Been searching for a job recently? you may have received a number of calls from recruiters, ever wondered how they got your details?

The 5 main methods recruiters use to find you:

1. Job Applications

The original and obvious one, you send your CV to a job you have seen posted on an online job board. This works but you need to be very good to be for your CV to be picked out this is due to high competition especially on the lower skilled jobs where you get hundreds of applications!

2. Online Job Database

When you apply for jobs online your CV get’s stored in the job boards CV database, Recruiters use theses to search for ideal candidates for jobs they have available they may also add your information to there own CRM software so they can get in touch at a future date when they have other vacancies available.

3. LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the best job social networking site used by professionals and are goldmines for recruitment headhunters. If you want to be found, fill out your profile as complete as you can. List your current and previous jobs with the skills you used/learned and try get recommendations. A solid profile with proven experience and recommendations will show your an authority in your field and if your lucky to reach this god like status Interviews will be a thing of the past and you will have no problem getting job offers.

4. Employee lists

This rarely happens now but still very useful for recruiters. Sometimes a disgruntled former employee will offer a list of their ex colleagues, with mobile numbers and email address details to the highest bidding recruitment agency. This is obviously bad news for the company if one of these lists gets leaked out especially if half the team up and left for a better offer else where. If you are a manager you will want to ensure this vital information not available if you want to keep your team.

5. Recommendations

A recruiter could use recommendations from previous employers or agency’s to track you (the ideal candidate) down especially if you make yourself an industry expert by writing articles or blog posts to boost your credibility. Also being very good at your job and making sure people know about it. is what head hunters are ultimately going to be hiring you for. For this to work your really going to have to be on Linkedinand connected to some recruitment agencies.

Conclusion

Don’t get annoyed by a recruiter using creative ways to find you. It’s a good thing getting sent job offers even if you do have to turn them down if you are happy where you are. Good recruiters are highly appreciated by their clients as the CVs offered will normally be of a higher quality than to that of their direct applicants.

I recommend you keep in touch with any recruiter that always seems to have jobs that interest you so when the day comes you can quickly call up and see what they have for you!

How do recruiters get hold of you? Please share your story!

Even if you nail your job interview, a bad job reference could make a future employer think twice about giving you the job.

Can an employer give you a bad job reference?

People often think your boss can’t give you a bad reference which is not entirely true…

A job reference only needs to be accurate and truthful. So for example, if you were fired at your last job for misconduct, your previous boss could mention it in your reference. But only If it was investigated properly and not misleading, by doing that they aren’t doing anything wrong by giving you a bad job reference. It’s the truth.

Some employers however think twice about giving bad references about ex employees because anything not considered to be 100% accurate could be grounds for legal action, by a job seeker that felt their boss was being too harsh or it’s just not the truth. So manager’s will often just give the basic facts about your employment rather than focusing on character references.

What to do if a previous employer provides a bad job reference?

The best thing and the cheapest thing to do in this situation is to hunt down the employer that was giving you the bad reference and remove them off your list immediately! and replace them with some one that will give you a positive reliable reference.

If you get a call back about a concern over the negative references for a job you applied for you can provide them with the new references you have and explain to them that they will be able to answer there questions and concerns about your work ethic.

If that is not good enough and you think the comments made in the job references by your last employer are untrue and believe that it has harmed your future work prospects you can sue for negligent misstatement. To do so, you must show that:

• The information in the reference is misleading
• Providing this misleading information has had a negative effect on your future employment
• Your employer was negligent in providing a reference.

Alternatively, if you think you are being discriminated, you can bring your former employer to an employment tribunal. Either way, you will need to seek legal advice.

My employer is refusing to give a reference

If an employer refuses to give a job reference about you then it could ring alarm bells for your new boss, especially if you were employed on the basis of hearing a good reference known as a conditional offer. Some companies however are refusing to give job references because they’re worried about legal action that could be taken against them so it’s not an uncommon situation.

But if 2 out of 3 job references say all good things about you which satisfies the company, then they should not argue about one reference being refused or bad.

How do I make sure my reference will be good?

