It may be a candidate-driven job market at present, but candidates often face lengthy application forms, tough interviews and intense presentations and assessments with the end result being rejection.
Most people will go through the recruitment process a number of times before they are successful and resilience is required throughout.
Resilience is defined as 'the ability to thrive, mature and increase competence in the face of adverse circumstances'. In other words, when faced with difficult issues or situations you are able to bounce back.
So allow me to briefly outline the choice of attitudes, their likely consequences and present some tips to help you be more resilient:
÷The Positive Attitude
Those with a positive attitude are likely to be more successful and within a shorter period of time. They will come across at interview as a positive and confident individual, which is a strong selling point for any employer.
When job searching and entering the recruitment process these types of individuals will tend to remain focused, understand the jobs they are applying for, which jobs not to apply for and how to effectively connect their skills and experience to the requirements of the job and the organisational culture.
Positive people will tend to be focused and driven at work.
- The Defensive Attitude
Defensive individuals feel hard done by, which can become evident at the interview stage, and when they receive a rejection they can be quick to question why they weren't chosen.
This situation sometimes leads to candidates requesting feedback from interview panels in a defensive manner. This results in panel members providing limited feedback and candidates don't learn from the process.
They may take it further if they feel there has been potential discrimination, which adds more stress to an already defensive individual.
- The Negative Attitude
Individuals who are negative will tend to lack focus during their job search and miss opportunities.
When they do apply for a job and enter into the recruitment process they may be inclined to put little effort into application forms or CVs and will lack preparation if they get to the interview stage, the result of which will usually be a rejection and the thought that the job wasn't really for them in the first place.
As the weeks and months go on a similar chain of events occurs and the person becomes less focused, more frustrated and the pressure builds, which becomes even more evident during interviews.
Tips
From the attitudes outlined above it is clear that one tip for being more resilient is to develop a positive attitude.
Of course, the question is always how do I develop a positive attitude - and how can I be more resilient when caught up in the world of job searching?
1. Know yourself
Take time to reflect, identify and note the skills, knowledge and experience you have developed over the years (including those which are transferable). Take stock of the qualifications and training you have undertaken and the sector(s) you have worked in.
2. Review
Review the skills, knowledge, experience, qualifications and sector(s) and write down what you enjoy, can tolerate and what you really don't enjoy.
Additionally, you should identify your strengths and weaknesses and areas you would like to develop.
3. Objectives
Before you start your search, set some realistic objectives and tell yourself that job searching and the recruitment process is likely to be time consuming and take a good few months or, in some cases, longer. This way when you haven't got a new job within a month you are unlikely to panic.
4. Search and match
Now that you are focused you should be in a position to start your job search because you should be clear and focused on the type of job and organisation you are looking for, as opposed to applying for any job which you think you might be able to do.
5. Action
Don't leave the application process to the last minute; prepare in advance and allow yourself time to reflect, review and amend before submitting; remember this is the first step to getting an interview. Likewise allow plenty of time to prepare for interviews.
6. Feedback
Ask for constructive feedback and try to develop relationships with people during the job search and recruitment process because you could meet these people again in the future or they may eventually be the key to helping you secure a new job.
The tips identified are focused on the likely steps to success, however a fundamental tip throughout the process is to exercise, which is a key contributory factor to adopting a positive attitude and a more resilient nature.
Beth McMaw is a senior consultant with Forde May Consulting, which specialises in executive search, headhunting, recruitment and selection. She, Neal Lucas, Forde May or Valerie Reid can be contacted on 9062 8877 or visit the internet sites www.fordemayconsulting.com or www.jobmarketni.com.
Friday 31 August 2007
Making the most of your career
If you fail to realise your full potential in your career, you can expect to feel bored, frustrated and disillusioned.
The company or organisation you work for can influence this, but ultimately it is down to you and your personal drive to get to where you want to go.
It is no coincidence that truly successful companies often have clear career paths, particularly if they focus on attracting good people and keeping them.
Similarly, employees within organisations that are struggling often do not know what their next step is.
If you are in a more stagnant organisation, a lack of any obvious career path is a serious problem, particularly if you are at the start of your career.
It is at this stage that you need to be gaining a good breadth and depth of experience which will lay the foundations for future personal growth.
Without good career development opportunities, you may not achieve your long-term potential. The really good, top jobs require individuals who can boast specific skills and experience, and you will not get these jobs unless you have had the opportunity to accumulate the appropriate skill set.
Analyse your current position
It is important to understand where you are now so that you are realistic in identifying the options open to you, and so that you use all of the resources available to you.
A good place to start is to take stock of your knowledge, skills, experience and resources.
What do you want to achieve?
Think through what sort of job you ultimately want.
Not everyone wants to be a managing director or senior manager.
