457 Visa Australia

457 Visa

Working with both individuals and corporate clients, JobContax has extensive experience dealing with the 457 visa. Our Australian partners are able to use their local knowlegde, offering fast and friendly services tailored specifically to your needs. Relocation is a big step and is important to get right first time, every time. You need expert advice and support throughout your case - from applying for the 457 visa to employer sponsorship requirements. JobContax can do it all. The Subclass 457 Visa program allows employers to sponsor overseas workers, enabling them to work in Australia on a temporary basis. It is designed for people who initially wish to work for up to 4 years in Australia. The visa is the most commonly used program for employers to sponsor overseas workers in Australia. This program allows applicants to work for up to four years for a sponsoring employer and is restricted to people seeking to be employed in skilled occupations.

Duration

The Subclass 457 visa allows for individuals to work in Australia for a period of between one day and four years. This is one of the more flexible types of Australia visas.

Eligibility

Employers
An employer must be approved as an eligible sponsor before an Australian 457 visa is granted. To achieve approval, an employer must meet a range of criteria set by the Australian Government. Requirements include a demonstrated commitment to employing local labour and a commitment to the training of Australian citizens and permanent residents.

Employees
Employees must be sponsored by an eligible employer to fill a nominated position. A full listing of eligible nominated occupations can be found in the Employer Nomination Scheme List. Employees must have skills, qualifications, experience and an employment background which match those required for the position, as well as demonstrated English language proficiency. Certain character and health requirements must also be met.

Applying for a 457 visa

There are three stages in the processing of the 457 visa: sponsorship, nomination and visa application.

Before individuals can apply for a 457 visa, they must first ensure the sponsoring employer is an approved sponsor. All of JobContax's Australian partners are approved ECPM contarctors.

Employers must submit an application to be a sponsor and are required to meet all eligibility requirements.

The employer must then nominate the position to be filled, along with details of the skills required for the position, the rate of pay and the name of the prospective overseas employee.

The employee then applies for a visa to work in Australia. To lodge a visa application the sponsorship and nomination must have been lodged with or prior to the visa application.

JobContax have helped numerous numerous construction and engineering professionals through the process. Once the employer decides to sponsor someone, the process only takes a couple of months.

Be sure to check out JobContax's current Australian 457 visa approved jobs.

44% of companies monitor employees’ use of social media

A new survey has just been released , that shows how companies approach social media in the workplace, with some pretty surprising findings. When you work in a more open and flexible company, it’s easy to forget that many people, particularly in larger organisations, are subject to fairly intense monitoring or policing of access to social networks. And, somewhat worryingly, the policies adopted towards use of social media don’t just apply to the workplace, but outside of it as well. In the companies surveyed, 44% said that they had policies in place for use of social media that covered use both in and out of the workplace. Further to this, less than half the businesses in the survey said that they gave access to social media for all employees. While this is a difficult subject to broach and there is by no means a right and wrong answer, it nonetheless contributes to an unfair split in the level of access to information and connections.

71% block social networks in the workplace

To show just how extreme monitoring social networks has become, a staggering 70.7% claimed that they actively blocked social networks in the workplace. This is a huge figure and is somewhat surprising, given how pervasive social media has become in our daily lives. And while many may see this as justified, viewing social network use as something purely private, such blocking seems almost archaic :

The issue here is not so much in considering social media as a place to chat to friends, but in viewing it as a valuable source of information. Yes, restricting access to chat to your friends on Facebook is one thing, but restricting access to Twitter for example, is quite another when you consider the role that it plays in the circulation of information and news.

Who owns your content?

Where this gets even more interesting, is that such a large proportion of companies have policies that cover use of social networks outside of the workplace as well. This is a difficult reality for many people and it’s an outcome of the private becoming public. Where once you used to leave work and you had your private life to yourself, for many, that private life is being broadcast online, as you choose. For organisations however, this poses a risk if you are linked to your organisation in any way. Anything you say or do online could indirectly implicate your employer and you can understand the risk here.

But surely, as social media becomes more pervasive in our lives, this line of thinking can only go so far. We are only going to become more public and share more information about ourselves, so how far can the policing go? What’s needed instead of even more policing or moderation, is a step change in society that ultimately changes the relationship between employee and employer. Your job is your job but your life is your life. There will need to be a shift in thinking across society that what individuals do or say online (as long as it’s legal) should in no way affect your position 9-5. The alternative is a more policed society where the employer/organisation has absolute control and can enforce restrictions as they decide is best.

The need for anonymity?

This brings up an interesting issue of anonymity, which has been brought to the forefront since Google’s decision to ban users who don’t use their real names on Google +. Now while this is completely Google’s decision – their network their rules – when you consider this approach in line with how organisations are monitoring social media, it makes things rather difficult. If by default you are forced to use your real identity online but you know that your employer could be watching, it takes away a huge amount of freedom that everyone should have access to. The extent to which you have freedom and access to information online can be determined by your employer, which is a worrying thought and a fairly sobering view of the future.

