What Emma did next – part 1

by Karalyn on March 15, 2010

I have received so many emails from women who want advice on how to find a job after taking time out for children. To be honest, these are so hard to answer as everyone is so different. Plus there are hundreds of ways to approach finding a new role. So I thought instead, it would be insightful to stalk one woman, Emma, as she navigates her way away from nappies and back into the (paid) work force. Over to you Em..…

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Graduate resume tips– get active with action words

by Karalyn on March 11, 2010

Many of my graduate clients seem to use the passive voice a lot. I don’t know whether it’s a hangover from writing academic style where nobody claims responsibility, but a resume and interview are two places where you strut your stuff, so to speak. If you’re confused, ask which of the below sounds more powerful? “The stuff was strutted by me” = passive or “I strutted my stuff” = active. For more graduate resume and application tips, read on…

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Stand out from the crowd in graduate group exercises

March 9, 2010

It’s graduate interview season and it’s highly likely you’ll face an assessment centre where you’ll probably go through a group exercise. You may have seen them. Typically, you sit in a group talking about how to survive as a ship wrecked boat crew on a deserted island, with only a box of matches, a rope and a can of sardines at your disposal. Or you solve some sort of work related problem. As someone who’s assessed many group exercises, some of the behaviour I’ve seen, has left me scratching my head. So here are some ideas on how you can be part of the crowd, yet stand out from the crowd.

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How to find a job with no local experience

March 5, 2010

You’ve filled out the forms, jumped through the migration hoops and arrived in Australia with your skill in demand. Now come the job offers – or not? You may hear from employers and recruitment consultants, that the only experience that matters is “local experience.” While some professionals need an understanding of local practice and law, the obvious question for anyone else is – where do you gain local experience if you can’t get your first break?

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Graduate application, resume and interview tips

March 3, 2010

Applications are now open for graduate roles. You may be feeling overwhelmed and slightly panicky. In no particular order and because I’m feeling kind, here are 9 preparation, resume and interview tips which will help you stand out from the graduate crowd.

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Top Interview Tips

March 2, 2010

Do you know how to sell yourself in interview? Have you found yourself freezing up? Have you had a question where you have not been able to work out what the interviewer was asking – or you could give an answer, but didn’t know if it was the right one? Here are my top ten interview tip picks for this month. As someone said on Twitter, these are not rocket science, but really timely reminders of the basics.

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How long should a resume be??

February 28, 2010

Type “how long should a resume be?” into Google and you’ll see 179,000,000 answers. You have to really wonder if anyone knows what they are talking about. The only rule is, that there are few rules. If you think about length, a bit of common sense will take you a long way.

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Who knows what this means?

February 24, 2010

One of my clients recently applied for a job in the public sector. The position description said: “Building effective communication strategies with a variety of stakeholders and colleagues to ensure information exchanges are timely, accurate and useful.” It’s almost impossible to write a good application responding to language like this. It says a lot but means nothing.

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Read this before you apply for a government job…

February 23, 2010

Are you struggling to write your selection criteria? Do you keep missing out on interviews? If so you’re not alone. The process is frustrating and time consuming and even the most experienced public sector professionals struggle sometimes. Read below for some pointers to get you started.

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Seven things you don’t know I know from reading your resume

February 22, 2010

OK, I’m quite prepared to be shot down in flames from all sides for writing this. Shoot me down anyway for starting this blog with a cliché, but here’s what I (as a former recruiter) and other recruiters can work out while we are reading your resume.

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