How to Track Your Work Accomplishments
Some say that career success is dependent on luck. Others say that we make our own luck and that the harder we work – or in this case the more we prepare, the luckier we get. So how do we prepare for opportunities that bring us career luck? In the everyday tasks of balancing home, careers and wellbeing, we’re often too busy striving for the next goal to routinely reflect and record our accomplishments. Most employees don’t keep records of their workplace wins. Fewer people keep track of how the organisation is performing using information like sales growth, cost efficiencies, expanded offerings etc). Building a habit of tracking your work accomplishments increases confidence, boosts motivation and prepares you with the right evidence for your next opportunity. Regardless of where you are in your career, building a bank of accomplishments, success stories or career narratives can be incredibly helpful when you need to: Update your resume.Gone are the days where writing your resume was as easy as listing your responsibilities. A standout resume not only articulates what you were responsible for but extends to how you did it and the outcomes. In 2020 a successful resume uses metrics to provide the evidence that demonstrates how, in your role and through your actions, you contributed to the success of the organisation. Answer interview questions.Most interviews include behavioural questions that you need to answer with examples. Keeping a record of your accomplishments can be a great tool to remind yourself of situations and successes you may have otherwise forgotten. Negotiate for promotion or raise.When backing yourself and arguing that you deserve more, it’s essential to show up armed with examples of how you delivered more than was expected. Prepare for performance reviews.While most managers keep records of their employees wins (and losses) you can’t expect them to remember all the contributions you have made in detail. Going into a performance review with ready examples that reference how you have contributed to the success of the business/organisation will undoubtedly lead to a better result. What type of work accomplishments are important to keep?If you have left work thinking ‘wow that was a really good day’, it’s likely there was an accomplishment there! You can include things like supporting a team member, so the client got a better outcome, being acknowledged or appreciated by your manager, securing a new client or contract etc. It is also helpful to keep organisation records like annual reports, budgets, announcements or media relating to your area of the business. Regardless of whether you are recording a personal accomplishment or an organisation success, it is important to include action verbs, concrete metrics, and clear articulation of the impact you made. Some examples of achievements to track include:Financial goals you’ve reachedThis can be through sales growth or cost reduction. Include the relevant metrics like ‘how much’ either as a number or a percentage. Also, include how you did it. Was it through improving or changing a system, process or strategy? Challenging situations with clients and/or co-workersFocus on situations that you feel confident have been resolved. How did you resolve it? What has been the impact of fixing the problem? If it didn’t end well, what was the lesson learned? Think critically to identify how you could change your approach to create a better outcome next time. Completing tasks and projects on time and/or budget.Having a strong record of completing projects on time is a testament to your ability to plan ahead. It also demonstrated skills like organisation, managing time and coordinating stakeholders. Stepping upIf you have been invited to step into a management position or a role with more responsibility, note it down. It demonstrates trust in your capability to deliver additional responsibilities. Exceeding expectationsTrack the times you have confidently delivered more than was expected or have taken on duties outside your scope. Winning an award or receiving an acknowledgementIf you have won an award for best-performing employee four years in a row, record it. Even if you won two movies tickets for helping out, record it. They are all a great way of showcasing your employer’s acknowledgement and appreciation. Holding a committee or board positionThis is a great way of demonstrating you are a leader who’s willing to contribute time and experience to support a good cause. How to record your accomplishmentsKeep it simple is the answer to successfully recording your accomplishments. You can use an app like Evernote or Notes or create Word or Google Doc to record your workplace wins. If you would prefer a more structured or dedicated repository, use an accomplishment tracker. We have created an easy to use Accomplishment Tracker template (Word document) that you can download here. Save this to your desktop and every time something great happens, take a minute to jot it down. Accomplishment Tracker It might seem like another thing to do in an already busy life but keeping good career records is an investment worth making for your future success. More importantly, it will save you lots of time when it matters most and will help you get the most out of working with a resume writer. Does your resume showcase your work accomplishments and the value you bring to an organisation? Get a free resume critique to find out.
