CareerVision, Proud Sponsors of Bruff RFC

CareerVision (www.careervision.ie), which is headed by Elaine Gennery & Karen Gray are proud sponsors of Bruff RFC. Elaine who is a Director of CareerVision, and a native of Herbertstown and Bruff, is passionate about rugby and believes that sports psychology overlaps greatly with the psychology of career and talent management. "It is all about tapping into what motivates an individual or team, setting a clear focus, encouraging them to believe that they can achieve their goal, and putting a good plan in place to achieve the same."

CareerVision is all about helping people be the best they can be and in today's environment that is often about helping people re-ignite their careers. She says that “many really capable individuals are today totally frustrated at being unable to find suitable job opportunities. However, this is often not down to a lack of capability or focus, but more likely to be associated with how individuals approach job search. What many people do not realise is that most professional and technical vacancies are not advertised in this current climate – and rightly so! It is too costly for hiring companies to pay for adverts and too burdensome to screen hundreds of applications. It is far more likely that these companies will target poten

tial candidates directly. It is therefore essential that professional individuals learn how to navigate the current labour market with help of networking and social media tools. Otherwise excellent individual talent may miss out on excellent job opportunities.”

So what does Elaine recommend to kick-start a career in today's difficult environment? "Well the following pointers may help:

Figure out what you want before you begin your job hunt in earnest. Are you clear about the types of positions you plan to target? Is there evidence that these jobs actually exist in your geographical region? Make a plan - even a bad plan is better than no plan at all.
Make a list of the top 20-30 employers you most want to work for. Spend less time searching for great jobs and more time searching for great organisations. Identify contacts (or contacts of contacts in each of these organisations). Check out the Company Search at http://www.idaireland.com/ or follow your preferred companies on Twitter and Facebook.
Make yourself Visible - to increase your chances of hearing about new opportunities in the hidden / unpublished job market, you need to make yourself “findable”. Google yourself, your job title, your employer - does any reference to you appear? Join business networking sites (www.linkedin.com) making sure to include key words, competency areas, job titles, employer names, qualifications. Many recruiters and employers now start here. Join relevant groups on Linkedin. Join trade and professional groups. Take on an officer role or make a presentation on a topic of interest to you. Publish and public speak on topics near to your heart. Blog and twitter to your hearts content.
Build a Web of Strong Relationships - networking (or relationship building) accounts for a very high proportion of recruitment for positions. Avoid assumptions - you never know who can help you. First impressions count - maintain a winning attitude. Maintain a system for tracking all contacts, friends and relationships. Focus on building a few high quality relationships. Stay in regular touch. Educate people on how to help you. Get out of your comfort zone and meet new people. Use linkedin.com. Think reciprocally - realise you have much to give back. Close the loop with people.
Prepare your Elevator Pitch - a short, focussed, confident, interesting and flexible pitch that lets others know what it is you do so well or what it is you are looking for in your next move. Then share it with your contacts and networks so that each is crystal clear on what it is you do or want and would easily recognise a good lead for you.
Finalise your Curriculum Vitae - focused, succinct and highly relevant to the target employer. And remember, the relevance of your experience, education, and employment to the hiring manager is going to be the key factor that “makes” or “breaks” most C.V. submissions.
Engage in large doses of outbound activity. Once you are clear on the types of jobs you are targeting and are comfortable that your C.V. is where it needs to be, then you need to make at least 5 relevant outreach efforts per day to suitable individuals and organisations.
Study the Jobs Boards - allow 1 hour per day to research jobs, companies and identify which recruiters are ‘hot’ at the moment. Make contact with relevant recruiters.
Prepare long and hard for interviews - study the role, the company, their competitors, the industry segment. Be prepared to speak to your qualifications and give detailed examples related to each competency. Prepare good evidence of your skills and competencies. Think about lots of smart questions to pose to the employer. Practice, practice, practice. Practice out loud - not in your head.
Attitude is almost everything - Act like you deserve a great job. Come across like a winner. Talk about your bright future. Reflect your strengths. Keep your skills sharp.

CareerVision is the leading provider of Talent Management & Career Planning solutions in Ireland. They are currently providing Talent Management, HR Support & Outplacement Services to organizations / employees of technology, pharma, medical devices, professional services and fmcg. They offer an impressive team of very experienced, empathetic and highly educated consultants from a range of backgrounds including Human Resources, Psychology, Marketing, Training, Counselling and Coaching.

If you require further information, please call Elaine on 00353 (0)87 821 7860 for an initial confidential discussion.