7 time-saving job search tips Viewpoint careers advice blog

7 time-saving job search tips When I reflect on my career there have been many sliding doors moments where I could easily have ended up somewhere completely different. I am happy to say I am where I am largely through planning and endeavour. While I accept there is always serendipity in life I believe that your career should be about timing and opportunities, so you need to make the time to seek out the opportunities that you want. It goes without saying that you don’t want to notify your manager of your desire to leave until you’ve found the right position, but finding that role requires time, energy and focus that you might not have. It’s not uncommon in this age of hyper-connectivity for the working week to overlap into family life, and vice versa. Finding a few hours of personal time to pursue your individual goals and ambitions can take weeks of advance planning, to then be pushed back once more when that time comes. Well, if you’re thinking about a career change but don’t think you have the time, then I ask you to not give up yet. There are some fairly simple steps you can take towards creating time where before there wasn’t any, and I’ve tried to outline as many of them as possible in this blog. A stitch in time Its all about streamlining the job search process If you’ve decided that you definitely want to leave then you’re going to need to be smart about finding the time to job search. There’s no guarantee that you’re going to be able to find a suitable position right away; there are many factors such as the economy, your home life and your current workload that are simply out of your hands, but don’t let that put you off. At the same time there’s no use  in rushing your job search. You’ve made the bold decision to take the jump, so you may as well switch to a job that you’re really going to enjoy and thrive in. It’s all about streamlining the job search process and managing your time effectively. Here are some tips to help you conduct a time-efficient job search, divided into two sections: passive (before you start researching) and active (once you’ve started researching): Passive (before you start researching) 1. Stop procrastinating immediately First things first, any periods of procrastination are going to have to go. Instead of twiddling your thumbs during your commute to work or taking the full 60 minutes for lunch why not spend this time researching relevant companies or updating your work documents? I would of course advise against doing this on a company computer. 2. Evaluate your skills ahead of time Avoid rushing into your job search and scatter-applying for a range of vaguely relevant positions just because you are pushed for free time. Before you’ve embarked on the hunt itself, take the time to reflect upon what your ambitions are and in which direction your career is going. What are your strengths? What role would these strengths best lend themselves to? Which industries are doing well and which aren’t? Where do you see yourself in five years’ time? It sometimes helps to get the opinion of others on how accomplished our skillset really is â€" we’re not always the fairest judges of ourselves! Considering the circumstances, family or friends outside of work are probably the best people to approach â€" you don’t want to risk your employer discovering your plan. By only applying for roles that you’re likely to be a success in you’re saving both yourself and prospective employers a lot of precious time. 3. Get your affairs in order Have all your personal information readily available across all of your devices Make sure all your personal and work information is current and relevant; this includes your online profiles as well as your CV. You can find some handy advice on optimising your LinkedIn profile here, and some tips on refining your CV here. One caveat however, don’t conduct too drastic an overhaul of your online profiles all at the same time â€" you don’t want to raise the suspicions of your current employer. Save time by having all your information readily available across all of your devices. Make sure you have the full contact details of your referees on your smart phone as well as your laptop, for example â€" this way if you find an interesting role on the way to work which has an immediate deadline you can apply for it there and then. You can also save yourself a great deal of time by having a few varied CV templates. How many of these you prepare obviously depends on how wide a net you’re casting in your job search. Create a loose CV for each role and then tailor them when applying to specific employers. 4. Cultivate a bustling network This should be a constant consideration for most professionals. By maintaining a large and lively network of contacts you may not have to spend any time looking for a new job, it might come looking for you. Grow your network by connecting with relevant contacts and sharing relevant insights, as well as attending industry events which are of interest. Again, you don’t want to alert your employer of your intentions to leave just yet so keep it casual. See if there’s anyone in your contacts book who you haven’t seen in a while and who might be able to recommend you an opportunity or employer. Active (once you’ve started researching) 5.  Schedule your day The average person is most productive during the first two hours after waking up Once you’ve refreshed your CV and your online profiles you need to carefully allocate some time to get on with the research and application stages. When are you most productive? The average person is most productive during the first two hours after waking up, so perhaps wake up an hour earlier than you otherwise would and get job hunting. The reality might be that your schedule is already stretched to its limit, in which case you’re going to have to take advantage of any windows of free time that become available. This means: your commute to and from work, your lunch break, whilst cooking dinner and so on. 6. Only apply for jobs you love The internet is your friend during this process; it has entirely revolutionised the way we job search, and sped the whole procedure up immeasurably. No longer do you have to go knocking on doors with a pile of CVs in hand to find the job you want. There are so many ways you can vet a whole catalogue of positions with just a few clicks â€" you can access Hays job database here. By getting in contact with a Hays recruiter you can have them do all the work for you, meaning that you don’t have to reorganise your whole schedule. They will contact you once they’ve found an appropriate opportunity. Save yourself time by only applying for positions that are relevant to your skillset, and which you have a real interest in. Recruiters examine job applications for a living and know if you’ve put much effort into the process or not. Contrary to popular belief, submitting a few well-considered applications will land you a job much quicker than churning out a quantity of hurried ones. 7. Search on a Monday, apply on a Tuesday Make sure to keep a record of all the positions youve applied for My personal advice when scouting out job postings would be to store all the jobs that interest you in one place, and then apply for them during time you’ve set aside to do so â€" the Hays mobile site allows you to save jobs that interest you, and then return and review them later at a more suitable time. The alternative â€" finding a job you like, applying for it straight away, repeat process â€" could mean that by the time you’ve found a role you really like, you might already have exhausted yourself completing a bunch of forms for jobs that you had minimal interest in. Collate all the jobs that appeal to you over a few days and then prioritise your application process according to which one(s) interest you most. Make sure to keep a record of all the positions you’ve applied for, how you applied and what sort of responses you received. This is helpful both for monitoring the status of the application (and chasing it up), as well as refining your strategy around which approach worked best. A final thought Finding the right job isn’t easy at the best of times, never mind when you’re already in full time employment. You want to end up somewhere where you’ll feel motivated and competent; especially when you consider that you’ll be spending most of your waking hours there. Searching for a new job whilst already in one depends heavily on being smart, and streamlining the process. There is much you can do before the actual ‘search’ begins â€" such as updating your CV and online profiles, keeping your network current and evaluating your own skills â€" but once it’s time to put yourself out there you need to be tactful in your approach, lest you become disinterested and demotivated. Set aside times of the day for your job search when you are most alert, aim for quality of applications over quantity and keep a record of all your activity. If you’re still having no luck then maybe you’re making one of these common job search mistakes. About to start your job search? Reading our job searching tips will help ensure it’s a success 10 tips towards becoming a better communicator How I coped with relocating 11,000 miles for my new job, twice Successful people create their own luck Focus your interview on fit What? That was part of the selection process? 11 ways to become more productive at work Asking the right questions How to market yourself in your job search