How to Prepare for a Behavioural Interview
What is a Behavioural Job Interview?The purpose of a successful resume is to get you an interview. It’s your performance at the interview (and references and assessment results) that win you the job. A behavioural job interview is premised on ‘the best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour’ and asks you what you did in a range of scenarios. Rather than asking how you would behave in certain scenarios, they ask how you did behave. Behavioural questions use this logic to help the interviewer understand how you have acted in specific work-related situations so they can interpret your fit for their role, team and company. The interviewer will identify the core behaviours or traits that are important to the role and then ask questions that encourage you to provide evidence that you have the right capability or experience to be successful in the job. What do Behavioural Questions Look Like?Most behavioural questions will start with something similar to “Can you tell me about a time when you…” Example questions are: Describe a stressful situation at work? How did you handle it?Tell me about a time you had to solve a difficult problem. What did you do? What was the outcome? Do you wish you had done anything differently?What process have you used to check that you have the right details from a customer?How have you handled a situation in the past where your manager has “changed the goalposts”?Have you ever had to convince your co-workers to try a different idea or approach? How did you do it?When was the last time you had to think “outside the box”, what was the outcome?Can you tell me about a project you initiated? What did you do and what was the outcome?Have you ever been in a situation where there was conflict in your workplace? How did you handle the situation?How to Answer Behavioural QuestionsThe trick to a good interview is to take your time. After the interviewer has asked the question, take a short pause (and a deep breath to calm your nerves). Review the question in your mind and decide on the skills you need to focus on. Use your bank of career narratives that we discuss below, to find an example or anecdote from your work experience that best demonstrates that skill. When you slow the pace of an interview down, you are more likely to respond to the questions clearly and completely. Without taking time to pause, people tend to speak faster, get entangled in their words, run off course or forget the actual question half-way through a ramble. More importantly, if you’re too busy thinking of an answer while the interviewer is still asking the question, you risk missing key elements and not delivering the answer they really want to hear. Prepare Ahead with a Bank of Career NarrativesUmms, ahhs and a general lack of clarity can be kryptonite to a good interview. Avoid the potential pitfalls by developing a series of career narratives that you can use across a range of questions or scenarios. While most of these narratives should describe situations or experiences where you really shined, it’s also important to have a few examples of challenges you have had to navigate in the workplace. Ideally, these examples of challenges still end with a positive outcome or a clear lesson learned so that you can demonstrate how you have grown from the experience. The best way to develop your narratives is to reflect on times at work where you felt like you did a really good job. Once you have the experience, break it down using a simple formula. Use a Formula to Create Good StoriesThere are lots of formulas and the STAR approach is probably the most popular. We think you can simplify it even more with a good Australian SAO : Situation, Action, Outcome. Set the scene or situationTalk about your action or ideaClose with the outcomeEvery good story starts by setting the scene – this is normally describing the situation or problem In the next sentence talk about the things you did to help fix the problem or improve the situationFinish with how your actions helped the organisation, improved something or fixed the problem To give an example, we’re going to use an experience of keeping volunteers informed.Set the scene: We had an excellent team of volunteers but it was time-consuming to update them on training requirements, process changes and upcoming volunteer opportunities. We were spending as much time managing the volunteers as we were benefiting from their support. Talk about your action or idea: I decided we needed a better approach to information sharing and felt a quarterly newsletter would suit our volunteers. They agreed on the benefits and we established the newsletter with all information they needed to know, sign-up sheets for upcoming events, health and safety guides, volunteer appreciation, birthday announcements and more. Close