Two years ago, after 6 years as a Recruitment Consultant, I left my job without anything to go to. This was a massive leap of faith and I must stress, this is not something I would ever recommend you do! However, 6 weeks into my gardening leave, I found a new role and I haven’t looked back since.
The experience of looking for work and of being a candidate again was interesting, terrifying and bewildering at the same time. As a professional recruiter, I knew the job market and (thought) I understood how to market myself effectively however I still learnt a lot from the experience and here are some of the main points to consider before entering the job market.
Set your strategy
Create a project plan outlining your different approaches and the channels you are planning to use to market yourself. This should include direct channels (sending your CV directly to a company), recruitment agencies, your own network and social media. We are in a multi-channel market place and social media has an important role to play in marketing of both products and people. If you are unsure how to use social media effectively, seek advice!
What is your Unique Selling Point?
What qualities do you possess that make you stand out from your peers? Seek 360° feedback from people you trust. In order to sell effectively, you need to fully understand your product…You!!
Define your goals
Before you do anything else, think about what kind of role you are hoping to find and what you can realistically hope to achieve. Deciding what you want to do and are qualified to do will dictate where you target your efforts and also how you market yourself.
What is your personal ‘brand’?
This is the message you convey to the market and to future employers. Your ‘brand’ should be a positive representation of your skills, experience and personality and this should be consistent across all the media you use to engage with others eg. Your CV, Linkedin, Twitter etc. Don’t forget that your brand message should also be consistent in person so think about body language, presentation and how you communicate with people around you.
Identify your target market.
Knowing which companies you want to target will help you refine your ‘message’ and ensure it is delivered to the right place. Research companies and brands to identify those which fit with your goals and align with your values.
Re-write your CV
Merely updating your CV is not enough. It may be several years since you last looked at it so it is worth looking at the whole thing and checking that it is representing you accurately and is in a format that will be well received in the current market. At the very least, you will have achievements to add and your skills and experience will have progressed. This is your shop window - it must present you in the best possible light and accurately reflect your brand message.
Create/Update your Linkedin Profile
Like it or loathe it, Linkedin is widely used by recruiters when sourcing candidates (some would argue that it is its principle function!). Your Profile must be up to date and must portray you and your experience in a positive light. I found Linkedin invaluable when I was looking for a role as it enabled me to identify key individuals in my target companies and where appropriate, make an approach.
Set yourself targets.
Like any good campaign, it should be SMART (Simple, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely). Setting specific time frames for a job search is very difficult – timescales are often a moveable feast and you will need to remain flexible and organised to keep track. Be prepared to review your time frames and re-adjust if processes are delayed or postponed. This will help you remain focused and ensure you are not putting all your eggs in one basket.
Conduct regular brand reviews
As you progress along your job search campaign, you may reassess your goals and identify new companies to target which you hadn’t previously considered. Ensure that you keep your message clear.
Review your strategy
It is important that you regularly assess the effectiveness of your strategy and if necessary, make amendments. Has your target audience changed? Do you need to try a different approach? The more exposure you have in the market, the better idea you will have of your own marketability. You may need to amend your brand ‘message’ following the feedback you have received along the way.
By managing your job search campaign in a pro-active and positive way, you will be master of your own destiny and ultimately increase your chances of landing the role you want.
By Jez Styles, AdMore Recruitment
15+ Great Website Links for Retail & Hospitality interview research
Apparently Monday 6th January was ‘Massive Monday’ in recruitment (definitely not a reference to working at desks all year and eating stodge solidly for two weeks). I’m not entirely sure about that but I do get the sense that there is going to be a lot more recruitment activity this year than in 2013. The economic data would suggest that things are picking up, and the recruitment ‘churn’ is showing signs of gathering pace. We have certainly seen a significant change in a) mind-set and commitment to hire and b) the volume of vacancies.
