So you’ve got yourself an interview, well done! But what do you do next? Interviews can be daunting so in order to perform to the best of your ability on the day, you need to do a bit of preparation beforehand. That includes thinking carefully about how you may answer the interview questions.

Aspire Rec2Rec have put together a list of typical question which you may be asked in a recruitment interview, as well as some useful questions you may want to ask them. Read through the questions, and think about the best way you could answer them. It’s better to come across a question you don’t know how to answer now than in the interview, as you have time to go away and think about it or do some extra research on the company, so take advantage of this. You should be prepared to answer questions on every aspect of your education, career to date and future aspirations.

Typical questions you may be asked:

• What are your professional and educational qualifications to date?
• Why do you want to work in recruitment?
• What skills do you have that will make you a good recruitment consultant?
• What experience do you have that is relevant to a recruitment role?
• What motivates you?
• What are your unique selling points?
• What do you know about our company?
• Why do you want to work for us?
• Where do you see yourself in five years time?
• What achievements are you most proud of?
• What have you done in your career that demonstrates initiative?
• What are your strengths/weaknesses?
• How would your manager/previous employer describe you?
• What aspects of your job do you find easiest/hardest?
• Where would you rank yourself in your current team?
• What qualities can you bring to a business?
• How would you prepare to win new business?
• What do you know about the recruitment marketplace?
• What is your understanding of the role of a recruitment consultant?
• When have you worked to targets?
• How have you faired against those targets?
• When have you demonstrated resilience?
• When have you demonstrated persuasive skills?
• When have you shown a competitive nature?
• When have you had to deal with a difficult situation?
• How did you overcome that situation?
• What else have you done with regards to securing a position within recruitment?

You’ve made it to the end of your interview, and the employer has asked if you have any questions for them. Don’t reply with “No, I think you’ve covered everything”. This is your opportunity to find out if the company will give you the opportunity for the growth and development that you want. Interviewers want to hear thoughtful questions about the work, the culture, and the organization – questions that show that you’re really trying to figure out if this is the right fit for you.

Questions you may wish to ask:

Company

• Why is the position available?
• What is the company turnover?
• What plans for future growth does the company have?
• Who are your competitors in the market?
• Are you candidate or client led i.e. do they have more jobs or more candidates?
• What is the company culture?
• How is the company structured?
• Which is the most successful consultant/team and why?
• How many candidates do you interview per week and how? i.e. face to face/by telephone
• What is the ratio of candidates interviewed to placed?

Role

• What training will I receive?
• What are the long-term opportunities for progression?
• What % of my role will be candidate generation and business development?
• When are trainees generally promoted to consultants?
• What commission can I earn as a trainee and then as a consultant?
• What expectations will you have of me in the first three months/six months?
• How soon will I be interviewing, going on client visits and making placements?
• How will my performance be measured?

Team

• What size is the team in which I would be working?
• How are the teams structured?
• Which is the most successful team and why?
• How competitive are the teams?

Once you’ve asked the employer your questions, always be sure to close the interview at the end! There are several ways in which you can do this:

• Thank them for taking the time to see you, and if they haven’t already covered it then you can ask:
• What is the next step from here?
• When should I expect to hear from you?

But don’t forget, interviews aren’t just about answering the questions well. Here are a few others things you need to consider:

Do:

• Make sure you are well presented – shoes polished, tie tied neatly, top button done up, don’t wear anything revealing
• Plenty of research prior to the interview
• Prepare questions you would like to ask at the end of the interview
• Arrive on time or a few minutes early
• Shake hands firmly but not too vigorously
• Sit upright, be alert and attentive
• Look the interviewer in the eye when you talk and smile as appropriate
• Answer questions appropriately. Listen and keep it concise
• Wherever possible, avoid answering questions with a simple yes or no. Expand your answers sufficiently to reveal anything which will enhance your suitability for the job but don’t waffle
• Know your CV and any gaps that may be questioned and reasons for leaving jobs
• Be honest about other interviews you have had
• Back up competency based questions with examples
• Appear to be interested in the opportunity even if you are not. Never shut out an opportunity, it is always better to have more than one choice
• Show loads of energy and enthusiasm. Remember enthusiasm sells.
• Thank the interviewer for their time and always remember to close!

Don’t:

• Lie about your experience
• Talk negatively about past employers
• Bore the interviewer with anecdotal stories that have no relevance
• Be facetious
• Say any more than is necessary if the interviewer raises political, religious or economical issues
• Slouch and appear too relaxed
• Swear
• Chew chewing gum
• Smoke immediately before the interview – the smell can be off-putting
• Fiddle with anything
• Look into space/floor and seem uninterested

So you’re considering entering the exciting and fast-paced recruitment industry. Great! This booklet aims to provide you with all the information you need to help you make the decision. So let’s start at the beginning:

What is Recruitment?

