained.

Here are some tips to keep your head above the competition:

- Be sure to spell check your application - using proper grammer and punctuation is also key!

- Being professional is extremely important. Check your voice mail message and your facebook page to be sure that anyone calling or crawling info on you finds a professional person they would love to hire.

- Job interviews can be stressful, so in order to better prepare do a few practice interviews with someone other than a close friend or family member.

- Along with acting professional, it is important to look professional as well. Dress nicely even if the dress code for employees is casual.

- Follow up a job interview with a handwritten thank-you note.

Be sure to check online with employersjobs.com for anyone offering reputable part time work for students or graduates.

Two thirds of the one million people benifitting from the increase will be women. Business Secretary John Hutton was quoted saying “The national minimum wage remains one of the most important rights introduced by the Government in the last decade. Before it was introduced, some workers could expect to be paid as little as 35 pence an hour. Our legislation has ensured that can no longer happen. I am proud of the minimum wage. It makes a real difference to the lives of many of our lowest-paid workers and protects them from exploitation. It also creates a level playing field for business and boosts the economy.”

The government will be using an unlimited fine system introduced to crack down on employers not paying the correct amount thus exploiting their workers. The TUC said it believed 150,000 workers were still being paid less than the statutory minimum. Unions have long called for enforcement powers in this area to be strengthened with more than £27m in unpaid wages being recovered on behalf of 80,000 workers since 1999.

As well as sampling the sweets, he will also monitor their development at the company’s factory in New Mills, Derbyshire. Harry, who lives with his parents, two brothers and sister, was selected after writing about his love for Drumstick Lollies. “I’m sure the next year is going to be a real adventure,” he said.

Andrew Matlow, of Swizzles Matlow, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Harry on board to the Swizzels Matlow team and look forward to working with him as we continue to expand our iconic range of sweets.” The family-owned business, whose best-known products include Love Hearts, Drumstick Lollies and New Refreshers, has been making sweets since 1928.

Contrary to popular belief we at Employersjobs were not in any way associated with helping Harry get this role however we may not be able to get you working along side Harry, but we do have new refreshing jobs that your heart will love which in turn will make you want to play with your drumstick at the same time making you lots of lollie.

So the next time you see someone eating sweets, don’t think of Harry, think Employersjobs.com and your future!

At its latest economic forum, attended by several former members of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee, Fathom predicted that unemployment on the International Labour Organisation (ILO) measure, which includes those seeking work but not claiming benefits, would peak at 4 million in 2012. However, some economists fear the picture could be even worse. Official figures out on Wednesday are expected to show that unemployment on this measure rose to 2.17 million. The number of people out of work and claiming benefits is forecast to have climbed by 80,000 last month to 1.54 million.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “Next week’s unemployment figures will be grim reading. Unemployment is rising at a faster rate and is set to hit 2.5 million as early as June.” He called for urgent action from the government to boost employment. “The government can play a pivotal role in tackling unemployment. But focusing on public spending cuts simply means further mass job losses. The government must re-focus on sustaining and creating new jobs in order to get our economy moving again.”

Howard Archer, chief European and UK economist at IHS Global Insight, said: “Despite some recent signs that the rate of economic decline is moderating, unemployment is a lagging indicator and the extended deep economic contraction seen since mid-2008 is continuing to hit the jobs market hard.” 

Even though this news is very unsettling and hard times will be getting harder for some - it’s important to note that panic and disorder is a counterproductive state for nations worldwide and their economies. As authorities have been urging calm and methodical preventative measures in dealing with the Mexican swine flu outbreak - so is it important to note that the unemployment outbreak is also something one can take in stride. Come to employersjobs.com for example and begin a personal branding profile as a top notch candidate available in your sector for employment - and apply to as many jobs as possible. This is one way to ensure you’re not left out in the cold when the unemployment figures begin rolling in.