About nine years ago before I embarked on my media career, I had a job as a part time library assistant, serving several libraries in the East London borough.

I learnt a valuable lesson about interviews during my time as a library assistant

A year into the job, a vacancy came up for a Saturday Library Supervisor position with considerably more pay, so of course I applied for it and I got shortlisted for interview.

Prior to attending the interview, I remember feeling quite nervous about whether or not I would get the job and I shared this with my manager at the time (the post was for a different branch) and he said something to me I’ve never forgotten since.

He said, “Mildred, when you’re called in for an interview, it means they want to give you the job – they are on YOUR side! Remember this when you get in there.” Well I did remember those wise words and I’m pleased to say I walked in to the interview and walked out with the job!

Looking back on this experience today, I can’t help but think that my new positive mindset at the time may have had something to do with me getting the job. For this week’s blog, I decided to ask Margaret Buj, interview expert and coach, how much of a part your mind plays in deciding whether or not you succeed at a job interview.

Here’s what she had to say:

[Guest post by Margaret Buj]

A tale of Claire and Ellen

Imagine this scenario: two equally qualified candidates apply for the same job – we’ll call one Ellen and the other Claire – and both are invited for an interview.

Claire has applied for a number of jobs but her self-esteem is low. She considers herself a failure and unworthy of success and believes that the other applicants are better and more qualified than her, even though her CV looks fantastic. She has had negative past experiences with job interviews therefore she is sure she isn’t going to get this job.

Displaying a negative mindset during an interview may cost you the job

The week before the interview, Claire’s mind is filled with negative thoughts and fears concerning the job. She arrives at the interview hungry because she got up late and did not have enough time to eat breakfast. She is tense and distracted and finds it difficult to focus on the interview which gives a bad impression to the interviewer.

Ellen applied for the same job too but approached the matter in a different way. She was sure that she was going to get the job. During the week preceding the interview, she often visualised herself making a good impression and getting the job. Of course, she spent time preparing her interview answers and researching the company as well.

In the evening before the interview she prepared the clothes she was going to wear and went to sleep a little earlier. On the day of the interview she woke up earlier than usual and had ample time to eat breakfast and arrive to the interview before the scheduled time.

At the end of the interviews, Ellen got the job and Claire got rejected.

A winning mindset?

Of course, Ellen may have slightly more relevant experience, be a better ‘cultural fit’ to the company, or simply gave better interview answers than Claire, but perhaps Ellen’s mental approach to the interview may have been the deciding factor in her getting the job.

When we have a positive attitude and expect good things to happen to us, they are so much more likely to happen. People sense our aura and are affected by our thoughts, and vice versa.

The interviewer is on your side - they WANT to give you the job!

It is normal to feel a little bit nervous before the interview, but to beat the anxiety and negative thoughts, you may need to completely change your mindset around interviews. Most people associate interviews with an intense period of questioning which allows the employer to make a decision as to their suitability to do the job. However, the interview is also an opportunity to find out if this company is the right place for you. Once you adopt this mindset, you will regain the feeling of control that is often lost as soon as people enter the interview room.

A lot of jobseekers think that the interviewer is only waiting to catch them out on something they don’t know so that they have a reason not to hire them. However, having worked in recruitment for eight years now, I can assure you that the interviewer is absolutely on your side and all they are looking for is an excuse to give you the job!

Interviewing is a time-consuming process and every time a candidate walks through the door, the interviewer is hoping they’ll be the right one. If you attack every interview with this mental approach – believing that the interviewer wants you to succeed – you’re going to be more positive, enthusiastic and have more success.

About the author: Margaret Buj is an Interview & Career Promotion Coach who helps professionals to promote and market themselves more effectively during job interviews. To find out more about how one-to-one interview coaching sessions can help you get a job and to download Margaret’s free ‘How to win at job interviews’ e-course, visit www.interview-coach.co.uk

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If you’re one of the increasingly diminishing number of jobseekers who have yet to join LinkedIn, you could be making your job hunting quest a lot harder than it needs to be.

There are many benefits of becoming a part of this global network of roughly 150 million connected professionals (and before you ask, no I’m not affliated in no shape or form….although if they do come knocking……), one of which is the opportunity to be headhunted for a role.

This week’s blog post is hosted on the Learning to Leap website – click through here to read the full article on how your LinkedIn profile can get you a job.

• Have you had job success with your LinkedIn profile?
• Have you successfully recruited someone through LinkedIn?
• I’d love to hear about it – share your experience below or send me an email.

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You’ve seen the advert, you’ve read the job description and person specification three times over and you know you couldn’t be any more right for this job if they wrote your name on it! So you apply with much excitement – the “signs” are there; this feels right so it must be right.

And then comes the interview shortlist week.

