Job hunting tips: The key to networking

It’s easy for networking to become an overlooked side of the job hunt. While it’s a great buzzword to throw out there if you’re giving yourself or a friend a ‘get a new job’ pep talk, it’s often something many people don’t actually address properly – which is a shame because it can be a very useful tool to getting a new job or developing your career.

Whether it’s not knowing where to go to network, or simply not knowing how to network, here are some tips to help you.

1. Attend, attend, attend

Every week, hundreds of events take place to help bring people together. They range from formal events (business expos, conferences, job fairs) to informal get togethers (coffee mornings, lunch buffets, evening drinks), and each thrive off of face-to-face interaction.

The idea is for people to meet, greet and talk. Search the internet for a suitable event –  but think about it: if you’re a job seeker, you don’t want to attend a B2B conference. Look for job and recruitment fairs or coffee mornings that discuss hot topics.

By getting yourself out there, more people can get to know your face and what you’re capable of.

2. Be confident and talk

It’s one thing being at an event, but it’s another participating. Speaking to people is essential to successful networking and so you need to be confident approaching and talking to new faces.

Focus on your strengths – what you’re good at, what you’ve done – and paint a positive picture of what you can do.

3. Give out and collect contact details

You never know when you might need someone and so always trade contact details with those that you meet. Business cards are the prime way to do this.

Also, don’t be shy. At said events, people expect to make new connections and so will engage in conversation with the intentions of taking something away – be it a phone number, email or LinkedIn connection request.

4. Stay in touch

These days it’s easier than ever to contact people directly or have them see what you’re up to. You don’t have to directly email someone to keep them up to date with what you’re up to – that’s what things like Facebook status’ and Twitter tweets are for.

That said, it doesn’t hurt to drop a particularly good contact an email once in a while to see how they are and if they know of any worthy opportunities for you. You’ll be surprised at just how friendly people can be.

When networking, it’s important to keep a profile with those you meet. If you fail to do this, you’ll risk being forgotten about.

Networking is a brilliant way to help career progression, with the keep being to have an extensive list of connections that you can contact moving forward.

UK unemployment now at 7.1%

Toward the end of last year, you would’ve caught the news (if not read on our blog) about how UK unemployment had fallen to a four year low.

Fast forward the clock to the start of this year, and again you would’ve hopefully seen the news about how the unemployment rate had fallen again – to 7.1%. Now that it’s taken a couple of weeks to sink in, we take a look at what this means for both job seekers and recruiters and employers.

For job seekers… There are jobs out there and companies are hiring!

The fact that unemployment is at it’s lowest since 2009 demonstrates an increase in job creation. According to this report, the number of advertised jobs grew by 13.5% throughout 2013.

Make sure to explore all avenues when you’re looking for a job. From recruitment agencies like us at Thornley, to job boards and direct employers. The jobs are out there!

For recuiters and employers… There are candidates on the look out for work!

All numbers point to a continued hunger from people to find jobs in the UK – a hunger that is matching an increase in advertised jobs (hence the drop in unemployment). According to this report, there has been significant increase in job searches and applications by job seekers.

All in all, the outlook for the UK job market is looking good…

“New year, new me”

We at Thornley know that the start of a new year is a great chance to re-evaluate all aspects of our lives in a bid to make things better and to achieve our dreams. One aspect that many of us will pay attention to is our career, and so here are just some quick pointers to help you make the most of your career this year.

Reflect and revive
Before going on to ‘make things happen’, take time to look back on last year and weigh up the pros and cons. By outlining things such as pros of your current job to cons behind why your job hunt wasn’t as fruitful as you had hoped, you can create a clear picture of how to move forward.

If you want a new job, revive your CV and freshen it up. If you’ve been staring at and sending out the same CV for a while now, you’re probably tired of it. Inject a bit of colour or reword certain sections so it’s got that refreshing ‘lick of paint’ treatment.

Be a ‘doer’
Whatever you want, go out and find it. Want a promotion or change of role within your current company? Don’t be shy in letting the relevant person/people know. Be confident in approaching your manager and set about finding out how you can achieve what you’re after.

Should you be looking for a new job, then be proactive and explore every avenue available to help you find employment – from registering with recruitment agencies and online job boards, to going direct to employers you’d like to work for or browsing social networks. The more you do to get your name and CV out there, the more likely you are to find that new job.

Start as you mean to go on
If you start the new year afresh and as a real go-getter, you’ll get off to a flying start. But, remember: keep it up. Momentum is important to achieving your goals and so you should keep yourself topped up.

Set yourself weekly or monthly targets. If you’re happily employed but seek that career progression, work with your manager to set KPIs that can help develop your experience and ability. If you’re on the job hunt, target yourself to make a certain number of job applications a week. Regular targets not only keep your momentum, but they also keep you motivated.

Here’s to a great 2014.

Competition: Win a PlayStation 4

Because we’re in the Christmas spirit and are excited for the new year ahead, we’ve decided to run a very special competition over on our Facebook page!

You can win a brand new PlayStation4 by doing nothing more than ‘liking’ Thornley Corporate Solutions Ltd on Facebook. By doing so, you’ll be entered into a random prize draw!

By ‘liking’ our page, not only will you be in the draw, but you’ll also get:

– Regular job vacancy updates

– Interesting exciting industry news

– Expert job and career advice

So try your chances and follow the links above!

Job hunting tips: Starting with your CV

When you’re on the job hunt, one of the most important and essential tools you need is a CV. More often than not, it’s the first thing that prospective employers will see of you and so it needs to be up to date and in the right places.