In basic terms, recruitment is a type of sales, the key difference being that you are selling ‘people’ as opposed to a product or service. In simplistic terms it requires selling people to companies and companies to people. The industry is however very diverse and covers different sectors and different levels so the job itself can differ.

The role involves attracting business from client companies by using sales, business development and marketing techniques. This includes building relationships with clients by going out and meeting them, keeping in touch over the telephone and also in writing. It involves getting to know the client companies, what they do, how they operate and the general culture or atmosphere of the workplace. An important attribute for a recruitment consultant is the confidence to contact prospective clients and win their business. If you don’t have enough jobs you won’t hit your targets so the more clients you win the better!

Recruitment consultants are also required to proactively attract candidates by drafting advertising copy and using a wide range of media. The truly successful recruitment consultant will also use their networking ability to find candidates who are only speculatively looking or hadn’t even considered changing jobs. Selling opportunities to candidates is an often overlooked but very important part of the recruitment process, not every candidate is going to automatically use your services. If you don’t have any candidates you won’t make any placements!

When you have found candidates you then have to interview and assess their suitability to relevant roles and arrange meetings with your clients. Recruitment consultants are also involved in negotiating pay and salary rates and finalising arrangements between client and candidate. The sense of satisfaction you receive from placing the right candidate in the right job can be overwhelming.

Why get into Recruitment?

The first and most important reason for wanting to work in Recruitment should be the amount of money you can make. Working towards uncapped commission could see you earning up to 40k in your first year.

The variety of the job role ensures you are not sitting behind your desk all day every day, you are out visiting clients, interviewing candidates and attending events.

Recruitment is also a very empowering career. You run your desk like you would run a business and you will determine your salary, your progression and how successful you become.

Recruitment companies recognise that hard work deserves recognition and so you will find that incentives go beyond just monetary. A lot of firms offer holidays, nights out, lunch, company car schemes and gym memberships to keep you motivated.

The people you work with also make it a fun place to work. Imagine a room full of like-minded individuals who all want to be successful and you have a great working environment. It is true to say that one of the main reasons people enjoy working in recruitment is that they love the environment they work in.

There is of course the buzz you get from filling a vacancy. For many people it isn’t purely about the commission it is also the feeling of satisfaction you get from hitting a target or being top of the company leader board.

All in all, if you are a confident, hard working, money-motivated individual, Recruitment is one of the best careers to get into!

What makes a successful recruitment consultant?

• Proven track record of success/achievement – this may be in an academic/sporting/ social or work environment
• Ability to work to targets and under pressure
• Tenacity and determination
• Listening skills – important to define needs of your clients and candidates
• Good communication skills – verbal and written
• Good telephone manner with excellent rapport building skills
• Ability to conduct face to face presentations with senior personnel
• Employers will expect interviewees to research their company, have a basic understanding of the role of a consultant and be prepared to explain why they want to follow a career within recruitment

Types of entry level roles in Recruitment:

Resourcer/Head Hunter

These roles can be an ideal introduction to the industry although some people choose to become an expert and stay within the role. The majority of work involves a one-sided sell to candidates. Your focus will be to source candidates, which can be done by screening advertisement response, searching internet job sites or possibly more proactively by headhunting or networking within the industry. Once sourced, you will be responsible for contacting the candidates to assess their needs and requirements and discuss possible job opportunities.

Researcher

A Researcher role is the role that most people will take on if they choose to work in the Search recruitment sector. As a researcher you are more likely to only have candidate contact and the primary focus of the role will be researching target companies, mapping out the market and ultimately searching for individuals either you or a consultant can then go on to headhunt. Successful researchers will have strong analytical and organisational skills.

Trainee Recruitment Consultant

The next entry level involves both clients and candidates. It is often referred to as full-cycle recruitment because you will be involved in every stage of the recruitment process. You may be given a growth area or develop existing accounts or both. On a daily basis you will be selling the services of the recruitment company to your clients and negotiating terms of business and learning about their requirements. You will also be sourcing candidates and assessing their suitability for the vacancies you are working on as selling the benefits to them and arranging interviews. As you take on board the training provided, your responsibilities will grow so excellent time management skills will be needed.