The first day passes and you hear nothing, but it’s okay, it’s just the first day, they probably have lots of calls to make.

The second day comes and still nothing.

Third…fourth….fifth…and then comes the rejection email (or in most cases these days, a wall of silence) letting you know they haven’t chosen you for the job.

Are you facing disappointment in your job search?

Most of us have experienced a scenario like this at some point in our work lives – you have your heart set on that dream job but for one reason or another they just don’t choose you.

You may be in the situation right now where you have been rejected for a job, or maybe several jobs; if that’s the case, don’t worry, it’s not the end of the world.

Here are three things you can do to help you get over the disappointment:

1) Face reality

The first step to moving on and moving forward is to face reality – it’s no use hiding under the duvet hoping this is some horrible nightmare that will go away. A better alternative would be to accept the truth about the situation, admit things didn’t work out the way you wanted and brace yourself to have another go at something else.

2) Don’t take it personally

This is one of the hardest things to do because as human beings we have the tendency to kick ourselves when things go wrong. We start looking for ways to blame ourselves and regret over what we could and should have done instead starts to settle in, causing us to sink lower and lower in the disappointment. Yes, sometimes it is the case that you could have done something a little bit differently which may have got you different results, but sometimes it really just isn’t about you.

There could be any number of reasons why you didn’t get the job – there was someone more qualified than you, someone who needed the money more than you (admittedly this one’s more to do with divine orchestrations than human interventions), or as in the case of the small training firm in North London advertising for one secretarial position, there were 400 applicants and only room to view the first 150 CVs! Try not to take the disappointment personally because for the most part, it really isn’t personal at all.

3) Learn from it

Sometimes disappointment is God’s way of getting our attention

When the rug feels like it has been pulled from under your feet, one of the most powerful things to remember is that everything we go through in life is a lesson if we choose to learn from it. Instead of feeling bad about the situation (okay, you’re allowed to feel bad initially and then after that…) ask yourself, “What can I learn from this?” “What is life trying to teach me in this scenario?”

When you start thinking like this it opens your mind to possibilities you never knew existed and solutions that were waiting right there for you to discover them in the face of your problems. Perhaps the job you were going for wasn’t the dream job you thought it was after all – maybe you would have been miserable in the role or maybe it would have been a distraction to your real passion and purpose.

– like a big fat voice from heaven saying, “Hey, you looking over there – turn this way, I’ve got something even better for you here!”

As unfortunate as it is, disappointment is a normal part of everyday life but how you deal with it is what makes all the difference. Next time they don’t choose you for the job, remember to face reality, avoid taking it personally and find a way to learn from it. If you do, you will be able to bounce back from this disappointment in no time at all.

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You may have heard the word “employability” bandied around by employers, careers advisors, and even politicians, but what on earth does it actually mean? I asked David Shindler, Employability coach and author of Learning to Leap, a Guide to Being More Employable, to take over this week’s blog post and explain the concept to us mere mortals…

[GUEST POST by David Shindler]

 “I have a first degree, an MBA and work experience; why are employers not responding to my applications? My qualifications speak for themselves.”

These are the words of a 20-something graduate I spoke with recently at the National Graduate Recruitment Exhibition. The missing link between this young man’s desire for a job and his lack of success so far can be put down to both a lack of understanding of ‘what’ will make him more employable and ‘how’ to put this across.

Are you a good fit for the job?

An official definition of “employability” (courtesy of the Confederation of British Industry) is “the combination of the attributes, skills and knowledge that you need to have in order to ensure you have the capability to be effective today and tomorrow in the workplace”. But even with this in place, many jobseekers are still confused as to what employability actually means and how it is relevant to their job search.

Are you a good fit?

 In very simple terms, being employable means you are a good fit within the specific role, culture and business of an employer – whether you are applying for a job or already within an organisation.

For young people fresh out of education, employers want to know how ‘market-ready’ you are. They do not expect you to be the finished article and often, they are more interested in your attitude than your skills as the latter can be further developed once you join.

When examining whether or not you’re a good fit for their organisation, employers look for things such as:

• Attributes: Do you understand the professionalism we expect in our company? Can you demonstrate to us that you have the work ethic that we expect here? Who are you as a person? What is your offer to us as a unique person that shows you can do this job and you are the right one for us?
• Skills: Do you know and can you demonstrate to us the soft skills as well as hard, technical skills required to succeed here?
• Knowledge: Do you get our business and the world we inhabit? Can you put yourself in our customers’ shoes? How does what you know and have experienced to date help you to be successful in this role?

Employers want you to be employable for their specific organisation – that means staying up-to-date with both technical and non-technical skills and being open to change and self-development.