Your 2019 Personal Brand Blueprint

Your 2019 Personal Brand Blueprint In case you're needing to make a lifelong move in 2019, individual marking will play an incredible and basic job in your prosperity. Peruse how you can assume responsibility for your own image this year.Your Personal Brand Considers and Brings Together 2 ElementsInternal:Who you are in your common state? What are your blessings, gifts, characteristics, stories, and passions?External: How do you need the outside world to see you? The answers to these inquiries should all be compatible over all regions of your life.Essentially, Your Personal Brand Is the Way You Do the FollowingShow up in the world Interact with others and how you leave them feeling Work in both life and businessYou get the chance to have a state in how individuals see you and it's dependent upon you to develop and be purposeful about that consistently. All things considered, we are what we over and over do.So where do we start?Create a Vision for Your CareerSome addresses I use to assist customers with unloading their image include:What are your center values? What are your passions? What's essential to you? What do you know to make certain about yourself dependent on your vocation along these lines far? What sorts of work/ventures fulfill you to your core? What do those nearest to you say about you? Who would you like to serve?And critically, are your activities in arrangement with this? For instance, would you say you are going after positions for a vocation or applying for those open doors which you can be energetically occupied with and utilize your extraordinary combo of aptitudes, gifts, and interests? In what manner will your next job satisfy you monetarily, inventively, inwardly, socially?When you get this, you can unmistakably characterize your vocation objective, comprehend your intended interest group and convey content that obviously imparts your message and esteem, and at last your suitability.Control Your ContentYou'll need to review your computerized impression to guarantee it's s teady and strong with what you want.Google your name and put forth an attempt to do the accompanying: Clean up or lock down anything on the web that doesn't bolster your image and future goals Create and develop progressively positive substance for and about yourselfWe live in a time where you can make more 'commotion' for yourself than at any other time, beginning with your LinkedIn. Is your profile future-engaged and situating you for the vocation you want?Remember, What You Share, Like and Comment Also Reflects on Your BrandCheck out your action history on LinkedIn too. What picture does it paint of you and your direction?I've spoken with work searchers that wonder why their pursuit of employment and systems administration endeavors aren't conveying any outcomes. In the wake of diving somewhat more profound, I discover they're frequently venting disappointments about enrollment specialist encounters, laying fault and in general, conveying enormous negativity.It's not a decent loo k and shouts Likely agony in the a$$. All that you do and say should bolster how you need to be perceived.During your pursuit of employment, keep up a functioning profile by perusing news channels, sharing substance, remarking with industry bits of knowledge or connection to articles you've composed or different instances of your work. It shows a degree of expert engagement.Network With IntentionIn the universe of LinkedIn, more associations = greater perceivability. In any case, on the off chance that you discover your newsfeed regularly loaded up with exchange and points neither important to you nor identified with your picked industry, you have to pull together your systems administration technique and efforts.This way, you can begin building associations with individuals, including those at organizations of intrigue, which bolster your image and vocation goals.Employers are bound to enlist individuals alluded to them, so in case you're work looking, your intended interest group ought to incorporate scouts and recruiting supervisors in your industry and organizations you try to work in.But be aware of the manner in which you add to and manufacture connections. How would you need individuals to feel on leaving a connection with you? How are you enhancing everyone around you? On the off chance that you start discussions with selection representatives for instance with the objective of getting something to no end, you'll be baffled more regularly than not.Moving Forward in 2019 With Your Personal Brand!If you need something else for yourself this year, you need to show up in an unexpected way. You have all that you should be who you need to be and life is too short to be in any way stuck in a job where you're underestimated, come up short on or unchallenged.

Performance Review - Make the Most of Your Evaluation