You can’t be 100% sure you will get a great job reference but if you have a positive relationship with your company or boss and are leaving on good terms then you you can be sure you will get a good reference but you can always ask them to make sure. Employers don’t have to legally tell you but if they choose to they can.

If work is not going well for you and you are worried about getting a good job reference talk to your manager about any issues or problems you have, if you solve your work issues then you can try harder to impress your boss and get noticed as a hard working employee that will get a good reference when they leave.

Please email your CV to liam.kenneth89@gmail.com

And write a comment and let me know if you would or have used a CV builder before thanks

Guest Blogging

Also I need some help with the blog it’s hard to keep it updated regularly and work on developing PosterJob. So if anyone is interesting for writing for us and being a guest blogger in the job industry please leave a comment with your name, email and website or use the above email to contact me.

Thanks again

You should search for job openings advertised through a diversity of media, you also don’t have to apply for an advertised vacancy to get a job. Approximately, only about 30% of jobs are advertised, so you are really limiting your job search by only looking for vacancies that are made public. Here are some avenues into finding both advertised jobs and openings that your rival job hunters may not be aware of.

National and local Newspaper jobs

Newspapers are not dead, the industry is still alive and kicking and they provide a great source for finding jobs locally or in major cities, also most newspapers are online advertising their printed jobs. Employers recruiting recognise this and know that newspaper ads still get plenty of traffic. Check the job advertisements page in your local newspaper or the job section of online newspapers and you might find something decent that you would of missed.

Internet Jobsites

Online newspaper job boards are rivalled and mainly over shadowed by dedicated job sites such as www.posterjob.co.uk. Although, you must be careful not to spend all of your time job hunting on these dedicated job boards applying for jobs that don’t match your skill. You should instead use the advanced job search to narrow down the results to vacancies that correctly match your skills. Which should be obvious but many people do just hit apply without reading what the job advertised actually wants.

Businesses

There are millions of businesses out there and many don’t openly advertise their jobs so the only way to get employed by one of these companies is to have a look at there job page. Many companies have a dedicated job vacancy page that you can subscribe to and get updates when jobs become available. Or you could do some research on the company and send them an email explaining who you are what skills you have and what job you are looking for 9 times out of ten some one will contact you and let you know if they have an opening or not and the really helpful ones will point you in the right direction or give you tips/advice on your job hunt.

Your Network

Your network may be bigger than your realise, Professional contacts you have met from current or previous jobs, friends from school, college, university. people you meet volunteering or out on holiday and families. You may be surprised by who or what your existing contacts know. Ask the people who you know well if they can help you with your search for a job. If you know someone who is in the industry or company you want to get into, call them up or email them. Having a chat with them could open some doors to your future job. For more informationon networking read through this How to network like a pro.

Social Media

Social media job hunting is the new kid on the block when it comes to finding job vacancies to apply for. Most businesses now have a twitter or Facebook page and constantly use them to build awareness about there brand including any jobs they have being advertised. Make sure you connect to the companies you want to work for so you don’t miss out on a job they post. Apart from Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn is another social site that everyone should be on it’s a job magnet, you can connect to friends, colleagues, businesses and gain recommendations from customers or co-workers and get head hunted by recruitment agencies. It’s basically an online CV where you would want to look professional.

Not tailoring it to the job you are applying for is a big one. Not structuring your CV with clear Keywords that a scanner can pick up is another no no. So is not listing your record of achievements in a way that the reader will find meaningful or useful.

One of the biggest errors of all is putting your CV together in a sloppy manner that gives the impression that you don’t care!

Not using spell check. Poor Grammar and sentences that just don’t make sense. Sending your CV in the wrong format. These few bits of sloppiness add up quickly. They can end up getting your lovely CV tossed into the bin. So here are three tips to prevent this from happening.

CV Tip 1. Don’t just trust spell check when proof reading your CV

Using Spell check on your CV is a good idea to correct any obvious spelling errors but it’s not too good at grammar errors so your word processing software will not fix all the mistakes on your CV!