Learning new skills can help your career take off

Employability development will not go away if you do get a job; it is relevant throughout your working life because you may change roles, jobs and careers several times. The days of working for a single employer doing the same job the same way are over. We all need to learn new skills, new knowledge and adapt our attitudes and behaviours for changing personal and business circumstances.

It is no longer enough for you to be good at your ‘subject’ for you to be good at a job. Yes, you need qualifications and technical or functional expertise to be capable, but adding to your employability ‘set’ of capabilities can make all the difference in getting work, staying in work or moving on.

What employers want…

In my recent book, Learning to Leap, I took eight main ‘sets’ of employability capabilities from research by the CBI and the UK Commission on Employment and Skills, broke them down into 35 sub-areas and then mapped them onto Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence framework to create a personal Employability Window. These eight sets are what employers are looking for, in addition to competence in the subject, when they say ‘employability’:

• Positive attitude (‘can do’ approach, readiness to take part and contribute, openness to new ideas and constructive criticism, drive to make those ideas happen);
• Self-management (willingness to take responsibility, self-starting, assertiveness, flexibility, resilience, work/life balance, time management, learning and personal development, personal presentation);
• Team working (respecting others, co-operating, awareness of interdependence on others, negotiating/persuading, contributing to discussions);
• Communicating (building rapport, listening, questioning, oral literacy, written work, networking);
• Digital literacy (computer skills, understanding and using the Internet – especially search engines and social media);
• Solving problems (analysing facts and situations, creative thinking for solutions, working collaboratively);
• Numeracy (basic calculations, understanding the role and application of mathematical principles in the work environment);
• Global, business and customer awareness (understanding the key drivers for business success, innovating, judging risks, understanding the need to build customer satisfaction and loyalty, contributing to the whole organisation, transcultural understanding).

Inevitably, there is much debate about the priorities, focus and emphasis for any given employer and the type of employability skills and mindsets will change in line with the environment (see the Future Work Skills 2020 report for a prediction of needs over the next decade).

So in conclusion, employability is the jargon that covers what an employer expects as the minimum professional standards for you to fit into the workplace or remain a good fit with your current employer. Knowing what these are, then being skilful and authentic in presenting the best of you, will help you get a job or a new role time and time again.

About the Author: David Shindler is the author of “Learning to Leap, a Guide to Being More Employable”. An experienced coach, consultant and facilitator, David helps people at any life stage to accelerate their employability. He also owns the Employability Hub, an online resource and runs the Learning to Leap group on LinkedIn and Facebook fan page. Tweet him @David_Shindler or contact him via his website at www.employabilitycoaching.co.uk

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Okay, I must confess my naivety to begin with. A few weeks ago I was twittering away in a conversation about predicting job trends for 2012 (following my Guardian Careers podcast recording). I said, we’re going to see more young people starting businesses, not just young people, but graduates – in fact, 2012 will be the year of the “gradpreneurs”!

Gradpreneurs? “What an original concept,” I thought, “Perhaps I should copyright it!” Clearly I had failed to do my vital Google research otherwise I would have quickly seen that the word gradpreneur has it’s fair share of internet use – from individuals declaring themselves as one, to an actual organisation called Gradpreneurs, which provides a support platform designed to encourage entrepreneurship amongst the graduate community (guess I have to find another route to my millions).

22-year-old author and social entrepreneur, Junior Ogunyemi - leading the way for "gradpreneurs"

So if everyone’s talking about it, what exactly is a gradpreneur and why do I think it’s going to be big in 2012 and beyond? I’m glad you asked! The strictest definition of gradpreneur is a graduate who is also an entrepreneur. However, in the contest of this blog post, I’m also referring to student entrepreneurs such as this young man Junior Ogunyemi (we’ll come to him in a minute).

Grim statistics

Last week the ONS published yet more grim statistics on the number of young people unemployed, which now stands at 1.04 million – the highest in record history. In that same week I received a copy of Phoenix in the post, the thrice yearly publication of AGCAS (the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services), and in this particular edition the focus was on enterprise and careers and how universities were handling this inevitable merge (I wrote about this in November following a speaking visit to the very impressive Southampton Solent university – read it here).

What’s the connection? Well, if on the one hand unemployment rates are rising among the 16-24 age group but yet recent studies also show that the number of graduates considering self-employment has risen to 32%, it can only mean that an awakening is happening; slowly perhaps, but happening all the same – the gradpreneurs are coming! More and more young people are realising that the 40-year job package illusion sold to previous generations no longer exists. Becoming an entrepreneur – or at least creating some form of additional stream of income on the side – is becoming more and more of a realistic alternative or perhaps the only option available to today’s graduates and future generations.

