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CVs & Interview Prep: Stand Out and Get Hired · Work It Like A Mum

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, I'm Elizabeth Willis, and I'm obsessed with helping as many women as possible achieve their boldest dreams after kids and helping you to navigate this messy and magical season of life.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a working mom with over 17 years of equipment experience and I'm the founder of the Investing in Women Jobboard and Community.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: In this show, I'm honored to be chatting with remarkable women, redefining our working world across all areas of business.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: They'll share the secrets on how they've achieved extraordinary success after children.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: The founders of fallacy, the challenges they face and overcome.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'm the owner of success.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: Shy away from the real talk.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: We cover it all.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: Think of this as coffee with your face.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Sprinkle with the career advice you wish you really had.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: So grab a cup of coffee or a glass of wine.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure you coffee safe and get ready to get inspired and chase your oldest dreams.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Or just survive Mondays.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: This is the Work It Like a Month podcast.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: This episode is brought to you by Investing in Women.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Investing in Women is a job board and recruitment agency helping you find your dream part-time or flexible job with the UK's most family-friendly and forward-thinking employers.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Their site can help you find a professional and rewarding job that works for you.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: They're proud to partner with the UK's most family-friendly employers across a range of professional industries.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: Ready to find your perfect job?
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: Search their website at investinginwomen.co.uk to find your next part-time or flexible job opportunity.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: Now, back to the show.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to week four of our Momentum um career series.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Today I'm going to be talking to you all about CVs, interview prep, how to stand out and get hired.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: We're also going to be touching on LinkedIn as well.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much to everyone for joining me today.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: I know it's a really, really hot day, so appreciate you um giving um up your lunchtime.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: But thank you so much for joining.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Do let me know if you can hear me okay, if the sounds are right.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Also, as we're going, it's always so much better if these sessions are interactive.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: So if you've got any questions, please pop them in the comments and I will do um do my best to answer them for you.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, before we get started, let me know where you are watching from.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, are you melting?
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have a fan on you?
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, pop in the comments and what you are hoping to get um get from this session so I can try and help you the best I can.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: So um today, like I said, we're going to be talking about how to craft a compelling CV and learn how to ace your interviews within I don't know-how.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I guess it will also be covering some LinkedIn as well.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so let me move on to the first slide.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: So a little bit about me.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm Elizabeth Willis, I'm the founder of the Investing Women Job Board um and recruitment company.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: I actually have 19 years of recruitment experience now, so I'll be 20 years next year.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and during my career, I've reviewed thousands of CVs, interviewed hundreds of candidates.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we get applications all day, every day.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I definitely know a good one when I see one because we're constantly assessing candidates, not just at the CV stage, but obviously at interview as well.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm now bringing you my top tips on how to write a CV that opens doors, a LinkedIn profile recruiters will love, and how to prepare for an interview as well.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: If you've got one in the pipeline, let us know as well in the comments how long have you been looking for um a job and how are you finding the market as well.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's always really um really helpful to know that.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: So I've got a lovely um quote here from the um awesome Albert Einstein.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: I Albert Einstein he said, strive not to be um a success, but rather to be of value, and that is what all employers are looking for.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: They're looking for somebody who they believe will be able to add value to their business and to the role that they are recruiting for.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: So you'll be able to see from the job advert what is important to that particular employer, and then you'll be able to tailor your CV um to show how you are gonna add value to that particular role and that particular business.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: So I think if that is always, always in the back of your mind, how am I proving my value to a prospective employer?
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: It will make your job search so much easier and so much more successful.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: So it's going through your CV, are you demonstrating the value that you can bring to a business in your interview answers?
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: Are you articulating that value?