Why a networked employee is a good one

Companies that restrict employees’ access to social networks, ultimately have a differing view to the benefits of social media. It’s clearly seen as something that can impinge on day to day working lives, as opposed to something that can view it. This, again, is a somewhat archaic approach. Sure, a significant part of social media is about purely connecting with friends from a social perspective. But it’s also about building connections, establishing authority and discovering new information. This can only be beneficial to an organisation. A networked employee is ultimately a better employee as it opens up the lines you have to information and the connections people build extend beyond being purely social and can benefit organisations by creating new opportunities, access to ‘influencers’ in your area and possible lead generation. Nearly 71% of companies are actively restricting this.

Gorgon Project Job Interviews | London Aug 26/27 | Dublin Aug 28/29/30

Construction and Engineering Jobs in Australia

JobContax in association with our Australian partners are currently recruiting for a number of large civils projects in Australia. We are currently looking for Project Engineers and Construction Supervisors to work on the $43 Billion  Gorgon LNG Project. The Australian contractor is flying over to conduct interviews in London on August 26/27 and in Dublin on August 28-30. Visit our Gorgon Project Jobs page for full job details.

All roles come with excellent packages including relocation costs and employer sponsored family Australian 457 visas. These positions represent a fantastic opportunity to progress your career and gain large project experience. For more information on Australian 457 Visas and the Gorgon Project click the links below:

Gorgon LNG Project information         

 Australian 457 Visa information

To be considered for interview, apply through our website, www.jobcontax.com, for the job or jobs which you feel you are qualified for and one of our consultants will contact you and explain the interview process in detail.

Contact Details

Website: www.jobcontax.com
   E-Mail:  info@jobcontax.com
   Skype:   JobContax
   Phone: 353-1-7978720

        

Job Interview Research

Preparing for an interview? Need to impress your boss? Want to improve your lot in your career? Here are points to research, know and use accordingly. You don’t need to look far, but taking the time to consider these four points about a company you may want to work for will serve you well.

The Company’s Goal:  What is the company’s stated reason for being?  What do they need to accomplish and when?

1. What problem does the company’s products or services solve? This may have been easier to answer before the Internet and some of the social solutions we see today. But hey, Twitter gets the word out to followers fast and in many instances that can serve a purpose. Knowing this can help compare the company and industry to other opportunities you may consider.

2. What is the value of solving the problem? In other words, what audience is willing to pay for the products and services and if so how much and for how long? It doesn’t take a marketing whiz to Google and find the data or at the very least ask a few knowledgeable people and take your own swag. And, at the end of the day can help quantify the value of the opportunity.

3. What makes the company’s offerings unique? Compare to competitors own words, research analysts in the market and find out if the opportunity stands with the company or if you should set your sites on another.

4. Does the company have a defined culture known and accepted by the employee base? Almost all companies have grand statements describing their culture – great. Now call into the company or hang out at a lunch spot close by and question any employee about the company in question. If you ask three separate employees and get three different answers, you can bet the company is all talk. Or as we say in Texas, all hat and no cattle. Find the company where the culture is known by all and the prouder the employees recite and describe the culture obviously the better.

We all research a company before an interview or a chance at a promotion, and Glassdoor.com, a jobs and career community, is a great place to get opinions and insight from current and past employees. If you want to know more, show that you’ve done some research and have data that can help make the right decision.

Questions to ask at interview

Answering questions doesn't cut it anymore. While job seekers focus on knowing all the right answers and impressing their interviewers, knowing which questions to ask can tell employers much more about you than any answer you might have. We spoke with a number of career coaches, headhunters and hiring managers who couldn't stress this enough. What will stick with them is that you asked the right questions, paid close attention to the answers and really fathomed what their organization is all about.Here's a list we gathered of the best questions you can ask, how to ask them and the right time to do it.

1. What sort of candidate are they looking for?
It's very important to ask questions near the beginning of the interview. Why? "The key to a good interview is understanding what an employer needs, so you know what it is you have to sell." A good questions can be: "What is the most important thing that you need someone in this position to complete in the first 30-90 days at the company?"

2. Get specific: You want to ask questions as "a doctor or analyst might do while conducting a thorough exam"
You’ll want to hear where this organization has been, where they are today and what type of goals they’d like to achieve. "What’s the history of this particular role? How did they come to define it as such? How will they recognize top performance and by what method will they calibrate results?"

3. "If I started this afternoon, what would I be working on?"
You should have a 3x5 card with the three things you most want to tell them about yourself, and the three questions you have for them, says career coach Win Sheffield. Good questions would be: "If I started this afternoon, what would I be working on?" or "How would I be spending most of my day?"

4. Don't ask: "Where might I end up in three years?"
Stay away from questions on your growth opportunities in the company, says Neil. This will make your interviewer question your intentions.