with the outcome: We received excellent feedback from the newsletter and many volunteers reported that really enjoyed reading the personal stories we featured. We increased the number of people signing up to volunteer at events by 25% because more people understood how to do it. We also improved the safety of volunteers with no reported OH&S issues since the release of the newsletters. This narrative could be used across a range of questions including:Tell me about a time where you had to solve a difficult problem.Describe a situation in which you recognized a potential problem as an opportunityWhat have you done in the past to minimise workplace stress?Tell me about a time that you used your written communication skills to make an important point?When was the last time you thought “outside the box” and how did you do it? Why?Tell me about a problem that you’ve solved in a unique or unusual way. What was the outcome? Were you happy or satisfied with the result?Describe a project or idea that was implemented as a result of your efforts.Tell me about a time when your
Kick Start Your Career – Resumes for Graduates and School Leavers
Your resume is your first chance to make a good impression with a potential employer. It is the sales pitch you need to be invited to interview. Research tells us that employers spend a very short time reading resumes. They often have hundreds of resumes to review and don’t read them in detail. As a jobseeker, you need to make sure you capture their attention quickly and keep it by presenting the right information in the right way. Resumes for Graduates and School Leavers When you’re starting out, you won’t have a lot of experience to include on your resume, but don’t worry, employers won’t be expecting it. Focus on your potential and demonstrate it through telling them your career goals and academic achievements along with any projects or extracurricular activities you have worked on. We’ve listed some key strategies to help you start your career on the right foot: Make sure they can contact you Include your name, address, phone number, and email at the top. This is your marketing document, so only use a professional sounding email address that includes your name. Tailor your resume for each application Generic resumes don’t help applicants stand out. It’s fine to have a template but customise it with different keywords that specifically fit the role. Demonstrate that you have the skills that they are asking for in the job advertisement. Keep it clean and concise At the early stages of your career keep your resume to one or two pages maximum. Use standard fonts like Arial, Calibri or Verdana either 10pt or 11pt and headings slightly larger. Use a maximum of two colours but otherwise keep it simple, uncluttered and professional. Prioritise your experience List the most impressive tasks, accomplishments or responsibilities first under each role. Employers are time poor so if they only have time to glance at the first bullet point for each role, make sure it counts! Never ever lie or even stretch the truth There are so many reasons not to lie on a resume. Not only might you lose the job or opportunity if you were ever found out, but once you start working, your lie will become obvious the day you start your job. This is a guaranteed way to lose trust. Proofread, proofread, proofread Typos happen to everyone, but they are a turn off for most employers. Your resume and cover letter are examples of your written communication skills and your attention to detail. Be extra careful to make sure your spelling, grammar, capitalisation and formatting are consistent and correct throughout your resume. Write any current roles in current tense and any previous roles in past tense. Get professional help If you can afford a professional resume writer, hire one. Professional resume writers can be really helpful to pull out your experience through school, work experience and sport to demonstrate valuable skills. If you are a university student, the career centre will also be able to critique your resume. If you can’t access either of these, ask a trusted friend or family member to review your resume for you. Or, if you’re feeling confident, connect with someone in your industry on LinkedIn, tell them you are starting your career and ask if they could provide some feedback on your resume. Not only will it help you write a great resume, but it will also help you start building your professional network which could unlock opportunities in the future. If you’re looking for support writing a resume with no work experience, our team of professional resumes writers can help. With offices in almost every corner of the country we have someone who is ready to give you the head start you need. For more information or a free chat to discuss how we can help, contact us below.