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: And we'll come on to that as we go.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: So, what you'll learn today, why CV structure is more important than you think, why keyword research and tailoring your CV to each job is more important than ever, how to stand out and differentiate yourself from the competition, my secret to keeping your CV detailed enough without going over the magic two pages, the CV mistake that could cost you the interview, the importance of LinkedIn and tips to create a standout profile, and interview preparation tips to help you land your dream job.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: So, first of all, we're going to be covering CV.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and they're still really important, they are still the gateway um to any interview, the gateway to um you know a job, particularly obviously from a cold application if you don't know somebody within that business.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so it's really important to get your CV in um tip top shape.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: So, appearance.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: So, like I said, as recruiters, we get hundreds of applications sometimes in a day.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so we need to be able to see things that we need to see regarding people's experience really easily, and we need to know exactly where it's going to be on the CV because you know, being honest, we probably will only spend a few seconds on um at first glance on a CV, and then actually we might then look a little bit further into that person's CV if you know we think they might be suitable for the role, but we need you need to keep it really easy for us to find what we're looking for.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, a confused mind does not buy, and a CV is really a sales document, it's a sales document of you and your experience.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so you've got to make sure that you're not confusing the buyer, and in this situation, the buyer is the recruiter, the hiring manager.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: So think about how you're gonna the appearance of your CV.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: You don't need to make it too fancy, don't you don't want loads of distracting graphics.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: We don't want a photo on there either, because that can you know create bias, it takes up quite a lot of space on what should be a short document.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: But keep the font clean, you know, no italics or you know, calligraphy style fonts, so calibre or aerial, easy to read, size 11 for the main points, 14 for the head headings, use a black text on white background, so something really simple.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna go through the structure in a bit, but that would be first things first when you first start putting a pen to paper.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, at the top, we need your personal details.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and the amount of people that don't seem to put their personal details at the top is quite staggering.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: So, obviously, your name, you don't need necessarily your full address, um, if you're worried about like GDPR and things like that, but definitely pop your town or whereabouts in the country you are.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: The reason being you might apply for a role and that I'm recruiting for, for example, and you might not be a hundred percent right for that particular role.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: However, I'm gonna get a role potentially next week that you are perfect for, but I need to know where you live because I need to know if you can get to that particular role.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: So definitely put your town, your county, etc., email address, phone number, please put your phone number.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: So many people don't put their phone numbers in, and then if we get them an interview, it's really hard, you know, to know how to contact you urgently, and then your LinkedIn profile with a hyperlink if applicable.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: And then under your obviously contact details is your personal profile.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: So a few sentences directly under the tell the hiring manager who you are and what your key experience is, obviously relevant to the role that they are recruiting for.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um don't need something that's completely irrelevant, it has to be relevant to them.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: Think of it as a professional Instagram bio.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: So highlight your key achievements, what makes you unique, and why you are looking for a new role.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: So it doesn't need to be war and peace.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: We've got to keep this document quite short.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I really do like um chronologically ordered um CV, so traditional CV.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I know that there's quite a trend at the moment to have lots of like reams, it feels of putting your key skills, experience, etc.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if people have been taught that because of ATS, but I as a recruiter will tend to scroll straight past all that to see what experience they've actually had.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: So I will buy with you, keep the per personal profile quite short and then get that experience quite high up on the CV.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: So then moving on to this career history.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: So start with your most recent job first and then add previous jobs in reverse chronological order.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: So you want to be using the job title first as a header in bold, um, type followed by employer name, include obviously dates employed from until keeping all that consistent.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: So obviously, in the job, you're gonna be listing your day-to-day responsibilities using bullet points, definitely use bullet points because it makes it so much easier to read.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: Our brains we've been trained to skim read, and recruiters have as well.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: So it needs to be easy for us to read, avoiding generalizations.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: Every single point you are making on your CV, ask yourself, so what?
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll come on to that.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, for example, if you're an account manager and you put manage manage accounts on behalf of my employer, so what?