The best of both worlds

In his book, How to be a Student Entrepreneur, the award-winning social entrepreneur, Junior Ogunyemi, actively encourages this practice.  Still just 22 years old, Junior – who himself started several successful businesses while juggling coursework, exams and student life – says there is no conflict between excelling in full time education and becoming a successful entrepreneur. In fact, being a gradpreneur affords you the best of both worlds as you can take full advantage of being a student to benefit from free access to business start up resources and advice, interest free loans, discounted travel, equipment and much more, all the time creating an additional income stream for yourself. Now if only this book had been around when I was at university, who knows what great entrepreneurial heights I may have climbed by now!

Richard Sant, Enterprise Director at the University of Portsmouth, writes in a Phoenix article that an interesting phenomenon is emerging whereby “the harder a student or graduate tries to start their own business, the more likely they are to be headhunted or offered a job”. So whether or not a gradprenuer fails or succeeds in business in the long run, one thing that’s clear is the experience gained from trying is priceless. These new breed of young people should definitely be welcomed and encouraged as in fact, the future of our economy may well depend on them.

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What’s more important – having a good CV or a good cover letter…? The answer? Both! Cover letters are just as important as CVs because a good cover letter gets your CV through the door and a good CV then goes on to qualify you for an interview!

If you know anything about my background, you’ll know I fell into CV writing, cover letters and so on by accident while working in the media as the assistant editor of a magazine. Back then I had to recruit people (as well as everything else) and eventually I became so appalled by the standard of applications coming in to us that I decided to set up on my own and help people in this area. That was seven years ago and unfortunately not much has changed today.

A few days ago I posted a job advert for a freelance writing position and within 48 hours of the post, I received 27 applications. Of the people vying for my attention were communication professionals, ex-journalists, experienced copywriters, even PR professionals, but the majority of the candidates were awful – I could literally count the number of quality applications on just one hand – FIVE!

The other 22 applicants made the following three costly mistakes on their cover letters, common to many jobseekers, which disqualified them from the race:

• COSTLY MISTAKE NUMBER 1: Some cover letters are too long

Did I mention I had TWENTY-SEVEN applications to go through? Admittedly, 27 is relatively small in comparison to the fact that the average employer now has to sift through approximately 70 applications for each job advertised (in fact, I spoke to a business owner last year who had to choose one new secretary for their small firm from 400 applicants!).

Employers are busy – the last thing they want is to read a cover letter (or email) which goes on and on, especially where they have a lot to get through. Aim for no more than three-quarters of an A4 page (or approximately 4-5 paragraphs of text) and you should be fine.

• COSTLY MISTAKE NUMBER 2: Some cover letters are too short

While too long is an issue that can cost you the job, a cover letter that is too short is also costly because it clearly shows you are not interested in that particular job, or that you haven’t read the job description properly (otherwise you would have a lot more to say, wouldn’t you?).

If an employer has taken the time to outline his or her requirements in a job description, the onus is on you to prove that you have what it takes for the job and your cover letter provides the perfect opportunity to communicate this. Don’t waste this valuable space by writing a simplistic statement such as, “I would like to apply for the above role – please see my attached CV”;  rather, address the main points of the job description, pulling on examples from your CV to illustrate your suitability, before referring the employer to the rest of your CV for more details.

• COSTLY MISTAKE NUMBER 3: Some cover letters are generic

Of all three costly mistakes the 22 applicants made for this particular role, the worst one of all were those that submitted a cover letter that was…….generic (*sharp intake of breath*)! Generic cover letters are a big headache to employers – in fact, it is almost an insult! If you think about it, if I, as the employer, has spent considerable time carefully thinking about what I am looking for and communicating this clearly in a job advert, the least you can do as a jobseeker can do is show some equal consideration and submit a letter that is at least addressed to me!

Generic cover letters say all kinds of negative things about a jobseeker – it suggests that the person is an opportunist and someone who takes shortcuts in life; it suggests a serial jobseeker applying for any and every role and therefore wouldn’t be in the organisation for very long; but probably most damning of all, it suggests a lazy and un-driven person who can’t be bothered to write 500 or so personalised words to get a job. Which right-thinking employer would want to employ someone like that? Not many!

So next time you apply for a job, think carefully about your cover letter and make sure this sells you as well as your CV because just one of these costly mistake can prolong your job search indefinitely.

(7 Keys to a Winning CV: How to create a CV that gets results is available from Amazon and all good bookshops)

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When Twitter first launched in 2006, some people eyed it with ‘big-brother-watching-you’ type suspicion; some dismissed it as the latest social media “craze”, and a large part of society (myself included) ignored it – after all, we were still trying to get our heads round this whole Facebook thing.

Fast forward just six years and there are few people left in Western society who have not yet heard of Twitter – in fact, the online text messaging/micro-blogging site now has over 300 million users and is growing in popularity daily.

