But Woolworths have looked in difficulty for a while. With so much competition, how did Woolies respond – by increasing their product lines and so selling lots of different things but not enough of anything? 

So you could buy DVDs and CDs but their line wasn’t as comprehensive as in HMV.

So many other products, like children’s clothes could be bought cheaper in the major supermarkets.

Then they diversified into selling mobile phones, a highly competitive market and I wouldn’t have though they had a big enough market share to buy as cheap as the major phone companies.

So how does this help you, the job searcher?

Have a good look at your CV. Are you a bit like Woolies, showing how much you can do but not enough depth on anything?

I’m working with a client at the moment who has a background in catering management, retrained to become a legal executive and is now, following redundancy, looking for a new career.  Her CV was a combination of the catering and legal work, and neither really focused on the new area she wants to move into.

So we are now focusing all her work experience onto the new career path, and emphasising the education that supports this, and deemphasising her hotel and catering qualifications. It’s not just about discounting this though.  Her HND covered a lot of business topics, so we’ve listed them.  All is looking so much better.

So you may be thinking of a number of different jobs to apply for, but do make sure that each application is clearly focused on one specific job.

Want some help? Do get in touch.

It is so easy to make a decision but not to have fully thought through options. It might have been better to have considered all options earlier, but he is not atypical, often people only think things through thoroughly after they have made a decision

So how have I helped?

The process I’ve used could also be helpful for anyone who isn’t sure what to do

1.    Write down your options

2.    List the positives against each option

3.    List the negatives against each option

Sometimes it can be hard to think broader about options so then it can be helpful to talk with people and to get more ideas and suggestions.

For this particular client, before withdrawing from the course a lot of things should be considered – how will this look on their CV, are they clear why they want to move to something else and really think deeply about the reasons for the move.

 

I haven’t written my blog as frequently last week – I’m in a busy period with clients and although I can get a lot done in a day, there is a time where I need to minimise the other things I do. 

It’s been an interesting week with clients, two have successfully gained the jobs they sought despite immense competition, others are happy to be finding out more about themselves and then there has been the unusual requests!

I offer interview coaching sessions as part of my career coaching practice, helping people to sell themselves in the best possible light, knowing how to give the most relevant answers to questions and to shine through asking effective questions at the end of the interview. Sometimes it is about boosting someone’s self confidence that they could get the job. 

On Friday I got a request from someone who wanted me to write his presentation for his final interview and he even sent me his brief! He said he was too busy to do this. I was a bit amazed by the request, but see it in the same category as people who want to get someone else to write their essay at university, and there are people out there willing to pay and others glad of the money.

What I could have done was help him to understand the question and use his knowledge to good effect, but he didn’t seem to want to put any effort into it himself. 

Imagine if I had done it – how would he have responded to questions by the interviewing panel, and, as the presentation was highly related to his job what would then happen if he failed to deliver?

 

 

 

 

I’ve worked with a couple of people recently and as we talk the truth hits them, their life is all about their job and when I ask what else they enjoy in life there is a silence.

I’m going to generalise a bit here, but as we get into a career path we can concentrate on doing well, getting promoted, a job with more responsibility, and it does take up a lot of our time

As we are young we can work hard and play hard, but after a few years, well sometimes 10 or more people begin to realise that they don’t have anything else in their life. 

Over the past few days I’ve worked with Chris. What was really helpful for him was looking at the results of the Strong Interest Inventory and whilst there is a list of jobs that match with his interests, this can also be helpful for some hobbies. Social worker and counsellor came up high on his list of jobs and this got us talking about how he had wanted to get involved with Night Line whilst at university, but never did so as it wasn’t the sort of thing he thought a member of the rugby team did.

He’s now a bit older and ready to find out more. 

He also came high as a match with the culinary arts. So we talked about cooking and this was something he used to do but has got into the habit of micro waved meals after a long day at work. But he definitely thought cooking was something he could get into a couple of times in the week.

What about you? Do you have time for a social life? And if you made the time, what would you do?