In these strange and challenging times, it can feel like we are all really up against it.  But perhaps more than anyone, this is particularly true if you have lost your job due to the impact of Covid 19, or if you have had your regular job hunt interrupted by the pandemic.    The amount of people we talk to that have had career breaks or finished a position to fully focus on finding the next role, when the pandemic hit.  Talk about bad timing!

So back to that feeling of being up against it.   Well, that is certainly the feeling we are hearing from candidates, on their job hunt, that we talk to everyday.   And it is totally understandable.

Sometimes, as a job seeker, you’re not necessarily that well informed about what’s actually going on in the job market.   The news is all doom and gloom with job loses here, there and everywhere.  It can be a very lonely time, looking for a job in this environment.

Your mentality can easily take a big knock.  So that is the purpose of this blog.  To give you a different perspective on the market and hopefully some positivity.

As the owner of a recruitment company, I was extremely worried when we entered lock down and was preparing for the worst. What if the whole country stops recruiting?!   But that is not what has happened!  Our vacancy levels are way down, but there is some serious recruiting going on.  Especially in IT where the need never goes away. IT is outperforming other sectors by in some cases 33%.

There is a hive of activity and quality candidates are being recruited.  Your job hunt may take a little longer, and you may need to be smarter, but it will happen for you if you develop a strategy and follow some golden rules.

Understand the Market    Of course you need to understand your market and research is the key to doing well on interview.  But what we really mean here is, understand that the market is not dead. There is still plenty going on and people are getting jobs all the time.  So be positive mentally – with hard work and a little patience, your job hunt will get the job you deserve.  The graph below shows that whilst things have dropped, there is still quite a bit of actively and when June figures are in, we expect the curve to have moved upwards.

Data courtesy of APSCO

Revisit your wins – if you’re feeling a little low with your job hunt, it’s well worth reminding yourself of why a company should hire you.   Think back to your biggest successes – where did you really excel, turn a bad situation round, overcome an issue that nobody else could?  This is all about positivity and understanding your value is key to your positive mindset.   By the way, it is great to have a few of these your sleeve to tell potential employers about on interview.

Reflection – I was reading an interesting article today about reflection from a recruiter’s point of view.    A lot of us have had a bit more time on our hands to sit back and reflect. Or perhaps we’ve not had to do the normal commute for the last few months and are questioning whether you want to go back to that.  So maybe now is a good time to really re-evaluate what is important to you and what your perfect position looks like.

It really sang out to me that my team and I have really enjoyed some aspects of home working and have been able to communicate very effectively via Team.   So, when this is over, we’ll incorporate this into our week.  So, what changes have you enjoyed that can become values to you moving forward?

Do the basics well – in normal times, one of the major reasons for rejection is failing to prepare.  So, in these tricky times, it’s more important than ever to get the basics right on your job hunt.  Revisit your CV and really spend some time on it.  Grammar and spelling; is it nicely worded and engaging?  Get some second opinions on how it reads.  Does it match your Linked In profile?     What about interview preparation?    Check out some of our blogs that will help you do the basics well.

https://www.100itrecruitment.co.uk/the-video-interview/

https://www.100itrecruitment.co.uk/it-candidates/writing-a-technical-cv/

https://www.100itrecruitment.co.uk/it-candidates/interview-tips-and-advice/

https://www.100itrecruitment.co.uk/how-to-optimise-your-cv-for-the-job-boards/

Target Wisely – be careful with your applications on your job hunt.   There is no point in blanket applications, it’s much better to carefully target vacancies, companies or recruitment agencies that really fit you.  It you are a Network Engineer for example, just target Specialist Networking Agencies or Networking Companies that could use you proactively.  That way, you can follow up with confidence.  Less is more.

Follow up – the most successful candidates are the ones who have targeted wisely and then follow up.  As recruiters, we do get a lot of CVs and it can hard getting back to everyone, no matter how hard we try.   Take the lead on this and it will be well worth while – if you’ve targeted wisely.   We explored this back in March – have a look at this blog.

https://www.100itrecruitment.co.uk/applying-for-jobs-but-never-hear-back/

Never give up – we all know this don’t we?  Obvious.  And yet, sometimes carrying on can seem so difficult and frustrating – particularly in this economic climate.  All I can say is that we are placing people who have not given up and we are taking new vacancies every day.   Less positions for sure, but you only need one, don’t you?

Have a job hunt strategy, as maybe outlined in this blog, stick at it and believe!