One of my pet hates when helping clients in their job search is the distinct lack of transparency regarding salaries.  Job advertisements invariably invite you to click the "Apply Now" button and you're expected to upload a targeted CV, cover letter and perhaps answer detailed competency questions - all before you even know whether the job is in your salary range.

Another of my pet hates is when employers ask you to specify your salary expectations.  Why?  Is it so that they can save money if your expectation is lower than theirs?

To compound it further, candidates then expend considerable effort preparing for interviews where they are still kept in the dark on salary level.  Certainly in the UK, it's not considered de rigueur to raise the important issue of salary during the first interview; it's something you discuss at second interview or, worse, you wait until they make an offer.  So you could go to a huge amount of time and effort only to learn, ultimately, that the salary is not even in your ball park.

In my opinion, this lack of transparency contributes to pay inequality - especially since there is a general consensus that women often underestimate their value and ask for less than men. 

So, instead of the government pushing for audits to establish disparities in remuneration, why don't they push for transparency in job advertisements with salary levels being disclosed at all levels?  If they could just do this simple thing, which would take no effort at all, it would save candidates, recruiters and employers from wasting time reviewing applications and conducting interviews when they're all on different pages anyway.

Salary transparency... let's have more of it please.

Barbara Patrick, Professional CV Writer and Career Coach
Compelling CVs, Berkshire, UK

To set up a call, please email: mail @ compellingcvs.co.uk

Always happy to talk.

This means you need to take stock of your current position, decide where you want to be, then create some goals and milestones to help you achieve your aim.

Carrying forward old and irrelevant job history usually won't bring success.  Instead, take a blank sheet of paper and start brainstorming about where you are today in terms of knowledge and skills, and where you where to be.

Working from scratch, list all your hard and soft skills.  Then list your achievements and the value you have delivered in previous roles.  This could include increased efficiencies, profits, sales, brand awareness, functionality, etc.  If you're short on ideas, browse LinkedIn for job vacancies and member profiles, which will help give you some inspiration about skills, terminology and how to present your achievements.  You're not just trying to create a list of duties; you want to create a list of value-added achievements.  Employers need to know what makes you better than the other candidates; why they should employ you.

Be honest with yourself.  It's no good saying you've got excellent interpersonal skills if no-one in your office enjoys working with you or if you don't enjoy working as part of a team.  If you're a square peg, you'll never fit into a round hole, however much you kid yourself.

This process will almost always identify skills gaps.  These could be technical or perhaps lack of knowledge about team leadership or business methods.  Whatever gaps you identify, try to plug them.  Research the internet for training courses - many of which are free or very cheap - then sign up.  Don't overdo it and take too much on at once.  Bite-sized training over a period of time will deliver better results.

A word of warning...

Don't quit until you've got all your ducks in a row.  You're always more employable when you're in work.  So stay focussed on your existing job while you get your career move in place, and make sure you leave on good terms and with a glowing references and testimonials.

We're always happy to chat and we're around over much of the Christmas break, so give us a call if you need help.

Whether you're a business owner or a manager, it's never easy to have to let your staff go.  It's even more difficult if they've been loyal and hardworking members of your team and you've grown to like and respect them.  They may even have become family friends.

But there is something you CAN do to ease the situation and to help them prepare for their job search in what is currently an extremely difficult job market... 

You can provide them with Outplacement Support.

Staff will undoubtedly be anxious about losing their jobs.  They may be angry or shocked at the prospect of being out of work, they may think it's a personal (as opposed to a business) decision and their self-esteem may hit an all-time low.

They may feel aggrieved because they perceive the "survivors" as being less experienced or less competent and therefore feel that they have been unfairly singled out for redundancy.

They'll very likely be extremely worried about how they can meet their financial commitments and support their families.

If they've been in work or in the same job for some time, they may be completely out of touch with today's job market and not know how to go about updating their CVs, write cover letters or cope with the online recruitment revolution.

Whilst employees may be highly adept within their existing role, they may have developed skills gaps which will further hinder their progress in the job market. 

The last thing you want is for your former employees to feel overwhelmed and worthless which could result in depression and poor health.

If you keep sending off the same CV for every job advertisement, you're unlikely to meet with success.

Read and analyse the job advertisement, see what key skills and experience they are seeking, and make sure that your CV is a good match - not just through interpretation but in exact words and phrases.

Although your CV still needs to make sense and read well, it needs to be specifically targetted to match each job vacancy advertisement.

If the job ad specifies Advanced Excel, make sure you include those exact words in your CV - remember you need to actually be advanced in Excel - no BS please...

If the advertisement specifies that they want someone with excellent organisational skills, then include those skills on your CV.

Prioritise your skills on your CV to match the priorities of the job advertisement.