Why Your Next Role Should Be in Australia’s Growing Tech Industry
The Australian technology sector is entering an exciting period. The shift from a mining to technology economy means that more doors are opening across a range of industries, with opportunities available at every level from entry to senior leadership. The sector is also diversifying, with new frontiers in cyber-security and tech manufacturing opening up for those with drive and ability. If you’re looking to enter Australia’s tech sector, Successful Resumes wants to help. We’ve put together this short article to help guide your search for a satisfying and financially rewarding career in technology in Australia. Read on to learn more. Growing and growing Studies by Clicks IT Recruitment show that the IT job market in Australia is experiencing a period of significant growth. Stability is increasing across all levels of the industry, and study respondents indicated a high level of positivity about their ability to secure a job in the sector if they want to change roles. As a result of excellent research infrastructure, a highly skilled and experienced workforce, and technology-focussed and solutions-driven customer base, Australia is the perfect location for a range of global and regionally focussed ICT activities. Austrade reports that “The Australian software industry has benefited from comparatively low development costs and a highly skilled workforce, and has consequently become a target for strategic ICT investment. Companies such as IBM, Canon, Citrix, EDS, Fujitsu, Google and NEC have built major software development facilities in Australia.” The ITCRA Employment Trends Report for ICT highlighted that the raw number of IT job vacancies in the country has increased. This is by as much as 6% in a single year, with permanent job vacancies growing by nearly 10%. This shows that Australian businesses are ready to invest in highly skilled IT talent. The Labour Market Information, 2018 Employment Projections report also showed that the professional, scientific and technical services industry is likely to increase by 12.5% or 126,400 jobs by 2022. Emerging technologies such as Blockchain, AI, machine learning, natural language processing and virtual reality are having a profound impact in the market. LinkedIn’s Emerging Jobs 2018 report for Australia revealed that most newly-created roles are IT roles. Salaries for IT professionals across the industry are also on the rise. The 2018 ICT Professionals Employment and Remuneration Report identified that annual wage growth in the Australian IT sector was 3.3% – higher than the national average across all industries. Looking ahead Certainly, software is tipped to be big business. The Department of Education is expecting the industry to grow by nearly 20% between 2015 and 2020. Wages are also looking good. A junior back-end developer can expect to pull in a minimum of $68,000. Exceptional candidates are seeing offers up to $93,000. Program and project management continues to offer highly attractive salaries. The growth of adjacent industries will also drive local business. First amongst these is the mining and processing of ‘tech metals’, high-value minerals. These, are of course, crucial to the manufacturing of batteries, solar cells, high-strength magnets and self-driving vehicles. Australia has large deposits of minerals such as vanadium. We also have rare-earth metals that are used in the construction of mobile phones. Furthermore, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics reporting that the manufacturing sector is growing month-on-month, there could be a real future in locally made hardware. Make your move into IT the smart way. Speak to the team at Successful Resumes about creating your IT resume.
Why Success is Failing Us
Is it time to start valuing ourselves and others more effectively?Once upon a time – in an epoch before social media followers, annual salaries, KPIs and student grades – personal success was a matter of meaningful action and invaluable participation: a young hunter with extraordinary agility and prowess; an old crone with an uncanny knack for healing; a stoic leader with the strength of character to hold a community together through great challenge. Through these early human millennia, success was intrinsically linked with contribution — and the value you added to your community, your family, or your tribe. However, as our lives and mindsets have become more mechanized, so too has our concept of success. These days, the inherent value of personal contribution (and personal exceptionalism) is often overlooked. “Success” is only obtained if, and when, your talents and achievements can be quantified, and when they compare favourably to others’ performances and/or meet an accepted standard. The modern definition of success is often solely reliant on superficial numbers and benchmarks. KPIs, ROIs, exam marks and school grades, social media followers, viewer- or readership, money earned, money spent, votes gained and profit margin. All of this ignores the immeasurable (yet often more profound) impact our personal contribution has on our businesses, our community and our world. Of course, this move toward calculable success keeps things nice and tidy for the authorities, statisticians and those keeping score. But it completely misses the boat in terms of our actual value as human beings and the traits that have truly made humans succeed and flourish through the centuries. The challenges experienced by