# A new career - but where to start?!?



## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

All

After 8 successful years in the same job, yesterday I finally got the balls to do a deal with my Director for me to leave the company with a mutually agreed settlement, and head off for pastures new.

Having been out of the recruitment scene for 8 years I am in the modern sense pretty new to this and it looks a bit of a minefield! I've signed up for Monster and Totaljobs (are they still the old favourites?), but having not written a CV since 2000 I am a bit out of touch, so any tips, advice or pointers to helpful websites would be much appreciated.

Cheers 

p.s. If it helps narrow down what I'm looking for in terms of specialist websites, I'm 30yo and my field is eBusiness & Marketing.


----------



## Major Audi Parts Guru (May 7, 2002)

Kev, would you be interested in building websites?


----------



## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

Major Audi Parts Guru said:


> Kev, would you be interested in building websites?


I don't have the skills to be the one physically building them these days. That's what I started out doing back in 2000 in the good old days of HTML, CSS, Flash etc, but over the years I've moved away from that and into the Marketing side of things including eCommerce and project management etc. So my

There seem to be a few eBusiness type recruitment agencies out there, but I'm not sure which ones are worthwhile, so I was hoping there would be a few bods on here who could point me in the right direction for recruitment agencies etc


----------



## jonah (Aug 17, 2002)

Get yourself registered with as many Recruitment consultants as you can, if your good at what you do the jobs will find you, I had my CV done professionally, cost me Â£250 but boy was it worth it :wink:


----------



## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

jonah said:


> Get yourself registered with as many Recruitment consultants as you can, if your good at what you do the jobs will find you, I had my CV done professionally, cost me Â£250 but boy was it worth it :wink:


Thanks Jonah, who did your CV, that sounds like money well spent?


----------



## robokn (Feb 21, 2006)

Kev I use jobsite and jobserve which have worked for me and the wife both contractors and never been short of work, best of luck


----------



## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

robokn said:


> Kev I use jobsite and jobserve which have worked for me and the wife both contractors and never been short of work, best of luck


Thanks for that, there's a few vacancies on there I will be applying for. Just got to get my CV sorted now, oh and a cover letter!


----------



## M T Pickering (Aug 11, 2004)

Kev I think there is still time to apply for next years "Apprentice" :lol: :lol: :lol: :roll:

Seriously Kev good luck in whatever you do next! Far too many people sit it out in jobs they should have left years ago!


----------



## Wondermikie (Apr 14, 2006)

kmpowell said:


> ...yesterday I finally got the balls to do a deal with my Director for me to leave the company...


Awesome, it takes a lot to walk away with nothing else sorted, no doubt a hefty payout is keeping you reassured  :wink:

Whenever I've moved companies recently, I've always been fortunate enough to know someone at the new company, and that has kept the agencies out of the loop, leaving more negotiation for salary etc. Do you know other people in your field at rival companies or anything like that?


----------



## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

Wondermikie said:


> Do you know other people in your field at rival companies or anything like that?


I've got contacts I've built up over the years, but I'm going to go for something slightly different than the financial sector I think.


----------



## jbell (May 15, 2006)

Kev

If you want ony advice or pointers with redard to your CV or anything then give me a shout, I specialise in high level Consultancy rec

Jon


----------



## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

jbell said:


> Kev
> 
> If you want ony advice or pointers with redard to your CV or anything then give me a shout, I specialise in high level Consultancy rec
> 
> Jon


Jon, that would be brilliant mate if you could. I have drafted my CV, however, having not done one for 8-9 years I am a bit unsure if I have done it right (especially with the dross out there on CV websites!). If you could spare a few mins to have a look over it, it would be appreciated. Can you PM me your email.


----------



## thebears (Jan 14, 2006)

jonah said:


> Get yourself registered with as many Recruitment consultants as you can, if your good at what you do the jobs will find you, I had my CV done professionally, cost me Â£250 but boy was it worth it :wink:


I disagree with this about registering with them all. The problem you face is that they all chase the same jobs and you have your CV several times on the same companies desk.

Do your hoemwork, ask question like how succesful are you in placcing staff, turnnover, repeat clients and all that then go with the one that is most professional.

Good luck.


----------



## garyc (May 7, 2002)

KMP,

Change is as good as a rest eh?

Think about what it is you want to do next and companies or organisations, that you may think you'd like to work for. Make list. Populate with names of relevant potential hiring managers (not HR) then start calling them asking if they have any opportunities in pipeline? Could you come in for a brief exploratory meeting etc - create an opportunity to sell your self.

Why use agencies? - unless they are used for first pass CV screeening always contact companies directly - it show initiative and drive. Research them well. That's quite easy. I'd only use agencies as a fall back.

Do your CV concurrently as a back up document to send in once you have had an initial conversation. 2 pages max beginning with a summary profile. Only show highest and most recent qualifications. No one is interested in what grades you got at school. Have several variants that you can tailor or tweak to suit particular audiences.

I will pm you mine (it's an internal resume, so a little different) but it always gets me interviews, and that is it's sole purpose. There are loads of ways of doing CV/resume. No right or wrong, merely effective and less effective.

Go to some interviews for jobs which you are not too fussed about - it get's one into the job seeking groove.

But maybe take some time out first? :wink:


----------



## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

garyc said:


> But maybe take some time out first? :wink:


Maybe a couple of weeks max Gary, but I want to bank as much of my 'package' as possible, so the job seeking has began straight away. I get bored very eaily too, so the job searching/CV writing etc keeps me occupied during the day.


----------



## garyc (May 7, 2002)

Check hotmail account.


----------



## sasso (Jun 10, 2008)

km,

although i am a newb on the forum i thought id chip in for moral supprt  as i sort of know where u are coming from.

I have been considering my career for a couple of months now. Im 29, a property lawyer, do not really enjoy my job, getting up every day is full of dread

but the b*tch is i have no idea what id rather be doing with my life

anyways, just wanted to say "ur not alone" - good luck with your search


----------



## Wondermikie (Apr 14, 2006)

thebears said:


> jonah said:
> 
> 
> > Get yourself registered with as many Recruitment consultants as you can, if your good at what you do the jobs will find you, I had my CV done professionally, cost me Â£250 but boy was it worth it :wink:
> ...


Quite a good point that, you don't want local companies to think you're being pimped around everywhere.


----------



## jbell (May 15, 2006)

Wondermikie said:


> thebears said:
> 
> 
> > jonah said:
> ...


Agree, registering with everyone is a really bad idea, target your applications to the agencies that deal with your area of expertise (I am a recruiter BTW)

Jonas Â£250 is an utter rip off for a CV


----------



## PIPTT (May 6, 2002)

Kev

yhm

cheers


----------



## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

Just a quick update. After a long round of interviews this week, I have been offered a new position this afternoon. So it looks like I'll be starting my new job at the Start of July!

Thanks to all of you who offered their support and advice.


----------



## jbell (May 15, 2006)

kmpowell said:


> Just a quick update. After a long round of interviews this week, I have been offered a new position this afternoon. So it looks like I'll be starting my new job at the Start of July!
> 
> Thanks to all of you who offered their support and advice.


Good news Kev, good luck with the new job


----------



## slg (May 6, 2005)

Great news. Good luck in the new job.


----------



## Wondermikie (Apr 14, 2006)

Sounds like a result then, a nice break from work but you'll have kept the majority of your "nestegg".


----------



## senwar (Apr 21, 2003)

nice one mate - envious.

A big career change is definitely on my agenda in the next 12-18 months


----------