Start off with one good CV.  Save this as the Master.  Then copy, edit and save each adaptation under a new file name.  This takes a little time  but it really pays dividends.

The same applies to cover letters.  These should "match" the job advertisement.  Don't just rehash your CV, address the advertisement - identify with their requirements - be the perfect match.  Tell them what excites you about the role, why you're interested, what you could bring to the role but make sure you're letter isn't all "me, me, me".  Talk about the company and how you think you would fit in and contribute to their goals.  It helps to check out their website and to read the advertisement fully before responding.

Good luck with your job search!  Get in touch if you need help.

I read an article this morning which has left me feeling a little incensed.  The article in The Telegraph (Education Section) discussed whether:

1) Employers should ignore internship experience because it may indicate that the candidate has been privileged, and

2) Employers should ignore graduates' degree classifications - again because it may suggest privilege or better educational opportunities. 

So, where does that leave the graduates who've worked really hard to gain a place at a good university and achieve a first-class degree?

Where does that leave work ethic? 

Where does it leave the fact that some people are - in reality - more intelligent and more employable than others?

The fact is, the world isn't, and never will be, a level playing field; it's a jungle.  But the same opportunities are out there for anyone who wants to get off their backsides and go after them.  I know people who've attended state schools and gone on to become lawyers.  And I know people who've had a private, aka 'privileged', education and gone on to achieve very little.

Success is a mindset.  It's about parents encouraging and supporting their kids.  It's about kids getting off backsides to seek out and make the most of every opportunity.  There's plenty of help out there for the under privileged.  Educational establishments should focus on referring kids to those resources and, if necessary, running classes for parents to educate them on the importance of supporting, stimulating and motivating their kids; leading by example. 

In terms of level playing fields, we need to be very careful about the message we send out and we should avoid at all costs undervaluing or resenting those who have worked hard to create a brighter future for themselves.

For those who'd like to read the article, here it is: Telegraph Article

by Barbara Patrick
Professional CV Writer and Career Coach
Compelling CVs
Reading Berkshire

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When I write a CV or Cover Letter for a client, I generally like to see the job description or the type of job for which they're applying.  This is usually provided in the form of URL links to vacancies posted on online job boards.

More often than not, the job posting gives some details of the skills required and the type of person they are seeking but the location might simply state "London" (big place) and quite often there is often no indication of salary.   So for a fairly senior "sounding" job role, the salary cold be £15k or £45k - or some other figure.  You're basically left in the dark.  This is particularly prevalent when agencies have posted the job vacancies.

So, armed with this appalling lack of information, you are expected to take a leap of faith, click "Apply Now" and upload your CV and personal details into the ethernet, quite often applying for a job that doesn't meet your salary expectations or that has an impossible commute.  Worse, you may never receive an acknowledgement or find out who the employer is, and we often hear that the job vacancy don't even exist!

Why can't there be a "Full Details" button that actually states:

• the size of company - number of employees
• the type of company - industry sector, private, public, international, family business, etc
• a clearer indication of location - eg Camden, Hammersmith as opposed to "London" - so you can properly consider the commuting time and cost
• details of salary range - so you don't waste your time
  

I acknowledge that this doesn't apply to all job postings, but I do come across it far too often.

Does the "Apply Now" button fill you with despair?  Having to divulge so much personal information based on so little knowledge...  it's tough out there...

I'm sure we've all heard of jobseekers who've sent off 100+ job applications and not received a single response...  If you're submitting zillions of job applications and getting nowhere, then you need to sit back and take a hard look at what you're doing wrong.

• Are you sending the same generic CV for every application?
• Are you applying for jobs for which you're not a good match - perhaps you lack relevant experience?
• Are you using a scattergun approach, applying for every job you see?

These approaches rarely work. Recruiters, and particularly online job sites, use Applicant Tracking Systems or Software, "ATS" to match your CV against the vacancy you're applying for. If your CV doesn't contain a high percentage of the keywords determined by the recruiter or hirer, your application will simply be bypassed.

So you need to prepare one high quality "master" CV - perhaps with the help of a professional CV writer. Then you need to tweak it to "word match" each job you apply for, incorporating matching key words and rearranging or reprioritising your skills, so they are a better match for each job.  You probably ought to amend each personal statement too.  In essence, if you apply for 5 jobs, you should have approx 6 versions of your CV - one master and five amended CVs each one specifically targeted to each vacancy.

All of this takes time, but it's well worth the effort as it will improve the number of keyword matches, and therefore give you better odds of being invited to interview.

Even the local Job Centres have recognised the importance of keyword and skills matching, and they are in the process of rolling out their new jobs site where you can upload 5 different versions of your CV.

With computer software largely controlling the recruitment process, you need to play the game.