our modern concept of successEncourages a focus on breadth and superficial accumulation, rather than depth and authenticity.A brief interaction with 50,000 Twitter followers is considered more successful than an intimate relationship with three clients. A sprawling mansion full of loneliness and despair is considered more successful than a humble trailer filled with love and laughter. Devalues and belittles those whose daily contributions are impossible to calculate; ie. full-time parents, caregivers, the unemployed and retirees.Those who don’t earn or study often struggle to determine their personal worth and find it difficult to recognize and celebrate the value they add to society. Additionally, this mindset drives many parents to seek validation through the actions and achievements of their children — successes that can be measured numerically — and to compare and compete with other parents. Reduces the opportunity to seek purpose, meaning and inspired action in daily activities.In many of life’s pursuits, we are given a set of numbers to attain or aspire to. We are somehow supposed to be inspired by these meaningless digits. There is no purpose in the quest or the result, and therefore most employees, students and citizens are inherently uninspired and disengaged. Rewards conformity over contribution.Seeking to be validated in socially-acceptable ways, many people ignore their personal desires. They push down their gut instinct and talents in favour of accepted or ‘proven’ processes, methods and practices. Individuality is diluted and innovation is avoided for fear of perceived failure. Perpetuates the illusion of control.Almost inevitably, the main indicators of modern success are entwined with the actions and decisions of others. If we are to meet our sales targets, become a best-selling author, secure that dream gig, garner the promotion, make millions off our investment, and so on, we need to have the full support, agreement or cooperation of others. Sadly, we are conditioned to believe that we can control any situation; if we follow the right process, pull the right strings, behave the right way, say the right words, we will bring others onside and succeed in our quest. If we fail (we are told) it is because we didn’t try hard enough, or follow the right procedure. The concept of success based on external validation is deeply flawed in this regard; we may be in charge of our lives, but we are never, ever in control. Ignores the most important qualities humans possess: cooperation, innovation and resilience.An employee’s ability to calm conflict and offer sound advice can be overlooked if they regularly miss their sales quota. An imaginative and inquisitive child may be counselled if they do not read or write to an ‘acceptable’ level. A courageous and hard-working single parent may not be appreciated if they cannot earn enough to rent their own home. Cooperation, innovation and resilience are the three most important characteristics in human evolution. Yet they are often overlooked and undervalued in modern society, for the simple reason that they cannot be easily quantified. The need for measurable success is ingrained in our modern psyche. It fulfils a purpose in our ongoing need for societal structure. But it is time to acknowledge that there is more to life — more to the value of any human being — than numbers can express. If we can expand our concept of success and remember the importance of non-numerical contribution, we can inspire people to be a valued part of their workplace and community. Importantly, if we begin to celebrate the multitude of intangible successes in society, we offer everyone an opportunity to recognize the true value they offer the world, no matter how isolated or indefinable that contribution may be. Questions for authentic success:How many times did I genuinely smile today?Did I experience vulnerable and honest moments today?How and who did I inspire today?Am I allowing myself to be inspired?What did I change about myself today (beliefs, perception, behaviour)?What did I do better today than yesterday?Is there something I need to forgive myself for today? Do I need to forgive another?What action did I take today that honours my current dream/goal?What have I done today that I can be proud of? Kim Forrester Kim Forrester is an award-winning author, educator and holistic wellbeing consultant. She combines cutting-edge science, philosophy and spiritual thought-leadership to inspire authentic well-being and fullness of living. She is the host of the Eudaemonia podcast and contributes regularly to publications throughout Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the USA. www.kimforrester.net
How to Prepare for a Virtual Job Interview