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: That doesn't really mean anything.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: But actually, if you put manage accounts worth 2 million pounds on behalf of my employer, um, nurturing client relationships resulting in an X percent um renewal rate, reducing churn, blah blah blah blah.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: Now I can see the value of your experience.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: So sometimes people actually do really brief, brief bullet points which don't demonstrate actually that value, that impact when they have actually done it.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: So is each point it's better to have fewer points, but and that are those that are the most impactful really are showing the relevance and that value in your CV.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so we do career history first and then education again.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: Start with most recent recent education first and work backwards, includes dates attended, which institution, what you studied, and the grades if you did well back to about A level.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: Add all relevant qualifications and professional um relevant training, professional qualifications to this section.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: Also, if you're, for example, an accountant, you maybe got ACA.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: If you've got first-time passes, it's quite nice to put things like that in there as well that you got first-time passes.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: That's obviously quite a selling point on your CV.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: Any languages, make sure you put those in and fluency levels.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: Not everybody speaks languages, so that's always um always a highlight.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: And then your IT skills as well, make sure you add those.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: They're obviously increasingly relevant.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: We do get roles sometimes where they, for example, use SAP or Oracle or Xero, whatever, but they need people that have done used that system in the past.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so make sure you're putting all your IT experience in there as well.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I always would say for somebody experienced in their career to start with career history and then education underneath.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: However, if you are a recent graduate or you're supporting a recent graduate, then I would start with education first because obviously their work experience is quite limited and it shows that they are graduating from university.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Then we need to be thinking about some of the keywords.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: The reason being is that a lot of um times your CV will not be reviewed by a human in the first instance, it's going to be reviewed by a robot, and obviously, this is increasingly likely, and the only time your CV may be reviewed by a person, I mean obviously we would review CVs, but you know, small small organizations probably haven't invested in that um applicant tracking system that all the big companies have.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: But so for the you know, for most um jobs that you'll be applying for, um, you know, any medium to large businesses are probably going to be using an applicant tracking system now.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: If not, it might be an outsourced CV screener.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: We used to use those when I worked um at Deloitte, and again, that person was told to look for certain keywords, so you need to be looking through the advert, making sure that your CV includes some of those keywords that are in the advert, because that is what that system will be trained to pick out on, and so you need to make it really easy for the system and show that you have done some of the things that that job is asking for.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, this is I think the most important thing is this impact.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: What impact have you made?
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: Because this will be going through every single hiring manager's um mind.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: What positive difference will you make to our organization if we hire you?
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: So fundamentally, they're going to be interested in one of three things.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: Can you save us time?
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: Because time is money, really.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: Can you save us money or can you make us money?
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I would argue that every single job, um, whether it's front office or back office, should be able to demonstrate one of those three things.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: So you might, you know, if you're obviously you're on sales, it's really easy to say I have made my company X.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: However, if you've been an accountant, if you've been in HR, if you've been in um, I'm trying to think procurement, lots of other roles will be more focused on the saving the time and the saving um a business money.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: And then you need to quantify it.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, how much have you saved?
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, how did you do that?
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: And how much did you save?
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: What then was the monetary value of that ideally?
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, obviously, sales is a little bit easier.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: How much money have you made to your employer in the past?
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: Even like account manager roles which aren't direct sales, there has to be some sort of impact that you can demonstrate because employers are nervous at the moment, they want to feel that they're taking on a safe pair of hands, somebody that can add value to their business pretty quickly.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: When writing about your achievements, you want to be following the star technique.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: So I always include a key achievement when I'm writing CVs for my clients in every single one more most recent job, actually, that they've done because that really shows the uniqueness of your experience and really brings it to life.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: So when writing about your achievements, you want to be following the star technique.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: So the star technique stands for situation, task, action, result.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so think about um the situation.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: So what share some context around the challenges faced, the task, what was your responsibility in overcoming this challenge?
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: No, not what the team was, not we did that, this, we did that.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: That really does weaken an answer.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, and even though we do want to hire team players, actually, we're not interviewing your team, we're interviewing you, um, you know, or we're reviewing your CV.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: So we want to know what you did.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: Because if you start saying we did this, we did that, we did that, really hard to assess the impact you made and where you actually this probably starts going through um Hymer Manager's minds, where you're actually being carried by other people in the team.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: Action, what step-by-step action did you take to solve the problem and the result?
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: How did this benefit the employer?
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: Did it save them time, money?
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: Did it make them money?