So, if you have made a New Year’s resolution to look for a new position and you have written your CV (Free template here), then you may be close to securing an interview or accepting an offer. It is likely to be a competitive market this year so it is imperative that you set yourself apart with some good quality Retail & Hospitality interview research. Our clients generally feedback more favourably on the candidates that have clearly researched the company and the market vertical. You could of course ‘wing-it’ with a simple read of the corporate website and a quick google search, however if you are looking to go a little deeper it would be worth checking out some of these sites for additional analysis.
Industry Magazines: Retail Week / The Grocer / The Caterer / The Morning advertiser .Industry magazines are still pretty much the top place to go when you are looking to build a base of knowledge or to read recent news stories. Depending on which sector you are looking to specialise in you may find there are other useful sites to visit, for example if you are looking for a job in Pharmacy retail it might be worth checking the Pharmaceutical Journal (not a light read!). The Retail Week site will require a subscription for detailed viewing but it might be worth doing so for a short period. There is a lot of information in their Resource Bank including a league table of over 200 retailers with detailed financial information.
TIP: If you want to access an article without paying a subscription fee you could try running the keywords (I just cut and pasted the headline below) through a search engine and then clicking the link to the site, hey presto you can read the full article!
Before:
After:
There are of course other useful sites which I haven’t mentioned, it would be great if you could add them in the comments below.
By Sophie Mackenzie, AdMore Recruitment
Role-play interview…these two words tend to send a shiver down the spine of most people. Whether called upon to do them as part of training and development at work or as part of an assessment process for a new role, chances are the very prospect will fill you with dread!
Fear not, like most things, by understanding what is expected and knowing how to approach it, you should be able to perform well. As someone who has had the dubious pleasure of taking part in role-plays as both candidate and assessor, here are some tips from me.
What is a role-play exercise?
A role-play interview exercise is in simple terms, an artificial simulation of a scenario. It is a way of replicating (albeit falsely) actions and behaviours in a specific situation in order to give a demonstration of how you may perform in reality.
Still widely used in assessment centre processes and training courses, they can be a useful way of judging how a person will behave in order to either decide whether they have the capability to do a certain role or in order to coach someone to improve certain behaviours. They are also a useful way of conducting a cultural assessment of a candidate.
What format will it take?
I am focusing here on role-plays used in an assessment or interview process however the basic principle is the same whatever the reason you are doing them. For the purposes of illustration, I am using an example of a role-play I wrote for a client’s assessment centre process which was used to assess Area Manager candidates.
You will get a brief outline of a scenario with details of the character you will be playing and an outline of the character you will be role-playing with.
For example:
You are an Area Manager for a home wares retailer.
Having joined the business 3 months ago, you are in the process of getting to know your store teams and are conducting detailed follow-up audits of all the stores in your area.
There will usually be some guidance about what you are trying to accomplish from the ‘meeting’ and further details to add context.
For example:
A recent visit to one of your previously top performing stores has identified several issues:
A marked decline in store standards since your first visit 6 weeks ago. Key issues are:
Cleanliness and health and safety in the warehouse and staff areas.
Poor presentation on promotional carousels and issues with availability on key, volume products (kitchen and bathroom basics).
The Store Manager, Andrew Smith, has been late on several occasions. The last time, he was 30 minutes late for a visit from the Commercial Operations Director so this has now been noticed at senior level. Andrew has worked for the company for several years and is well regarded. Until recently, his store has been consistently in the top 5 in terms of sales and mystery shopper scores.
You have arranged a meeting with Andrew Smith to discuss your concerns and investigate the situation.
It is likely to include guidelines about how much time you have to prepare and how much time you have to complete the role-play exercise itself.
For example:
You have 15 minutes to prepare for this meeting.
After 15 minutes, Andrew Smith (played by an Assessor role-playing ‘in character’), will arrive to begin the meeting. They will be joined by another Assessor who will observe the role-play and take notes but not take part in the role play.
You have 30 minutes to conduct the meeting.
How to prepare
Don’t panic!
Read the brief carefully. Take particular note of the timings and work out exactly how much time you have to prepare.
Read the brief again and this time, make notes with your observations.