As companies around the world implement Corona-virus social distancing measures, HR teams are increasingly depending on recruiting candidates that they haven’t met. For many roles, this means transitioning from face to face job interviews to online or virtual job interviews. The great news is that for the most part, the rules of a successful online job interview are much the same as if you were meeting in person. Be positive, smile and have your demonstrated experience ready so you can respond to questions with ease. Test run your technology If you haven’t used videoconferencing tools before, don’t worry. There are lots of easy to use platforms out there like Zoom, Skype, FaceTime and Google Hangouts. During the current Corona-virus pandemic, a number of these free tools are available for an extended trial. According to Business Insider, Microsoft is offering a free trial of the premium plan for its Teams chat app, Google is giving free access to the enterprise version of Hangouts Meet to all G Suite users and Cisco Webex is offering the free version of its Webex service with no time restrictions. Zoom already offers a free version of their videoconferencing software and they are working to ensure maximum reliability with the increase in traffic. When you are meeting with a potential employer, they will most likely have a preferred platform they use. Once you know the technology that will be used, download the app on your computer, phone or smart device and get to know the system a little. The invitation they send you will often contain a URL that you will click on the enter the virtual meeting space. It’s important to only click on this link at the time of the scheduled interview. Do your research This also goes for in-person interviews, but once the company has provided the details of the interview and who you will be speaking to, jump onto LinkedIn and do a little research. What is their background? Do you have any common ground that you can reference to build rapport? Find a space The job interview might be online but it’s just as important to be professional. Make sure the space you choose is tidy, quiet and well lit. Ideally find a spot that has a blank wall behind you so that the interviewer isn’t distracted by the background. If you have children, animals or other potential disruptions, plan ahead to ensure they give you space and no background noise. Everyone is in the same position at the moment so you can assume some level of flexibility around this. If you know you may be interrupted, start the interview with something along the lines of, “Thank you for the opportunity to meet with you today. I have young children/flatmates or you may hear my dog barking so I apologise in advance if there is some noise in the background.” Being upfront about it might even help build rapport with interviewers who are in the same position! Try to avoid sitting in front of a window. If there is light behind you, it will be hard for the interviewer to see you. Just before your interview is due to start, set yourself up with a glass of water, some paper and a pen. By the time the meeting starts you want to feel relaxed and appear cool, calm and collected! Be as professional and personable as you would be in a face to face interview This means dress the part, turn your phone onto silent, limit the distractions you might face and smile! Just like an ‘in-person’ interview, body language counts so sit up, speak clearly and maintain eye contact. Because it’s hard to tell if the sound is consistent and clear, when the interviewer is talking acknowledge you are listening by making occasional small nods. Practice, practice, practice! Consider doing a trial run of your background with a friend or family member so they can give feedback on how you can adjust your camera ensure a clutter free and professional background, your volume and the speed at which you should speak, and where to look. Practising these things and recording yourself is the best way to refine your video interview technique. Believe it or not, a lot of the impact of your message comes from how you speak and your body language. So, take the time to prepare yourself as much as possible, and make every minute count. If you would like to use this opportunity to consider your career direction, Successful Resumes is offering a Career Support Package for anyone affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. Click here to find out if this could benefit you.
Covid-19 and Your Career
Pandemics are life altering events that can impact your career, regardless of the sector you are employed in. Right now, most of us are focusing on getting through each day, trying to work from home, dealing with the stress of being in essential services, or worrying about being stood down or let go. Maybe you’ve been made redundant, forced to go part time, or you’re worried that your job is at risk. Your fears are real. But if you’re like most people, you are distracting yourself with spending time in the kitchen, online workouts, gardening, or Netflix. Distraction is fine. But it’s not going to help you when the pandemic is over. That’s when you need to be ready to grab career opportunities and edge out the competition. The only way to do that is to use this time to work on your career. Here’s how to use this time to boost your career If all this sounds like great advice but is a little daunting, a career coach can help. We’re offering special career coaching and resume support packages, delivered via online videoconferencing. Our 90 minute sessions are entirely tailored to your individual needs. You will also receive a pack of useful resources and templates (valued at $195) absolutely free. You might not have ever considered hiring a career coach before. Now is the time to do something new, and make sure that are in the best possible position to retain your role or find a new job when we emerge from this crisis. With so many people unemployed and businesses struggling to avoid going bankrupt, the job market is becoming tough – tougher than it has been for a very long time. We want to give you cost effective, practical support during this difficult time. Find out more today and turn this time of chaos into an investment in your career.
Do you need a LinkedIn profile?
