British Computer Society NORTH LONDON BRANCH nlondon.bcs Job Lot – or Not?

1. British Computer Society NORTH LONDON BRANCH www.nlondon.bcs.org Job Lot – or Not? Wednesday 13th October 2004 at PwC Bloomsbury Square in association with PwC

2. Dalim’s presentation Dalim Basu Chairman, BCS North London Branch ‘Just the Job’ ‘Treat your job hunt as a project - start date Today’

3. ‘Just the Job’ Distant horizons.. ‘Vision & objectives’ • What’s different about me? It’s a tough world out there.. • Where do I want to be in 5 years time? • Steps along the way Project plans & possibilities • ‘Business plan’ & Toolkit

4. ‘Just the Job’ The grass is always greener.. ‘Overview the lie of the land’ • DIY e.g. Contracting, Working for yourself • Market sectors e.g. Education, Public sector, Finance • Organisation types e.g. Large, medium, small • Job categories e.g. Testing, Development, Analysis • Location location re-location? e.g. London, UK, Europe

5. ‘Just the Job’ DIY ‘Be your own boss’ • Freelance/Contract/Interim? Entrepreneur? How about a Business plan? • Are you limited? - employee & MD? Sole trader? Partnership? Franchise? • Buy ‘off the shelf’ - or via accountant? Tax? VAT? IR35? Other liabilities? • Where to start?Try www.businesslink.org 0845 600 9006 (DTI), www.startups.co.uk‘Self Employment’ LawPack Self-Help Kit + CD (e.g from WHSmith) • Think it through - Start-up, Finance/grants, Tax, Products/services, Sales & marketing, Employees, Contracts, Trading, Business sale or closure.. • Ups - potential for high earnings, new challenges, work variety, avoid office politics, no fighting for promotion, flexibility - and Independence! • Downs - administration, possible periods without work, frequent moves between employers/contracts, low job security, may need to work far from home, family life impacted, holidays may be hard to arrange, few chances to upgrade skills, constant need to look/plan ahead.. • Can you manage stress, finance, time, home life, as well as the business?

6. ‘Just the Job’ Toolkit ‘Be prepared’ • Routine ‘Work hours’, A quiet place, PC, filing system • Plans Project plans, flowcharts, notes, lists • CV** • Cover note** • Certificates • Work/university references [ever seen a bad one?] • Work/project examples • Job Tracker** & Overview**

7. ‘Just the Job’ CV tips • Key sales tool - selling You • Door opener - to interviews at agency & target organisation • Be bold - within reason - “how I made a difference” • Be general + specific highlights - quantify if possible • Bullet points & Active achievements - ‘doing verbs’ • Mind the gaps • Accuracy & consistency count - so do lies..

8. ‘Just the Job’ ** CV sample format ** ‘Dare to be different?’ • 2 pages? Rule of thumb? • Who is Curriculum Vitae? Your name at top - not ‘CV’. • Photo - not in UK? • Email, mobile, phone, address • ‘Flash Banner’ “You need me because..” ? • Key skills • Career first? Or Education & Qualifications? • Other details

9. ‘Just the Job’ ** Cover note ** ‘We can cover this in any of many ways..’ • Which role I’m interested in, & where I learnt about it • What I’ve got to offer “I’m ideal because..” • Why & when I’m available • What I’m sending now • How I’d like to proceed Options: [1] No note? [2] Standard CV+note for all jobs? [3] Std CV + individual note per job? [4] Indiv CV+note per job? [5] CV+note together in 1 document? Your choice?

10. ‘Just the Job’ Tracking - or cracking?.. ‘Who am I speaking to?’ **Job Tracker sample format ** e.g. vertical form • Organisation, contact, phone no. / same for Agency/other • Job title, key info • 1st contact date, Rejection date / same for interviews 1 & 2 • Job offer date & notes ** Tracker Overview sample format ** e.g. horizontal spreadsheet • Status (e.g. ?, x) / Last contact date • Organisation, contact, phone / same for Agency/other • Job title • Via (e.g. networking, newspaper, Internet..)

11. Newspapers IT magazines Libraries Internet job sites Target organisations Recruitment agencies Your Careers people Other job hunters Job Centre Professional bodies e.g. BCS Conferences & events eg BCS Contacts - ‘Networking’ eg BCS ‘Just the Job’ Desperately seeking..‘Like looking for a needle in a haystack’ ‘Chase/follow up with care - don’t overdo/annoy..’

12. ‘Just the Job’ Agency interview - Let’s meet.. ‘Practice makes perfect’ • “Tell me about yourself”“What is your greatest achievement? And failure?”“What is your greatest strength? And weakness?” • Learn ‘learnings’ - take notes, use Job Tracker & Overview • One step Forward - or 2 steps back? How did you do? • Rejected? - don’t get too dejected - try and try again..

13. ‘Just the Job’ The Big One (part one at least) “You’ve been short-listed for interview by the company” • Read all about it - research the organisation • List questions to ask - it’s a 2-way process • Interview questions/tests - what benefits can you bring? • “What’s different about you?”.. • Try to relax, stay calm • “Where do you want to be in 5 years’ time?”.. • Forward or Back? - how did you do?

14. ‘Just the Job’ And then - SUCCESS.. “Please be here at 9 a.m. on Monday morning.” For this organisation - You are Just the Job!