Spotting A Job Vacancy
This guide is one in a series that will help you find a job. It contains information about whereto find out about potential vacancies.Understanding the job marketTrying to find a new job can be both exciting and rewarding. It doesn’t need to be hard work ifyou know where to look and how to go about it. Every day hundreds of new vacanciesbecome available. The trick is to find out what’s on offer and respond quickly.Employers recruit in a number of ways, and you may be surprised to learn that only one thirdof vacancies are ever advertised.
Consequently, to be successful at finding a job that suitsyou, you need to use all of the usual channels but also look at other methods of finding outabout vacancies. Most Jobseekers look at newspaper adverts to find vacancies, so do thisbut also go to your local Jobcentre and register with recruitment agencies.Know what you wantBefore you start looking for a job, take a little time to work out what you want and what youcan do. Consider your skills and experience. Doing this will save you a lot of time when youbegin applying for jobs.Remember, you don’t always see your own strengths. Ask your friends, family and previouswork colleagues what they think your strengths are. Even if you’ve never worked before, youwill have qualities that employers will be looking for.
Make a list of what you want, including:• Location• Full time or part time• Temporary or permanent• Hours• Training or opportunities to progress• PayNext, make a list of your qualities:• Skills• Experience• Strengths• Qualifications• PersonalityEmployers place a great emphasis on personality and attitude. If you’ve got a friendlypersonality and a good attitude to work and responsibility make sure you show it.When you review your lists you may feel you’ve set what you want at a higher level than theskills and experience you’ve currently got. This isn’t a problem. In this case make what youwant your goal and look for jobs that will be the starting point for you to develop theexperience and skills you need to grow your career.Check out the options
Once you have identified the type of job you want the next step is to look for suitablevacancies. Let’s look more closely at the three main routes to a job and then at some of theless well known options:• Newspaper adverts: most newspapers, local or national, have jobs sections. Thedaily papers usually have a special jobs day each week when most of the vacanciesappear. Your newsagents will be able to tell you which days these are. Remember,you don’t have to buy the newspaper as the local library will have a reference copyyou can look through.• Jobcentre: Jobcentres display a wide range of vacancies which are updated daily. Ifyou can it’s worth visiting the Jobcentre everyday so you can respond to opportunitiesas soon as they are displayed.•
Jobseekers Direct: if you find it difficult to get to your local Jobcentre then you canuse the telephone job service line. For the cost of a local call, you can contactJobseekers Direct to find out more about current vacancies. In some cases, theymay be able to arrange an interview for you while you’re on the phone.• Recruitment agencies/consultancies: it is worth registering with recruitmentagencies because they are paid a fee by employers for finding suitable candidates fortheir vacancy. Consequently, the quicker they find you a job they quicker they getpaid. They are also a good place for getting advice on finding a job and they mayhelp you to prepare your CV and with interview techniques. It’s worth knowing thatsome agencies specialise in specific industries or skills. Others are more generalist.Shop around to find an agency that covers the type of vacancies you are interestedin.If you are considering temporary work then compare agencies. The rates they payfor the same type of work may differ. A good agency will give you a fair rate of payand treat you well.
Don’t forget that working as a temp is often the foot in the dooryou need to get a full time job. It gives you a chance to show potential employerswhat you can do, so don’t rule out temporary work.• Careers Advisory Services: If you are 16 -19 the Careers Advisory Services willoffer you advice about your career. They will help you identify the right trainingopportunities and provide plenty of support during your search for a job. Theircontact details are:England• The Internet: there are a number of websites that advertise jobs. On most of theseyou can register your details so that companies can view them when they are lookingfor staff. If you don’t have access to the Internet, you can access it at your localLibrary, usually free of charge or for a small fee. Using the internet is really easy; allyou need to do is type ‘Jobs Nigeria’ into a search engineYou can also look at all of the Jobcentre vacancies on line at www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk. All these websites are updated regularly throughout the day.