A question I get asked often at Successful Resumes Adelaide is whether clients need a LinkedIn profile. My answer is always – yes! No matter what career stage you are at, a LinkedIn profile will complement your job-seeking tools. Job markets are changing and now more than ever, a professional online presence can open doors for you. Possibly doors to opportunities you didn’t even know existed. A well written and optimised LinkedIn profile can be the key to a modern job-seeking toolkit. Despite this, we still find it’s common for clients to only choose to have cover letters and resumes written. In my experience working with Adelaide job seekers, this approach means you could be missing out on great job opportunities! Although both a professional resume and cover letter is required in most job-seeking efforts, they are, for the most part, reactive. You often need to wait for jobs to be advertised and then hope that you are the strongest candidate applying for the role. A professionally written LinkedIn profile can be a highly successful passive job-seeking tool. With recruiters using LinkedIn to source new candidates, you can let opportunities come to you. Do employers in Adelaide use LinkedIn? Yes! Recently a client in her late-50s was completely opposed to having a LinkedIn profile. She said she would email her contacts and send off some applications through Seek, using her new resume and cover letter. She tested her success doing this and, as a result, did get some leads. However, what she found was that employers and recruiters were asking – do you have a LinkedIn profile? Within a few weeks of her creating an online presence with LinkedIn, she started connecting with networks and recruiters in Adelaide and in other states. It opened doors to local recruiters looking for new staff because they found her online. Guess what? Soon after, she emailed to tell me she had been offered a job; an Adelaide recruiter had found her on LinkedIn! she emailed to tell me she had been offered a job; an Adelaide recruiter had found her on LinkedIn! Are jobs in Adelaide advertised on LinkedIn? Yes! In fact, there are 2,484 jobs listed on LinkedIn in Adelaide right now and this is in the midst of one of Australia’s toughest job markets in recent times. If you visit the jobs section of LinkedIn and set the location to Adelaide, you’ll see the incredible range of roles being advertised. It’s a common but outdated myth that these roles are all for senior executives. 50% of the roles listed are classified for entry-level or early-career candidates. With approximately 660 million users in 200 countries and new members joining every second, LinkedIn operates the world’s largest professional online network. Can you afford to miss out on this opportunity? There will always be jobs you have to apply for. Applications for roles in the Australian Public Service, South Australian government or local government still have requirements that must be met. Roles at universities like Adelaide University still require you to address selection criteria. LinkedIn does not replace that. It also doesn’t replace applying for jobs with a cover letter and resume. What a LinkedIn profile does do is gives you professional credibility, demonstrates your network and acts as a tool so that job opportunities can come to you. If you are ready for recruiters and hiring managers to find you, speak to us. We help people across Australia create engaging LinkedIn profiles that attract potential employers and networking opportunities. We take the time to get to know you and where you want your career to go so that you can build a network of people to help you get there. Successful Resumes also offers the full suite of job-seeking tools including Professional Resumes, Cover Letters and Selection Criteria. Find out how we can help you get the job you want by contacting Esther Daniell of Successful Resumes below.
How to Find a Job using Social Media in Australia
Starting your job search can be challenging but knowing the right places to look for opportunities can take the frustration out of the process. According to the Australian Government’s Survey of Employers’ Recruitment Experiences, 2018, although many jobs are advertised on recruitment websites and jobs boards, employers are also using other methods to find the right candidate for their roles. What can you do to increase your chance of finding the right job? Most job seekers are familiar with recruitment websites and using an agency or employment service, but what about social media? We’ve known for a long time that the majority of employers use social media channels to research candidates. In fact, according to Robert Walters, 62% of employers use social media to check on prospective employees. With 8 in 10 Australians using social media, employers are now looking at ways to use social channels to attract and recruit candidates. In 2012, only 1% of available roles were advertised on social media. In 2018/19 it rose to 14%. Where are these roles? According to the Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business, Facebook ‘job groups’, in particular, have grown in popularity. Offering a free online forum, Facebook has become a popular tool for employers to advertise available positions and for job seekers to find employment. Facebook job groups have started popping up in almost every region in Australia. Most relate to geographical areas however some are industry specific. The Transport and Truck Jobs Australia have more than 20 posts per day and 23,000 members. Also with more than 26,000 members, Redlands Jobs Board in QLD offers an online space for local businesses to find local jobseekers. To find the right groups, search for terms like ‘jobs in Perth’ or ‘construction jobs’. Join any that you think look relevant. Not only will you be able to access potential roles, but these groups can also be a great way to build your local or industry network. Once you have joined, you can publish text posts, upload photos and comment on other members posts or announcements. If you are looking for work, you can create a post outlining the type of work you want. Add in details like how much experience you have and your availability. For the most part, though, you will use the group to browse available jobs and comment when you find one that could be a good match for you. For now, it seems that employers in the services sectors are using Facebook the most for recruitment. The rate of technology adoption and engagement continues to grow. We think it’s likely that over time, more employers will use social media to find candidates.