5. DO NOT ask about benefits or vacation time
"It's kind of weird when someone gets into the nitty-gritty of the benefits," says Alison Green, from Ask A Manager. "I've had people ask me who the health care provider is, if we have dental plans, how many vacation days we offer." Sheffield agrees: "Nothing about payment, or any kind of question that is self-indulgent." Once you're offered the job, that's when discussion about payment starts.

6. And whatever you do, don't ask these two questions
A - "Do you drug test?"
B -  "When can I go home?"

7. At the end of the interview, you can finally ask: "I'm wondering where you are in your hiring process?"
Win says the questions you ask at the end of an interview are also equally important, but they all depend on your interviewer's reaction. This question allows you to know when to follow-up with your interviewer.

8. Then ask: "I'm very interested in this job, I'm wondering where I stand compared to your ideal candidate?"
This is a great question, Win says, because depending on what they say, you will know what to write in your follow-up message. In a second or third interview, or if you've developed a friendly relationship with your interviewer, you can reword the question to: "How do I stand against the people you have interviewed?" Like the question before it, their answer can give you clues as to what to write in a thank you note, or how to answer other questions better.

9. After you ask your questions, be sure to listen to your interviewer's answers -- and judge their reaction
"Listen to how they self-diagnose while you make your own private diagnosis. Consider whether your assessment matches theirs," says Jaffe. "Never mind whether you’re the right person for this role. You can think about that later, in the car on the way home."

10. Express concerns you have about the company (within reason)
"Hiring managers honestly want to flush out any questions you might have about the company," says Green. "One of our worst nightmares is having someone take a job and three months after realize that they're miserable and have to start all over again."

11. Your enthusiasm for the job should come across in your answers
Goldman Sachs' head of human resources once said that the most important thing someone can show her in an interview is enthusiasm for the job, according to Sheffield. "If you're not asking questions about a job you're interested in, then I wonder why you're interviewing for it in the first place," he says.

12. The worst thing you can do is wait until the end of the interview to ask your questions

"One of the greatest mistakes you can do is wait until the end of the interview," says Neil. "By then it's far too late."A good way to sneak in your first questions is after the inevitable "tell me about yourself" question at the start of interviews. You can do it by saying "I can talk about my experiences for hours, but today I want to focus on what's most important to you," Neil says, and then ask you can your interviewer a question.

However, phone interviews are different.
In-person interviews allow you to judge someone's reaction. Phone interviews, on the other hand, tend to be more structured, Green says, so it's fine to wait until the end to ask questions.

Taking a Lower-Level Job Position

It’s easy to conclude that taking a lower-level position means putting the brakes on the career track or even taking a step back, but in fact, there can be a lot to gain in such a decision. Sometimes you have to take a step back in order to take a step forward in your career. There are a number of practical reasons to why taking a lower position makes sense.

Career Changers: A large percentage of individuals changing careers will face the need to start near the beginning with entry level workers. If you make a drastic career change, such as going from ER nursing to accounting on the CPA track, you can’t expect an opportunity to jump right to the top until you have honed skills and subject matter expertise. Of course, if you have transferable skills from a previous career that may help to secure an opportunity above entry level.

Field of Practice Changers: There are many people who choose to stay in their profession, but make a change in their field of practice. For example, you may have started your career in marketing for the travel industry, but decided to switch gears to the pharmaceutical industry. A lateral move may not always be possible because, like the career changer, you may not have the necessary industry knowledge needed in the field, especially if it is a highly specialized sector. For instance, technical language used to market pharmaceuticals in the United States follow strict guidelines approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The approaches taken to marketing may be drastically different between two fields.

Job Changers: Job changers include individuals who want to make a switch in the type of company or organization they work for. Certainly, working for a non-profit is not the same as corporate and going from an agency to an in-house position has its differences. So, while you may take a lower position, the title and associated responsibilities may vary widely between employers – and it is important to consider the experiences and opportunities available with the open position. For instance, you may go from an agency to an in-house position at a lower level. Expectations for formal promotions also may vary given different corporate cultures involved. Essentially, you may start off in what is perceived as a lower position, but you wind up with far more advanced experiences that you might otherwise have.

The (Extended) Unemployed Candidate: The difficult economy has resulted in a large pool of unemployed individuals who are well-educated and qualified for positions. Under such circumstances, it’s not rare if you’ve been unemployed for over a year. There have simply been more qualified candidates than job openings available. So, it may come to a point where you have to make the decision to take a lower position in order to: a) bring home a paycheck to pay for essentials, b) maintain your marketability (after such an extensive period of unemployment, it may be a greater setback to remain unemployed – your marketability withers with time away from the market) and/or c) help secure a better job opportunity down the track (employers typically favor candidates who are already employed).

 

Regardless of the situation, here are key questions you should ask yourself to help decide whether taking a lower position is the right move for you and your career.