Execution Review - Make the Most of Your Evaluation Execution Review - Make the Most of Your Evaluation Do you recollect the inclination you got in the pit of your stomach when it came time for your educator to distribute report cards? It didnt matter whether you were anticipating a positive or negative one. You just werent completely certain about what the person in question idea of your work until you saw it recorded as a hard copy. The equivalent is valid for your yearly execution audit from your boss. Regardless of whether you are sure of working superbly, understanding worried about it isnt exceptional. All things considered, this single assessment may effectsly affect your profession. Managers frequently base their choices about raises and advancements on execution audits, in some cases called worker evaluations or execution examinations. They may even utilize them to choose whether or not to terminate a representative. To give you access on somewhat mystery, numerous supervisors disdain execution audits as much as you do. Their associations require them albeit most would incline toward rather to offer input all the more consistently. An exhibition audit causes laborers to feel vulnerable on the grounds that the individual who composes it uses a great deal of intensity. Their assessment of what youve done over the previous year-not really a fair-minded record goes into the report and in this way into your perpetual document. While you dont have a great deal of power over this circumstance, you do have a few. Having a methodology for managing the audit will reduce a portion of your pressure and could even improve the result. To start with, Become Familiar With the Process For some, dread of the obscure is the most noticeably terrible piece of the entire audit process. Acquaint yourself with how everything attempts to feel more in charge. On the off chance that this is the primary execution survey from your present business, ask collaborators what's in store. It is likewise fundamental to comprehend why numerous businesses use execution appraisals as an approach to assess their laborers. Hypothetically, they will likely give criticism, convey desires, and open up a discourse with representatives. In a perfect world, this would be accomplished more as often as possible than once every year. Sadly, very regularly, it isn't. Next, Prepare a Self-Review Assess your own exhibition before your managers survey. Rundown every one of your accomplishments and achievements in the course of the most recent year. It is useful to monitor them as they happen as opposed to attempting to do it at the same time. It might be past the point of no return for your present audit yet recall this guidance for what's to come. Note how your manager profited, for instance, higher benefits, a greater customer program, or maintenance of current customers. Be quite certain. For instance, show the sum by which benefits expanded or the quantity of customers welcomed ready or the rate held. Feature all that you need to talk about during the survey and assemble any documentation that will back up your cases. Investigate your self-survey the prior night meeting with your chief so you will be set up to talk about the entirety of your accomplishments and achievements the following day. Conclude How to Respond to a Bad Review It might appear to be outlandish to consider what to do if things dont work out positively, yet it will assist you with reacting adequately to an awful audit if necessary. Develop an arrangement ahead of time of requiring one to abstain from committing some genuine errors. The most significant activity is oppose the impulse to respond right away. Rather, request to meet with your manager in several days. Doing this gives the opportunity to consider the audit unbiasedly and ideally quiet down. One of two things will occur: you may understand the negative feedback wasnt as distant the imprint as at first accepted or you may finish up the survey was without a doubt treacherous. Keep your arrangement regardless of whether you choose the audit was precise. Utilize the gathering to go over approaches to improve. It is additionally worth examining an out of line survey with your chief. Give clear models that counter the reactions. You may have felt also overpowered to examine your achievements during the first assessment, however this would be an ideal chance to do it. After Your Performance Review: Take-Aways Notwithstanding the consequences of your presentation audit, it is a chance to learn important data, regardless of whether it is about yourself or your chief. Utilize substantial analysis to make sense of how to make upgrades throughout the following year. After an exhibition audit, a few people understand their supervisors essentially werent mindful of their achievements. Starting now and into the foreseeable future, try masterminding gatherings during the time rather than exactly at survey time to keep that person educated. In any event, gleaming input presents you with a chance. It will illuminate you regarding what to continue doing and what extra activities can make one years from now audit far better.