In addition to the specialist job and careers websites, many companies advertisevacancies on their own websites. It is worth making a list of companies that mighthave a vacancy that is suitable for you and visiting their websites. If they have a jobssection you could visit the site on a regular basis.• Careers and jobs fairs: an increasing number of job fairs are being held that coverlocal jobs for local people of all ages and skills. Employers, particularly larger ones,attend to promote their companies and find potential workers. On the day you will beable to meet employers and also get specialist advice about finding a job. Someemployers may even take applications on the day. The fairs are usually held in hotelsor recreation centres will be advertised in your local newspapers.•
Networking: tell your friends and relatives that you are looking for a job. They mayhear about job opportunities that you can apply for and may even be willing torecommend you to their employer.• Work experience: joining a work experience programme has its benefits. Not onlywill you be learning or developing your skills, you will also be getting valuableexperience by actually doing the job. It also gives you the opportunity to get your footin the door of a company where you can demonstrate your strengths.•
Teletext: some companies choose to advertise their vacancies on the text services.These are updated throughout the day – the page number you need is:Teletext, page 690 (Channel 4).• Notices in shop windows or notice boards: more and more companies, especiallyretailers, are advertising vacancies in this way. As there is no way of knowing whenthese vacancies will be advertised, it’s just a matter of keeping your eyes open andbeing quick to respond.• Promote yourself: this option involves applying for vacancies that may arise within acompany. The ‘anticipating future vacancies’ guide will give you ideas on howto promote yourself.However, start by identifying 10 companies in your area that employ people in thetype of roles you are looking for. Read local business news to see if you can spotany companies that are expanding or moving into the area. They may have a futurestaff requirement so write to these companies, introduce yourself and ask to beconsidered for any vacancies they may have. Attach your CV to the letter; there is aguide in this series that can help you prepare one.It’s always a good idea to phone the company to check if they have received yourdetails. If they have no vacancies available ask them to keep your details on file sothat you can be considered in the future.
Finally, keep records of who you have contacted and their response. If you dohappen to see them advertising a vacancy in the future that may suit you, call thecompany and remind them they have your details.The purpose of this guide was to help you identify the best routes to finding a job.Points to remember:• Understand the job market: only one third of vacancies are ever advertised.• Know what you want: make a list of what you are looking for and match jobvacancies against it.• Know your strengths: list your strengths, skills, experience and qualifications andmatch them against what the employer is looking for.• Use the channels: only one third of vacancies are ever advertised so use all theoptions available to improve your chances of getting a job.• Promote yourself: send your details to companies and ask them to keep them on fileuntil they have a vacancy that you could fill.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Mega Business Ideas
The Million-Dollar Home Page
Learn how this 21-year-old entrepreneur made more than $1 million in five months.
Take one college-bound student with an overdrawn bank account and one 20-minute brainstorming session on how to raise money to pay for school, and what do you get? A million-dollar idea that's had people around the world slapping their foreheads and muttering "Why didn't I think of that?" ever since.
With only one month to go before he was to begin classes at a three-year university--and no money in his bank account--Alex Tew was determined to find a way to avoid student debt. Armed with a notebook and pen, Tew stayed up late one night brainstorming ways to make some quick cash.
To help jumpstart his creativity, he wrote down just one question on his notepad: How can I become a millionaire? Twenty minutes later, he had his answer: Sell one million pixels of advertising space on a website for $1 each. "I thought, 'This is one of those crazy, quirky ideas, but it just might work…I've got nothing to lose.' "
Runaway IdeaTew already had some experience with website design, so with a paltry $100, he quickly bought a domain name and some basic web hosting services and had his website, MillionDollarHomepage.com, up and running in two days.
The concept was simple: Businesses could buy 10x10 or larger blocks of advertising space for a $1 per pixel and place their logos and links on his site. Tew knew no one would be interested in buying pixel space if he didn't get the ball rolling, so he convinced some family and friends to chip in to buy the first 1,000 pixels. He also thought it would be a good story for the media to pick up--"Broke student has quirky way to raise money for college"--so Tew took the money he made from the first 1,000 pixels he sold and used it to write and send out press releases to the local media near his hometown of Cricklade, England (about an hour and a half west of London.
The UK media quickly took the bait, but what was even more remarkable--and proved to be the most effective marketing tactic--was that bloggers, online forums and chat rooms also began to embrace the story. Word of mouth through all the varied media attention quickly snowballed, and within two weeks Tew had sold $40,000 worth of pixels--enough to cover his entire three years of college. It didn't take long before media in 35 other countries got wind of Tew's million-dollar homepage idea. In just five months, Tew reached his goal of selling a $1 million worth of pixels. In the past two weeks alone, he's received close to 4 million unique hits.
Part of that traffic was due to his exposure on eBay. With only 1,000 pixels left to sell on his site, he had hundreds of people wanting a piece of internet history. "I thought the only way to logically meet some of that demand without starting another page was to put the last 1,000 pixels [up for sale] on eBay."
On January 11, the winning bid of $38,000 bought the last ad space on his site, putting him well over the million-dollar mark. "I've spent probably about $40,000 maintaining the site and publicizing it, so there's been some degree of expense to keep it going. But still--it's a healthy profit at the end of the day."