1. Does this type of job fit into my long-term career goal? Essentially, will it get me where I want to be down the road?


2. After taking this position and settling in, if I go back on the job hunting track, will I be able to communicate to a potential employer how the experience has helped me grow and evolve to be prepared for this next position?


3. Do I believe I can excel in the position and create realistic opportunity to advance within the company?


4. Will I be happier with the position? Most people spend a large part their life working, so it is important to be happy with what you do. Be wary of how dissatisfaction with a job can quickly lead to burnout.

If you answered yes to the questions above and can put your ego aside, making the decision to take a lower position can be a rational move to help steer your career forward. You can expect to be happier with life and your career. However, after taking a lower position, you need to maintain perspective on your reasons for the decision. It is easy to let pride get in the way of things.  Remember this decision is based on a long-term plan, not a short-term plan for your career.

Questions to ask yourself before relocating

Relocating for a job is a fairly common practice, especially with the low job security of today’s economy.  But moving can result in heavy personal costs and should be extensively thought about before leaping to take a job.  Here’s how you can best enter a relocation type situation.

First and foremost consider why you are willing to move for this position.  Is it for the money? Can you not find a job in your hometown? Are you looking for a life change? Are you being forced to move by your current employer? Have you been looking for a chance to move? The answers to these questions will determine how well you adapt to the new situation.  If you’re putting yourself in this situation for good reasons and not just for the money or because you are being forced to do so you are more likely to have a positive attitude about your move and more likely to be happy in your new location.

Look into the details about the town you are moving to.  Consider the average home prices, what the culture is like, what the weather is like, if you have children consider what the school districts are like you don’t want to move somewhere where you really aren’t happy to live.  Often when the perfect job comes around we think that we will automatically be happy there but if the town you are moving to does not offer a social scene or isn’t family friendly it can take a serious toll on your psychological health.

You’ll also want to take a long hard look at your finances.  How much money will you lose on your house if you sell it right now.  If the real estate market is not favorable in your area, as it isn’t in most of the nation, you’ll want to consider how much you can rent your house or apartment for.  Selling your current residence is a huge part of the relocation process and it is often a bit of a financial burden.  Make sure it’s worth the money, and that you are financially able to do so.

If you have a family consider the effect of the move on them.  Will they be able to find jobs in the area?  Are they willing to say goodbye to their friends and coworkers?  Will they be happy in the new town?  If your spouse and/or children are not happy with the move it may make it difficult for you to be happy.

If you’ve decided relocation is the right decision for you, there are a few ways in which you can make the transition a little less painful.  Prepare yourself for the difficulty of saying goodbye.  Often we enter situations in which we have to say goodbye unprepared and end up fighting with the people we love because it’s harder to be sad than angry.  Give yourself time to say goodbye to the people who have really mattered to you.  Be honest with them about your feelings and they’ll be less likely to be angry with you about your move.  Make a plan as to how you are going to stay close.  For some people talking on the phone is enjoyable, others find it tedious and difficult consider setting up a time to video chat, or making it routine to email each other a few times a week.  Alternatively you could try mailing a journal back and forth, complete with photos, and fun anecdotes. Elizabeth Bernstein of the Wall Street Journal showcased a group of women who did just that, and they have found that it has helped them remain close despite the fact that they all reside in different states.  Old friends can help keep you from feeling lonely after a move, and should be included in your plans to relocate.

Tips for Successful Salary Negotiations

Most job seekers I’ve come across are not comfortable with salary negotiation. Don’t be discouraged to negotiation a fair package when you receive an offer. Many employers actually expect candidates to negotiate and factor that in to the initial offer.  Successful salary negotiation generally takes place at a specific point – after a job offer is presented. So, don’t jump the gun and ruin your chance of obtaining a salary you deserve by setting the bar too high or low.

It is always best to let the employer bring up the discussion of salary. There are a number of drawbacks to discussing this point too early in the process. The first interview is generally used to inform you about the position and company and to discover how your capabilities and skills may apply to the employer’s requirements. By discussing salary before even making a positive impression with the employer, you may cut yourself short.  If you bring up the discussion, the next question from the employer may be about your expectations.  Now, you are in a position to set the bar, but what if the bar you set is lower than what the employer was planning for? There’s also the chance you may be too over the top from what the employer had in mind and they may decide to discontinue discussions with you before there’s even been a chance to help them realize the true value of your experience and skills for the position and company.

There are some general rules to follow to ensure you have the best hand when it comes time to salary negotiation.

 

1. Responding to Desired Salary: It’s a question that may appear on your application and what you may write is “Fair market value.” If you must specify an amount, offer a broad range, not a specific dollar amount. And if asked during an interview, the same rule applies. A generally good response to help you get out of specifying your desired salary is saying, “I am flexible and expect to earn what is fair market value for the position.” You can then follow up and ask for the salary range for the position, putting the ball back in the employer’s court.


