Career Advice

The key to a happy, successful and exciting life is to create it yourself. If you’re just waiting for it to happen, you’ll likely have a very, very long wait.

When you take some time to yourself and actually decide on what you want from your life, you have of course taken the first step towards creating the life that you want. Many people are yet to get this far.

If you’re yet to make decisions about your life and set goals, the chances are that others are creating your life for you, or at least shaping it. Peers, parents, spouses, politicians and advertisers are all looking to influence how you behave and live your life.

Once you’ve decided on what you want from life, to help ensure that you get there, Dr. Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire has identified effective ways of achieving long-lasting change in your life.

He did this by comparing the techniques used by successful and unsuccessful participants in a study of over 700 people.

The following were found to help you to meet your goal(s):

1) Break your goal into a series of steps, focusing on creating sub-goals that are concrete, measurable, and time-based.  For example, instead of thinking ‘I want to find a new management job” focus on creating smaller, measurable goals such as making contact with twenty recruiters per week.
 
2) Tell your friends, family and colleagues about your resolution, and ask them to provide you with helpful nudges to assist you in achieving your goal.

3) Regularly remind yourself of the benefits associated with achieving your goals by creating a checklist of how life would be better once you obtain your aim.  For example, if you want to make a career move now, make a list of the benefits getting a new position and place it somewhere prominent in your home.
 
4) Expect to revert to your old habits from time to time. Treat any failure as a temporary set-back rather than a reason to give up altogether. Remember that everyone messes up from time to time. Don’t blame yourself if you falter, or allow the experience to make you give up.

5) Make only one resolution as your chances of success are greater when you channel energy into changing just one aspect of your behaviour.

We would add to the list three points. The first is that while some people will want to see you take control of your life, others may not be so keen. So you do need to be selective as to who you share your goals with.

Secondly, you can reach your goals quicker by finding someone who has already achieved what you are looking to do. By learning from their successes and mistakes, you can get to your goal faster. If you are lacking mentors, reading biographies can be a powerful way to learn from people who have achieved great things.

Thirdly, once you have decided on what you want, make sure that you take action as soon as possible.

Getting started is often the toughest part of accomplishing anything. The hardest part of exercising is actually getting to the gym - when you’re there it’s easy for you to exercise.

Once you start something you create momentum. It is this that helps to drive you forward to complete your goal.

So once you have a goal in mind, do something towards it. Even if it is something small that you do, you’ve started and you’ve got momentum.

One of the more typical questions we get asked looks at age and experience in the executive and management job searching process.

On the one hand we get some people mentioning that they’re over 50/55, they’re not getting interviews and they wonder if we can still help.

We also get emails from those who only have a few years of relevant experience looking to move up to the next level.

According to findings from the Recruitment Confidence Index (RCI), (produced by Cranfield School of Management), age discrimination is rife in the UK workplace.

A quarter of respondents to the survey were aware of a current policy or practice within their organisation that could be perceived as discriminating on the basis of age. 

Respondents, which included HR professionals and senior managers, admitted to having stereotypical views of older and younger workers.

Older workers were seen as having wide experience, being loyal, having better time keeping and being interested in having a work-life balance.

Younger workers were seen as open to new ideas and ambitious but inexperienced and not likely to stay in the job long.

In most organisations the elimination of age discrimination was sponsored by the HR department (61%), followed by the Board or CEO (27%). Only a fifth of responding organisations had a project or task group on age.

Dr Emma Parry, Research Fellow at Cranfield School of Management, said:

“The research shows a lack of commitment at senior management and board level to stamp out ageism in the workplace….”

The challenge with this type of research is that it is easy for some people to use it as their “story.”

It becomes an excuse for not taking action and getting you and your CV out there to make new connections.

In many cases our own expectations help to shape reality. The person who during the interview thinks “I’m too old/young, they’re not going to hire me” is probably right. As they begin to focus on themselves and not on answering the questions effectively, you can guess what happens.

