Jobs and Careers with James Caan 2012 - (Page 18)

Q&A JAMES counts Jobs & Careers: James, the economic news just keeps getting bleaker by the look of it. What advice can you give to job seekers at the moment, in terms of staying positive and standing out from the crowd? James Caan: Job seekers right now clearly are in a very difficult situation because the general economy is pretty flat; the outlook for next year isn’t looking that much greater and employers are tightening their belts in relation to employment. The market outlook is not great. Therefore from a job seeker’s point-of-view, I think they need to be far more proactive – because unless they can present themselves to employers in a more sales-and-marketing way, they are just going to get overlooked. Therefore any potential candidate needs to be thinking: "What can I do for this organisation? How can I make a difference? What contribution could I make to this particu- What really In our exclusive Q&A, James Caan gives some indispensable advice for job seekers looking to get ahead of the competition – and tells us about some of his activities, commercial and otherwise, in the year since our last issue… lar business?" And what employers want people to understand is that everybody’s looking for that immediate hit, so I think if you’re in a role where your impact cannot be demonstrable then I think the view is "let me get back to you later". The first thing I would do if I were interviewing somebody at the moment is I’d want to understand what this person is offering me and what could they do to make a difference. The second thing is to recognise that you are going to be in a very crowded market where there are going to be a lot of people in the same position as yourself. So bucking the trend and thinking outside the box in terms of how you market yourself and how you present yourself – be it via a CV or face to face – is absolutely critical. One key issue is making sure that you research the organisation that you’re going for. When you’re sitting in front of that person, it’s too often that when you ask them "do you have any questions?", they go blank. At 018 www.jobsandcareersmag.com http://www.jobsandcareersmag.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Jobs and Careers with James Caan 2012

Career bites
What really counts
Weighing it all up
Around the world
Ask the experts
Growth sectors
Train your brain
Homework
Carve a career in care
Here come the girls
Mum’s the word
An apple a day
It’s for you-hoo!
A step forward
His & hers
Bank on it
Risky Business
In the money
3 Specialist medical jobs
The stuff of life
Power on
Engineering heroes
Outside the box
Keeping it clean
Your Business with James Caan
Go Go GadGets
On trend office
Take my advice
Getting Going
The bank job
Make the most of your assets
Back to business
The law and you
HR Matters
Make it work
Into the cloud
Design & shine
Reach out
Gorkana and Gurkhas
Protect and prosper
Making it count
Your business or your life?
Nice supplies
Beginning business
Ship it
Ethical business
Backing business
Standing together
Top 10 hiring tips

Jobs and Careers with James Caan 2012