Be A Communications Superstar
Excellent communication skills are essential to building relationships and succeeding in workplaces. They can also make or break your interview success. Here are our top strategies to help you master the art of communicating so that you can connect with people, be understood and build a strong rapport. Learn the basics of nonverbal communication. Albert Mehrabian, one of the first researchers of body language in the 1950’s, discovered that around 7% of the total impact of a message comes from words, 38% from your tone of voice, inflexion, and other sounds and 55% of your impact is nonverbal. That means that most of what you say, or what people take in, isn’t communicated through your words, but through your body language and physical cues. When it comes to job hunting, learning the art of empowered nonverbal communication is critical. Especially at interview time. Even if you are feeling nervous, give yourself a pep talk beforehand to prop up your posture. Stand taller, straighter and prouder. Make sure you maintain appropriate eye contact and be interested. Lean in ever so slightly and remember to smile. Stand and sit tall and avoid slouching or folding your arms. Taking it one level up, calibrating your tone, energy level, language and body language to the interviewer can show that you’re fully engaged in the conversation and will make it easier to build rapport. Although the trick here is to be subtle about it! Prepare notes, then throw them away There is a well know trick to interviews; confidence can get you the job and confidence is built from preparation. When you are ready and armed with examples of your experiences, answering interview questions is easier. We suggest creating a series of career narratives to use across a range of questions or scenarios. We also recommend researching the company and thinking about how your strengths can add value. Once you have done all that, throw it away. When it comes to the actual interview you want your responses to be engaging, agile and responsive. If you over-prepare, you run the risk of sounding rehearsed and scripted. Be a listener To communicate effectively, first listen to what others have to say. Then you can provide a thoughtful answer that shows you understand what they are communicating. Let the speaker finish their question before you start thinking about your response. This is incredibly important during job interviews. Many people are so nervous in job interviews that they hear the beginning of a question and immediately start thinking of their answer before the interviewer has finished the question. When they start to respond, they often lose focus, realising they didn’t get the full question and their not sure what the interviewer was really asking. Bring into play the Power of the Pause Pausing before you speak is one of the most underrated tools that candidate can use in interviews. Great things can happen in pauses. You allow time to think of the most effective response, you carve out the mental space to better articulate your response and importantly you breathe and therefore slow down your speech. Once the interviewer has asked the question, take a few seconds to consider the best way to respond. Really think about the skills they want to you demonstrate and find the best example you have before you launch into your response. Be curious When CareerBuilder surveyed more than 2,500 employers, they found that 32% of hiring managers believed that one of the worst mistakes that candidates make is not asking good questions at the end of the interview. Job interviews are a two-way street. Asking intelligent and meaningful questions, can set you apart from other candidates and demonstrate you’re genuinely interested in the role. More importantly, it’s the perfect way to determine if the job fits your career goals. Old-fashioned manners It’s amazing how far old-fashioned manners will get you. This includes being courteous and polite in the way you speak. Greet the interviewer with a warm smile and use a friendly tone when speaking on the phone. Saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ in your spoken communication as well as when you write, will ensure you’re looked on favourably when it comes to manners. And last but not least, it’s good practice to write a small and simple thank-you note or email to your interviewer to thank them for their time and consideration. For some, this has meant the difference between being asked to attend a second interview, or not. If you would like to be invited to more interviews, start with a successful resume. Our team have helped more than 100,000 Australians get the job they want with a professional resume. Complete the form below to find out more.