Compare that to someone who has the approach of “I am valuable, I can perform well in the role, I am the solution to their hiring needs.”

In the interview they focus on listening and answering the questions effectively. They show the interviewer how they can add value to the organisation, rather than be concerned about being discriminated against.

How we use the findings of the survey is up to us. We could give in and let discrimination become our story.

Or alternatively, do we use the findings as a motivator by working 33%+ harder at landing our next role, knowing that the extra effort will enable us to blast right through the effects of any discrimination that’s out there.

The only real way to find out what really works is to test it. So for 4 weeks let’s forget about discrimination in all its forms and move forward with a different approach.

Let’s drop any other beliefs that may be limiting taking action and replace them with beliefs that empower, rather than dis-empower.

How about going for each job application and every interview with the focus on being the solution to the company’s hiring need, rather than focusing on factors that we cannot control or change.

How about believing that we can, and letting it show in the interview and in each job application.

And to those that have written in recently on this subject, remember that massive, intelligent action is the solution to so much.

“Energy and persistence conquer all things.”

Benjamin Franklin (1706 – 1790)

“We are made to persist. That’s how we find out who we are.”

Tobias Wolff, ‘In Pharaoh’s Army’

So if you’re looking for that next great position now, just place your CV in front of the right recruiters here and give your job search the boost it deserves.

Employment Policy

Here we take a look at each of the party’s views on employment related issues.

The policies are revealed in law firm Langley’s summary of policies on employment related issues (source: Recruiter magazine).

The Labour Party

The Labour Party proposes…

• harder English tests to be taken by all migrants before they arrive to work in the UK

• to increase national insurance contributions by 1% for both employers and employees from April 2011

• that the link between migrants staying for a set period and being able to settle or gain citizenship will be broken and replaced by a points based system (based on the Australian system)

• a guarantee of work for anyone unemployed for more than two years

• ending default retirement age at 65, with a review to establish the right way to support more people to work longer

• between 2024 and 2046 the state pension age will rise to 68 for both men and women

The Liberal Democratic Party

The Liberal Democratic Party proposes… 

• to make the tax system “fairer and simpler”.  One proposed tax rise to 50% on incomes over £100,000 a year, which will affect 1% of tax payers (and will pay for the abolition of student tuition and top-up fees, free personal care for the elderly and disabled, and lower local taxes)

• work permits for economic migration

• to scrap the compulsory retirement age, allowing those who wish to continue working to do so

• a £400 pay rise cap for all public sector workers, initially for two years

• introduce a regional points-based system to ensure that migrants can only work where they are needed

The Conservative Party

The Conservative Party proposes…

• no further extension of the EU’s power over the UK without the British people’s consent

• to implement an annual limit on the number of non-EU economic migrants to UK, with access only to those who bring “most value” to the British Economy

• to reduce welfare dependency by creating a single Work Programme for the unemployed, with those on Incapacity Benefit to be reassessed

• service academies to offer pre-employment training for the unemployed

• for a period of two years, no new businesses to pay national insurance contributions on the first ten employees it hires during its first year

• to look at how to abolish the default retirement age

Job Growth

With the public sector reducing expenditure and headcount over the next few years, any increase in the number of jobs available will have to come from the private sector. So the key to job growth is policy on the private sector.

Labour are looking to increase national insurance for companies in the private sector. As you know, the more a company pays in tax, the less it has to grow and create jobs.

With the national insurance increase, companies will have an additional tax burden to pay for each existing and every new employee, every month.

A 1% increase may not sound like a lot. The increase though is from 11% to 12%. This equates to an actual increase of almost 10%.

With the public sector’s workforce shrinking, Labour’s national insurance increase will hit job growth in the private sector. This will place additional demands on government finances via the benefits system.

The Conservatives have a different approach to the private sector. New businesses won’t have to pay national insurance contributions on the first ten employees it hires. This will provide an incentive to new businesses to start hiring.

