Heading into a new year often makes us reassess our careers and look to searching for a new role. Whether you’re looking for your first permanent position, or this is the first job search you’ve done in a while – RBUK Legal has 5 top tips to remember when job searching…
Get your CV in order
Cv’s are the first impression that an employer or recruiter will get of you. Having a professional, clear CV will ensure that employers/recruiters will get an idea of your experience and suitability quickly and easily. You should think about…
- Your contact details being clearly visible. Consider having a header with your details repeated at the top of every page so that employers or recruiters can find it with ease.
- Straight forward formatting – simple fonts, easy to read colours (sticking to black writing on a white page is best) and clear paragraphs. Using text boxes can be tricky as they may move when you send your CV off.
- Check for mistakes, both in your contact details and elsewhere with spellings and grammar etc.
For more in depth tips on improving your CV, check out our previous blog on Writing A CV
Put in some research
It can be tempting to apply for any and every job going when you’re really keen to secure a new role – but you should consider whether a firm is the right fit for you. Take a look at the firm’s website and social media platforms (LinkedIn, Twitter) or ask a recruiter to give you some more information about the firm. Some things to consider are…
- What size firm you’re looking for – do you want to join a small boutique firm, a large commercial firm, or something in between the two? What fits in with your career goals?
- Are you looking for an established firm? Or somewhere that you can make your mark and help to establish through business development?
- Do you want to work for a firm that focuses on a specific area of law?
- Find out about the culture at the firm. Do they have an emphasis on corporate social responsibility? Would you like to work somewhere with planned social events throughout the year?
Knowing what you want in a workplace will help you to narrow down and focus your search.
Be communicative
Communication is a key indicator of an effective employee. It can also help to speed up the recruitment process.
Responding to calls/emails from recruiters or employers can be difficult if you’re working full time, but arranging a time to talk is important. If you don’t communicate or leave a response too late, you could miss out on an opportunity and it can come across as if you’re disinterested.
Don’t disappear! If you secure another role or you decide to pause your job search – let employers/recruiters know. A disappearing candidate is frustrating, time wasting and may ruin future relationships.
Be open-minded
Though you may have a strong idea in mind of what you want – don’t close yourself off to opportunities.
Particularly when you’re working with recruiters, they will likely be aware of alternative opportunities that might be a good fit for you. Before you turn it down, chat it through and do your research.
It is important to be realistic though – consider what your non-negotiable’s are. This might be your commute, salary or flexibility with working hours.
If you think you might be closed off to opportunities due to uncertainty – check out our blog on What To Do When You’re Feeling The Fear Of Change
Be enthusiastic
Job searching is a tough process, but remaining positive and enthusiastic will yield much better results!
If you don’t quite have the right experienced or this is your first role – enthusiasm will go a long way. Employers and recruiters work well with people that are enthusiastic about getting to where they want to be!
