10 Tips To Get Ahead In 2012

Tip 1. Be aware of your Personal Brand - What does your name say about you? If you were to put your name into a Google search engine what information could a potential employer find out about you? Ensure that you’re making a great first impression.

Tip 2. Do you have an up to date CV? This is your most important job finding tool and for some reason a lot of people regard writing their CV as a chore to complete on a rainy Sunday morning every year or so. Yet this is the document that could decide how much you earn over the next few years. Don’t skimp. Work on it, review it, obsess over it – try anything you can to make it better.

Tip 3. Prepare and Practise - The key to a successful interview is the amount of preparation taken before the interview takes place. It's incredibly frustrating when an applicant looks better on paper than in person. It's an old cliché but...."fail to prepare, prepare to fail" You can't prepare too much for an interview, do your homework and find out everything you can about the company / department and the people you will be meeting. Practice your interview answers by writing them down or even record yourself until you feel confident with the answer you hear

Tip 4. Build Rapport - When attending interviews it's important that you build a good rapport and that you make a positive first impression as you won't get that chance again. Ask yourself "What do people really think about me when they meet me for the first time?" Why not ask your partner, friends and especially those friends that you've recently acquainted or colleagues that you work with. However, be careful not to criticise their point of view when asking for their truthful opinion!

Tip 5. Who knows you exist? When seeking new job opportunities we can sometimes forget to talk to those people who we already know within our existing network. Whilst I wouldn't suggest that you make contact and ask these people directly for a new job you can rephrase by asking who they might know that they can put you in contact with? Building your network takes time and effort and means speaking with strangers, people who don't even know that you exist.

Tip 6. Go Networking - Nearly 80% of jobs are filled direct via internal referrals, company websites and various job board sites therefore it is important that you're not relying solely on Recruitment Agencies. Strong job seekers are aware that networking is a vital part of the job seeking process and are always looking for opportunities to meet or connect with new people.

Tip 7. Create a LinkedIn Profile - A complete LinkedIn profile demonstrates that you take yourself seriously as a professional within your industry. It also helps you to optimise your position in LinkedIn search results and according to LinkedIn; users with complete profiles are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities through LinkedIn.

Tip 8. Follow up - Without follow up then a meeting, interview or new contact is an empty hole. It is in your interest to ensure that you follow up every lead and interview. Send a note to say thank you to everyone who interviews you reminding the employer why you are the right person for their role. Even if the role is not for you still send a thank you note and make a good impression.

Tip 9. Dress for success - Far too many people underestimate the importance of the way they look and how they are perceived by others. It takes only 5 seconds to form an opinion about an individual. It is an unconscious process and as much as it may feel unfair, image does matter.

Tip 10. Where do you add value? - It's important for you to identify where you add value. What can you offer an employer in return for your salary and benefits? In this competitive market, it's important for you to stand out from your competition whether you are looking for an internal move with your existing employer or a new role externally. Once you've identified your key skills you can then provide examples to support your experience.

Nikki Hutchison, founder of Chilli Pepper Global www.chillipepperglobal.com advising you on every aspect of the job seeking process guiding you step by step whether you are looking to move internally or externally.

The Importance of Your Transferable Skills

It’s important for you to identify where you add value. What can you offer an employer in return for your salary and benefits? In this competitive market, it’s important for you to stand out from your competition whether you are looking for an internal move with your existing employer or a new role externally.

Your transferable skills are what make you marketable and they will provide you with an advantage over your competition. Your transferable skills are essential to your career success and will ease your transition into a new role.

Transferable skills are the skills that employers look for when they are interviewing you so it’s essential for you to reflect on these and to be able to develop them, add to them and speak about them confidently at job interviews.

What is a Transferable Skill?

A transferable skill is a skill that you possess which can be easily applied and made use of in a number of different situations, hence, allowing you to apply it to a new job opportunity.

Why are Transferable Skills important?

Transferable skills are the job seekers greatest assets and contribute to career success.

Greater transferable skills = greater choice.