Business Developer

Some companies have a dedicated sales team to focus purely on new business development. Your role will be to research potential clients and contact them to negotiate a business relationship. Once relationships have been developed and vacancies acquired, they are usually passed to a team of consultants who will start resourcing candidates for the role. As the day-to-day role is predominantly client contact, confidence and credibility are key as well as the ability to negotiate and build a good rapport.

Recruitment sectors:

How to Prepare for a Recruitment Interview

So you’ve got yourself an interview, well done! But what do you do next? Interviews can be daunting so in order to perform to the best of your ability on the day, you need to do a bit of preparation beforehand. That includes thinking carefully about how you may answer the interview questions.

Aspire Rec2Rec have put together a list of typical questions which you may be asked in a recruitment interview, as well as some useful questions you may want to ask them. Read through the questions, and think about the best way you could answer them. It’s better to come across a question you don’t know how to answer now than in the interview, as you have time to go away and think about it or do some extra research on the company, so take advantage of this. You should be prepared to answer questions on every aspect of your education, career to date and future aspirations.

Typical questions you may be asked:

• What are your professional and educational qualifications to date?
• Why do you want to work in recruitment?
• What skills do you have that will make you a good recruitment consultant?
• What experience do you have that is relevant to a recruitment role?
• What motivates you?
• What are your unique selling points?
• What do you know about our company?
• Why do you want to work for us?
• Where do you see yourself in five years time?
• What achievements are you most proud of?
• What have you done in your career that demonstrates initiative?
• What are your strengths/weaknesses?
• How would your manager/previous employer describe you?
• What aspects of your job do you find easiest/hardest?
• Where would you rank yourself in your current team?
• What qualities can you bring to a business?
• How would you prepare to win new business?
• What do you know about the recruitment marketplace?
• What is your understanding of the role of a recruitment consultant?
• When have you worked to targets?
• How have you faired against those targets?
• When have you demonstrated resilience?
• When have you demonstrated persuasive skills?
• When have you shown a competitive nature?
• When have you had to deal with a difficult situation?
• How did you overcome that situation?
• What else have you done with regards to securing a position within recruitment?

Questions you may wish to ask the interviewer:

About the company

• Why is the position available?
• What is the company turnover?
• What plans for future growth does the company have?
• Who are your competitors in the market?
• Are you candidate or client led i.e. do they have more jobs or more candidates?
• What is the company culture?
• How is the company structured?
• Which is the most successful consultant/team and why?
• How many candidates do you interview per week and how? i.e. face to face/by telephone
• What is the ratio of candidates interviewed to placed?

About the role

• What training will I receive?
• What are the long-term opportunities for progression?
• What % of my role will be candidate generation and business development?
• When are trainees generally promoted to consultants?
• What commission can I earn as a trainee and then as a consultant?
• What expectations will you have of me in the first three months/six months?
• How soon will I be interviewing, going on client visits and making placements?
• How will my performance be measured?

About the team

• What size is the team in which I would be working?
• How are the teams structured?
• Which is the most successful team and why?
• How competitive are the teams?

Once you’ve asked the employer your questions, always be sure to close the interview at the end! There are several ways in which you can do this:

• Thank them for taking the time to see you, and if they haven’t already covered it then you can ask:
• What is the next step from here?
• When should I expect to hear from you?

Do’s & Don’ts in an interview

But don’t forget, interviews aren’t just about answering the questions well. Here are a few others things you need to consider:

Do:

• Make sure you are well presented – shoes polished, tie tied neatly, top button done up, don’t wear anything revealing
• Plenty of research prior to the interview
• Prepare questions you would like to ask at the end of the interview
• Arrive on time or a few minutes early
• Shake hands firmly but not too vigorously
• Sit upright, be alert and attentive
• Look the interviewer in the eye when you talk and smile as appropriate
• Answer questions appropriately
• Listen and keep it concise
• Wherever possible, avoid answering questions with a simple yes or no. Expand your answers sufficiently to reveal anything which will enhance your suitability for the job but don’t waffle
• Know your CV and any gaps that may be questioned and reasons for leaving jobs
• Be honest about other interviews you have had
• Back up competency based questions with examples
• Appear to be interested in the opportunity even if you are not. Never shut out an opportunity, it is always better to have more than one choice
• Show loads of energy and enthusiasm. Remember enthusiasm sells.
• Thank the interviewer for their time and always remember to close!