Learning to AdaptIf it sounds like Tew skipped all the way to the bank with his 20-minute idea, think again. A large part of his success is hugely owed to his ability to quickly find solutions and adapt to the many problems that unexpectedly popped up during the past five months.
"It's been quite overwhelming because everything has just blown up in such big ways that I never really prepared for," Tew says. "I had to adapt quite quickly due to the sheer volume of interest."
One of the first problems he encountered was that his website wasn't equipped to handle the volume of traffic he began receiving. In the beginning, he had to manually upload every single image and all the links himself. As hundreds of orders began pouring in, though, Tew was forced to hire two people to help maintain the website's database and deal with customers.
The next major problem was that PayPal blocked his account. (PayPal's anti-fraud policy automatically blocks accounts with high volumes of transactions in order to avoid money-laundering schemes.) Tew was forced to quickly come up with an alternative payment method to keep up with the volume of orders he was receiving. Within three hours of PayPal going down, Tew had found a replacement. And although PayPal eventually enabled his account again, Tew kept both payment options open to prevent a similar problem in the future.
Tew also had to learn to release control to others. "In previous projects, I've wanted to do everything," he says. "With this, I had no choice but to get other people involved." So he enlisted the help of family and friends and even a PR person in the United States to deal with the international media. Tew adds, "I've learned the value of letting other people take responsibility for different aspects of the business."
The Next StepFor now, Tew is deferring his college degree until next September in order to take time to reassess his career path to determine which direction he really wants to go. "I've had a lot of job offers from some of the hugest internet companies, but I think my long-term future is going into business to do my own thing."
In the meantime, Tew plans on donating a portion of his site's profits to a local UK charity that helps young people start their own businesses. The same charity once helped him secure a $3,500 loan to do music-related projects.
"It'll be nice to give something back," he says. "And if I can be anything of an inspiration to other young people wanting to start businesses, well, that's a good thing as well."
A Young Entrepreneur's AdviceJust 21 years old and already an experienced entrepreneur, Alex Tew has some sage advice for anybody looking to start their own business.
· If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail. "That old saying is a cliché, but it's absolutely true," says Tew. "Had I known this was going to be so successful I would have probably prepared a lot better for it. But playing it by ear and making adaptations along the way has been a valuable learning experience, and I know what mistakes not to make next time."
Part of being prepared means writing a business plan. "It can be difficult to do cash-flow forecasts when you haven't started a business or to write a proper business plan when you don't know how much you're going to make," Tew says. "But you have to lay out in your mind exactly what you're trying to achieve."
· Be creative. "The biggest thing I've learned is to have faith in creativity because ideas work," Tew says.
· Go big. "Make sure your hobby is big enough to make money," Tew advises. In 2002, Tew launched Humanbeatbox.com, an online community for vocal percussionists. The site now has more than 11,000 members and is one of the largest sites for beatbox artists, but the experience taught Tew a valuable lesson. "The mistake I made was that beatboxing was such a niche thing that there wasn't enough money to make a sustainable business. As people start businesses based on hobbies, [they should] make sure there's a big enough market for that hobby."
· Keep trying. "I've had lots of ideas over the years that haven't necessarily been as successful as this one, but I've learned lots of lessons with each one," says Tew. "There's no such thing as a failure because every time you fail, you learn something that you don't do next time. So always keep going. And good luck."
Learn how this 21-year-old entrepreneur made more than $1 million in five months.
Take one college-bound student with an overdrawn bank account and one 20-minute brainstorming session on how to raise money to pay for school, and what do you get? A million-dollar idea that's had people around the world slapping their foreheads and muttering "Why didn't I think of that?" ever since.
With only one month to go before he was to begin classes at a three-year university--and no money in his bank account--Alex Tew was determined to find a way to avoid student debt. Armed with a notebook and pen, Tew stayed up late one night brainstorming ways to make some quick cash.
To help jumpstart his creativity, he wrote down just one question on his notepad: How can I become a millionaire? Twenty minutes later, he had his answer: Sell one million pixels of advertising space on a website for $1 each. "I thought, 'This is one of those crazy, quirky ideas, but it just might work…I've got nothing to lose.' "
Runaway IdeaTew already had some experience with website design, so with a paltry $100, he quickly bought a domain name and some basic web hosting services and had his website, MillionDollarHomepage.com, up and running in two days.
The concept was simple: Businesses could buy 10x10 or larger blocks of advertising space for a $1 per pixel and place their logos and links on his site. Tew knew no one would be interested in buying pixel space if he didn't get the ball rolling, so he convinced some family and friends to chip in to buy the first 1,000 pixels. He also thought it would be a good story for the media to pick up--"Broke student has quirky way to raise money for college"--so Tew took the money he made from the first 1,000 pixels he sold and used it to write and send out press releases to the local media near his hometown of Cricklade, England (about an hour and a half west of London.