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: You know, one of those three things that every single employer is interested in.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: Keep it concise, so try not to go over two to three pages.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: I was I think two and a half is fine.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: If it's going over that, it just looks like you can't pick out the important things um in your history.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: And obviously, not everything you'll have done is relevant, going to be relevant to the roles you are applying for either.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: And you want to be using narrower margins rather than smaller fonts to avoid going to the next page, so you can just change the margin sizes.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: Proofreading, you want to be checking your CV multiple times because a spelling mistake really can cost you an interview.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: It really just makes you look sloppy, particularly you know, where we have so many spell checks and things like that available to us.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: For example, you know, we had an applicant from somebody that was most recently working in Dubai, so and they'd spelled Dubai wrong, and that was the top, the most recent job.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just things like that where you think, oh, if you're gonna spell misspelled Dubai where you've worked for the past two years, are you going to make another mistake at work?
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: So you don't want to be, you don't want people to be questioning you um at this stage.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: So once you finish writing it, read read it again repeatedly, send it to someone else to read, pop it through all the spell checkers, you can get Grammar Lane, that's free.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because remember, it's you know, if we've got 400 applications for role and you've spelt Dubai wrong, it says something about you.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: So have a make sure you're reading what you're writing.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then these are just some examples of some CVs I've worked for on behalf of clients in the past, but you can sort of see here what I mean about this quite a heavy CV the before.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, we're scrolling through then to see where her relevant experience is.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's not bullet pointed in the work history, it's not then clear what she's done when it's not instant that you know, all her um impact and things like that, but on the after, it's so much more easy, um, easy for us to digest, easier for us to see as recruiters what she's done, um, and also just breaking up these key achievements as well, focusing on those impact, you know, how she's delivered 220,000 pounds in cost savings and how she's done that, etc.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: So that's just an example of you know how you can make your CV so much easier to digest and so much more impactful.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that's just obviously the finish of it again.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: It was very, very bulky before, and it was just pulling it up and making it much less bulky, much less uh much easier for um for recruiters to read, as well as see what she'd done.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um another one here where it was very heavy at the top, and you know, as as recruiters, we want to see what your experience actually is.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: So we're always just gonna scroll down this and go to the actual career.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: So I always think it's so much better to lift it up a bit more um and bullet point it all down, etc.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and yeah, I'm trying to think there's anything else there.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: The other thing I would say is I don't know if it's on these CVs, but if you have been working somewhere for a little while and you have um potentially had promotions within that um organization, so you've enjoyed a few roles um within that business, rather than really splitting out.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: So, like I said, if you're getting lots of applications, you're probably not going to spend a lot of time on the first you know glance.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um what I would do, what I always do if someone's had, you know, several promotions within their business is I would put their employer name, dates they've worked, and then rather and then various roles due to promotion, and then it's like sort of headings underneath that.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: I do break up all the experiences, they're like they are separate roles, but I try and make it as clear as I can that this person has not had multiple jobs in multiple different companies, but actually, they have worked at this place you know for a number of years and have enjoyed promotions within that business because that again is like a reference, really, on a CV.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: It shows that your employer or your previous employer trusted you, valued you, and therefore promoted you, and that is a massive selling point on your CV.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: So that is just something to keep in mind um how you are grouping those roles because you know there is still, rightly or wrongly, a negative connotation for some on somebody that has jumped around a lot in their career history, so you don't want to accidentally look like you have jumped a lot between different companies.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: You've got to lean into what your strengths are and what your selling points are.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: Does anyone have any questions on CVs?
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um otherwise, we will move on to LinkedIn.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, is anyone on LinkedIn?
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: What are your thoughts on LinkedIn?