Don’t:

• Lie about your experience
• Talk negatively about past employers
• Bore the interviewer with anecdotal stories that have no relevance
• Be facetious
• Say any more than is necessary if the interviewer raises political, religious or economical      issues
• Slouch and appear too relaxed
• Swear
• Chew chewing gum
• Smoke immediately before the interview – the smell can be off-putting
• Fiddle with anything
• Look into space/floor and seem uninterested

 LinkedIn is the largest professional social network online today with over 135 million users and a targeted audience of business professionals. Your profile often provides your first impression to employers and recruiters and therefore creating and maintaining your LinkedIn account is essential.

Your profile should provide employers and recruiters with a concise snapshot of your employment history, accomplishments, education and strengths. This guide will show you how to create a professional and effective LinkedIn profile to showcase you to your best potential. So whether you are completely new to LinkedIn or your just looking to improve your profile then please read on.

LinkedIn suggests that having a completed profile provides you with a 40% greater chance for networking success. So let’s go through it step by step:

Choose an appropriate and professional photo
Don’t leave this empty – people don’t like to engage with people they can’t see! This is also your best opportunity to make a great first impression, but remember that LinkedIn is not Facebook. Select a professional, high-quality headshot of you alone.  

Create a compelling and an informative profile headline
Your profile headline gives people a short, memorable way to understand who you are in a professional context. Think of the headline as the slogan for your professional brand. Use brief, descriptive, compelling keywords so the right professionals on LinkedIn can discover you.  

Show off your education Be sure to include information about all institutions you’ve attended, including your university, course and grade, as well as your high school or college.  

Develop a professional summary statement This is your chance to really describe who you are and what you do. Make it interesting and individual. People do business with people, so your profile needs individuality, not just a copy of the company website. Write about your goals, experiences, and qualifications. Present your summary statement in short blocks of text or bullet points for easy reading. Most people choose to write their summary in third person.  

List your current position and at least two past positions Think of your profile as an online CV. The Experience component should succinctly explain your responsibilities and achievements in all past and present positions. Be certain to include the start and end dates for each position, as failing to do this could appear suspicious to employers and recruiters. In addition, refrain from listing every single duty you performed in a given role. The objective is to keep the reader interested, so only post the most relevant information possible. Use descriptive keywords that you quoted in your headline if possible.  

Add your most relevant "Skills and Expertise" LinkedIn ranks your skills by the number of endorsements you’ve received from connections, meaning you skill with the most endorsements is at the top of the list. Most people will only look at the first few skills on the list, so you need to ensure that the skills on your list are the ones most relevant to your current situation. Getting lots of endorsements for skills you have but aren’t currently using won’t help attract the right jobs.  

Fill out the additional sections These sections are now much easier to access and definitely worth filling out if you have anything additional you wish to add to your profile such as additional courses, certifications or languages.  

Add links to your website/Twitter/Blog/Portfolio This gives your profile viewers more insight into your business, interests or talents.   Collect Recommendations Earning recommendations is the best way to add credibility to your profile. Recommendations are a good way to promote yourself, because when someone recommends you it goes onto the feed off all your connections and all of their connections. But make sure your recommendations are from credible people, who are similar to the people you want to impress.  

Claim your unique LinkedIn URL To increase the professional results that appear when people type your name into a search engine, set your LinkedIn profile to “public” and claim a unique URL for your profile (for example: www.linkedin.com/in/yourname). This also makes it easier to include your LinkedIn URL in your email signature or resume, which is a great way to demonstrate your professionalism.  
Join relevant groups Find groups where other industry professionals have joined and look to participate in (or at least join) these groups. This adds value to your own profile and helps you to establish connections with other industry professionals.  

Follow companies you are interested in This allows anything they post to appear in your news feed including recent news and any job postings.   Now you’ve filled in all these sections you should have a complete profile which looks professional and can easily be found by employers.

Nobody enjoys updating their CV. However, putting it off will only have negative effects on your job search. There is no point putting the effort into searching and applying for jobs if you’re CV is only going to let you down at the first stage.

So now is the time to stop ignoring your old-fashioned and out of date CV for another day. Go and grab a cup of coffee, sit down at your computer and let’s make some changes to get your CV back up to scratch!

First of all you need to find your old CV on your computer. It’s likely that you already have the foundation of a great CV – It’s obviously worked in the past! Now all you need to do is make some small but important changes:

1. Check your personal information

So what’s changed since your last job? Have you moved house? Changed your phone number or email address? These basic facts are crucial for initial contact so make sure they are correct. How will recruiters and hiring managers get in touch with you if they want to arrange an interview?

2. Add social media profiles

Chances are that the last time you updated your CV, no one had even heard of LinkedIn. Make sure your LinkedIn profile is complete and up to date and then include a link to it on your CV. Spell out the URL for a printed CV and hyperlink the social profile in your electronic version. This will add an extra dimension to your CV.