How can you develop your Transferable Skills?

Everyone has transferable skills which are developed throughout a person’s life from starting school through to college and university, personal and professional experiences and life in general. Once you have identified your essential skills you can then take them with you and apply in any situation, you can also build on these skills by further experience.

"The more options you can offer in terms of skills, knowledge and experience, the higher the probability of being in demand"

How do you identify Transferable Skills?

We can sometimes take our skills for granted without recognising that they are in fact what make us unique. Being aware of our Transferable Skills can help us to identify where we add value to our friends, family and within the work place.

Whilst there are a number of self-assessment tests on the market that allow you to analyse your own personal strengths and weaknesses, I would recommend that you explore your skills with the people who know you best.

Approach your boss or peers at work. Speak to your close friends and family, you might be surprise by their response as to how and why you add value to their lives!

Once you've identified your key skills then provide examples to support your experience.

Nikki Hutchison, founder of Chilli Pepper Global www.chillipepperglobal.com advising you on every aspect of the job seeking process guiding you step by step whether you are looking to move internally or externally.

Will it always be a Man’s World?

“Some of us are becoming the men we wanted to marry!”

A couple of weeks ago I was very fortunate to be able to attend the 30th Anniversary of Women in Banking and Finance (WIBF) http://www.wibf.org.uk/ held at the House of Lords in Westminster. I listened with great interest to guest speaker and Patron, Baroness Fritichie who talked about a number of changes which have greatly improved the rights and status for women in the 21st century.

Did you know?

• It was in 1973 that women were admitted onto the floors of the London Stock Exchange for the first time.
• From 1975 it was made illegal to sack women for becoming pregnant.
• Barbara Castle as Secretary of State for Employment introduced the Equal Pay bill which was enacted in 1975 together with the Sex Discrimination Act. This Act made it illegal to discriminate against women in employment, education and training.
• In 1979 Margaret Thatcher became the first female Prime Minister.

The banking industry was soon to become one of the largest employers of women but still the number of women in senior managerial positions was less than 1%.

This figure has risen over the years and according to a recent article in the FT.com at 13.6% the UK has the sixth highest proportion of women at board level in Europe, however this figure accounts for just one woman on the board in 84% of British companies and only 17.5% have more than three so will this figure improve over the coming years?

The European Commission has warned this year that if companies did not move voluntarily to ensure gender balance on executive boards, it might force them to do so. Read the complete article http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5bbf3712-f0ec-11df-bf4b-00144feab49a.html#ixzz15Od8p6ws

Whilst it would seem that women have come a long way in a ‘Man’s World’ they still have a distance to go until they achieve equality.

Baroness Fritichie ended her speech with the following poem which she wrote about 15 years ago when she reflected on the life that she had intended to live!

Someday My Prince Will Come

Someday my prince will come they said when I was small.
Brave and true, kind and strong, handsome, dark and tall.
I’m only a woman doing my best, waiting for my turn.
Supporting, listening, smiling, nodding, and knowing I have much to learn.
Only men could do the tough stuff, telling others what to do.
I just ran the home, the kids, my job, filled the larder, cleaned the loo.
Along the way I met some stars, pretenders who didn’t tarry.
And then one day I realised I’d become the man I wanted to marry!
By Rennie Fritichie 1996

Nikki Hutchison, founder of Chilli Pepper Global http://www.chillipepperglobal.com/ advising you on every aspect of the job seeking process guiding you step by step whether you are looking to move internally or externally.

Can ENTHUSIASM really give you that edge over your competitors?

"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."

What is enthusiasm? Enthusiasm is contagious. Getting excited. Being passionate. It’s one of those things that you know when you see it and other people know when you have it.

I have genuine enthusiasm and how do I know? Because I've been told over and over again and luckily for me this is something that comes natural, I'm an optimist and my glass is always half full and I'm also very passionate and get very excited about the people I choose to work with.