For example:
Andrew - previous top performer…what has changed? Store standard issues are all basic things so unlikely to be training issue – problem with store team? Delegation? Why is he late? Issues at home?Chances are, the role-play will have been tailored to a scenario you would be likely to face in your target role in which case, it is probably a situation that you have faced before in real life.
If this is the case, clear your mind and reflect on when you have dealt with a similar situation. Think about how you handled it, what you were hoping to achieve as an outcome and how the person you were meeting with reacted.
Think about what the assessors are looking for. If you are interviewing for a role where people management is key, then clearly, they are looking for you to demonstrate your skills in particular around communication, empathy, coaching and motivation. Think also about the culture of the organisation so you can adapt your style accordingly.
Equally, as an Area Manager, you will be responsible for overall standards in your area and in turn sales performance, so you need to make sure these issues are addressed immediately.
The assessors will therefore be looking for you to balance your soft skills with a focus on results so you will need to try to agree a plan of action to improve the situation.
Draw out a rough plan of what you would like to achieve.
This will help you focus on the key points and help you to remember to cover the important areas. Bear in mind however that you need to be prepared to adapt your focus depending on how the other role-player approaches their role. They may behave in any number of different ways and you will need to respond accordingly.
Warning: watch out for red herrings – you will undoubtedly be given lots of information, some of which may be superfluous or not relevant to this situation. Identify the key issues and focus on them – remember the main point is to identify the underlying problems which have caused them. The key to finding out what they are is to ask OPEN QUESTIONS.
For instance: "how is your day going so far?" "how are you feeling about your job at present?" "what do you think about the new stock loss procedure/promotion/overtime ban?" "how are your team reacting?"
The role-play itself
Once you have sketched out your plan and thought about your options, it is time to get ‘in the zone’!
This is where you need to ‘suspend your disbelief’. By this I mean that you have to get into character and do your best to forget that you are in an artificial situation. In doing this, you will make it easier for yourself to behave in a natural and ‘real’ way and it will help alleviate any feelings of embarrassment or silliness that you may be feeling. By throwing yourself into the role-play and going with the flow, you are more likely to give a good account of yourself.
Bear in mind that the other role-player is likely to be in character too so if they knock on the door, answer it in character and start your performance!
If you have ascertained that someone is under pressure due to personal circumstances, it is important to listen and offer support. Ask the person what would help them to move forward – do they need a day off to sort things out? Would they benefit from working reduced hours for a short period of time? Clearly, you have to be careful about making promises you may not be able to deliver on or wouldn’t have the seniority to authorise however, it is important to think of practical steps which the company could take.
NB. It is however important that you make it clear that standards MUST improve immediately. Set a date by which you want the improvements to be made and arrange a follow-up meeting.
Dealing with a ‘difficult’ character
Depending on how the company want to assess you, they may try to catch you out by briefing the role-player to be purposely objectionable. This is particularly common (and appropriate) when assessing for sales roles.
Again, assess body language so you can see any difficulties coming and make allowances for this in your preparation. If dealing with an irate customer for instance, remember the importance of listening, empathising and calming them down before talking about what you can do to help.
In the case of a difficult staff member, keep HR best practice in mind. If they are indicating that a disciplinary procedure may be required (perhaps in the case of Gross Misconduct for instance), you may need to approach this in a more structured way.
Other points to remember
I hope this helps. For further advice on navigating the interviewing process, please read our other articles in the Career Management section.
As part of our company CSR commitment, we recently sent a ‘crack’ team to help the Blackwater Countryside volunteers with some scrub clearance at Moor Green Lakes in Berkshire. This is our second year helping them out and the team were blessed with a mild and sunny day for their hard labour.
Apart from the benefit to the Countryside Ranger, Stuart, who has extra pairs of hands to get more done on each session, we also benefit from a day away from the office and the opportunity to feel the sun on our faces, use power tools and ‘burn stuff’ in addition to communing with nature and working alongside our local community. All in all, a great tonic to blow the cobwebs away and escape the pressures of recruitment for a day.
It is also important to us that we do something which is related to our industry and where we can hopefully use our experience in recruitment to good effect so over the past two years we have been involved as panel members conducting mock interviews for 6th formers at a local school.
