I visited the recruitment agency offices in Bolton on Monday morning to register with them for the local role for an Interim Shift Manager. I thought I would only be there 10 minutes but it turned out to be more like 90 minutes with all the forms and red tape to go through. The actual interview is not yet organised but I’ve been told to expect it soon.

The large FMCG company in Manchester contacted on Monday to confirm I had succesfully passed the psychometric tests which I completed last week. We have organised an interview for 10:00 Thursday morning, (wish me luck)

Also this week I took advantage of an opportunity to have my CV appraised by a local Job Coach. He gave me some excellent advice which has resulted in a much more concise document which focuses on my acheivements rather than my responsibilities. I have made the CV shorter in length and much more readable thanks to Dave Smith at careervisa.co.uk. I have included a link to his website in my links menu and you can also follow him on Twitter @careervisa. Tell Dave I sent you, I can thoroughly  recommend him, as he provides a miriad of services through his website and is very helpful to his followers on Twitter.
I now need to upload my new CV to all the online job boards which currently have my old one, and that will be a task in itself.

Finally, the one job I have applied for this week as mentioned earlier was a “curve ball”. Yes another role for which I have no specific experience but which I believe my current skills and experience would easily translate into.  Also the role in question includes training, so I could end up the oldest apprentice in Darwen..!

here’s my weekly round-up. Thankfully the job market show signs of improvement with a number of newly advertised roles on the various job boards.
I have made one or two useful contacts this week and have had some great news and some expected news of a rejection.

A Team Leader role I applied for in mid April resulted in me having some psychometric tests early this week.  I was informed to expect feedback either Mon or Tues next week with interviews being held on Thursday or Friday.  This is for a major blue chip FMCG manufacturer in Manchester (Just my style of company)

I have made an application through a job board mid-week for general Manufacturing Management Opportunities, although I have yet to hear anything in return.

As I pretty much expected I received a rejection email for a role I applied for last week as a Foreign Exchange Auditor for a travel company.  Expected because this was obviously not my normal career, but I thought it worth applying for just in case.  Unfortunately some employers fail to realise that talent from other industries may well breathe some fresh air into their businesses.

I received a telephone call regarding a role I applied for through the Job Centre website a couple of weeks ago for Interim Shift Manager in a local major manufacturing business. I have been invited to the agency dealing with the placement to register my details this Monday.  Following this I will be interviewed at the company later in the week.  I was informed that although this is an interim contract and I would be paid through the agency, there is a possibility that the position would become permanent.  This role is very much worth pursuing due to the close proximity to my home.

I was contacted by a recruitment agency on Thursday regarding a Section Manager role at a FMCG company in Manchester. Interestingly this is a company which I have applied to previously (for a different role) at the end of last year following my last interim role.  On that occasion I made it to the second interview stage before losing out to another candidate.  This company offers an excellent package, and there are opportunities for the future.  Needless to say, I have applied for the role and look forward to hearing back from them.

Finally I have contacted the blue chip food manufacturer who I completed the psychometric tests for in April.  Just to get an update bearing in mind there were no openings at the time the tests were completed. I expect they will reply to my email early next week.

So next week is already looking busier than recent weeks, and there are still other applications still in the pipeline.

Don’t forget to check out my video in case you missed it see it here

Good news, from a recent application for a Team Leader’s role with a major FMCG manufacturer, who invited me to participate in some online assessments similar to the ones I completed recently for another blue chip company. I have just completed the assessments this morning, and going off my last feedback I am quietly confident that I have managed a good result. This time around however included an occupational personality questionnaire. This is the type of assessment where there is no right or wrong answer, it is commonly utilised to measure your “fit” into an existing organisation. So failing in this area is not a reflection on who you are, but an indication that your personality style is not conducive to the role, the team or the organisation culture.
I am hoping that in answering truthfully I have demonstrated that I am a good match for the specific role, as the company presents itself as having a culture of people development. They obviously place great importance on attracting the right person initially therefore one can assume that those people are well supported once they become employees.

For interest, I applied for the role through one of the many job boards (I don’t remember which), and the agency dealing with the vacancy was one I have mentioned in a previous post, as being one who kept in touch with me updating me on the application process. Blue Octopus is the recruitment agency and I have no hesitation in recommending them if you are currently seeking a new role.

As a reminder here are the links for practice psychometric tests some online, some which you can download.

http://www.shl.com/TryATest/TakeaTest/Pages/TakeaTest-English.aspx
http://www.psychometric-success.com/downloads/download-practice-tests.htm

There is no more news on any of my previous applications, and there are a number of new applications made this week, however none of the agencies involved even took the time to confirm their receipt of my CV.

Looking through the job boards I notice that there have been no new vacancies advertised for two or three weeks, and the ones I have already applied for have fairly long closing dates.
The vast majority of my online applications have been through recruitment agencies of one form or another and unfortunately a large proportion of these agencies will not continue to communicate unless I chase them up. A notable exception to this is an online organisation called Blue Octopus, who send me a weekly update of my applications with a full explanation of the current status. However other recruitment agencies who I have only dealt with following their approach to me, then fail to follow-up with any further news on my application status unless I contact them, then there is usually some excuse or other offered for the lack of communication. What they don’t seem to realise is that in the majority of cases they each offer the same excuse, which becomes slightly monotonous and demonstrates the lack of professionalism of some of these agencies.
I look forward to the day when I have an input from the other side of the desk, I certainly know which of these agencies I would not deal with again.

I have also made an application this week which was totally a change of direction. The position, which I found on the job center website, is for an auditor working for an international travel company. I submitted my CV and cover letter on Wednesday, and although I have yet to receive a reply, I am confident that my letter demonstrates that my past experience would transfer well into the role.

I live in hope, and continue to scour the job boards.

as it has been so quiet recently on the job market I have taken the opportunity to refurbish the look and feel of my blog. Rather than the template provided by my web space provider I have installed the newest full version of WordPress. This gives me more flexibility for pics and videos amongst other things and will make it easier once I am back in full-time work to develop into other areas for my content.

Hope you appreciate the changes, and if there are any suggestions feel free to comment.