Over the years I've held and attended hundreds of meetings with my clients to include both employees and employers and I can't remember a single time when I've successfully assisted someone who lacked entusiasm either for the job they were hiring for or the job that they were interviewing. I can't help but to get excited for my clients and I firmly believe that YES, enthusiasm really can give you the edge over your competitors whether you are the potential employee or employer.

Enthusiasm + Passion = Rapport = Successful Professional Relationships

During an interview enthusiasm comes through in the way that you talk, your facial expressions, the way you dress and your posture.

Would you feel confident in the interviewer if they talked quietly, didn’t look you in the eye, had a weak handshake, didn't smile, slouched, and dressed like a slob?

Take a look at the following 5 techniques that will keep you focused and ensure that you come across oozing with the enthusiasm of a strong candidate whether you are looking to move internally with your existing employer or external with a new company:

1. Enthusiasm when you speak

By increasing the volume, the pitch, and the speed when you talk it will also improve your enthusiasm on the inside. Before an interview think of something you are enthusiastic about and keep this thought in your mind whenever you feel your enthusiasm is lacking.

2. Enthusiasm can become a habit

Ensure that you practice good interview habits to covey your enthusiasm to the interviewer by standing up straight, smiling, giving a firm handshake, and eye contact REMEMBER you have to believe in what you want to be enthusiastic about. If you don't believe in something, and you try to be enthused, you will come across to others as being phony. If you believe, your enthusiasm will be genuine.

3. Retaining enthusiasm in your job search

The longer you spend looking for work, the harder it can become to retain your enthusiasm for your job search. Whilst you can´t help feeling defeated at times after submitting dozens of applications and attending numerous interviews you need to find ways to motivate yourself, you have to find your inner passion again and again.

If you’ve been looking for work for a while then find an interest that you are passionate about. Even if your interest is not relevant to the job you are looking for then by spending time in the interests that you love will help give you the energy you need for your interviews

4. Retaining enthusiasm during the interview

If you no longer feel enthused with your answers or questions then the interviewer will also become bored senseless too! In each interview you need to find something to be enthusiastic about. It could be changing your answer or asking a different question. You need to show the interviewer how you will solve their problem by hiring you and above all you have to be enthusiastic about it!

5. Maintaining your enthusiasm

Before attending an interview read something that inspires you or watch a movie that gets your enthusiasm going.

Write out your goals and dreams. I have created a `Dream Chart´ with my 6 year old daughter, we’ve created a chart with pictures of things we want now and in the future. By visualising our goals and dreams each day we feel enthusiastic to take the appropriate action.

There are plenty of ways you can motivate your enthusiasm and they don’t always have to be difficult they can be simple too!

“Enthusiasm makes ordinary people extraordinary."

Nikki Hutchison, founder of Chilli Pepper Global http://www.chillipepperglobal.com/ advising you on every aspect of the job seeking process guiding you step by step whether you are looking to move internally or externally.

Your 14 Point Checklist

When it comes to writing your CV, you need to be hard on yourself. We hate to break it to you, but reading your CV is a chore for any employer and, given the slightest excuse they’ll gladly bin it and move on to the next one. They don’t even need to feel guilty about this. After all, if you’re prepared to represent yourself with a document that contains clichés, typos or confusing language, why should they take you seriously as a candidate?

So treat your CV as a serious project. Put aside plenty of time and make it as good as it can possibly be. It’s like getting dressed up for a wedding – everything should be crisp, clean and elegantly turned out. Nothing less will do. The tips below should help you to get it in shape.

However, as well as avoiding the obvious pitfalls, you also need to make sure your CV contains the goods. This means understanding how the system works. For example, CVs are mostly scanned rather than read. The employer will look out for evidence of specific experience, relevant qualifications and certain key sentences that show understanding of the role. So you’ll need to tailor your CV accordingly.

There’s no need to become obsessive. Just put in the things the employer wants to see and leave out the things no one wants to see. In essence try and make it as easy as possible for someone to find what they need within your CV as quickly as possible so they gain a favourable overall impression of who you are and what you have to offer.