Twitter most recently made the news for that Diane Abott story, but controversy aside, if you’re looking for a job right now, here are three killer reasons to include Twitter in your job search:

1. It gives you direct access to employers and organisations – in other words, the people making the hiring decisions;
2. It allows you to follow conversations and key thought leaders in your industry so you can stay up to date with what’s happening;
3. You can actually get a job through it!

There are several ways to get a job through Twitter – you can subscribe to dedicated Twitter job boards, sign up to alerts from job sites in your industry, or conduct regular searches for your ideal jobs using the Twitter search box itself.

Alternatively, you can get REALLY creative and start a campaign around your job hunt – just like Ulrike Schulz.

Ulrike’s story: How I found a job through Twitter

Ulrike Schulz graduated from university in Vienna, Austria, last year with a degree in theatre, film and media. Born and raised in Germany, Ulrike’s dream was to land a creative advertising job in London but with no contacts in the UK to guide the way, she turned to Twitter for help.

In February 2011, Ulrike started her Twitter job hunt with a 140-character CV (Twitter’s maximum word count) aimed at creative service agencies:

“In 140: born in SecondLife, met boyfriend via Couchsurfing, stay in touch with friends on Facebook, looking for a job as @TheLondonJob ”.

This soon developed into a full blown ‘#HireUlrike’ campaign (read more about it here) which saw random strangers get involved with Ulrike’s job search.

Ulrike now has her dream job as a German Account Executive at the social media agency, We Are Social. I caught up with her to find out how it all happened and also to pick her brains for her three top tips for using Twitter for job search:

How did you hear get started on Twitter?

Ulrike: I applied for the graduate scheme of Saatchi & Saatchi. In their application, they asked the graduates to open a Twitter account with any content to gain as many followers as possible. I thought, “2 in 1, let’s start to look for a job on Twitter”!

How did the #HireUlrike campaign come about?

Ulrike: After a while on Twitter I thought I need to push my job hunt a little bit. I already experienced a lot of support on Twitter from strangers and new friends and thought maybe I can make this support visible for others as well. With a friend I shot a video of myself (see below) explaining that I’m looking for a job in advertising and that people can support me. All they had to do was write #HireUlrike on a piece of paper and take a photo of themselves with it so I could show a gallery of the photos. The purpose was to gain a bit more attention with it from other people and companies.

What sort of response did you get from employers as a result of the campaign?

Ulrike: I have to admit the response wasn’t huge but it was enough to carry on. One person from a media agency took a photo of himself with the question: “Should we #HireUlrike?” I later met him in London for an interview. Another Social Media agency asked me to come in to the office for an interview also. In general, it was a great possibility to mention my campaign in my applications and interviews which was very helpful to show who I am and what my skills are.

How did you come to land your current role at We Are Social?

Ulrike: Long story short, I had three encounters with We Are Social. The first person I met through Twitter worked at We Are Social. We met in London and he wanted to show me what I did right with my job hunt on Twitter and why I should keep doing what I started. Although he didn’t offer me a job, he later played a role in my interview at the agency again. Second time I met the Managing Director of We Are Social at an event where the “Should we #HireUlrike?” guy took me with him. We had a nice chat but still it didn’t lead to a job.

The third must have been destiny – through a recruiter I met on Twitter (and later offline in London), I knew We Are Social was looking for a German Account Executive. At the same time the Managing Director remembered me from this event and wrote me an email to invite me in for an interview. Before I had the interview the person I met first from We Are Social (he doesn’t work there anymore) wrote the interviewer an email about me. I don’t know what he said but I think it was a positive email! After two interviews they offered me the job.

“Twitter is like a business card for me – if people want to get to know me a little bit better I always mention my Twitter account and we connect on the social media platform”

Do you think landing your dream job would have been possible without Twitter?

Ulrike: I’m sure there are hundreds of other possibilities to get a job – it’s all about creativity – but Twitter was perfect for me in different ways. First of all, it was great to build up a network (even if it was only online in the first place) since I was located in Vienna/Munich; second, Twitter is like a business card for me – if people want to get to know me a little bit better I always mention my Twitter account and we connect on the social media platform, which would be my third point: I connect with people on Twitter and stay in touch with them. The contacts are more often and smoother on a social media platform than via email. I would say Twitter was essential for me!

What would you say to other jobseekers who have not yet found themselves on Twitter?

Ulrike: Twitter is a great possibility to get in touch with real people from companies. It’s definitely worth a try. I didn’t know what to do on Twitter when I started using it. But through following people from the industry and observing their professional content, I totally got into it and quickly learned what is interesting to post which caused me to read a lot of articles myself. I would highly recommend using Twitter.

How do you use your Twitter account today?