Last month I attended the first of this year’s events which involved interviewing students who were applying for Oxbridge or Medical degrees. Consequently, I was lucky to meet 4 incredibly bright young people who had achieved high grades at GCSE and were hoping to do the same at A-level. My fellow panel members were a fascinating pair, both scientists and so well equipped to put the prospective medics through their paces. Last night was the second session where we interviewed students who are less certain about their future career path (like most of us!). This presented different challenges but was equally rewarding.
I always have mixed feelings about these events. They are on the one hand inspiring and rewarding and on the other slightly disconcerting when you realise that it seems only yesterday that you were going through the same process! And now, with my humble French degree a distant memory, I can only speculate about what lies ahead for these talented students.
What the evenings did reinforce is the importance of knowing how to present yourself at interview. This is as relevant to these young people as it is for those of us who are established in our careers.
However well qualified you are and however fantastic your experience, if you can’t get this across to your audience, you will lose out to those who can. This is not just about knowing your experience inside out and being able to back it up with hard facts and figures. It is also about how you come across – if you are able to demonstrate deep interest and passion for your subject and a warmth of style that enables the interviewer to picture themselves working with you, then that is worth just as much.
All the students we interviewed had exceptional academic potential however each had differing levels of impact at interview, understandably so, given this was their first attempt! As the interview panel, we were able to give them some advice about what they can do to improve. Interviewing is definitely a skill which can be learnt and this was the message we tried to get across to them. With practice, they can make sure that they are articulating all their potential effectively to prospective universities and employers.
If you get the chance to be involved in a similar initiative, I strongly recommend it. As is often the case with CSR activities, I got just as much out of it as the students hopefully did.
For more information about volunteering for similar activities, a good starting point is the Inspiring the Future campaign www.inspiringthefuture.org. Inspiring the Future is a free service across England with volunteers from all sectors and professions going into state secondary schools and colleges to talk about their jobs and sectors. Anyone can volunteer with Inspiring the Future - you can be a young apprentice, a graduate recruit or a seasoned Chief Executive - young people will benefit from hearing about your experiences. You offer to visit a local state school or college for 'one hour, once a year' and can sign up online. It is a new initiative which is supported by industry and educational bodies and the Government.
If you know of any local schools or colleges who need extra support with coaching students with CV preparation or interview skills, please don’t hesitate to contact me at [email protected]. We may be able to help…
By Sophie Mackenzie, AdMore Recruitment
I had a ‘milestone’ birthday recently. Not so much key to the door but needing to change the locks! It has made me rather reflective. It seems only yesterday that I graduated and started frantically applying for jobs, partly because of pressure from my parents who were keen for me to start earning as soon as possible but mainly so I could maintain the independence I had started to appreciate at University and which was being decidedly cramped by moving back home to share a room with my younger sister.
With an estimated one in five 16- to 25-year-olds currently out of work (according to figures from the Office for National Statistics)it is so important, with competition so fierce for fewer vacancies, that candidates give themselves the best possible chance of impressing at interview.
As a company, we recruit at executive level however, we are regularly asked by our contacts or indeed our own friends and family for advice on behalf of people starting their career, so we thought it was worth revisiting these key points:
Look the part
Unless applying for a role in the creative/performing arts or in creative media, the dress code for any corporate interviews will be business dress. It is still the case that people make judgements based on appearance and so you must make sure that you look impeccable. This doesn’t mean getting into further debt buying an expensive suit. High Street stores like Next, M&S and Primark do classic suits at incredible prices. Shirts should be clean and ironed, shoes clean and polished. If wearing a tie, learn to tie a proper Windsor knot (a big fat knot or a skinny tie won’t look corporate enough, neither will a tie which finishes half way down your shirt!). Click here for a video guide to Windsor knots from our friends at House of Fraser! Hair should be clean and tidy. Gents – you should be clean shaven – no excuses. Keep jewellery to a minimum and tattoos well hidden. This isn’t about stifling your individuality rather than ensuring that what you say is what is remembered rather than how you look.