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: Let me know in the comments.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know how you feel about LinkedIn as well.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, LinkedIn, though, I think of LinkedIn as a job board with a social, it's like a job board slash networking site, if you like, with a social media wrapper on it.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: But basically it's just Go-to platform for networking, job hunting, and connecting with industry professionals.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: What I like about LinkedIn though is people go there to do business.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's not like Facebook, although I know people say it's like Facebook, it's it feels people go there to do business, to go there to you know to sell, to buy, to hire, to recruit, to network.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: It does feel like it's got more of a sense of purpose than say your Facebook or your Instagram, where you just scroll in to pass the time.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: Don't think you'd necessarily go on LinkedIn to pass the time, you go there to do something.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we've got not we LinkedIn, I think has over a billion um users now, so it's a massive platform, and it's the one that all the recruiters and hiring managers will be on as well.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so first impressions count.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: So you obviously want to do your profile optimization because that is how you are going to be found by recruiters.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: So LinkedIn, if you think about it a little bit like Google and your profile, imagine you were a hotel and you'd built a website for your hotel, and your hotel was, I don't know, a family-friendly hotel, BB in Tenerife.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not making it up, but therefore, if you were building that website, you would be making sure that your website had family-friendly bread and breakfast, tenerife, beach, all loads of different keywords in it that people would be searching on when they were trying to find that type of hotel in Tenerife.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: You your profile needs to be the same, it needs to be fine found, be able to be found by recruiters who are basically using LinkedIn a little bit like Google to find candidates for their jobs.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: And when I say recruiters, it could be in-house recruiters or agency recruiters as well.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: So you need to be thinking, is my profile have I used enough of the keywords or the words I think recruiters are going to be searching for to find application applicants like me.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: So if I'm a marketing manager, I'm not going to have a really fancy obscure title, you know, helping businesses grow with blah blah blah.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just, I'd say just use marketing manager, and then you could expand on the pro um the headline a little bit to have something fancy, but you need the bog standard job title that recruiters are searching on.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, so a professional photo photo, bright clear, you smiling, not you in a group, just you smiling.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know, when I say professional, it doesn't need to be a professional photo photographer that's taking it, but it's not you on a night out with a drink in your hands, or you one of each.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's you that you know, if you if I'm an employer, I look at you and think, yeah, that person looks like a safe pair of hands.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, headline, use keywords for your role and industry.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then underneath that you have an about section, which is a little bit like the personal profile in your CV, but you can expand on it, obviously make it much, much more personal, much friendlier.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, people buy from people, people connect with people, and it, you know, the heart of this is about you as a person and connecting with people.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but you want to be highlighting your key achievements, values, and goals, a little bit about you as well, and what makes you tick.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so once you've built your profile, we then um hopefully here you can sort of see this.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: So there's your headline here.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so again, like I said, if you you can use these lines to break it up, so you get quite a lot of space on your profile.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: But I would start the headline with your job title because that is what recruiters are going to be looking for, and obviously you can put your location there, and then there's the about section underneath, um, which is a little bit more like you know, about you.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: There's also banners as well, which you know show you mean business, you can get free ones from Canva, um, etc.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: Then networking, what networking actually is.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_00: So networking is about relationships, it's not about pitching.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: I don't I think people don't like the idea of LinkedIn because we've all been on LinkedIn, we've connected with someone and then been pitched to straight away, and nobody likes that.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: But networking is brilliant.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: There is a saying that your net worth is the size of your your network, is your net worth.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: So actually having a it doesn't have to be a huge network, it has to be a network relevant to you.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: What you want to achieve, it has to be a deep network, you know.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_00: So these are people that if you lost your job, you could ring them up, old colleagues, things like that, people that would vouch for you.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's always really important.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: Those are the relationships you want to be cultivating, and you want to be cultivating and networking people before you need to.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I appreciate some of you might not be working at the moment, but if you are working, is this saying dig your well, build your well before you are thirsty, and that's why I think networking is so important, whether you are working or not, because this network is going to be your insurance policy.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: But if you do find yourself out of work, or you need a favor, or you need some help getting your kid their first interview, or whatever it is, this is where your network is going to really step in.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: So it's being visible to the right people, being trusted, building trust over time.