3. Add in your most recent job

Your current or most recent role is likely to relate most to the new position you are looking for. So you need to provide information on any accomplishments and skills you developed there. As a rule, don’t think of previous jobs in terms of responsibilities and day-to-day tasks – focus on the value you added to the company or the goals you achieved from working on such tasks.

4. De-clutter the content

Space is valuable so you need to make sure everything on your CV supports your career goals. Old or irrelevant roles can be removed or grouped together in an "additional experience" section to take up less room.

Reduce your education section. If you’ve recently left school or graduated then your education section is important, but further on in your career it is your work experience that will grab the recruiter’s attention. Limit your education section to the college/university name, degree title and grade. There is no need to list individual GCSE subjects or degree modules.

5. Search for the most recent industry keywords

Use Google to look up your most recent job title and the titles of jobs you want to head into. Identify current terminology and skill requirements that might have changed since your last CV update. Then integrate these fresh keywords into your CV. Don’t overdo it, but by having the right keywords in your CV increases the probability of you being matched with the kind of opportunities you’re looking for. By looking at job descriptions for jobs that you want to have, you will be able to see what employers are looking for. You can then tailor your CV to fit with those desired skills. But remember to avoid clichés such as “team player” or “hard worker” – everyone claims to be these, so give clear examples of experiences you’ve had to prove these claims.

With so much demand for jobs it is now becoming more common for employers to arrange a telephone interview with applicants before inviting them in for an interview. A telephone interview is your first opportunity to impress the employer so it is important to not treat it with any less importance than a face to face interview.

However, people come across differently on the phone than in person so for many a telephone interview is a daunting prospect, especially for those who are inexperienced with them. But there are several simple things to keep in mind in order to come across as confident and professional to help you land a face to face interview with the company.

1. Smile and be confident. 

We all know the best way to appear happy and confident. Smiling! Even though the interviewer can’t see your face, smiling actually makes our voice sound happier and friendlier. Relax and smile and you should come across as positive and confident.

2. Be professional.

We all know how to behave professionally in an office environment but being at home can sometimes make people feel a bit too comfortable. Would you sit in an interview sipping a cup of tea or watching the TV? Of course you wouldn’t. So don’t do it in a phone interview either! Try and find a quiet room with no distractions so that the only thing you are concentrating on is giving fantastic answers. Some people even find dressing smartly as you would for an interview helps them get into a professional mind frame.

3. Speak clearly.

Good communication is an essential skill that all employers look for. So don’t ruin your chances by not speaking clearly down the phone. Believe it or not, standing up and walking around can help your voice to come across more effectively. It’s always a good idea to practice interview questions, so why not have a practice phone interview? Get a friend to ask you some questions on the phone, and they can advise you on whether you came across as clear and confident.

4. Be prepared.

Make sure you have all the necessary documents in front of you. This includes you CV, a copy of your application if you have one and the job spec. It is very likely that you will be questioned on your past experience and your suitability to the role on offer Therefore you want to be able to quickly glance at your CV or job spec to guide your answers and avoid potential mind blocks. If you are having the interview on a mobile phone make sure you have plenty of battery and full signal, as cutting out in an interview is very unprofessional and disruptive.

5. Listen.

Whenever your interviewer is speaking, do not interrupt them. Wait for them to ask the whole of the question before jumping in with an answer. Speaking over each other can be confusing over the phone, so use this to your advantage and use the time to think of a good answer.

We all struggle to get out of bed in the mornings sometimes, and winter just makes it harder. It’s cold and dark outside and your cosy warm bed just seems too tempting to leave. But if you want to feel fresh and awake in the mornings (and not have a mad rush to get to work in time!) try these tips: 

Keep a glass of water by your bed

Drinking water as soon as you wake up will help stimulate the body and help you stay awake. So keep a glass or bottle of water next to your bed and have a sip as soon as you wake up.

When you wake up, get up

You wake up and look over at your clock to realise that you still have 10 minutes before you need to get up. Great yeah?! 10 more minutes sleep! No, don’t do it! If you’ve woken up naturally then you are probably feeling fairly awake. If you try snoozing for another 10 minutes, chances are you will actually feel sleepier when you’re alarm goes off 10 minutes later. So when you wake up – get up!

Don’t press that snooze button

As mentioned above, snoozing is bad! You will only doze off into a light sleep which means you won’t actually feel any less tired when you finally decide to get up. So basically, you will have just wasted 20 minutes of your morning. If you don’t have the will power to not press the snooze button in the morning, you can usually remove the snooze function on whatever device you use.