After you have spell checked your CV, have a friend or someone else read your CV for you. To ensure that the text is readable and easy to understand also fresh pair of eyes will always spot mistakes straight away. A spell checker can easily give you a false sense of security because it doesn’t check for wrong words used in a sentence. It is also important that you get a second opinion on your wordings and the way you write your CV so you can improve upon it.

Tip 2. Customise your CV to the job you’re applying for

General CVs are a dime a dozen. You will be able to get away with a generic one size fits all approach if you are applying for lower paid job such as a retail sales assistant or warehouse worker. But for the higher paying skilled jobs, an employer will expect you to put in some extra effort.

Try your best to match the requirements listed in the job and put the on your CV with a summary section atop the first page describing why you have the right skills.

Tip 3. Send your CV in the proper format

Sending your CV via email is common place now but make sure you always use the correct format. Not long ago many recruiters were having problems opening Docx files from job seekers using the latest version of word so it’s always best to send your CV in a format any one can open. .rtf .doc .pdf are the main 3 you should use.

So you had a great weekend with friends and getting drunk and your feeling the effects of a bad hang over on Sunday and dreading going to work the next morning.

Overcome that hangover quick as you can ideally the night before so get a kebab when you leave the night club and drink plenty of water when you get home 9 times out of ten the morning after you will feel fine but keep eating and drinking water.

Now you have your Sunday back I recommend you do something that really relaxes you. Duvet day/shopping/playing games/reading? And don’t think about work.

But you will need to prepare your lunch for tomorrow and make sure your uniform is clean, ironed and ready to be thrown on for Monday ready for work.

Have a shower before you go to bed it saves you time in the morning and could lead a little sneaky lay in on Monday

Get lots of sleep
You should aim for at least 7 hours sleep so your body has time to refresh you for tomorrow’s challenges. The worst part of Monday is feeling tired so get this right and you will feel great when you wake up.

Eat breakfast this is key! food to fuel your brain you haven’t eat since yesterday evening, your brain is starving. Try a whole grain breakfast to keep that feeling of full for longer.

Drink water to wash it down and hydrate you. Your brain is mostly water so being dehydrated will give you a bad headache. For optimal performance drink a litre before you leave your house and keep drinking water throughout the day.

Your ready now to tackle work on Monday and you will find it much more enjoyable now if you follow the basics of this Monday survival guide and use these techniques for the rest of the week and it will be Friday before you know it!

Plan out your route and make sure you add plenty of time to take care of delayed trains or traffic and getting lost. none of them are a good excuse if you are late. The interviewer will see it as, if you can’t be here in time for an interview how can you get to work on time? So Always aim to be 10 – 15 mins early.

A smile

You have to look happy, even if you don’t feel happy, fake a smile you don’t want to give the impression you don’t want to be there. Plus smiling is associated with friendly people and that’s something you will want to try and get across so the employer will be certain you don’t disrupt the office harmony and that you two could get on. Plus smiling is meant to relax you!

A copy of your CV

It’s always good to have, take two copy’s in case the person interviewing you left their copy on the desk back in the office. You save them a trip back and you score some small points. A copy of your CV is handy just in case the nerves get to you when answering questions you are asked during an interview about previous job dates or experiences. Have it at hand so you can quickly scan and then answer any questions asked and don’t read off it like a script. try to keep eye contact and look confident if you don’t already feel confident.

A positive attitude

Remember if a company has given you an interview they think your good enough and you are halfway to a new job and your interviewer wants you to succeed so keep a positive attitude that you are the right person for the job, show enthusiasm too make the employer know you really want the job. Not keeping that positive attitude will make you nervous and probably negative if you don’t believe in yourself.

A list of questions

Most things on your list of questions written down or in your head will most likely be answered in the interview but you should still come up with maybe 5 questions that you would like to ask and more often than not the question you ask will lead to New questions you will want to ask. This is key to extending the interview and finding more about the job. If the interviewer isn’t trying to hurry you out of the door at this point It’s a good sign you had a great interview.