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: Trust does not happen overnight.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: You need to see somebody doing something over and over and over again, often for years, to be able, you know, to trust them enough to vouch for them.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, if I'm recommending you for something, you know, if I'm if I'm an ex-colleague recommending you to something, I need to have developed that trust that you are not going to let me down if I recommend you to somebody else.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_00: You know, remember it takes time to build that.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_00: That's why it's really important to keep keep doing it and creating conversations, not transactions, always giving before you receive.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, if you want to say it in real life, don't say it online.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, comments, things like that can follow you around and can create a negative impression.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, real networking, you obviously can do that online through LinkedIn and also face to face as well.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: There'll be lots, you know, relevant networking groups, etc., or networking events.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: You don't necessarily need to go out to group, but there might be something for you in real in real life as well, which is always always better.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, if you're in HR, for example, if you go on the CIPD website, you'll be able to see if they've got any networking events, or you could type, you know, HR events near me or you know, accounting, you know, whatever you do, there may be some sort of membership body that hosts networking events, and if you start going to them, you'll start developing those relationships.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: But obviously, you want to be developing those relationships online as well.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: So you can be doing that through LinkedIn, so connecting with people through LinkedIn um that are relevant to you, where you want your career to go, and then they're like I said you give more than you receive.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: If you start commenting on their posts, being nice to them, then they will start remembering that as well.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: And actually, it helps you too.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, what networking can do to you for you, obviously find jobs is you know, it always stands you in good stead when the market, I don't know.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_00: Tell me what you're finding the job market to be like at the moment, put it in the comments.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, in a traditionally tough job market, somebody that has had a personal recommendation or knows somebody within that business you know is more likely to get at least an interview, um, and also more likely to be able to pivot, make a career pivot if someone's like, actually, this person doesn't tick all the boxes, but I know they're trustworthy, reliable, I'm gonna give them a shot.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, or you might be able to find a job that's not even being advertised as well.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_00: So through networking, you can find or hear about jobs, find um employers, build credibility, create referrals, open doors.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_00: Networking as well doesn't have to be formal, it could be you at the school gate, you getting involved with you know your local community, and then whilst you're doing that, telling people that you're looking for work, what you do at the moment, what your background is.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_00: That is also networking.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't have to be this formal, scary networking or people that you always worked with professionally, it's though it's your community as well, and it could be your local community, and it's just I think networking is actually about being open as well and sometimes a little bit vulnerable and you know what you're looking for, and you know, if if somebody knows somebody, etc.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_00: But remember that trust thing is really important and it happens over time.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, don't go to one networking event or speak to one person, say you're looking for work and not hear anything and think it's rubbish because it's not that's not how it works, it takes time.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_00: But you want to be finding connecting people so you can use LinkedIn um search to find people via job titles, their life stages, industries you resonate with.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_00: So you want to be aiming for 20 thoughtful connection requests a day.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's not icky to send a connection request on LinkedIn.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody sends connection requests, don't do more than 20 because you only get 100 a week.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_00: So 20 a day is fine, but you want to be making them relevant to you.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, people you'd happily have a coffee with, and you want to nurture those people once you've connected.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_00: Quality always means quantity, and you don't want to do too many because otherwise LinkedIn won't like that.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so 20 a day, make it a habit when they've connected with you.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_00: Follow up, say thank you so much for connecting.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm really looking forward to following your journey here and looking forward to learning more.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_00: Something like that.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't, you know, it doesn't have to be you pitching for anything like that, um, you know, pitching for a job or whatever, but it's just you building those connections.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_00: And then, like I said, if you start commenting on those people's posts, they are going to remember you, they are going to notice you.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, here is a little um connection message example.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you so much for connecting.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's great to be in touch.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'm currently exploring the opportunities in which area industry, so I'm reaching out to people whose work and experience I really respect.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_00: No pressure at all.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_00: But if there's anything interesting happening in your world or anyone you think might be useful for me to speak to, I'd love to hear.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you're having a good week, best your name, something like that.
