Considering a career change can be a daunting thought and it can be hard to know who to talk to, where to look for a new opportunity, and how to implement these changes. For many executives, it might have been a long time since they conducted a job search, or they may never have applied for a job. This will mean that their CV is out of date and they do not know how best to proceed down this path.
At Cranmore, we know that changing company, job and even location is a big decision and so we have mapped out some guidelines to follow. Look at a career change as a window of opportunity and a time when you can reflect on your achievements to date and to make future decisions based on what is most important to you.
The three elements to your job search should be
ASSESSMENT: reflecting on what you have achieved so far in your career.
BRANDING: thinking about how you’re going to promote yourself correctly.
LAUNCH implementing the action plan and applying for roles.
ASSESSMENT
Before you start job hunting you need to think about what you can do, what you want to do, and what company or role you will fit into best. It is a good idea to write this all out.
Write down your various skills and achievements and look at the ways in which you tackled difficulties. How did you deal with issues that arose, and what have you learnt over the years. You then need to decide what your career options are as well as your personal interests. What inspires you and what drives you mad? It is also important to think about your personality traits and not just your skills. What is it like to work with you, and how do other people perceive your qualities?
Decide on your ideal jobs and give yourself some parameters to use in weighing up any future job offers. Include aspects such as location, the size of the company, salary, as well as your employee experience needs like incentives and job satisfaction. Divide these aspects into sectors ranging from essential criteria, to ‘would be nice to have’.
BRANDING and PRESENTING YOURSELF
Put plenty of effort into your CV, cover letters, LinkedIn profile, and references for the best results.
CV and Cover Letter: It is essential that this is the best reflection possible of you and your achievements. See our other informative blog posts on writing the best CV and cover letter. Make sure the information is accurate and is laid out correctly but do not add information concerning your age, sex, religious group unless you are asked to fill in a separate monitoring questionnaire. Also, make sure you do not have a photograph unless asked for one and check for typos!
Referees: Include prominent people in your career from both business and personal avenues. Make sure you check with them first and ask them what they will say about you that’s both positive and negative. You should always thank them properly, especially if they clinch the role for you!
Online Profile: make sure if you have a LinkedIn profile that it is kept up-to-date for recruiters to search or for connections to assist you in your search. Although companies cannot use your personal social media profiles as a reason not to hire you, that won’t stop them looking and making judgements about you, so keep personal profiles private.
LAUNCH
This is where you implement the action of job searching and applying to roles, as well as honing your interview skills.
Start your job search by contacting a professional recruitment company like Cranmore who will have specialist roles in your area and can put you forward for opportunities. It is also worth talking to any contacts you have in other companies that may know of great jobs that are being advertised or are about to become available. There is also no harm in writing to a few companies and making some phone calls.
Fine tune your interview skills and ensure that you are fully prepared for any questions they may ask you. Luckily, we have also covered this in previous blogs so you can practise your interview answers as well as perfecting your follow-up emails.
FINAL THOUGHTS:Regardless of the outcome of any interview or strategy to secure a new role, you should always reflect on how it went so that you can improve for next time, or remember what went well and how you did it. Once you have your next step completed, it is also good to share your experiences with other people who are embarking on the same journey.
For your next executive role or to find some excellent candidates, contact Cranmore today.
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