by Colm Cavey, Professional Career Consultant.
Now that it has been announced that Britain will start the exit arrangement next March, it has brought the whole Brexit issue up and onto a new level. Now as it’s certain Britain will be leaving the European Union, the few people I spoke with so far all had quite different comments and opinions. Some astonished, some thought it good and some think it’s a disaster.
Now as I listen to a blizzard of opinions from people in the financial, political, banking and other sectors, every one has a different view on the whole affair or the likely outcome of the exit over the next year or more. The one thing that has become patently clear is despite predictions of new wealth and fortune or depression and austerity descending on us all depending on which person you listen to, none, not one so called expert in finance, politics or other has the faintest notion as to what is going to happen in the next year or so. They have never been in this situation before because it has never happened before and nobody can forecast the eventualities coming down the tracks over the next few years. Nevertheless, they will continue to speak with great authority to the minions.
The effects of the exit are going to be different for every sector of industry. If you’re inside or outside the EU, if you your business is in export or import, or in goods or services and so on the variations continue with every business large and small.
The only one thing that is an absolute certainty is there will be change, all over the place slowly but surely change will occur.
Whether that change is good or bad, the knowledge that change is on the way, brings uncertainty and it can spook markets that were comfortable in their sectors or in some instances present tremendous opportunities for others, but for sure there will be change, companies will take a ‘batten down the hatches’ attitude until the future market become clear.
The change as it unfolds will bring with it for some, opportunities for growth and therefore new employment or where the opposite occurs that change may bring re-structures and resulting layoff’s or redundancies. One way or the other there will be movement.
If you feel you could be at risk or that opportunities may emerge within your own company or elsewhere, it is therefore essential that you assess very carefully your current role within your organisation and your organisations role within the market place and be prepared. Some may call this jumping ship I would say it’s opportunistic.
Whether it is an expansion or contraction it’s important to be one step ahead of the competition. As opportunities present themselves so also will lots of other applicants.
There are a few important steps to go through in your preparation.
One; carefully assess your current position and if it’s your intention to climb the career ladder ensure you have the skills and experience for that next step. Maybe an appropriate qualification or training would supplement your skills. One way or the other ensure you are a realistic candidate for that next step.
Two: The obvious one, prepare a really good C.V. Keep it short and concise with no waffle just bullet points of fact. While your C.V. must accurately document your experience to date it must also be ‘flavoured’ with where you’re going. No lies or untruths, but lean more heavily into the attributes required than you might have in your current role.
Three: Make yourself visible. Employers use the likes of IrishJobs and other social media sites more and more as time goes on. Be sure you represent yourself in them all. Tell enough, but not too much. It’s easy to get yourself ruled out with too much information. Like a good fisherman, get the hook in firmly and reel them in slowly so use your judgement on just how much to say. Ensure you have appropriate alerts on all such sites. These will send a mail to you when positions appear that match your chosen alerts. This can save you an enormous amount of tie browsing.
Having said all that, never forget one of the biggest job fillers of all is networking. Just plain old talking to people who you know and letting them know you’re on the move or hoping to move soon. The more people who know, the more likely it is they will recommend you when in conversation with others or when they become aware of opportunities that they become aware of.
The important thing here is when in conversation with those who you know; don’t ask them for a job, ask for their advice as to how you should go about job searching. There is a subtle difference. Asking for a job adds pressure and people don’t’ like to be pinned down. Asking their advices is a compliment insofar as they will be surprised and pleased that you thought of them and valued their opinions. If they have no advice to offer it doesn’t matter at all, the important thing is you have let them know you are on the move and if or when they hear of an opportunity they will gladly recommend or advise you.
Good Luck