Ulrike: I’m still very active on Twitter. I stay in touch with all the friends I made and still connect with new people. I still meet people offline to exchange experiences and stories; I like to have a great network. I think that is part of my personality, too – I like to communicate with people online and offline. I tweet a lot of articles about Social Media and advertising because I find it very interesting and so do my followers.

Ulrike’s top three tips for using Twitter in your job search:

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Okay, so New Year resolutions are a little played out – everyone’s making them, everyone’s talking about them, and until the end of January everyone…well, most people…will be keeping them so they certainly won’t be going away any time soon.

Personally, I’m not a fan of resolutions – I used to be (though I was in the “keep ‘em until Jan” camp) until I discovered “goal-setting”, so now instead of making resolutions each New Year, I set goals, take action and voila, in come the results!

Is there a difference between goals and resolutions? Yes there is – it’s all in the mind (*cue spooky music*), but we’ll leave that discussion to another blog post. For now, if finding a job is on your priority list for 2012, below is a list of 10 realistic goals/resolutions that will help you arrive at your destination.

If you’re more visual and prefer slide presentations over text, press play now (but you’ll miss out on all the extra juicy information to boost each resolution!):

1.      I will make this the year I pursue my dream job

The key word here is “dream” job – we spend so much of our lives at work (roughly 91,250 hours which equates to about 10 years) that it makes sense to actually only work in jobs we like. So let’s forget about paying the bills for a moment and focus on what you actually want to do with your life. Is your dream to become an architect or an accountant? To work in fashion or media? To become the manager of a retail shop or the CEO of a top company? Whatever the dream is, make this the year to start making steps towards it. You might need to retrain, go back to school, volunteer, start your way at the bottom and work up…whatever the case, if you determine to pursue your dream job this year you will be much happier for it later on in life.

2.      I will give my CV a makeover

A CV is a job seeker’s best friend so if yours is out of date, badly written or poorly presented, you are putting yourself at a serious disadvantage in the job market. What’s the remedy? Book yourself a CV makeover! If you have the necessary skills, turn that PC on and do it yourself; if not, pay a professional to do it – consider it an investment into your own future, and no, I’m not just saying it because that’s what I do. But since you ask, you might as well pick up a copy of 7 Keys to a Winning CV while you’re at it so you can have a ready resource at hand each time you need to redo your CV.

 3.      I will not pay too much attention to the news

UK unemployment is at its highest ever…750,000 public sector workers to lose their jobs…one million young people unemployed…blah blah blah.

If you listen to the news and read the headlines you would be forgiven for thinking that the end of the world is nigh! YES we are in a recession, YES there are less jobs now than there were one, two, maybe three years ago, but YES there are still people getting jobs! It’s easy to get caught up in the “no jobs out there” mindset but this can lead to a sense of hopelessness and maybe even depression (which, apparently, is now costing the UK £11billion a year), so listen to the news but don’t pay too much attention.

 4.      I will start thinking of alternative streams of income

This may sound contrary to point number 4 but a wise man/woman once said, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”. One thing that has definitely changed in today’s job market is that there is no longer such a thing as a job for life. The unfortunate truth is you could literally lose your job today and then what? Now is the time to start thinking of what else you can do to bring in money – can you sew well? Bake? Design? Fix things? Start doing these things on the side for a fee and who knows, one day it may grow big enough to become your full time work.

5.      I will look for opportunities to increase my skill

If you’ve ever been to a motivational seminar you would have heard this phrase (or a variant of it): “Rich people get paid for results, poor people get paid for time.” In other words, if you really want to increase your income this year, you need to develop new skills or improve your existing ones. Employers want people who can produce results so the more skills you have, the more likely you are to distinguish yourself in the job market. Now’s the time to sign up to that adult education class, learn something new on YouTube, volunteer some place…whatever you can do now to increase your skills will pay off well in the future.

 6.      I will set myself up with a LinkedIn account

If you’re serious about your job search you need to get serious about social media, especially LinkedIn. There are many benefits of having a LinkedIn account if you’re looking for a job (we’ll cover this is a future post) but the most important one to know for now is that it allows you to showcase your online CV to a potential goldmine of recruiters and employers so it’s well worth setting up an account.

 7.      I will set up a professional Twitter and Facebook account while I’m at it

You may probably have a Facebook account already and/or a Twitter account but if you’re using these to talk to your friends about Eastenders and post pictures of yourself on wild nights out, stop….NOW! Not only could this be damaging your reputation in the long run, it could also ruin your chances of getting a job as more and more employers are now checking out potential candidates online as a standard part of the application process. Use your social media accounts to connect with companies, employers and to stay up to date with your field…which leads us nicely to point number 8…

 8.      I will keep up with changes in my industry

This is more significant in some industries than others but as a whole it is a good idea to know what’s happening in your desired field and to be aware of any changes that may affect your ideal job. You can keep up by attending events, joining relevant groups on LinkedIn and Facebook, following the right people on Twitter, reading blog posts from industry leaders and so on. This way you’ll be ahead of the pack when it comes to the inevitable job interview.

