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LinkedIn

With 85 million users in 200 countries, more than 15% of the global working population on its books, and a new member joining LinkedIn nearly every second, LinkedIn has become the de facto professional networking tool of choice. Here are six tips on how you can make the most of it:

• Update your CV regularly – not just when you are thinking about moving. Include details of achievements, specialisms, courses you have completed; anything that helps a prospective employer gain a deeper insight into your capability and expertise. Make sure you connect to colleagues, clients and suppliers – the bigger your network, the more value you get out of it.
• Ask people to recommend your work – do this when you complete projects, move departments, even when you present at conferences. Try to get a balanced mix of people who work for you and people who work with you. This will naturally form great references for the future as gaining personal references is now more difficult when you leave an organisation.
• Join Groups – stay up-to-date with a particular sector or area of specialism. There are groups for almost everything allowing you to link with others ranging from Financial Services, Interim Management, Compensation and Benefits, to the Middle East. When you start, use the groups to see what people are saying, but as you become more comfortable get involved in the debates and discussions. You’ll naturally expose your name and your capability to a much broader network than by simply linking up to people.
• Add Applications – this is a great way of customising LinkedIn to suit. Expand your intellectual horizons by adding the ‘Reading List’ app by Amazon and see what other people think is a worthwhile read; upload your presentations to ‘Google Presentation’ to make it easier to get hold of and searchable; learn from other people’s thoughts and insights through the ‘Slideshare’ apps (which allow you to present, share and search on presentations from all over the world).
• Keep up-to-date with companies that interest you by ‘Following’ them – for real-time information on hiring, movements and facts and figures, find the company on LinkedIn using the search tool and simply click ‘Follow Us’. Any new information will be displayed in your status updates.
• Finally, if you are stuck on a particular subject, or have a tricky work situation where you could do with some advice, try posting your issue to LinkedIn Answers and drawing on the collective intelligence of a database of 85 million. People will see your question and suggest solutions or, even better, recommend others who may be able to help you. If you’re nervous about posting a question, it is quite likely that your challenge has been posed by someone else – search the database of previously submitted answers for some insight.

Remember, your LinkedIn account is your window into the world and a shop window into yours. Whether you like it or not, it says a lot about you. So you should think about your professional profile in the same way that you think about the clothes you wear to work.

Writing an Interim CV

The content:

• Profile – we recommend you have a short factual profile outlining what you can offer to the reader. It sets the scene and helps you capture your audience’s attention quickly.
• Summary of skills – list your technical HR skill set so the reader can see where your strengths lie.
• Education and qualifications – these need to be included, but can be placed where you feel they fit best on your CV.
• Career and assignment history – this is where it gets complicated. There are a few ways you can approach this depending on the number of roles you have to list. If there is space, we suggest you provide a one to two line summary on the organisation. This can include factual information putting the scale of the organisation and role in context: FTSE 100 business, 10,000 employees, seven offices in four countries, etc.
• For each assignment or position, you need to outline key achievements. Rewriting the job description is largely irrelevant for most interims. It is your achievements that are key to selling your experience and the value you added.
• Bullet points can help to distil complex information and highlight individual points.
• Ensure the amount of information you provide for each position is relative to the length of the assignment.
• Contact details – please remember to include a contact phone number and email. You would be amazed how many people forget. At the top is always better.

Other Tips

• Examples speak louder than words. Many candidates describe themselves as ‘capable, commercial and hard-working’ in their CVs. Instead of merely stating these, why not provide an example of something you achieved that was commercial?
• Use bullet points.
• Avoid writing in the third person.
• An Interim CV can be hard to compress so we would rather see three well constructed pages than two.
• We recommend you tailor your CV for specific roles to ensure you are highlighting the relevant experience.

Partnering with a Recruitment Consultancy

Whilst it’s true that it’s our clients who engage us as recruitment partners to attract, engage and select talent for their businesses, this is not the only partnership that is critical to providing them with the best person for the role and you with your dream job. The partnership that you as a candidate builds with us is just as, if not more, crucial to ensuring a mutually beneficial relationship between our clients and their new employees. So how do you as a jobseeker get the most out of us, your recruitment consultancy? These guidelines will help:

First things first.

In order to select not only the most capable candidates for our clients opportunities but also the closest cultural and motivational fit, we ask a lot of questions of our candidates. But as we tend to start with these  first, it’s wise for you to know the answers

Why are you looking?

It’s important for you to understand whether you are looking for your next role in order to leave something negative in you current role, or because you are seeking something additional in your next role. If the former, then ask yourself is there anything your current employer could change that would make you stay, and if so then why not approach them and ask for it now? It might save you plenty of time in interviewing for jobs only to discover when you resign that your employer will offer you what it takes to keep you engaged and happy.

What are you looking for?

Consider where you realistically want to be in two, five and 10 years in your career and personal life. Ask yourself:

1. What do I enjoy doing? What energises me?
2. What is needed in my work environment for me to feel satisfied?
3. Where do I want to be living?
4. What kind of lifestyle do I want?
5. What are my main drives?
6. What level of progression am I seeking within my career ladder?
7. What am I looking for in terms of salary and package?

By knowing and understanding these first, you will be able to take realistic steps toward your ultimate goal as well as prevent any potential value-conflicts in your chosen workplace.

Be prepared.

• Ensure your CV is accurate, free of spelling errors and dates are accurate. Get someone else to read it.
• Have any gaps in your CV covered as this will prevent any questioning or doubt set in by the recruitment consultant and/or prospective employer
• Have qualifications and certificates ready.
• Consider the market and emerging trends. It is important to remember that the market is always evolving, Consider the following:
  • Where is the market going?
  • What skills are and will be in demand?
  • Where do you see the value of your experience in these areas?

Meet your consultant.

• First impressions – treat a consultancy interview as you would treat an interview with a prospective employer. Clients will hire someone who will best represent their company so dress smartly and professionally. A suit is advisable.
• Be realistic with your expectations and we will provide honest interview and CV feedback
• Many of our client’s only want to see candidates that we have met with and this is an essential way for us to gauge cultural fit

Communication is key.

• Be clear about your notice period, current salary and expectations.
• Be honest and open
• When and how is the best way to get in touch?
• Don’t let there be any surprises such as booked holiday, sponsorship for any education or visas.
• Form an idea of the type of roles and companies that your MDH Consultant should be approaching on your behalf, consider the following:
  • What type of environment stimulates you?
  • Is company size important to you?
  • Would the structure of a department impact your decision?
  • Is a brand name important to you?
  • Is a company’s security and reputation a priority?
  • Do you want to work: part-time, flexi time, Interim, job share?
  • Are there any companies who you would not like to consider?
  • Where have you applied before? What was your experience? And how would you like that to be improved this time around?

Manage the process.

Like your career, your time within an employment search process needs managing. Consider the following:

1. Where you CV is being sent. Don’t apply for everything.
2. Write down or keep a log of companies and opportunities you have applied to or know that you have been submitted to by other recruitment consultants. The last thing you would want is to be represented twice or duplicate your application.
3. Consider the time you realistically have available – Commit blocks of time to your job-search activities – meetings with your MDH Consultant, researching, phone calls, writing, rehearsing interviews.
4. Keep all those you are involved with in the loop of your current activities, this will prevent any conflict of interests as you move further down the interview process.