Have something to get up for

Have something nice to do in the morning that you will enjoy – a book to read, a magazine to flick through, something delicious for breakfast. Focussing on something nice to get up for will motivate you to get up and will also put you in a positive mood to start the day.

Have a shower straight away

The water and change in temperature will get your circulation going making you feel more alert. You could also treat yourself to some invigorating shower gel; mint and lemon are both known to facilitate the wake up process & they also smell great. Bonus!

Go to bed when you’re tired

This seems obvious, but listen to your body. If you’re feeling tired then start getting ready for bed. If you stay up watching television until 2am, don’t be surprised if you are pretty tired when your alarm goes off 5 hours later. Lack of sleep doesn’t just affect us mentally but physically, so if you’re not giving your body enough time to rejuvenate then your body will start to struggle.

Resolve problems before bed time

It’s not just about getting into bed at a decent time. If you’re body and brain isn’t at rest then you will struggle to nod off to sleep. Try to resolve any problems or worries before bed time. If you’re lying in bed worrying about things it is very hard for your brain to start to rest. It’s also a good idea to avoid chocolate and caffeine in the evening and these stimulate the brain – not great if you are trying to sleep!

Wake up at the same time every day

Your body becomes conditioned to when you wake up and will regulate your sleep pattern accordingly. You get more of that precious REM sleep and when you have a regular wake time, your body actually begins the process of waking up long before your alarm sounds. Clever right?!

Did you know that on average recruiters will only look at a CV for between 10 and 30 seconds? So first impressions really do count!

That means you need to make an excellent impression and avoid anything that could lead them to throwing your CV straight in the bin. So to be in with a shot of getting an interview here are a few things to avoid putting on your CV:

A Ridiculous Email Address
They may have seemed funny or cool when you created them a few years ago, but having “ dumb_blonde@hotmail.co.uk” written at the top of your CV isn’t exactly going to help create that intelligent and hardworking image that you are trying to portray. It only takes a few minutes to set up a ‘professional sounding’ email address via Hotmail, Yahoo, Google or another free email provider. Try and keep it simple, preferably involving your name, and although commonly done, it’s best to avoid putting your birth year in your email address as you don’t want to offer any reason for discrimination.  

A Picture
Unless you’re applying for Britain’s Next Top Model, pictures are not necessary on a CV and are often frowned upon in the UK. Employers want to judge potential candidates on their ability to do the job based on their skills, work history and education not their smile, hair style or fashion sense.  

Spelling & Grammatical Errors

There really is no excuse for poor spelling or grammar in a CV, especially as Microsoft Word kindly points out most mistakes to us. A CV is usually the first impression that a recruiter gets of you, so any mistakes will reflect badly. Check your CV several times, and then get a friend to read through it and give you some constructive criticism.  

Inaccurate Dates
You must ensure that your jobs have accurate start and finish dates listed. A CV with dates that don’t match up, or even worse, no dates at all could be rejected because the recruiter won’t necessarily have the time to contact you to get the correct dates.  

Poor Formatting
The last thing a recruiter wants to do is spend lots of time deciphering where each section starts and ends because of poor formatting. Make sure your CV is clearly laid-out with sufficient white space, so that recruiters can easily navigate around your CV to find the information they a looking for quickly.  

Bad Fonts
We all like getting a bit artistic from time to time, but a CV is not the place to do this. Avoid using lots of fonts in an array of different colours – it might look pretty to you but it will probably just annoy the recruiter, especially if they can’t actually read it. Keep the font to one easy to read style such as Calibri, Ariel or Times New Roman. Try and keep the font size to at least 10, any smaller and it will be hard to read and make your page look crowded.  

Too Long
There are differing opinions on how long a CV should be; some say 2 pages, others say no longer than 3 pages. Really it depends on how much experience you have. Your most recent roles are likely to be the most relevant to the position you are applying for so focus on them the most. If your CV is 5+ pages long, then you have included too much information. Sit down and have a read through it. Is everything on there actually relevant to the new position? Unlikely! So cut it down. At the same time, if you’re near the beginning of your career and your CV is only one and a half pages long, but all very relevant, don’t feel the need to waffle just to make it look longer. Use a bit of initiative to decide if your CV if the right length.  

Long Paragraphs
A CV isn’t an essay. Recruiters want a CV that quickly gives them all the info they need, they don’t want to plough through long paragraphs. Keep information in short paragraphs or even better, bullet points where possible.  