 9.      I will attend events regularly

Having social accounts is no good if you only have your friends and family in them – go out and network to expand your circle. By all means go to networking events for your industry, but also go to other events such as seminars and workshops, trade shows, meetups (read this post for more ideas on where to go) – the more people you have in your network, the more likely you are to succeed in your job search.

10.  I will remind myself of how great I am every day

This last one’s in for good measure (after all, what’s a resolutions list without at least one positive mantra?) – whatever happens this year, take time every day to celebrate yourself; celebrate your skills, talents and who you are and be confident in the fact that YOU ARE GREAT and you have a lot to offer the world!

Happy New Year

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There are three main areas I believe we will see a rise of not just for graduates, but for jobseekers as a whole:

1) “Upside down CVs”

With an average of 25 people competing for every job (it’s actually a whole lot more than this in certain sectors) and often with matching education and experience, outside interests and extra-curricular activities will play a much bigger role on CVs than ever before, helping employers to distinguish one candidate from another.

2) Social media

If you’re job-hunting and you don’t yet have a Twitter, LinkedIn or a professional Facebook account (as opposed to social), you’re seriously missing out on a wider market of jobs and employers so it’s well worth making this a priority for the New Year;

3) Entrepreneurship

Whether this is creating an additional stream of income on the side to setting up and running a full-blown business, entrepreneurship may well be the only option some jobseekers have in 2012 in the face of more job cuts and pay freezes.

I have already written about upside down CVs in a previous blog post, but the other two we will explore in more details over the next few weeks. You can subscribe to my RSS Feed to make sure you don’t miss out.

THE PODCAST

This is the edited version of the full Careers Talk podcast which also features contributions from Ulrike Schulz, a recent graduate turned Account Executive for social media and marketing agency We Are Social.

Feel free to share your own thoughts for 2012 or if you’re jobseeking, what strategies you plan to implement for the New Year.

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1. The extortionate fees – that says it all really;
2. The way we learn has changed – YouTube and Google may well be the university lecturers of the future;
3. Some of the top entrepreneurs of our time (Mr Virgin empire included) didn’t go to university and they haven’t done too badly in life.

So I invited comments on Facebook and in my Working in Higher Education LinkedIn group and received some very interesting responses on both sides of the fence.

First, the “not worth it” gang:

“My biology degree did nothing to equip me to handle a drunk heckler in a London pub, or a gobby commuter whose oystercard has stopped working – which is how I pay the bills these days!”

“University education is not for everyone and no parent should feel under obligation to send their children through uni unless it’s the child’s passion and they are academically-oriented. Most of us were lucky enough to benefit from free university education but attended for the wrong reasons. My biology degree did nothing to equip me to handle a drunk heckler in a London pub, or a gobby commuter whose oystercard has stopped working – which is how I pay the bills these days!” Ola Aralepo – Comedian/Public speaking coach & trainer

 “She said, ‘I adored my university years’ and went on to say, ‘although I have never used my degree directly’. I really don’t understand that last comment. So much money spent or borrowed for what?”

“I shared your blog post on my Facebook page. It didn’t go down well from some older women who’d been to university (I haven’t) and who had sons/daughters who’d also been or were still there. They saw it as a right of passage and as “a unique experience to be enjoyed for what it is”. Another said, “I adored my university years” and went on to say, “although I have never used my degree directly”. I really don’t understand that last comment. So much money spent or borrowed for what?” Kathy Gower – retired psychotherapist (@kathygower)

The university supporters:

“Graduates, myself included, do earn more than non-uni educated people and are promoted over and above people without a degree.”

“Despite the rising cost of Uni tuition, I still think it’s a vital route to a profitable and sustainable career, particularly in this class-conscious British society, competing with the old-boy network. Graduates, myself included, do earn more than non-uni educated people and are promoted over and above people without a degree.

Also, yes entrepreneurs are an exception to the rule, but Simon Cowell and Richard Branson are both from private school and monied backgrounds so had access to business advantages. Alan Sugar is the entrepreneur that springs to mind who is entirely self-made and I have the utmost respect for him.

In short, uni fees are a way to control, perpetuate and legitimate class inequalities and to close the door to working class and low-income families, but I would still recommend people to go to university as during their working life they can pay back the debts and five years down the line, will earn more than their non-uni counterparts. My degree was in English/Sociology and a postgraduate in journalism.  I worked as journalist for years and I am now teaching/tutoring in all the subjects I studied at degree level.” Siane Daley – Journalist / Tutor

“We are all going to work for 45 years or more. More than ever the furnishing that comes with a university education will need topping up – but the discipline will stand you in good stead.”