This is why you always get sick after a vacation

This is the reason you generally become ill after an excursion This is the reason you generally become ill after an excursion As you drop your baggage into a pile on your condo floor and breakdown on your bed following a strong excursion, you notice a scratchy inclination at the rear of your throat that flags somewhat more than plane lodge dehydration. Ugh, am I truly becoming ill right now? You stress as you float off to rest, and you wake up feeling far and away more terrible. What gives?Well, there are a few science-upheld reasons why an episode of rest and unwinding frequently finishes with an instance of the sniffles.ExhaustionWhen your PTO at last shows up, you're beginning things off with a vacant tank. You've been busting your butt at work for quite a long time in prep for your time away from the workplace, and you organized the entirety of your social responsibilities over self-care since you realized the spa would before long be close enough. While neither of these decisions are awful ones, they do leave you feeling entirely spent at the earliest reference point of your excursion. Between stress a nd a lack of rest, your safe framework is as of now in part compromised.Braving New ElementsEven in case you're staying generally local, changing your physical environment exposes your framework to a huge amount of new things that it could possibly be prepared to understanding. From new nourishments to new allergens, there's a strong change bend required when you set off for an excursion. It probably won't feel overly extreme or such recognizable, however it's there. What's more, the more you challenge your body's the norm, the harder it needs to work to even out. Furthermore, you're requesting that your body accomplish this work when it's struggling.Germs, Germs, GermsFrom the airport to your Airbnb to your new most loved morning bistro, you are encircled by such a large number of new types of microbes, it's confounding. Also, if your framework is as of now working in overdrive to deal with your tedious excursion prep and acclimation to another condition, at that point your safegua rds against potential infections and contaminations aren't working at their ideal levels. It's never a poorly conceived notion to pop nutrient C supplements and drink water like there's no tomorrow as you get-away, yet simply realize that your germ presentation does make a difference and, generally, it's a losing battle.Exhaustion (Again)Flights get dropped. Trains get deferred. You selected dead-of-the-night itinerary items to spare some money at the last part of your outing. These things make getting back home and into your run of the mill routine extra troublesome, and you end up feeling lovely cleaned out as you finish your excursion instead of really reestablished and all set. So don't be astonished if this last trek destroys you while your insusceptible framework is as of now unhappy.After the entirety of that, can you truly censure your body for saying, Hold up a second, Karen, I need a freaking break? We didn't think so. Yet, hello, it's still absolutely worth removing the t ime from your 9-to-5 crush. Simply be prepared to acknowledge that you may require a couple of days to recover once you return.This post was initially distributed on Swirled.com in the Thrive area, which covers significant vocation and individual account content for Millennials.