Getting Your Foot In The Door
Trying to change careers but find your CV is hitting a brick wall?

You're bright, you're smart, you're capable - but just can't seem to break into the job you want. It can be difficult and frustrating when you feel you are being pigeon holed and no one can see just how transferable what you bring.

So, lets turn the tables for a moment – if you were a recruiting employer sifting through a large stack of CV’s would you go for a good candidate with the right experience vs a good candidate without? It does not always belie a lack of imagination or failure on the part of the recruiter to see your potential, more that there’s a job to be done, and someone who fits in AND can hit the ground running is the more practical and attractive option. It’s the path of least resistance.

So you need to find a way to hot foot it past the other CV’s and get your foot in the door first with a chance to personally demonstrate just how brilliant you are. By first that can mean before they even know they’ve got a vacancy themselves! Many companies are so overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the work they have to do, they don’t have time to get around to recruiting. They are often as delighted as the candidate who approaches them with a speculative proposal that is a perfect mutual match. It may surprise you to know that up to 70% of jobs are never advertised – a statistic mostly accounted for by the good old-fashioned grapevine. In the case of a career change this point cannot be overemphasised.

It brings us back to personal recommendation - getting your network to work for you. To be recommended effectively, however, you need to know what or who you want to be recommended to. You know that you want to use your research and writing abilities likely within journalism or business analysis - and that’s great. The question is where exactly? Both are in themselves broad fields. The more you can focus your target (while at the same time remaining open to opportunity) the easier it is to hone in and really get somewhere with it. It will also make you sound more informed, able to articulate more effectively the relevant skills and flair you bring. This includes your degree and how you can make what you have learnt strongly relevant to a prospective employer.

Defining the target means both defining (or at least refining) the role you’re going for AND the organisations you’d like to work within. You can then use a two-pronged approach both by using your network (and industry networking) and directly approaching companies with creativity and focus.

Remember the job market is essentially self-serving i.e both party has needs which each is seeking to fulfil. When what you want and can offer is what the other party needs - that’s when it meshes together. Thinking of it from the hiring point of view will lift your perspective and help you target your efforts more effectively.

Find out how we can help you with your job search strategy to get the work you want
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