SUPERCHARGE YOUR JOB SEARCH Part 1: Assess your skills

ARTICLES

Want to find your ideal job? Need to be able to prepare an excellent CV, answer tough interview questions and impress prospective employers? Lynn Williams, author of Ultimate Job Search, is on hand with the advice you need to power up your job search …

A ‘one-stop shop’ for all job hunters, the new 5th edition of Ultimate Job Search aims to take the stress out of what can be a daunting process, providing advice on every stage of the process, from preparing a powerful CV that will get you noticed, via sample cover letters and emails that come across as genuine, and making a great impression at interviews, to dealing with offers and rejection in a positive manner. 
      Part of the best-selling Ultimate series published by Kogan Page, the guidance in this book will help you to shine and demonstrate to future employers that you’re the person for the job. With an exhaustive breadth of detail and real-life up-to-date comments from employers and recruitment professionals, Ultimate Job Search is invaluable to anyone looking to get their dream job at any stage of their career.
      In the first part of a new series, we’re pleased to present an extract from the new edition. If you like what you read, find out below how to order a copy … with a special discount for Quest readers!

SKILLS CHECK

Ask yourself the following questions to assess your skills base.

Teamwork

Have you ever, for example:

• contributed to a team effort?
• helped others within the team achieve their targets?
• resolved conflict or arguments within a team?

Communicating with others

Communication skills include the ability to:

• influence, motivate and persuade people
• negotiate with others
• receive and present information and ideas clearly and accurately.

Have you ever, for example:

• handled complaints or dealt with other demanding circumstances?
• listened to the concerns of others – colleagues, supervisors or others – and responded to that information effectively?
• presented information clearly and accurately to groups and/or individuals, in person or in writing?
• put your point of view across to others successfully?

ABOUT THE SERIES
The Ultimate series contains practical advice on essential job search skills to give you the best chance of getting the job you want. Taking you all the way from starting your job search to completing an interview, it includes guidance on CV or résumé and cover letter writing, practice questions for passing aptitude, psychometric and other employment tests, and reliable advice for interviews.

Problem solving

Have you ever, for example:

• noticed a problem and planned how to resolve it?
• foreseen a potential problem and taken steps to avoid it?
• understood how to resolve a problem and persuaded others to take the necessary steps?

Analysing

Have you ever, for example:

• gathered information about something, weighed up the pros and cons and made a decision based on your research?
• weighed up the facts about a situation and made an appropriate judgement?

Organising and planning

Have you ever, for example:

• prioritised tasks to achieve a target or meet a deadline?
• planned a project through to completion?
• organised an event?
• planned a project or event and delegated tasks to others?

Flexibility and adaptability

This includes the ability to:

• adapt to the demands of the job
• change and develop
• multitask.

Have you ever, for example:

•  adapted successfully to a changing situation?
• become proficient at a task or skill quickly and effectively?
• become more knowledgeable about your work?
• handled several tasks competently and efficiently?
• reacted appropriately to unexpected situations as they arose?

Drive and determination

Have you ever, for example:

• recovered from a setback or disappointment?
• overcome obstacles?
• achieved results over and above set targets?

Everyone will have experience of using the majority of these skills, if not at work then in other areas of their lives. Employers value them because they ensure that you will be able to carry out the more specific tasks your job entails. You can train people to do a specific task, but you can’t train them to do it with drive and determination, for example. And it would be difficult to get any job done without, let’s say, communication skills – the ability to follow instructions, liaise with others, negotiate conditions, give feedback and report results.
  It’s well worth actually writing down answers to the questions above as part of your extremely thorough preparation because you only need to do it once and it will remind you of things you hadn’t necessarily thought about before, as well as giving you ample material to work with when it comes to writing your CV or application form and preparing for interviews.

Get your copy! Special offer for Quest readers

Get invaluable advice on networking, CVs, cover letters, interviews, aptitude and personality tests, offers, rejections and follow-up letters with Ultimate Job Search by Lynn Williams, published by Kogan Page, price £14.99

Use the discount code QUEST20 for 20% off the book when buying direct from the publisher, as well as free delivery to the UK and USA. Find out more at www.koganpage.com/UltimateJobSearch
 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lynn Williams is a career counsellor and trainer who runs workshops on CV writing and interview techniques, and writes regularly on job search and career issues. She is author of bestselling titles Ultimate Interview, Readymade CV and Readymade Job Search Letters (all published by Kogan Page).