To help you make sure that you’ve ticked all the vital ‘must do’ boxes when putting together and sending out your CV, here are some top tips:

1. Make sure it’s up to date and accurate

One of the first things that employers and recruiters will look for is how recent the information on your CV is. For example, they’ll want to know, up to the current day, what your work experiences are/have been. Even if you’ve been out of work for a month or year, they’ll want to know what you’ve been doing with your time.

You should also make sure that your contact details (email, phone number, postal address) are the ones that you use/access regularly.

2. Ensure that it’s attention grabbing

Employers and recruiters often receive loads of CVs for job vacancies, which is why you should make sure that your CV stands out from the crowd.

From ensuring that it’s a digestible size (one-two pages of A4), to using colours and clear formatting (bold, bullet points), you can highlight key points on your CV so that they stand out even if the employer simply glances over your CV – which is likely if they have a pile of CVs or job applications!

3. Get it out there

In this day and age you can put your CV in a range of different places for people to search, find and view your CV.

You can register with recruitment agencies who will then put your CV on file and match you to relevant jobs. There are those which are generalist, covering all sectors, while some, like Thornley, are more industry specific. With online job boards you can add your CV to their database which is then searched by employers and recruiters looking to headhunt. Finally, social media platforms such as LinkedIn gives you another outlet to upload your CV and have it on-show for your connections or those viewing your profile to see.

The more places you have it, the more likely you are to find that next job.

Industry News Round Up

As the working week winds down and the weekend draws near, we take a look at some of this week’s industry news headlines.

On Monday, findings from a recent report found that more than a quarter of UK SMEs are pushing to bring manufacturing back to Britain. Due to the highcosts of offshore production, 26% of respondents to the Manufacturing Advisory Service’s Barometer feel bringing manufacturing back will reduce costs. Such a move would not only strengthen the economy, but also bring more jobs.

The same report also found that one in six UK manufacturers has brought production back from overseas during the past year, or is in the process of doing so. The fact that more companies are returning to the UK, with others planning or wishing too, again offers a positive outlook for employment in this sector.

The final standout item this week was that, according to a report by the Institution of Engineering and Technology, only 7% of UK professional engineers are female. For Scott Fletcher of ANS Group, this is too low – and we agree.

To find or advertise manufacturing and engineering jobs, check out what we’ve got over on ThornleyCS.com

Comment on… UK unemployment lowest for nearly four years

If you’ve caught the news today, you would’ve seen the headlines about how the number of unemployed people in the UK has fallen during the last quarter.

In the three months to September, the number of jobless people fell by 48,000 while the number of people employed rose by 177,000 – taking the UK unemployment rate to 7.6%, the lowest its been since May 2009, according to the Office for National Statistics.

But what does it mean?

Looking at the implications this has for job seekers, recruiters and the UK economy, these recent findings largely mean positive things.

For UK job seekers, the fact that unemployment has dropped demonstrates two major positives. Firstly, it shows that there are jobs out there thanks to an increase in job creation. The report shows that the majority of newly created jobs are full time. Secondly, the report shows that people are getting employed – so, not only are there more jobs out there, but companies are actively ensuring that their vacancies are being filled.

For recruiters and employers, the findings demonstrate momentum in the job market. While the number of unemployed people is still a large 2.47 million, the fact this number is declining shows that there are active candidates out there.

Looking at the bigger picture, this news is an indication that the UK economy is continuing to recover. What can’t be ignored, though, is that employment levels still haven’t recovered from pre-recession figures. However, the fact that they are rising shows that the employment market is on the mend and that there are more job opportunities out there.

At Thornley, we we offer clients and candidates a dedicated partner in their search for the right skills to ensure growth and profitability or their next professional career move across engineering and automotive sectors.

How to become a successful candidate

Following on from yesterday’s news about how more students are undertaking engineering courses, we thought we’d offer our insight into what it takes to be a successful candidate.

The job search can be a long, daunting process which is why we think there’s some ‘must do’s‘ to help you get ahead of the competition. While we’ve focused on the sectors we specialise in, we like to think that anyone can follow these tips:

Know the industry

Whether it’s the ins and outs of a big news story, to the best practices and methods useful for your line of work, make sure you’re in the know. It’s common to be asked general questions about your industry during an interview.

Be professional

In this digital age, it’s important that the internet has a good report of you as it’s guaranteed that a prospective employer will Google your name. Make sure that what they find is your professional blog or completed LinkedIn profile and not that heat of the moment tweet or those Facebook photos.

Get qualified

While it’s not always essential, having academic proof that you know your stuff can help. From an NVQ to being a Bachelor in Engineering, qualifications on your CV undoubtedly help. That’s not to say that you’ll never get anywhere without them, as that’s simply not true. Experience can speak volumes, too. At the very least it’s worth getting an apprenticeship under your belt.

For more advice, make sure you like us on Facebook.

Engineering recruitment back on track

If you like us on Facebook or follow us on LinkedIn, you would’ve seen us share this positive story from yesterday’s news:

“Engineering recruitment back on track”
(Times Higher Education)

The item looks at how the number of students undertaking engineering courses in the UK has risen.

It goes on to suggest (and we think quite rightly) that this means nothing but good news for the engineering sector, in particular those recruiting within the sector.

Why? Because, in short, it means that as more people register an interest, and actually become qualified, in engineering, then an even bigger pool of top level candidates is growing out there for available jobs in the sector.

With engineering being one of our key sectors for both recruiting clients and candidates looking for new jobs, we couldn’t ignore this positive outlook for what the future holds!

Visit ThornleyCS.com for more about what we do!