Identify the sort of work you want to do, perhaps by looking at the job others do or by reviewing job adverts to identify the roles that are out there.
Knowing where you are going is half the battle.
Research
Having identified your career options (even if the option is to stay in the same career), it is important to do some basic research into these.
In particular you need to know whether the career is increasing or declining in importance, and you need to know what the rewards will be.
Whatever you want to do, you should speak to people in your target job to get their opinions on your suitability and what you need to do to get there.
They should be able to give the best advice on how to get there and on the good companies to work for within the industry.
All of this helps you to check that the career is as desirable as you think it is, and gives you the basic information you need to succeed.
Plan your approach
Once you know where you want to go, the next stage is to work out how to get there.
If you need new skills to make the change then you need to begin to acquire them.
If you need experience then you need to work out how to get it.
If you want to make a major change then it may not be practical to do this in one go.
This is particularly the case if you want to change to a radically new career in a new company or industry.
Similarly, if you want to move to a senior role, then you will normally have to work through a series of intermediate roles.
Alternatively, you may have come to the conclusion that you need to change organisation.
If this is the case then make sure you approach this change as a major project in its own right - the effort you put in will determine the quality of the role you eventually find.
As with many other things, the best careers come about through a mix of careful planning and opportunism.
Make sure that you do not ignore good career opportunities that present themselves.
This should help you to think about how you would like your career to develop.
This is particularly useful in jobs where there is no clear, established career path or where you are locked into a job that does not satisfy you.
Planning your career helps you to avoid the boredom, disillusionment and frustration that will come with failing to have achieved your potential.
This is a real risk if a good, clear, satisfying career path is not open to you.
Neal Lucas is a senior consultant with Forde May Consulting, which specialises in head hunting, recruitment and selection. He, along with Beth McMaw or Forde May, can be contacted on 9062 8877 or at www.jobmarketni.com.
The company or organisation you work for can influence this, but ultimately it is down to you and your personal drive to get to where you want to go.
It is no coincidence that truly successful companies often have clear career paths, particularly if they focus on attracting good people and keeping them.
Similarly, employees within organisations that are struggling often do not know what their next step is.
If you are in a more stagnant organisation, a lack of any obvious career path is a serious problem, particularly if you are at the start of your career.
It is at this stage that you need to be gaining a good breadth and depth of experience which will lay the foundations for future personal growth.
Without good career development opportunities, you may not achieve your long-term potential. The really good, top jobs require individuals who can boast specific skills and experience, and you will not get these jobs unless you have had the opportunity to accumulate the appropriate skill set.
Analyse your current position
It is important to understand where you are now so that you are realistic in identifying the options open to you, and so that you use all of the resources available to you.
A good place to start is to take stock of your knowledge, skills, experience and resources.
What do you want to achieve?
Think through what sort of job you ultimately want.
Not everyone wants to be a managing director or senior manager.
Identify the sort of work you want to do, perhaps by looking at the job others do or by reviewing job adverts to identify the roles that are out there.
Knowing where you are going is half the battle.
Research
Having identified your career options (even if the option is to stay in the same career), it is important to do some basic research into these.
In particular you need to know whether the career is increasing or declining in importance, and you need to know what the rewards will be.
Whatever you want to do, you should speak to people in your target job to get their opinions on your suitability and what you need to do to get there.
They should be able to give the best advice on how to get there and on the good companies to work for within the industry.
All of this helps you to check that the career is as desirable as you think it is, and gives you the basic information you need to succeed.
Plan your approach
Once you know where you want to go, the next stage is to work out how to get there.
If you need new skills to make the change then you need to begin to acquire them.
If you need experience then you need to work out how to get it.
If you want to make a major change then it may not be practical to do this in one go.
This is particularly the case if you want to change to a radically new career in a new company or industry.
Similarly, if you want to move to a senior role, then you will normally have to work through a series of intermediate roles.
Alternatively, you may have come to the conclusion that you need to change organisation.
If this is the case then make sure you approach this change as a major project in its own right - the effort you put in will determine the quality of the role you eventually find.
As with many other things, the best careers come about through a mix of careful planning and opportunism.
Make sure that you do not ignore good career opportunities that present themselves.
This should help you to think about how you would like your career to develop.
This is particularly useful in jobs where there is no clear, established career path or where you are locked into a job that does not satisfy you.
Planning your career helps you to avoid the boredom, disillusionment and frustration that will come with failing to have achieved your potential.
This is a real risk if a good, clear, satisfying career path is not open to you.
Neal Lucas is a senior consultant with Forde May Consulting, which specialises in head hunting, recruitment and selection. He, along with Beth McMaw or Forde May, can be contacted on 9062 8877 or at www.jobmarketni.com.
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