Too Much Personal Information
Including too much personal info that is unrelated to the job is a waste of space and could be harming your chances of getting a job.
We don’t need to know about your Blood type/ Sexual Orientation/ How many children.

Misleading Information
Just don’t do it – you will get found out!  

Generalised CV’s
Try and tailor your CV to each individual job you apply for. This may seem time consuming but having a CV which shows that your experience is relevant to that specific job will increase your chances. A CV is an opportunity to tell recruiters how perfect you are for the position and the organisation so make sure you make your make the most of this chance by spending a little extra time on your CV.  

Wrong chronological order
This is a classic mistake. Make sure your most recent job is at the top of the page. You don’t want your paper round when you were 12 to be the first job a recruiter reads about.  

Incorrect contact details You may be absolutely perfect for the job, but if the recruiter can’t get hold of you then you will never get an interview. Make sure you double check that your telephone number and email address is spelt correctly. You’d be amazed at how often this happens!

Congratulations, all that hard work has paid off. You wowed the employer in the interviews and now they’ve offered you the job! But starting at a new company can be a little daunting and you still want to make a great impression, so here are a few things to do to ensure that you are well prepared before the first day:

1. Do some more research

You got through the hard part – getting the job! So don’t let yourself down by walking blindly into your new job without having done any research. You probably had a look on their company website before your interviews, so try and get a more in-depth understanding by finding the company on LinkedIn. Don’t be afraid to find your new colleagues and learn a bit about them before you meet them in person. (If you’re not good at remembering names, this gives you a chance to learn them before you meet them. Then you’ve got one less thing to worry about on the day!)

2. Plan your route into work

Turning up flustered because you got lost or were stuck in traffic is not a good start to your job and will make you appear unorganised and unreliable. Plan your route before you start by doing a trial run the day before to see how long it takes and what routes work best. However long it takes, leave a little bit of extra time on the day to allow for extra traffic.

3. Dress the part

You should never underestimate the importance of dressing professionally in your new job, although this doesn’t necessarily mean you have to wear a suit. During your interviews you probably noticed their dress code, so make sure you dress accordingly. If you’re not sure what to wear, it’s always better to dress smartly than be under dressed.

4. Take a break between jobs

If possible, try and leave yourself a week’s break between your old role and your new one. This will give you a chance to mentally leave your old job behind and leave you to start your new role ready and refreshed. You could use this time to buy a few new outfits for the job.

5. Catch up on sleep

You want to be focussed and alert when you start your new role, as it is likely you will have a lot of new information to take in. So even if you aren’t able to arrange a small break before starting then at least try and get to bed early every night the week before. This will ensure that you’ve caught up on lost sleep and will also retrain your body clock to adjust to your working hours meaning you won’t need to rush to the coffee machine as soon as you arrive.

6. Don’t forget to enjoy your new role!

Don’t stress if you don’t completely grasp the role after the first day, they wouldn’t have hired you if they didn’t think you could do it! Everybody takes time to integrate themselves into a new company. Take in as much as you can and don’t be afraid to ask questions if you don’t understand something. It is better to ask than to do it wrong.

For thousands of students across the UK university life has officially ended and it is now time to start preparing for life in the big world of employment. But as we are all more than aware, with unemployment often in the news, getting that first job after university isn’t always that easy.

But don’t panic, it’s not impossible! Below is our quick guide on what you can do to increase your chances of getting a job after university.

Take some time to think about what you want

When looking for a job you need to have some focus. Have you actually taken the time to sit down and think about what career you want to go into? Remember, just because you have a degree in Law/Economics/Psychology doesn’t necessarily mean you need to start a career as a Lawyer/Banker/Psychologist. Degrees provide you with transferable skills which can be useful in all sorts of different careers, so don’t think that your degree limits you to that one industry.

Be proactive and get researching

Don’t just sit there and wait for a great job to come along – it won’t. Make sure your CV is up to date and looking professional and get researching. Now that university is over you may think that doing research is a thing of that past. Wrong! You’re not going to get a good grade in an essay without doing any research, so why would you be offered a job without you knowing about the industry. Before applying for any jobs do some research on the industry and the possible careers choices and routes you could take to get there.