The UK media quickly took the bait, but what was even more remarkable--and proved to be the most effective marketing tactic--was that bloggers, online forums and chat rooms also began to embrace the story. Word of mouth through all the varied media attention quickly snowballed, and within two weeks Tew had sold $40,000 worth of pixels--enough to cover his entire three years of college. It didn't take long before media in 35 other countries got wind of Tew's million-dollar homepage idea. In just five months, Tew reached his goal of selling a $1 million worth of pixels. In the past two weeks alone, he's received close to 4 million unique hits.
Part of that traffic was due to his exposure on eBay. With only 1,000 pixels left to sell on his site, he had hundreds of people wanting a piece of internet history. "I thought the only way to logically meet some of that demand without starting another page was to put the last 1,000 pixels [up for sale] on eBay."
On January 11, the winning bid of $38,000 bought the last ad space on his site, putting him well over the million-dollar mark. "I've spent probably about $40,000 maintaining the site and publicizing it, so there's been some degree of expense to keep it going. But still--it's a healthy profit at the end of the day."
Learning to AdaptIf it sounds like Tew skipped all the way to the bank with his 20-minute idea, think again. A large part of his success is hugely owed to his ability to quickly find solutions and adapt to the many problems that unexpectedly popped up during the past five months.
"It's been quite overwhelming because everything has just blown up in such big ways that I never really prepared for," Tew says. "I had to adapt quite quickly due to the sheer volume of interest."
One of the first problems he encountered was that his website wasn't equipped to handle the volume of traffic he began receiving. In the beginning, he had to manually upload every single image and all the links himself. As hundreds of orders began pouring in, though, Tew was forced to hire two people to help maintain the website's database and deal with customers.
The next major problem was that PayPal blocked his account. (PayPal's anti-fraud policy automatically blocks accounts with high volumes of transactions in order to avoid money-laundering schemes.) Tew was forced to quickly come up with an alternative payment method to keep up with the volume of orders he was receiving. Within three hours of PayPal going down, Tew had found a replacement. And although PayPal eventually enabled his account again, Tew kept both payment options open to prevent a similar problem in the future.
Tew also had to learn to release control to others. "In previous projects, I've wanted to do everything," he says. "With this, I had no choice but to get other people involved." So he enlisted the help of family and friends and even a PR person in the United States to deal with the international media. Tew adds, "I've learned the value of letting other people take responsibility for different aspects of the business."
The Next StepFor now, Tew is deferring his college degree until next September in order to take time to reassess his career path to determine which direction he really wants to go. "I've had a lot of job offers from some of the hugest internet companies, but I think my long-term future is going into business to do my own thing."
In the meantime, Tew plans on donating a portion of his site's profits to a local UK charity that helps young people start their own businesses. The same charity once helped him secure a $3,500 loan to do music-related projects.
"It'll be nice to give something back," he says. "And if I can be anything of an inspiration to other young people wanting to start businesses, well, that's a good thing as well."
A Young Entrepreneur's AdviceJust 21 years old and already an experienced entrepreneur, Alex Tew has some sage advice for anybody looking to start their own business.
· If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail. "That old saying is a cliché, but it's absolutely true," says Tew. "Had I known this was going to be so successful I would have probably prepared a lot better for it. But playing it by ear and making adaptations along the way has been a valuable learning experience, and I know what mistakes not to make next time."
Part of being prepared means writing a business plan. "It can be difficult to do cash-flow forecasts when you haven't started a business or to write a proper business plan when you don't know how much you're going to make," Tew says. "But you have to lay out in your mind exactly what you're trying to achieve."
· Be creative. "The biggest thing I've learned is to have faith in creativity because ideas work," Tew says.
· Go big. "Make sure your hobby is big enough to make money," Tew advises. In 2002, Tew launched Humanbeatbox.com, an online community for vocal percussionists. The site now has more than 11,000 members and is one of the largest sites for beatbox artists, but the experience taught Tew a valuable lesson. "The mistake I made was that beatboxing was such a niche thing that there wasn't enough money to make a sustainable business. As people start businesses based on hobbies, [they should] make sure there's a big enough market for that hobby."
· Keep trying. "I've had lots of ideas over the years that haven't necessarily been as successful as this one, but I've learned lots of lessons with each one," says Tew. "There's no such thing as a failure because every time you fail, you learn something that you don't do next time. So always keep going. And good luck."
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