Job Hunting / Recruitment Advice

Should I Take The Next Career Step?

If you find yourself becoming a clock watcher, being last in and first out of your place of work on a daily basis. If you are bored or dissatisfied with your duties or employers, then it might be time to take the first step in looking for a new job. Looking for a new position is important and should not be rushed.

Follow these tips to make your decision easier:

Ask yourself, what are the reasons for a career change? Ensure you are changing jobs or careers for the right reasons, it is essential to reflect on your motivations.

 

Have a plan. Know where you are taking that next step and be aware of the implications that may be involved.

Don’t rush into your career move; take the time to analysis what it is you wish to do.

 

Feeling unsure or slightly nervous is a normal process when changing careers and looking for a good Recruitment Consultancy, so don’t let these feeling put you off until you have researched any future opportunities.

 

Take your time deciding where you want to go and what you want to do, it’s important you feel 100% about moving on.

 

List the skills you process that are most marketable and easily transferable? This will give you a head start when searching for your new position via any of the recommended Recruitment Job Boards.

 

Explore the job market and the opportunities that exist. Do look at all the options even ones that are slightly further than you would want to travel to. Create more interest in yourself by looking at all the options available in the current market place.

 

Think ahead when looking for the right position. Ask yourself; will I like working here? Is there room for growth if this company recruits me? Will I get additional training? Where do I see myself in five years time?

 

Use the people around you also for potential opportunities. This may include family, friends, current clients and colleagues.

 

Speak to a Black Fox Recruitment Consultant.

How To Deal With Counter Offers

You have made the hard decision of deciding you need to move on in your career, that you need new surroundings, a new challenge or to kick start a move upwards in your earnings and responsibilities.

 

You have updated your CV, sending it to all the various companies and Recruitment Agencies/Consultancies, attended interviews and 2nd interviews, finally landing a job you feel really excited about. Then your manager offers you a better package when you tell them you’re leaving! Do you decide to stay in your present job, or do you think too little too late and move on?

 

It’s important to weigh up the new internal offer as thoroughly as you do the external option. Which excites you the most and makes the most sense to you? How to you feel about each business and how is the relationship with your existing manager who recruited you, are you pleased with your new job opportunity and the chance to work with a new manager? Which offers the best financial reward in conjunction with the other benefits on offer?

 

When a company counter offers an employee who has handed in their notice, it can cause some confusion, our recruitment team at Black Fox have been witness to many different versions over the years. Here are our points to consider when you’re presented with a new job offer, and your current employer is keen for you to stay.

 

Delayed recognition: If you’re worth your increased salary and responsibilities, why wasn’t this recognised before you handed in your notice? Part of your frustration from the outset may be that you’re undervalued, and if it takes your resignation for this to be noticed you may be better off with an organisation that is less reactive in helping you fulfil your career ambitions.

 

If it’s not about the money: A counter-offer may not just be about a pay rise, it could aim to address other key motivators like levels of responsibly or work/life balance. But unless salary was the sole purpose for looking at new opportunities, counter-offers are rarely the answer. In our experience, most people who accept them find themselves looking to recruitment companies for a new job a few months later, when the situation that caused them to explore the market still hasn’t been resolved.

 

Trust issues: Once your employer knows that you’ve been interviewing elsewhere, they could think that you have the potential to be disloyal to the company. You may no longer be seen as a team player, and could potentially be first out the door if there is an internal reorganisation.

 

Be aware of the wider market: If you do accept a counter-offer that results in a substantial increase in salary, you may end up being overpaid compared to the market rate for your level of experience, this could cause disharmony with your current colleagues. It could also make an external move in the future challenging, as your remuneration won’t accurately reflect your value in the market.

 

But, think what you are leaving behind: Working at an organisation for a good period of time means you’ve built up equity, whether it’s the relationships you’ve developed or your length of service.

 

Most people make the most dramatic improvements to their career progression, immediate and long-term earning potential by changing employers, but that doesn’t mean that the most positive move for you is necessarily one outside your company. If your current employer counter offers you, it should be looked at and examined on its merits.

 

But if you decide not to stick with your current employer, use it as an opportunity to thank them for the offer and reiterate that while you enjoyed your time with the organisation, you remain firm in your decision to leave. There’s little point at this stage in burning bridges by listing everything you felt was wrong with the organisation and your role. You never know when you’ll encounter your old manager again.

 

The counter offer situation can be a tricky one to handle, so if you’re unsure speak to your Recruitment Consultant at Black Fox for more advice on how to proceed.

How To Resign

Before you draft your letter of resignation:

• Are you being paid enough?
• Do you get on well with your colleagues?
• Is the culture supportive?

• Is the training effective?

Could you develop your role/be promoted?

If you answered yes to two or more of the above, you might want to reconsider your decision. If not, we’ve got some useful advice on how to resign.

 

Drafting a resignation letter

• Your name
• Date
• Addressee
• Notice of termination of employment
• When this is effective from
• Your signature

Thanking your employer is optional, complaining is not. You should remain civil and professional throughout the resignation process.

 

Delivering a resignation letter

You can arrange a meeting with your manager and tell them you’re resigning. It’s quite dramatic but they’ll ask you to put it in writing. Avoid this thunder-stealing moment by taking a letter of resignation with you.

 

The Counter-Offer

If your employer makes a counter offer, think carefully: will a pay rise or promotion make you happy? Will you feel comfortable with colleagues that know you wanted to leave?

 

The last days

Do your work as normal during these last days do not drop your standards and leave a good impression. Make sure your boss knows how proactive you’ve been in completing your handover – It makes things a lot easier when it comes to settling any outstanding salary, holiday entitlement or commission owed to you.

How To Layout Your CV

A good CV is essential when looking for work and it is worth spending time getting it right so it sells you to an employer.

 

We have put together a sample CV for you to download to assist you in laying out your own.

 

DOWNLOAD THE SAMPLE CV (PDF)

The Job Market In General

Job hunting can be very frustrating and tiresome. It is a very competitive area and anyone who thinks that using an agency to find the right job, is a bad idea should think again. Quite often as soon as a job is posted on one of the many job boards, it will receive lots of attention from people wishing to send their CVs within 24hrs. This can result in someone well qualified and experienced, not even getting their CV reviewed for the job that was displayed because their CV was not among the first batch reviewed. So, how does a job seeker get noticed?

The main area of focus for any recruitment business is the job market within and around the main Belfast area. Purely for economic reasons Belfast is the hub of the employment industry in Northern Ireland, however unlike a lot of our competitors, we also recruit across the whole of the Northern Ireland arena.

Belfast has the most vacancies from a geographical point of view as it is our Capital City. Other areas of Northern Ireland are a lot more rural. These areas have a more residential identity rather than employers with lots of jobs, which is why Belfast would receive the most attention.

Generally, the best approach is to work with a professional job seeker’s recruitment consultancy and Black Fox Solutions in Belfast is one of the most reliable and effective. We strive to quickly break down a job seeker’s application for work by geographical area, sector, experience level and qualification.

Black fox will analyse the job seekers details and requirements, we are committed to matching them to as many current job vacancies we have. This means that a job seeker may get a notification about a job or sector they wouldn’t have originally considered, but one they are experienced enough to apply for.

We work with as many job seekers as possible to help them construct the best CV they can that reflects their previous jobs and experience.

Needing a job and spending the time searching for the right job should not be side stepped or seen as an unfruitful chore. You may find yourself having to be patient in your job hunting but with Black Fox Solutions, we try and make the process of job recreation as quick and as helpful as possible, you could say our job is to find you the right job.