“Let’s leave aside the issue that not going to university would prevent you from undertaking a range of professions, many of which are the standard high status ones that still underpin our society: doctors, lawyers, accountants, engineers, etc. And, although there are routes into some other professions without university, say teaching, these are marginal. You can’t become a surgeon through watching YouTube!

The important thing is in our information rich world, that a university education shouldn’t just be filling you up with stuff, it should be training you to use knowledge and challenge it. Nearly 200 years ago, the faculty of Yale College produced a classic statement of what a college education gives you. They said:

“The two great points to be gained in intellectual culture, are the discipline and the furniture of the mind; expanding its powers, and storing it with knowledge. The former of these is, perhaps, the more important of the two. A commanding object, therefore, in a collegiate course, should be, to call into daily and vigorous exercise the faculties of the student. Those branches of study should be prescribed, and those modes of instruction adopted, which are best calculated to teach the art of fixing the attention, directing the train of thought, analyzing a subject proposed for investigation; following, with accurate discrimination, the course of argument; balancing nicely the evidence presented to the judgment; awakening, elevating, and controlling the imagination; arranging, with skill, the treasures which memory gathers; rousing and guiding the powers of genius. All this is not to be effected by a light and hasty course of study; by reading a few books, hearing a few lectures, and spending some months at a literary institution.”

So, it was the case in 1828 that you could go and get a bit of information to furnish your mind (books rather than the internet) but you needed to discipline it. In 2012 that will remain. We are all going to work for 45 years or more. More than ever the furnishing that comes with a university education will need topping up – but the discipline will stand you in good stead.” Mike Ratcliffe – Director of Academic & Student Affairs, Oxford Brookes University (@mike_rat)

“On average, graduates earn more than people with lower level qualifications so it really is a win-win situation!”

“I think we should concentrate on the concept of “worth” – if we mean it to be “providing a life enhancing experience” or “contributing to personal and professional development”, then it is definitely “worth” going to university, even if tuition fees are set at £9,000 per year. If however you think you can rock-up, read a few pieces on the internet, do a bit of coursework and a few exams and guarantee yourself a gold-standard graduate job on completion…erm…you might be in for a nasty shock when you leave. Having said all of that, it is still borne out by the data that, on average, graduates earn more than people with lower level qualifications so it really is a win-win situation!” Dan Ferrett – Company Secretary at AGCAS (Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services) (@DanFerrett)

The inbetweeners:

“Going to university, however, is getting just as hard, financially, as opening a business. Fees should, therefore, be seen as a future investment as opposed to a hindrance.”

“I think that going to University is just another option. In life options are vital for catering for different needs. Not everyone will go for the same thing; however, for those that desire to do other things, there needs to be choices. University is just as relevant to one’s potential success as becoming an entrepreneur, going to school and so on. Some people may think it’s a good idea to go before going into business, yet there are others that may not. It all depends on the person. Some people like the idea of learning in a controlled environment and others don’t. That’s just life.

Going to university, however, is getting just as hard, financially, as opening a business. Fees should, therefore, be seen as a future investment as opposed to a hindrance. Problems should be seen as an opportunity rather that stress. Choices are important as they ensure all are included within the system. On occasions, however, those that lose interest, as well as hope, sometimes become what we all dread, yet misunderstand.” Amal Molefi – Teacher

“For the vast majority of prospective students, the new fees structure will mean that they give a lot more thought to whether a university degree will be worth their time and money…”

“I think your point here raises something really key – that the delivery models that universities currently offer will, in many cases, have to be reviewed if prospective students are to be persuaded that a degree is worth their while.

I agree that for the vast majority of prospective students, the new fees structure will mean that they give a lot more thought to whether a university degree will be worth their time and money. I’d hope that in many cases, they will still conclude that it is. But it seems probable that some will hesitate, and I believe that the more savvy institutions (who recognise that this demographic of student is in their target audience) will step up to the challenge by offering different delivery models.

Distance learning, partnerships with companies for sponsored places, part-time options and compressed degrees are some of the opportunities available to institutions.” Anna Myers – Communications Manager, Distinct project at Oxford Brookes University (www.distinct.ac.uk) (@Distinct_in_HE)

“Recent changes have made young people question whether it is the right option for them and I welcome this.”

“I think that there was a trend in going to university so it just became a normal part of life for most 18 year olds. Recent changes have made young people question whether it is the right option for them and I welcome this. However, I do think that some people are being deterred by affordability rather than reasons that are empowering to them.” Sufiya Patel – Communications Trainer & Social Entrepreneur (@sufiyapatel)

Where do you stand on the issue…?

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