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_00: And that does tell people you are open to work, but just just you know, opens the door then to you then building a bit of a relationship with this person.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you can obviously stand out further with content creation.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_00: I think something like crazy, like only three percent of people post on LinkedIn, so it's a really small pool of people, you know, statistically that do post, but it does help you stand out.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_00: I've built two businesses through LinkedIn, I've built investing women, and I also do utility warehouse on the side, and I've built them both through LinkedIn.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_00: So I know that LinkedIn works, and like I said, people go on LinkedIn to do business, whether that's you know, obviously selling something, but also um recruiting and hiring as well.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_00: So you definitely definitely up your chances of standing out and being seen as a respected person in your industry, being seen as a thought leader, um, and that you know, once you're seen at that expert level, then all the doors open, doors you weren't even expecting to open open.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: But the only way you if you really want to be seen as that, and then like the expert, and then you get invited to things, and it's you know, so many doors open, then you've got to put yourself out there.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_00: So you could post about industry trends, share accomplishments, lessons learned, obviously engage with others via comments as well.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and that's just some of the things you you could be posting about.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_00: When you post about industry trends, it could just be even like a screenshot of a headline, and but then your thoughts above, don't reshare other people's stuff if possible, because people do that and think they've posted.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_00: You haven't really posted, even if you've put your thoughts above it, you just helped the person of the original poster.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_00: LinkedIn much prefers original content with no links in the actual post.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to add a link to something externally, because obviously LinkedIn doesn't want people being taken off LinkedIn because that will affect their ad revenue.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_00: Then you pop a link in the comments.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, you don't need to post daily, it doesn't need to be polished.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_00: I think in an AI, well, people don't really want polished, doesn't need to be loud, but you do need to show up consistently, do need to be yourself, and it does help build trust all over time, particularly if you're quite authentic.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_00: And like anything in life, the small daily actions compound, and it's getting into the habit of doing it, and you will notice you know, if you do it for a week, you think oh, it doesn't work.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, no, you've got to stick to it six months' time, then you can come back to me and say it hasn't worked, but you've got to do it consistently.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_00: They've also got brilliant job search features, so you can harness LinkedIn power to do that.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_00: You can apply, obviously, for jobs directly on the platform.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_00: There's an open to work feature as well.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_00: You can use the discreet mode if needed, and also you can research companies and recruiters before interviews, which I would highly, highly recommend.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_00: You can go on there, obviously, somebody's personal profile, you can see where they previously worked, what their career trajectory has been like, and then also you can go onto the company LinkedIn page as well, and you know, see what they're posting so you get an idea then on what's important to them.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, moving on to interview prep.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_00: If anyone's got any questions on LinkedIn, pop that in the comments.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, acing your interview, so don't try to wing it.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_00: So confidence and preparation is key.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so obviously, research, know your employer.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_00: So study their website and recent news, type them into Google News.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_00: Have they been in the news recently?
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_00: If so, why?
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_00: What are their missions, values, and challenges?
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure you know that you understand that because then you can parrot it back to them in an interview, and that will show that you've done your research and look at their interview, your interview's LinkedIn profile as well, and maybe some other people in the team because that you'll get familiarity.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_00: It'll help you actually build your confidence as well.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you can see their background.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_00: Just know when I used to work for Delight, we'd always say, Why do you want to work for Delight?
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_00: And they would say, Because I want to work for one of the big four.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_00: And that to me just shows that they've not done any research because some anybody in our industry would know that they were one of the big four, so that's not demonstrating that you've done research.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_00: You can prepare for common questions, um, have your answers ready.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_00: So, I mean, obviously, these are really common, but tell me about yourself what are your strengths and weaknesses, why do you want to work here?
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, use that star method again for your behavioural questions, the competency-based questions.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_00: But this that is the situation that happened in your previous employer, the task, what you know, what you achieved, and the result.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_00: And use the I did this, I did that, not the we did that, this or we did that, because that really does weaken your answer and weaken your experience.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_00: But you'll be able to, I think you know, you can use AI as well, you'll be able to really have a good idea if you get an interviewer what kind of questions they're going to be asking you that are going to be specific, um specific to the role that you are interviewing for, because it'll you'll you'll be able to see you know what's important to them, you know, if it's something to do with sales, for example, be talking about managing client accounts, um, cold calling, whatever it is, and then you'll be able to tell people you know your experience, tailor all your answers to what is important to them.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_00: You can pop it through your CV, you can pop it through um job add through chat GPT and say, look, what do you think questions are gonna be?