2. Conduct Research: Research the field and determine what a competitive salary is. There are a number of online websites offering salary information on different positions by location, industry as well as years of experience. This way, when it comes time to negotiation you have supporting materials to show your request is reasonable.


3. Know What You Are Worth: If you have particular skills that are important to this position or have leverage over other typical candidates for the position, use it to your advantage to support your request for a higher salary. Negotiation needs to be focused on what you can bring to the table versus what you need.


4. Schedule a Time for Negotiation: Follow up with your contact to schedule a time for an in-person meeting to discuss questions you have related to the offer. Explain you are very appreciative of the offer, but believe a few terms fall short of your expectations and you want to discuss it to determine if changes are possible.


5. Ask Questions Rather Than Present Demands: In order to establish a professional and pleasant negotiation discussion, always present your terms in the form of a question, such as, “How negotiable is the salary?” And avoid questions that can lead to an easy response of “No,” such as “Is the salary negotiable?”


6. Present Clear Terms and Know What It Will Take for You to Accept: Present to the employer exactly what it will take for you to accept the offer and be gracious, professional and courteous throughout this process. Negotiation should be a streamlined process. Know your minimum requirements to accept a position if your terms are not met or are only partially met.


7. Create a Win-Win Situation: Negotiation is about creating a win-win situation. Everyone should come off happy with what is to be received. Employers do not want unhappy employees coming on the job feeling underpaid and an employer should not feel they have been left with the short end of the stick.

Never shy away from negotiating for better salary when you receive a job offer. Establish a professional discussion where you are courteous in your requests and ask based on terms that are reasonable within the market, and you will have a good chance of getting what you deserve and want.

Questions to ask at Interview

How frustrating when, at the end of interview, you get an opportunity to ask questions and you can’t think of anything! This happens to many candidates – Interviews are stressful situations, they can be emotionally draining and mentally challenging. So at the end of it, interview fatigue might set in and your normally sharp and inquisitive brain can freeze up when you are put on the spot.

This is an important moment in the interview, where you get to show serious interest and initiative. You can also gain critical information about the job, organisation, supervisor and colleagues by asking good questions, whilst also demonstrating your knowledge and research. Of course, don’t ask obvious questions!

Here are a few examples of things to ask – But remember, if the issue was already discussed don’t repeat the question! Take a few sample questions into the interview with you on a note pad to help you along.

What are the most important characteristics someone in this position should have?
What attracted you (The interviewer) to your current role or organisation?
What do you enjoy most in your job?
What do you expect from your staff?
What is your management style?
How would you characterise the management philosophy of the organisation?
What are the current strengths and weaknesses of the staff that would report to me?
How has the organisation changed in the recent past, and where does it expect to go in the future?
What is the top priority of the person that accepts this job? How would this be measured?
What opportunities are available for professional development?
Why are you hiring for this position?
What are the next steps in the selection process?
What is the timeline for hiring?
When can I expect to hear from you?

Brazil’s Job Market is Booming

As it begins preparations to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, Brazil - South America’s largest country and economy, is one of the first emerging markets to begin an economic recovery. With an unemployment rate of 6.1 percent, Brazil is experiencing job growth and talent shortages in many sectors.

Brazil’s strong recovery from the global financial crisis has spurred increased hiring activity and a buoyant employment market, enabling the job market to become increasingly candidate-driven. Many workers in the private sector are seeing double-digit pay raises, and last year average salaries in Brazil increased 6.5 percent.

Talent shortages persist in many of the growing industry sectors in Brazil. Recruiting professionals report infrastructure, oil, gas, consumer products, technology, financial services, and capital markets are the most in need of talent. Hiring in Brazil has been active across all sectors, with the heaviest volumes in FCMG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods), manufacturing, agribusiness and heavy construction.

Especially scarce in Brazil are engineers with technical backgrounds, experience with big oil finds, and knowledge of infrastructure, but Brazil turns out just 35,000 engineers a year, compared with India’s 250,000 and China’s 400,000 engineers. “One problem Brazil is facing is that their companies and universities have not created sufficiently qualified people to satisfy the new demand,” explains Ms. Thompson. “Multinational organizations looking to hire in Brazil are seeking successful candidates who are flexible, skilled in communications between Brazil and headquarters, adaptable and multilingual. Although many companies invest in homegrown talent, there is also room for skilled foreign-born executives to work in Brazil.”

The talent shortages in Brazil have resulted in high salaries and large executive bonuses. Chief executives and company directors earn more in São Paulo, Brazil’s business capital, than in New York, London, Singapore or Hong Kong. For example, a CFO with 12 years’ experience or more can earn $400,000 to $530,00 USD in São Paulo, while a CFO with the same experience would earn approximately $125,000 USD in New York.