The Conservatives will also reverse Labour’s planned national insurance increase for employers (and for employees earning less than £45k).

Given that job growth in the next few years will only come from the private sector, it makes sense for any government to not take additional money out of the private sector.

Do let us know your thoughts on this by adding your comment below…

Although the improvements aren’t huge, here are three reasons why recruitment activity looks to be increasing in the UK and beyond.

1. Revenues at one of the larger executive recruitment firms, Michael Page, were at £98m for the first quarter of this year. At an average placement fee of £12k, this equates to 8,167 people placed into roles by the company. And that’s just from one recruitment firm.

Steve Ingham, chief executive of Michael Page, says: “The improvement in our performance has been driven largely by greater permanent recruitment activity, as confidence levels have increased leading to a higher rate of job churn, and a stronger than expected performance in the UK.”

2. Executive recruiters’ confidence in the senior-management employment market also remained positive for the fifth consecutive month in March, reflecting a continued but slower-than-anticipated uptick in management hiring, according to ExecuNet’s latest Recruiter Confidence Index (RCI) data.

ExecuNet’s March poll of 184 executive recruiters found 52 percent are “confident” or “very confident” the executive employment market will improve during the next six months. That was down just one point from February, but extended an upward trend in executive recruiters’ positive outlook, which began in the third quarter of 2009.

3. City job vacancies have also more than doubled in the first quarter of 2010, showing more positive signs for the recruitment market. According to the latest figures from financial services recruitment firm Astbury Marsden, city job vacancies have increased by 121% from 4970 in the first quarter of 2009 to 11,020 roles in the first quarter of 2010

Recruitment Update

The number of permanent staff appointments made by UK recruitment consultancies has increased in March at its strongest rate since October 1997, according to new research.

The latest report on jobs by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG also reveals an increase of permanent staff vacancies.

Amongst permanent workers, IT and computing staff were in top demand in March, followed closely by executive/professional candidates. However, hotel and catering recorded the slowest growth.

The growth of short-term appointments was at its strongest for 34 months in March. Billings were driven by the increased demand for temporary staff since January 2008.

In addition, candidate availability rose further in March, with the supply of both permanent and temporary/contract candidates increasing at marginally faster rates than the previous month.

Kevin Green, Chief Executive, REC, comments: “Permanent appointments increasing at the fastest pace for over 12 years is the clearest sign yet of a revival in the UK jobs market. A rise in both temporary and contract work at the sharpest rate for nearly three years shows how they continue to provide vital flexibility for UK businesses as well as a valuable route back into work for job-seekers.”

As the economic recovery continues, it seems many are using the greater degree of stability as an opportunity to move jobs.

Around two-fifths (41%) of professionals plan to change their job in the next twelve months, hoping to find roles more suited to their ability, according to the latest Employment Study from international recruiters Badenoch & Clark.

The survey found that around one in four (24%) professionals were forced to take jobs they were over-qualified for or in a sector unrelated to their core career during the recession.

A third (34%) of those surveyed have been in a role which hasn’t challenged them or enabled them to learn new skills since the recession took hold.

Unsurprisingly perhaps, professionals in the legal (20%) and banking and financial services (17%) sectors were more likely than any other sector to take a job that was totally unrelated to their core career.

Neil Wilson, managing director of Badenoch & Clark, comments: “What this study reveals is the extent to which the recession has impacted on people’s career plans.”

“Professionals with ‘bruised CVs’ need to think carefully about how this will impact on the future of their career, and start taking every opportunity to address the situation now.”

“If you’ve had to take a temporary side step, it’s important to use everything at your disposal to help get your career back on track. Keeping in touch with old colleagues, reading your trade media, seeking advice from peers, colleagues and recruiters – all of these things are ways to regain control of a career that may have been temporarily derailed by the necessities of the recession. Whatever you do, do something.”