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_00: And they'll come back and tell you.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, you should be able to know roughly, even if you don't use AI, you'll be able to plan what type of questions they're going to ask you.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_00: It might be managing stakeholder relationships, doing data reports, um presentations, all things like that, and then you can then prepare some um answers for those.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, you want to be dressing appropriately for the role, even if it's a virtual interview, from the top half up, you want to be making a good impression.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_00: So, no hoodies, you know, no slogany t-shirts or anything like that.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_00: Even if they dress down in the office normally, I think you still need to over-dress rather than under address for an interview.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_00: You want to play safe because you don't know what the person interviewing you's expectations are, so always best to play it safe.
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and you know, like I said, employees want to hire a safe pair of hands as well.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_00: So you want to arrive early if you're obviously face-to-face interview, bring a couple of copies of your CV because you can glance down if you want, um, but maintain good eye contact and body language.
• 40:42
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're doing a virtual interview, um, you want to obviously make sure your whatever system they're using, Teams, Google Meet, Zoom, whatever, it's all working fine on your computer because what you don't want to do is say it's on Zoom, and then you log in Zoom at one minute to three, your interviews are three, and then you need to do a Zoom update and it restarts your entire computer.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_00: That is not what you want.
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure it's plugged in so the battery doesn't die halfway through the interview, and then look at the camera rather than yourself.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_00: Because if you're looking at the camera, that is maintaining eye contact with the view, the person on the other side.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_00: That is um, that's my top tip to look at the camera, and then you want to do a nice follow-up after the interview as well.
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_00: And reason being not everybody does it, most people don't do this, and this actually shows that you really helps you stand out, it shows that you're a good person.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_00: So you want to send your personalized thank you within 24 hours, obviously, to the person interviewing you, but also to the recruiter that organized it because you know they'll be they want you to get it, and they be organizing hopefully other things for you as well.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_00: Briefly mention something memorable from the interview and reiterate your enthusiasm for the role.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I've got lots more tips in my book, Flex.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, I've got a copy behind, um, but yeah, you can order that on Amazon or um Waterstones or any independent bookshop as well.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_00: So, um, and that has loads more about CVs, interviews, LinkedIn.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, we cover cover letters, getting really clear on who you are, what you want in life, and what you want from your career, advice on career pivots, etc.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_00: There's also some stuff about starting a business as well.
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_00: So that is available from all good bookshops.
• 42:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then if you feel that you want more personalized one-to-one, um, also offer individual career coaching as well.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_00: So you can use scan that QR code and that will take you to the link.
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_00: And that is where I would, for example, go through your CV, we go through line by line on your CV, making sure it shows you in your best possible light, and it really does reflect the value and the impact that I know you can bring to your next employer, and it's just sort of selling you and your experience.
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_00: Also, do LinkedIn, where again I write, I actually write your profile for you.
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_00: So I write your headline, I write your about section, I help you with that networking, who to contact, what to say when you connect with them, um, and then some posts ideas as well, so you can start um building up a bit of personal brand magazine as a thought leader, and then LinkedIn as well is where we do a mock interview, and we do it all in real time, and I give you feedback in real time so you can tweak your answers as you go.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_00: So, all the information about the services is on our website.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, if you um you want to click on that QR code.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_00: If anyone has any questions, pop them in the comments.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but otherwise, I will let you all go back to your sunny day.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_00: So, thank you so so much for joining us.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_00: The replay will be sent shortly.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_00: So, if you missed any of it, um don't worry, the replay will be sent.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_00: And thank you so much for joining me.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening to another episode of the Work It Like a Mum podcast.
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_00: If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_00: And don't forget to share the link with a friend.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_00: If you're on LinkedIn, please send me a connection request at Elizabeth Willet and let me know your thoughts on this week's episode.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_00: You can also follow my recruitment site, Investing in Women, on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, keep on chasing your biggest dream.