The 10 Jobs Most in Demand in Brazil

1. Technicians
2. Skilled trades
3. Production operators
4. Secretaries, PAs, administrative assistants and office support staff
5. Labourers
6. Engineers
7. Drivers
8. Accounting and finance staff
9. IT staff
10. Sales representatives

How to Write a Professional CV that Wins Interviews

You’ve found the ideal job vacancy. Now you need the ‘how to’ guide to write your professional CV. Most people are aware of the standard professional CV build: employment history, qualifications, contact details – but which key ingredients impress employers and win a place on their interview shortlist?

“Before you start to write your professional CV, write down your ten greatest achievements,” says Peter Appleby, Managing Director of Appleby Associates. “This should help you get in the right mindset, which is a marketing mindset. Your achievements demonstrate your proven abilities and what you have to offer. You’re a product being sold to a company, and the goal of your professional CV is to communicate what you can do for them. By considering your achievements first, you won’t fall into the trap of describing your skills without offering evidence to substantiate them.”

Many jobseekers know the basics of how to write a CV, but they don’t build a professional CV that’s a real killer. Linking key skills and abilities with real-life achievements when you write your CV, such as awards or work successes, is a sure-fire way to impress, according to the employers we spoke to. “It’s important that everything you say about yourself on your CV is supported by concrete evidence,” says Harry Freedman, Chief Executive of Career Energy. “So when you describe your key skills and abilities, make sure you back up these claims. Your professional CV is the only thing potential employers will know about you before they meet you in person, so it has to be convincing and sell you strongly.” And how not to write a CV? One of the things employers tell us they hate the most is CV jargon, which loosely means describing yourself as ‘a highly dedicated worker, with excellent attention to detail’ without giving any real life examples of how you’ve already demonstrated these abilities. Always make sure you back up your claims with hard evidence.

Tailor your professional CV to fit the employer. You should never send an ‘identikit’ version to multiple employers by email. Recruiters really object to being spammed by cut and paste CVs. Instead, find out as much as you can about what your recruiters want from your professional CV beforehand. Employers can be very subjective in their preferences, even if they don’t realise it. For example, Noel Marshall of recruitment agency Finance Professionals, categorically states that a personal summary including hobbies and interests gives recruiters a flavour of your personality. Whilst headhunter Andrew Baber of Planning for People believes unequivocally that personal summaries are ‘white noise’ which no-one ever reads.

Almost every employer we spoke to emphasised the need to keep a professional CV as short as possible: no more than two pages long, with plenty of white space and a good font size. A ‘stuffed’ looking CV was rated as very unappealing by employers and a warning sign that the potential employee can’t prioritise. Your goal is to communicate clearly and quickly that you’re right for the job, and this means keeping text to a minimum. “Your professional CV is a document that must be inviting to read,” says Freedman, “which means making it very easy on the eye. There should be lots of white space and you should only write what’s really necessary.” Most employment vacancies are oversubscribed, so you won’t be thanked for adding to a recruiter’s workload by sending pages and pages of CV material for them to wade through.

Essential items are clear, accurate contact details (including your email address) at the top of each page of your professional CV, details of previous employment and your qualifications. According to ‘Why You? CV Messages to Win Jobs’ author, John Lees, who carried out detailed surveys of employers, for each of your previous jobs you should write a brief overview of your position, and then a separate paragraph listing the key skills demonstrated during your employment.

Lees also notes that the majority of recruiters prefer employment histories starting with the most recent first and appearing before a candidate’s qualifications. According to Lees, only a third of employers were interested in GCSE and A Level grades, and professional CVs that begin with school qualifications, or other irrelevant qualifications, were cited as very unappealing.

Good presentation is very important. “You should use plain, white A4 paper and a standard font such as Times New Roman or Arial,” says Appleby. “Absolutely no, shall we say, ‘artistic’ fonts.” Also proof read, double-check and triple-check for errors. Before you dismiss this as an obvious point you would be amazed how many ‘professional’ CVs employers receive with typos and spelling mistakes. According to a nationwide survey of recruitment professionals carried out by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, 47% said that out of all the professional CVs they received, over half (50%) contained grammatical errors, with the worst offenders in the 21-25 year-old age group. For a recruiter with a mountain of professional CVs to work through, even one little error is a welcome reason to file an application in the pile marked ‘dustbin’.

Stand out from the crowd. If your research indicates your recruiter may favour a creative approach, don’t be afraid to be different. With three hundred black and white two-page CVs to get through, a cleverly creative approach can brighten an employer’s day. Examples which have made it through the door include a standard, professional CV coupled with a doll of the potential employee marketed as a super-hero with their employable qualities written on the box. Whilst one creative applicant seeking work with an events company put together an ‘invitation’ to employ her, complete with party poppers and streamers.

Perhaps most importantly, get a second opinion. “It’s a good idea to get a professional to look over your CV once it’s finished,” says Nick Rous, a career coach for Learn Direct. “Career coaches at Learn Direct can check your CV for free and make sure it’s correctly structured and includes the right amount of detail. A professional CV is not about cutting corners, get advice and take the time to do it properly.”

