CV 4 Jobs

More and more people are looking for employment on Second Life and guess what – many are finding employment and making a living.

There are recruitment agencies on Second Life to help you find that job. I wonder are they any better than the agencies in the real world.

Does anyone actually know anyone working and making a living?

I did visit Second Life a few times but found it hard work. Thats the old man in me.

Is the real world that bad?
Are real jobs that bad?
Are real agencies that bad?

Would you pin your CV to the side of a public phone box or put it on the notice board of a local supermarket to try and get a job?

Lets face it we are getting lazy when it comes to finding a job. Email a CV to an agency and sit back or post your CV on an online job board and let the employers find you.

If you use these strategies you might take a little more care.

A client (who happens to work in recruitment for a financial services company) told me today that she had recently received spec CV’s from some recruitment companies. What is wrong with this? Well for two of the CV’s it would not have taken a rocket scientist to work out who owned the CV. In relation to jobboards they may not be as safe as you think – read this post.

What problems can arise?

The obvious is that your current employer finds out that you are looking but more importantly CV’s have personal details like name, address and contact details. (Dangerous in wrong hands – fraudster or weirdo)

Solutions

Use reputable agencies or request that your CV is not sent out speculatively. Use established jobboards.

Here is the scenario – you are searching for a job BUT you are struggling to get interviews. You have been applying for many jobs directly through the newspapers but you don’t seem to have the relevant qualifications or experience stated. This means straight to the PFO pile or more politely – the thanks but no thanks pile.

What do you do?

If you keep doing what you are doing then you will keep getting the same results. In your case – NO interviews and therefore NO job.

a) Try a different strategy.

There are many strategies to can source new employment such as networking, recruitment agencies or online job boards. Explore these avenues as they many produce different results.

b) Play a game of hide the CV.

When many organisations recruit staff they use the following process. Design a job spec, post an advert and screen CV’s according to the job spec, interviews for successful and rejection for unsuccessful. Most employers realise that there are applicants who apply that are capable of doing the job but they are being rejected because they don’t fit the job specification. If you send your CV it will go straight into the “NO” pile.

Here is the challenge or game. Try to get an interview without sending a CV. This will involve calling the hiring manager, using the short time you have to make a pitch and secure an interview without him/her actually seeing your CV. It is difficult but it can be achieved.