Laptop or Tablet

Briefcases are so last year, this is the age of technology. Everything you could possibly want to show in an interview can be done on a laptop or tablet. Such as note taking if there is a skill which is needed but you never heard of it. Write it down there’s an app for that they are also great for showcasing your work.

Evidence of your work

Not all jobs require proof or evidence of work but if you are going for a web or chief job its a good idea to make a nice portfolio and show it off on a tablet and let the employer use the touch device and talk them through your work.

Directions and contact details

You need to get to your interview right? So bring a set of directions so you know where you are going and who you need to speak to when you get there.

What not to take to your interview

Mobile phone

You can take it BUT turn your mobile phone off before you go in for your interview. So you wont get distracted by it ringing or disrupt the interview if it’s on loud.

References

If the company you are seeing want to hire you they will ask for references so there is no need to bring any to the interview or have them on your CV

It’s also important not to walk into an interview chewing gum, carrying a cup of coffee or texting on your phone. The only things you should bring with you are yourself and your credentials for the job.

Want to keep your focus and stay being productive? There are no secret tricks here… Just some basic rules to keeping focus and that is do only one thing at a time. Stop multitasking as it’s just another form of distraction that will cripple your productivity.

Easier said than done, I know.

Here are 7 tips for staying productive and keeping focused:

1. Break down your tasks in to smaller steps that you will need to complete to finish your main task. So for example Writing “Create this week’s blog post” on your to-do list is a definite way to make sure you never get it done. Break down your task into smaller and smaller steps until you have specific tasks that are easy to complete and can be accomplished in a hour or less:
Think of the topic, outline the introduction, main content, etc
That’s how you set and complete goals so you can cross them off your list.

2 Stop multi-tasking now. No, seriously you should stop.
Trying to do more than one task at a time or switching quickly from task to task does not work. You quickly loose focus and are not using your full brain power. Sticking to just one task will get the job done quicker and it will be less hassle.

3 Get rid of all distractions, don’t answer your phone, hide it in a draw on silent. Logout of Facebook so your not tempted to use it, close your emails, lock your Door. All of these things will help eliminate the chances of getting distracted so you can focus on completing that one task.

4 Don’t spend all day on your emails it will sap the day away and before you notice too. Pick At least 3 times in the day when you will check and reply to your emails.

5 If emailing is turning in to a five email conversation. Use the phone instead, its a lot quicker.

6 Make sure you know your goals for the day and don’t let anything get in your way. So don’t open your emails and be sucked in replying to them all, you might get your inbox to zero but you would of accomplished nothing. Also start your day right with breakfast and water then set your tasks for the rest of your day.

7 Take a break: Get up, go for a walk, have a snack, make a coffee, do something completely different to rest your brain, eyes and recharge your batteries. By having a small break each hour you will stay fresh, focused and hard working.

Crawley Town F.C are preparing for the new season in League 1, and are now recruiting for matchday operational staff.

The Jobs they will be looking to fill are:

· Matchday stewards
· Operational staff
· Ticket office staff
· Catering staff
. Bar Staff
. Tea Bar Staff

Crawley Town F.C are holding an Open Evening for job seekers on Thursday, 12th July at 6pm in Redz Bar. If you have already applied for one of the available jobs you are still invited to come along and meet the management team.

The positions advertised on the Crawley Town F.C website offer good rates of pay and the opportunity to work within a team committed to providing the best possible matchday experience for supporters.

crawleytownfc

So something had to be given up which was blogging/SEO on Posterjob and that was probably a bad idea. But I’m going to try and stick to at least one or two blog posts a week from now.

But this weekend instead of spending most of my time working Im going to actually have a break.

But progress is going good on http://www.posterjob.co.uk you can now add jobs, which looks great and the job search function is being worked on which currently returns all jobs.

After that I think I will work on the CV creator which looks easy to do (famous last words) it will create the CV and download as a PDF. Any thoughts on this? Does the CV format actually matter any more?

Once that’s done the home page needs to be revamped to show off the CV creator and hopefully it gets used. More details on that closer to the time.

Have a good Friday and enjoy the weekend.