How To Find a Job on Twitter

Tough economic times call for innovative approaches. An estimated 51 million people internationally are expected to lose their jobs in 2009, and with the unemployment rate on the rise, how does one find career opportunities fast? One great option is Twitter.

Twitter is evolving as another resource, in addition to traditional methods, for both job searching and recruiting.

• Make your Twitter presence “employer-friendly”

o Put your job pitch in your Twitter bio (which is 160 characters)

o Use a professional looking avatar

o Tweet about your job search

• Utilize your Twitter background. There’s lots of space you can use to promote yourself.

• Include a link to an online CV or resume in your bio. Use a tool like VisualCV.

• Establish yourself as an expert in your field on Twitter. It’s important to note that you should not misrepresent yourself. If you’re not a medical doctor, don’t play one on Twitter. As those on Twitter become interested in your content, when employers are looking at you, you’ll have more than just your resume to back up your knowledge and experience.

“It’s about who you know”

How do you get to know the right people? It’s not always about who you’re looking for, some people on Twitter are actually looking for YOU.

There are many job recruiters who use Twitter to look for potential candidates. Before contacting a recruiter via Twitter, check out:

• Their bio

• Follower/Following ratio (Have they been around a while? Do they follow people back?)

• Click the link to their website

• Ask others in your network whether or not the recruiter is a credible source.

Karen McHugh a.k.a. @JobContax – Karen is an executive recruiter. She often tweets out specific advice for job seekers and project news for the construction and engineering sectors. Karen is accessible to her followers and tweets about non-recruiting topics as well.

Job search tools & resources

A reactive job search on Twitter probably isn’t the best way to find a job. There are many new Twitter tools and applications to assist with a proactive job search.

TwitJobSearch.com

Another tool born out of Twitter for job seekers and recruiters. This is a very simple and free tool for job seekers. You can search tweets containing jobs by industry and location. View JobContax tutorial.

Job search accounts

There are a variety of Twitter accounts dedicated to providing job listings by field, company, region, and more. Once you’ve decided which best match your job search, consider turning on mobile alerts for these accounts to be among the first to receive messages (if your mobile phone plan includes SMS messages).

By company  @mtvnetworksjobs – Jobs at MTV

By field  @journalism_jobs – Jobs in journalism

By job type  @freelance_jobs – Freelance jobs

By region  @ITJobsSydney – IT jobs in Sydney, Australia

General  @indeed – One search. All jobs

To find additional Twitter job resources, use the Twitter search function and type in keywords important in your job search. For example, “job openings,” “looking for a job,” or “healthcare career.” Additionally, you can search out others in your desired career field on sites like Twellow, Just tweet it, and TwitterTroll.

Your next job could be just a tweet away.

14 million working hours spent job-hunting every week in UK and Ireland

Findings of survey suggest UK employees spend over 14 million working hours job hunting, costing employers more than £250 million

• Almost a quarter (23%) of jobseekers surveyed carry out telephone interviews while at work


• More than one in ten (12 per cent) have been caught by a boss or colleague


• Six per cent of respondents fabricate the death of a relative to excuse absence to attend interviews

Time-poor jobseekers are risking their current roles by searching for new jobs at work, according to a poll by Monster.co.uk.  The survey of over 2,000 jobseekers, all currently employed, found that over a quarter (28 per cent) spend more than three hours per week looking for jobs at work, 16 per cent more than five hours and 7 per cent more than ten hours. If this was consistent across all UK jobseekers, it would amount to a weekly total of over 14 million hours, costing employers more than £250 million every week.

This time is not just spent surfing the internet either. While 60 per cent of respondents say they do search online for jobs at work, 50 per cent say they also update they CV, 49 per cent apply for roles and almost a quarter (23 per cent) shamelessly carry out telephone interviews from the office. But it appears all this job hunting hasn’t gone unnoticed with 40 per cent of respondents saying they think their boss knows they are looking and 12 per cent saying they have actually been caught by their boss or another colleague. One in fifty of those questioned has actually lost their job this way.

Furthermore, over a third (39 per cent) of respondents have attended job interviews during working hours, with a medical appointment being the most popular excuse for absence (23 per cent), closely followed by a home delivery (22 per cent) and a pet emergency (14 per cent). Worryingly, six per cent of respondents fabricate the death of a relative to explain their absence, more than would fake sickness (one per cent) or a domestic emergency (five per cent).

Male respondents are the biggest culprits when it comes to job hunting at work, with 30 per cent spending more than three hours per week looking for a job, compared to 25 per cent of women surveyed. Regionally, those surveyed in Anglia spend the most time job hunting at work, followed by London and then the South East. Age-wise, youngsters are the biggest culprits with 21 per cent of 18 to 30 year old respondents spending more than five working hours looking for a job. Surprisingly those in the 51 to 60 age bracket are also serious offenders, with only slightly fewer (20 per cent) doing the same.