First impressions
You wouldn’t believe how many people don’t greet an interviewer with a smile. This is SO important and will say so much about you as a person and about how you will potentially be perceived by future colleagues, customers and clients. It is widely accepted that people hire people they like and so, like it or not, one of your jobs in an interview is to get them to like you as well as demonstrate your suitability for the role. Your smile should reach your eyes and this will also help you overcome the inevitable nerves.
Practice your handshake. There are people, myself included, who have a negative opinion of someone with a weak handshake. It simply speaks volumes. A firm handshake with a warm smile and eye contact says several things. That you are confident. That you want to be there. That you are interested in the person you are meeting. You will only fully realise the negative effect of this when you are on the receiving end!
Body Language
Approximately 70% of communication is non-verbal and so take care that your body is not letting you down! Sit up straight, don’t fidget, keep hands relaxed on your knee. Don’t lean too far back – you may look too laid back or even worse, arrogant. Getting your posture right will make you look interested, keen and confident even if you are very nervous!
Do your research
Not doing your research on the company is unforgiveable. Information is so readily available online and you should learn quickly where to access that information. The company website should give you oodles of information (but take care not to recite this in the interview - it’s too easy, you need to show that you’ve worked harder to set yourself apart from the crowd). Look for press articles, make sure you understand who their competitors are and how they are performing. Research your interviewers on Linkedin. Check out Glassdoor.co.uk for employee reviews and interview tips. If you are applying to a company led by a well known figure, make sure you have read their autobiography. A classic (if a little clichéd) interview question is ‘which business leader do you most admire and why’. To give an answer without having done your research will not set you apart from the masses.
Difficult questions
There are many different types of interviews ranging from structured competency based interviews to informal ‘audition’ style assessment processes. One thing is certain, you will be faced with some questions that are really tricky. This may be because they are ‘off the wall’ eg. if you were a biscuit what kind would you be (yes, this really happened!) or because they are potentially controversial eg. "why did you drop out of your course/switch courses?"
Again, there are plenty of resources online which give examples of tricky questions so doing your research will help. If the worst comes to the worst and you simply go blank, simply say "I’m sorry, I need to reflect on this question, please could we come back to it later?" This will buy you some time which is useful for those ‘abstract’ questions. If you simply do not know the answer, then say so. Trying to blag your way through could leave a negative impression. Also, the ability to be honest about what you do and don’t know (while showing a willingness to learn of course) is a quality most employers will admire and understand in a school leaver or grad.
Know your subject
If you are applying for a University place or a Grad Scheme and have completed a Personal Statement focusing on your interest in a specific subject, make absolutely sure that you can elaborate in detail about any points you make in your statement. You can be sure that a savvy interviewer will focus on these points and chances are, they will know more about it than you. By reading around your subject and keeping abreast of current affairs, you should avoid getting caught out. For instance, if you are applying for a place at medical school and mention your deep interest in a field of medicine, make sure that you know of any medical advances that have been made which have hit the headlines. Equally, if applying for a Grad scheme at a major retailer, make sure you know the current share price and the latest profit results. You may also be asked for your opinion so again, be prepared to explain your position on potentially controversial subjects which involve taking an ethical standpoint.
Know yourself
Interviewing well is a skill that can be learned and of course honed with experience. However, even in your first ever interview, the one thing that you should be able to talk confidently about is you. This does take some preparation however. Sit down with a blank piece of paper and write down your achievements (at school, university or in your spare time). Think about what made you successful and what you enjoyed about these successes – was it the sense of achievement you felt when you completed a project or was it the buzz of working as part of a team? What role did you play, what did you do well and what could you have done better? Ask your parents, teacher, tutors, friends and peers what they consider to be your strengths and weaknesses and think about how you can ‘package’ these to be attractive to a prospective employer. Remember, you are there to sell yourself and the key to selling anything well is to know the ‘product’ inside out. Most of all, you must be passionate about it!
Click here to follow us on LinkedIn for interesting updates on Retail and the latest job vacancies