C & C CAREER & COMPETENCE

CAREER COACHING GROUP

Session 3Job seeking process

Milja Tuomaala & Tiina Hämäläinen, University of Oulu, VALOA-project

GETTING READY FOR JOB SEEKING

Where can I find a suitable job?What kind of skills and know-how employer wants?

What can you offer for the employer?Where are you good at?

How will you contact the employer?

Interview

Goal achieved??

Contacting employers

Set your goals! Make your action plan!

Seeking information about employers and open positions

ApplicationsApplications

Selection

What can you do?What do you want to do?

What can you do?What do you want to do?

JOB SEEKING PROCESS

Phone callsPhone calls Career Services, University of Oulu

WHERE TO START – KNOWING YOURSELF

What kind of work are you interested in? What kind of work experience do you have? What are you good at? What are you interested in? What skills have you got? What are your career goals? What skills and experience do you need to achieve them?

This information you’ll need in your application

JOBS TO APPLY FOR…

Announced positions – public recruitment process Everyone can see, everyone can apply Free competition A lot of applications

Open positions – hidden recruitment process Information is in ”inner circle” Requires networking Limited competition

No open position, open application Applicant’s unprompted contact & shown interest Limited or no competition

PUBLISHED POSITIONS VS. HIDDEN POSITIONS

Published positions

Hidden positions

Anita Perttunen

MOST COMMON RECRUITING CHANELS

1. Internal recruitments 2. Personal contacts 3. Applicant unprompted, direct contact 4. Company’s web page 5. TE-office (employment office) 6. Directly from schools / universities 7. Advertising in newspapers / magazines 8. Recruiting agancies / consults9. Commercial web-pages10. Staffing services11. Social media

EK 2011 – Nostetta liiketoimintaan ihmisillä

WHERE TO FIND JOBS…1. Finnish employment office (Employment and Economic

Development Office) http://www.mol.fi/paikat/ -> paikkavahti

2. Aarresaari – Academic Career Services http://www.aarresaari.net/english/jobboard.htm

3. Company webpages (Yritys -> Työpaikat)4. Sunday’s newspapers (Kaleva, Helsingin Sanomat) 5. Recruitment / staffing companies: Eilakaisla, Monster,

JobBoard, VMP, Adecco, Barona, Manpower, Mercuri Urval, StaffPoint, Academic Work, Opteam, ElanIT, StudentWork

6. The announced traineeships, University of Oulu http://www.oulu.fi/careerservices/harjoittelu/index.html

7. Personal networks (hidden positions)

…MORE JOB HUNTING / NETWORKING CHANNELS

Social Media LinkedIn

BusinessOulu – database of companies http://www.investinoulu.com/company_database

City of Oulu Villa Victor http://www.ouka.fi/villavictor/ Info for expatriates moving to Oulu http://www.ouluexpatcity.fi/index.htm Friendship house

http://www.oulunsetlementti.fi/ystavyystalo/en/index.html The House for Girls in Oulu http://www.likka.fi/index.asp?pid=94 Homelike Oulu http://www.ouka.fi/homelikeoulu/ Associations / organizations of citizens in Oulu area

http://www.oulu.ouka.fi/linkit/yhdistyksia_jarjestoja.htmo General information about Finland & how to look for work

http://www.infopankki.fi/ http://www.expat-finland.com/index.html

HOW TO FIND THE HIDDEN JOBS?

Personal networkingFamily, friends, previous employers, teachers,

professors, study pals, acquaintances from hobbies, voluntary activities etc

Active monitoring of working lifeKeep your eyes open!

Open applicationsApplication and personal contact

Sell your competence! Prepare your ”lift talk”!

EXERCISE 3.1PERSONAL NETWORKS IN JOB SEEKING

The exercise is found on SlideShare;http://www.slideshare.net/VALOA/documents

(C&C training material)

CONTACTING THE EMPLOYER Think in advance what you want to ask. Don’t call just for calling,

and don’t ask for information, which is found in job anouncement or are otherwise useless. Short and punchy questions!

Remeber to make notes about most impostant issues in conversation (also name of the person you are speaking with).

Also note that the person you are speaking with might make notes.

Be prepared to tell about yourself. Make a list of the things employer should know about your skills and know-how, and the things that might raise employer’s interest.

Try to find out about things that are meaningful to you (how much travelling is required, who are you reporting to, number of subordinates if some etc)

Avoid both excessive self-confidence and ecessive humility ”Sell your competence” Let’s practice calling the employer…!

MAIN PRINCIPLES FOR (FINNISH AND FOREIGN)

STUDENTS

Be active and creative in your job search Let people know that you are looking for work Show interest in the job you are seeking Job seeking is full-time job, it requires time and energy Application periods can be very short, so you need to reacht

quickly Fill up several applications

Make two plans, A and B:A. Seek a job, you are really interested in (realistic daydreams)B. Seek employers, where students of your field usually find a

traineeship

SOME FINNISH CUSTOMS IN WORKING LIFE

Employers are used to applicants contacting them directly

Don’t be shy – be active!

Networking is the key

Punctuality is extremely important – be on time, always!

EXERCISE 3.2ELEVATOR SPEECH

• What would you say, if you met a person who could lead you to your dream job and had only 30 seconds to state your case?

• Prepare to describe briefly: Who you are? What are you looking for? ( What kind of industry and organization

you interested in? What kind of work would inspire you the most?) What do you offer? (What are the main contributions you can make?

What kind of competence, experience and achievements you have that makes you stand out from all the other candidates?)

• Everyone presents his / her own elevator talk to others

ASSIGNMENT FOR OUR NEXT C&C MEETING

Find an open position from newspaper or internet, which really interests you

Bring the printed job announcement with you to our next session