Get some experience

You can never get too much experience. So if it looks as if you are not going to be able to find a permanent job straight away, try to get yourself as much relevant experience as you can. The idea of working for no pay may not be quite what you were expecting when you left university but the benefits of internships and work experience far outweigh the lack of pay. Not only will this give you hands-on experience and add to your knowledge of the industry, it also shows potential employers that you are keen to learn instead of just sitting at home doing nothing. It will also give you more to talk about in interviews and help you gain some useful contacts for the future. On the other hand, your work experience may prove to you that this isn’t actually an industry or job that you would like to work in. Ok so you may have had to endure a week of hell to find this out, but it’s better than spending months applying for jobs and then when you finally get one, realising that actually this isn’t the industry for you.

Make sure people know you are looking for a job

Make sure that your friends, family and relatives are aware that you are looking for a job. You never know who they may know! They may have a friend in your potential industry who could offer you some useful advice, or if they happen to hear about any potential work experience or job opportunities they will know to tell you about it, or even recommend you.

Make use of social networking

Social networking is now an essential part of job seeking for several reasons. Firstly, you need to make sure your profiles are professional and also visible. Recruiters actively search for potential candidates on social networks so make sure you can be found, and once you are found, you need to make sure your profile makes a good impression. If you haven’t already done it, set up a LinkedIn account. (For more information on making your LinkedIn profile more visible and professional view our LinkedIn blog here). But don’t just wait to be found! Companies and recruitment agencies will often post their latest vacancies on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, so find some relevant companies and agencies, and follow them. Even better, interact with them, and make them aware of you.

Be realistic & flexible

It is unlikely you will walk out of university and into your dream job. But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Be flexible with your goals, and don’t start turning down jobs because they aren’t exactly what you were planning to do. By having alternative plans and being flexible with your decisions may result in you getting a job that you love, even though it’s in an industry that you had never even considered before. At this stage in your career it is all about getting your foot in the door and gaining useful experience.

Don’t give up

Everyone experiences setbacks in their career, but the important part is what you take from it. Learn from the feedback you receive and then use it in future applications. Everyone finds interviews daunting but every interview is a learning experience, and if the first one went badly then think about why it went badly and learn from it.

No one said getting a job was easy but if you try hard and make the most of your opportunities then you will get there. If you have sales experience and are interested in starting a career in the recruitment industry we are currently looking for enthusiastic and motivated university leavers from any degree to fill several excellent trainee/graduate recruitment consultant positions. If you would like to find out more please read our “Starting a career in recruitment” blog, look at our current vacancies page or give us a call on 01992 501 515 to have a chat with us.

You’ve been offered a great new job at a company, you’ve just handed in your resignation and you’re all set to go, but then your current company offers you an enticing pay rise. What do you do?   At first glance this may seem like a very tempting offer, but the chances are, it will end badly.

Here are some possible outcomes of deciding to take a counter offer:

1. Your current employer may have made you a counter offer in a moment of panic. A company’s motive for a counter offer is usually to protect itself, and someone resigning will look bad on the manager so it’s in their best intentions to keep you – at least for now anyway. But after their initial relief passes, it is likely your relationship with your employer and your standing with the company has fundamentally changed. By looking for jobs elsewhere, you demonstrate that you have the potential to be disloyal to the company, something they will keep in mind when thinking about making promotions.
2. Even worse, your company might only offer you a counter offer in order to allow them time to search for a replacement. If you’re going to leave the company, they want it to be on their terms. You’re now the one who was looking to leave and this could lead to you being at the top of the list if your company needs to make cutbacks in the future. Research has shown that 70% to 80% of people who accept counteroffers either leave or are let go within a year.
3. Consider why you started looking for a new job in the first place? Was it just more money you were after, or were there also other factors that drove you to look? Remember that those other factors aren’t going change, and once the initial excitement of a pay rise wears off, it is likely those factors will start to bother you again.
4. Even if you get more money out of your company now, think about what it took to get it. If you’re worth your increased salary and responsibilities, why wasn’t this recognised before you handed in your notice? There’s no reason to think that future salary increases will be any easier. In fact, the next time you want a raise, you might even be refused altogether on the grounds that they gave you a big increase when you were thinking of leaving.
5.  If you accept a counter offer that results in a substantial increase in salary, you may end up being overpaid compared to the market rate for your level of experience. This could make an external move in the future challenging, as your remuneration won’t accurately reflect your value in the market.
6.  If you go all the way through the hiring process only to accept a counteroffer from your current employer, then the new employer is going to be unlikely to consider you for jobs with them in the future. So if it’s a company you’d like to work with in the future, then you might be shutting a door that’s worth keeping open.

Of course there are exceptions where accepting a counter offer makes sense and works out well. But more often than not, it has negative consequences. So if you’ve decided that it’s time to move on, then move on, but if it is purely just a pay rise you are after then negotiate it with your current employer on your own merits.