Love Your Job - Helping you to love your job or to find a job you do love.
I'm delighted to send you the latest edition of my newsletter. It's been an eventful couple of weeks for me. I live in Tewkesbury and we've been severely hit by floods and disruption to our water supply. You've probably seen my town on the news and I've had quite a few emails and phone calls asking me how we are. Someone thought they had seen be being airlifted off a roof. It wasn't me but it was close by a cottage we had looked at when looking for our home, but decided against it once we had heard it had been flooded before.
On 20th July, I had a client with me for a CV review, I remember saying about how I'd never seen such heavy rain but never imagined we would get trapped in the village. I waved her goodbye but she was back in 5 minutes, and then I saw the flooding, about 3 foot, with a stranded car in the midst of the water. Luckily our house is on higher ground so we were safe. Since then there has been a problem with our water supply - no water for 6 days, but at least last Friday afternoon we got water through the taps for flushing loos, showers and clothes washing. We are using bottled water for drinking, cooking and washing up. Thus has made me really value water and realise just what an impact a lack of resources can have. The first day I queued for about an hour for 4 bottles of water, I thought this was going to be a daily occurrence but they delivered some bottles to the village which was great.
This has had an impact on my business - cancelled meetings, clients unable to get through, me unable to visit certain areas ... thank goodness thinks are now improving.
Onwards ... in this issue you can read:
- Article: Stress and holidays
- Article: Competency based interviews
- An update on what Denise did last month
- What's on the blog
- Quote of the month
- In the news
This month I have had 28 new subscribers - a very big welcome to you. I've been getting some great feedback on the 10 steps programme so I hope it has been helpful to you. For you, and everyone else please do get in touch if you have any questions.
I'm hoping August is a lot less eventful, and that we all have an enjoyable and relaxing month.
I'll be back in touch in September,
Kindest regards,
August is a very
popular month for holidays. Holidays are meant to be a time to relax and
recuperate, but then there is the effort you have to put in before you
go! Recent research by Office Angels have found that more than
half of UK workers (53%) feel stressed, anxious or concerned about their
workload the week before leaving on holiday and for 77% of people the
positive effects of a vacation last a maximum of 3 days when they get
back.
What can help before you go
Get as straight as you can with your work before you go away. Its worth going through the pile on your desk and seeing what you can give to someone else, what isn't time critical and what has to be done before you go away. Then you can plan so you get these tasks completed at least 24 hours before your last day to give you time to deal with any last minute eventuality.
Communicate and share information so that when people phone up or email while you're away colleagues can handle some of the issues.
Set up an email auto responder so people know that you will be away, when you will be back and who to contact if things are urgent.
What can help while you are away
You really need some time to unwind so don't take your work mobile or blackberry (if you have one) at home. Our minds do need time to switch off (one reason I do adventure holidays where there's no internet access). Of course if you're self employed you may need to touch base with the office but do limit yourself to e.g. 90 minutes each morning.
Apparently 15% of people are so obsessed with work they confess to being glad to get back to it because they thrive on the routine and feel lost without it. If this sounds like you then put some routine into your holiday.
Whist you day dream on the beach and enjoy your time away you may begin to think of everything that is wrong with your job. Don't do anything rash , do make sure you think things through carefully and I'll focus on this next time.
Have a great holiday, take time to recharge and do whatever makes you feel great.
When you get back
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Don't plan too much for your first couple of days back at work
-
Plan to finish at your normal finishing time and have a lunch break to maintain the relaxed feeling
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If things get hectic take short periods of time where you can relax, breathe deeply and regain the holiday feeling
This should help you to keep the holiday feeling for at least a week. Any other ideas, why not add to the blog?
Martin rang me and sounded very nervous. He had applied for a job and hadn’t expected to get short listed. Now he had an interview in a weeks time and was very nervous.
I don’t know why he hadn’t expected to get an interview – we had done a really good job on his CV, ensuring we addressed all the key points in the ad, carefully reading and ensuring we covered the essential and desirable requirements and pulling together a strong covering letter, emphasising how well he matched up.
Martin hadn’t been for an interview for several years so we needed to quickly get him focused on performing well. He wasn’t able to come and see me for a practice session so the interview coaching was done by phone.
The letter came with some additional information including a list of the companies competences. This was great as it made preparation straightforward. I undertake a lot of competency based interviewing. As an interviewer I probe well to get the detail, so it is best to prepare.
Competency based interview
If you are going to face a competency based interview you should have a list of the competencies sent to you in advance. When you look at the list you need to think of examples that demonstrate your abilities in this area and I always encourage clients to look for at least 2 examples of each competence which is quite a lot of work.
When you get a competency question you need to be prepared and structured. You will be asked questions which relate to scenarios and for each scenario you should:
-
Briefly outline the situation
-
Describe what you actually did
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Say what the outcome was and give your estimate of the proportion of credit you can claim for that outcome
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Say what you gained from the experience
For example:
Describe an effective team of which you are a member. What is your particular contribution to the team? In what way is the team effective?
I have been a member of a local cricket club in Cheshire for the last two years, which not only is fun but also provides an escape from studying Engineering. I am an important member of the team as I am the main strike bowler and sound middle order batsman with an average of over 20 last season and I was therefore, partially responsible for one of the clubs most successful seasons in its history. In addition, to good performances on the field, the club also performed well off the field, as we organised various fundraising events that have benefited both the club and the community. For example, this year we held a fete where I was responsible for running a food stall, which improved my organisational and interpersonal skills.
If you have a question about competency based interviews, do get in touch.
- Undertook 39 client sessions on career discovery, career management and job search, phew! Plus wrote 2 executive CVs.
- Wrote 17 entries on my blog
- Paid for a blog review and put many of the improvements in pace. My blog is much more attractive and I've had more comments in 2 weeks than in 2 years!
- Went to the Nozstock Festival, Cornbury Festival. I also missed out on Saul Folk Festival as the site was flooded in early July and Sheep Music Festival as due to the latest floods as we couldn't get out of the village.
- Helped out at Tewkesbury Medieval Festival
- Attended a meeting with the Institute of Careers Guidance regarding career guidance for students and then met up with two local careers advisors to share knowledge
- Learnt to live with the minimum of water
Don't wait for the newsletter, get to read my blog. Get expert guidance and comments on how to get the best from your career.
Recent articles include:
- MBTI and career choice
- The functional CV
- Career choice for high earners
- Career coaching, will it help you identify your strengths and abilities?
- Career coach on job hunting for the over 50s
- Just in time interview coaching
- Are you being productive or just busy?
- CVs - 15 tips on making a short list
- How do you prefer to learn
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Amazing People was referred to in the Daily Mail. There was a feature on Careers Counselling with 3 people interviewed including my client, Rhiannon. There was also details on how much other companies charge - up to £200 per hour and certainly not likely to offer my high standards of client care.
I was also on a phone in for local radio talking about the floods and dealing with lack of water.
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Amazing People - Tewkesbury, GL20 8HL - Career Counselling and Guidance - Assessments - Job Search Support - Assessment and Development specialist: denise@amazingpeople.co.uk
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