Isabelle Ratinaud, spokesperson for Monster UK & Ireland, said, “Looking for a new role can be time consuming and many people are clearly so desperate to move that they will spend hours looking and applying for roles while they’re supposed to be doing their current job. But while this may be tempting, it is important that job seekers try to limit their hunt to lunchtimes, evenings and weekends wherever possible. If your boss finds out you’re job hunting on their watch, this could not only affect your reference, it could even result in disciplinary action or dismissal - which could make finding a new job even harder.

“To reduce the chance of being found out, job seekers should make use of all the new technology available. iPhones, iPads and other mobile devices mean that you can now search and apply for roles from pretty much anywhere, at any time of the day, whether it’s on the way to work or in a coffee shop round the corner – but during an authorised break of course!” To make life easier for job seekers, Monster.co.uk has launched an iPad app for job hunting on the move. The app uses Monster’s unique 6Sense technology to match skills and experience to the right opportunities. This can be done at home, in a car, at the airport, on the train – taking advantage of those long commutes and downtime at the weekend.

What You Really Need To Know About Social Media Profiles And Job Searching

These days, most career development professionals will make a point of telling you to get with it in social media. The idea is that your various profiles are a gateway to a new job. Heartfelt advice about whether or not to include pictures of your last drinking binge or photos of your unmade bed is the new career coaching.

Please, get your social media profiles in order. It’s really your call. Be who you are or be willing to be someone else at work. Whichever decision you make, get your profiles together.

But don’t ever get the idea that using social media effectively will get you a job.

Remember the Philosophy 101 question: “If a tree falls in the forest, does anyone hear it?” The very same thing applies to social media. The odds that someone besides your mother and your own social network are actually going to look at you profile are quite low. For the most part, recruiters and HR folks look you up after they’ve come across your name, not as a way to find you in the first place. Just because you infuse your profiles with career information, you are not guaranteed that anyone will look at it or find it.

There are two aspects to the problem;

• Recruiters and HR professionals are not trained to find people using the internet. There is an emerging movement (called Sourcing) to get people some professional training. Only a small percentage of those who are charged with hiring have sourcing skills. Most don’t even realize that they need the skills.


• None of the social media sites (or Google for that matter) make it easy for you to be found. Building resumesthat can be found (regardless of format) is still an emerging art. While you can get some good tips about making your resume friendly to an Applicant Tracking System, little is known about how recruiters actually scavenge the web.

The sourcers may find you. You have to make yourself find-able to the others. Here are a few tips that will improve your chances of being found:

1. If (and that’s a big if) hiring managers come looking for profiles of people for jobs they are trying to fill, they will look for them exactly the way that you use Google. That is, they will search until they have what seems like ‘just enough’. It is imperative that your profile (and resume for that matter) contain the words that they will use for that search. Your best bet is to visit Google and search for people like you.


2. Examine the LinkedIn profiles of other people with your job. Make sure that you include any relevant key words in your profile. Generally, key words are nouns that describe incremental details of your skills and experience. Your profile ought to have tens of them.


3. There is some chance that an employer will supplement the resumes and applications it receives through job boards and its website. If you apply for a job online, make sure your social media profiles get updated with some of the language in those job descriptions.


4. Have a really clear picture of the people you wish would find you online. Tailor the descriptions of your experience to match the kinds of things they are looking for.

It’s early in the social media discovery game. For the foreseeable future, you are going to have to keep your eyes open. Discovering the tricks of getting your resume (or profile) noticed is a time honored job hunter’s tactic. New technology, same game.

http://www.glassdoor.com/blog/social-media-profiles-job-searching/

Fired Because of Social Media

We hear about it all the time: employees calling in sick and getting caught surfing Facebook. Employees bashing their employers and clients, or declaring their job search via their Twitter account. Workers posting inappropriate pictures and videos to YouTube, reflecting poorly on the company.

Social media faux pas happen every day, but people are starting to take them more seriously -- especially employers. So far this year, 21 percent of companies with more than 1,000 workers have disciplined employees for violating social networking policies, compared with 13 percent in 2008, according to a survey by Proofpoint Inc., an e-mail security company. About 9 percent have fired an employee for these violations, more than double the 4 percent two years ago.

Remember back in April 2009 when two Domino's Pizza employees posted a video on YouTube that showed one employee filming another sticking cheese inside his nose and farting on the food. Well, that's one way to get fired via social media.

While we hope you would be smarter than that, one can never be too sure. My all time favourite social media related firing involves a juror.

In 2008 in the  U.K., a juror was dismissed when she posted details of the trial on her Facebook page. "I don't know which way to go, so I'm holding a poll," she wrote.

I guess the moral of the story is not to post personal/confidential information publicly online.