1)Make sure you have an up to date CV in Word or PDF format
Obvious, yes, but trust us on this: if your dream job suddenly came along, you really wouldn’t want to be staying up beyond midnight desperately updating a five year old CV. Also, by up to date I mean some time in the last 6 months at most.

2)Don’t get too ‘creative’
Take care that your CV is clearly formatted, so it’s easy to read and looks professional. For printed copies, use good quality white paper and plain fonts such as Arial or Times New Roman in black print. Avoid italics, underlining or lined borders.

Regarding electronic delivery, remember: anything that hinders the smooth delivery of your CV to the right person’s desk must be ruthlessly eliminated.

There are two particular problems with overly complex formats:
1. They don’t always look the same on someone else’s computer.
2. They take longer to download which may mean they never get there.

Make sure you give your CV the best possible chance to get read.

3)Try to keep it to 2 pages
If you can’t sell yourself in 2 pages then it’s unlikely you’ll do it in 3 or 4. Yes, your CV should be kept updated but, no, this doesn’t mean it must grow in length. Each time you add new detail at the front, remove or minimise less recent or less important experience.

4)Use clear, simple language that people understand
Avoid all abbreviations, acronyms and industry jargons unless they are absolutely standard and unavoidable within your particular working niche. Even then be careful and always veer towards the conservative side.

5)Check and check and check again
How often are you irritated by spelling or grammar mistakes in documents? What does it make you feel about the writer? If that writer was you, how do you think a prospective employer would feel? Not a comforting thought, is it. So make sure every word is correct. However, don’t be too hard on yourself. Checking your own text isn’t easy, computer spell checks are useful but inconsistent (sometimes even misleading). The best solution is to ask reliable friends or relatives to proof read the text for you. Another useful tip, if you’re not sure about a sentence, is to put it into Google with inverted commas either side. If it doesn’t appear anywhere there might be something wrong with it. If it comes up nine million times, it’s probably a cliché. However, friends, especially those with writing skills, will always be your best bet.

6)Personal information is no longer necessary
Following the introduction of the discrimination law in October 2006 it is no longer required to state your marital status, number of children or place of birth.

7)Keep your email address and voice messages professional
What amuses your friends is unlikely to impress a potential employer. A sense of humour is important but you must always lead on your professionalism.

8)Never, ever lie
You could lose your job or, worse, face legal action from your new employer. Perhaps in the past people got away with lying on their CV. No longer. Many companies now outsource their referencing department and there are strict procedures in place to ensure NOTHING goes unnoticed. If you’re unsure of details such as qualification grades then take the time to find them out, but under no circumstances should you try and guess them.

9)Don’t hide gaps in your CV
Instead, explain them. If a prospective employer discovers a gap they may be inclined to draw their own conclusions as to what you were doing and why you didn’t mention it. Don’t give them any opportunity to feel nervous or unsure about you.

10)Don’t enclose a photograph
Not unless specifically asked to do so. Unfortunately people can sometimes pre-judge on appearance. Also, photographs can bulk up the size of an electronic CV and slowing its download time or even causing it to be rejected (see point 2).

11)Avoid using the 1st person
To keep your CV document professional we advise candidates against using the terms ‘me’, ‘my’ or ‘I’.

12)Always print off a copy to review before sending
We don’t know why but somehow it’s easier to pick up minor errors from a printed copy. So take the trouble to print out any CV as soon as it’s finished and then read it to yourself out loud.

13)Keep a copy with you at all times
You could keep it in your briefcase so you can review it at different times of day in different circumstances. You might just get ideas about how to make parts of it stronger.

14)Don’t skimp on it – this is your most important job finding tool
For some reason a lot of people regard writing their CV as a chore to complete on rainy Sunday mornings every year or so. Yet this is the document that could decide how much you earn over the next few years. Don’t skimp. Work on it, review it, obsess over it - try anything you can to make it better.

Time invested in your CV is time invested in your future.

Nikki Hutchison, founder of Chilli Pepper Global http://www.chillipepperglobal.com/ advising you on every aspect of the job seeking process guiding you step by step all the way.