Coffeehouse job seeking?

Applying for jobs in different surroundings can make a world of difference to the way you approach the application and to your attitude about being unemployed/a career change/new graduate/etc. Why not try out the approach below and you’ll notice what a difference it makes?! Get yourself out and into a coffeehouse – it is not just for the ‘hipsters’ with MacBooks.

What you will need:

• Some form of laptop.
• A good WiFi connection.
• A bit of an attitude.
• Clothes that are suitable for the outdoors i.e. not your pyjamas.
• Headphones for blocking out screaming children, couples and coffee machines/grinders.

Reasons why you should apply for jobs in a coffeehouse rather than at the dining room table:

1. There’s only so much you can procrastinate. Whilst sat at a table listening to the same playlist on repeat surrounded by people doing exactly the same thing, if not similar to you.
2. The effect is similar to that of a library – but way less intimidating. Everyone around you is on their laptops. What are they doing? God. They are so productive. Am I? If you have to ask if you are productive? Most likely you are not. Think on it this way: it is no-one else’s time but your own that you are ‘wasting’.
3. If you can spare a couple of pounds? (give or take 50p depending on what city/town/village you are in), then a caffeine injection never made anyone less productive. Unless you’re allergic to caffeine. In which case, opt for a decaf (or if you’re feeling swanky) a herbal tea, (or a bit New Age-y) a smoothie or fruit/vegetable juice drink.
4. Getting out of your house will focus your mind. You’re subconsciously (and quite probably consciously) telling yourself: “I have left my house to do this task,” rather than the millions of other reasons you could be sitting in your living room. Why else do you sit in your living room? To watch TV, lounge about and prod the dog with your foot. Why else do you go alone to a coffeehouse armed with a laptop and a load of job applications? There is no other reason. You can’t help but focus on the task at hand.

 

A coffee fix at my regular ‘Coffee on Wooer’ in my hometown, Falkirk.

 

Tips for making the most out of your coffeehouse trips:

• If you’re a bit poor? Opt for a tea (see above for alternatives) and nurse the crap out of that tea for as long as you need. None of this: “Oooh but that’s rude” business. The staff couldn’t give a hoot how long their customers stay for (that is, as long as it’s not 10 minutes to closing time) and nobody is going to kick you out. You’re making the coffeehouse look popular.
• If you’re totally broke, hone in on a table that nobody has cleared yet. Sweep one of the mugs off said table and transfer it to your own table. While staff members might notice a huge tray of stuff to be cleared, they won’t remember that lone coffee cup, it looks like you’ve already bought something and drank it. Double points if there’s still a bit of coffee in it, not for drinking purposes but for the: “Oh that person is halfway through their coffee, they definitely bought it while working” purposes.
• Don’t make eye contact with anyone. This isn’t for any other reason other than it can get a bit awkward. (I have a tendency to stare into the distance, which often means I look into other people’s eyes for ages and make them feel uncomfortable. My bad).
• Be a nomad. Skipping from coffeehouse to coffeehouse throughout the day will break your focus – but try and liven things up on a day-to-day basis by chopping and changing your caffeinated office space. One day a Starbucks, the next a Costa, and don’t forget about the independent coffeehouses. It will prevent you from getting that awful “Urgh! Here we go again,” feeling every time you walk through the door.

 

Job hunting with a can-do attitude in different environments will make the world of difference. I can assure you that from personal experience, it has uplifted my spirits and made me want to apply for as many jobs as I could.

I wish you the best of luck. My fingers are crossed that we will get the jobs that we are passionate about.

 

NOTE: Imagery is from Coffee on Wooer‘s personal website.

 

 

xo

Jobless graduates 6 months after graduation: fact or fiction?

2 in 5 graduates jobless six months after finishing studies

By Alan Tovey   Jobs Editor   The Telegraph   7:00AM GMT    18 Feb 2014

Research reveals high levels of unemployment among university leavers that leaves them wondering if they should have studied a more vocational subject.

40% of graduates are still looking for work six months after finishing university Photo: ALAMY

Two out of five graduates are still looking for work six months after completing their studies, and one in four are still job hunting a year after graduation – leaving many of them asking whether they made the right choice by pursuing academic studies instead of an apprenticeship.

A survey of 676 graduates by jobs website totaljobs.com found that a third were applying for more than 20 vacancies every month, and almost half (44%) said they regretted not having studied a more vocational subject.

Mike Fetters, graduate director of totaljobs.com, said: “Despite the economic upturn, graduates are still struggling to find work after university. Our research shows that many graduates are starting to wonder if they should have studied for a more vocational qualification as a more effective route to employment.

“Although a degree is an essential qualification for some industries, school leavers need to think more carefully about which route to employment is best for them as some may be more suited to an apprenticeship scheme.”

He added: “Graduates need to prepare themselves for the fact that it may take them a few months longer than they thought to find the job they want. Though the job hunting process can be long, graduate jobs are incredibly rewarding.”

The research also revealed that graduates are willing to travel and average of 35 miles for a job interview, and one in six said they would be willing to journey more than 100 miles to make their case in person for being taken on.

The findings come in the run up to National Apprenticeship Week, which runs from March 3 to 7 and aims to raise the profile of vocational training with employers, individuals, parents and teachers.

According to recent research by the National Apprenticeship Service, which is organising the event, the number of apprenticeship vacancies advertised online in the three months to October 2013 was 37,410, a 24% increase on the same period last year.

The number of online applications for these positions rose by 43% over the same period last year to 461,530, with 53% of all applications coming from males. The number of females applying for apprenticeships over the period rose on an annual basis by 4 percentage points to 47%.

 

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In my personal findings since graduating from university in October 2013, I have travelled up and down the country for numerous  job interviews – and on occasion an overnight stay. There have been desperate times, where I have had to ask for a small monitory hand-out from my parents just so I can attend the interview. I often wonder if companies that interview me, see my eagerness and passion as a sign of desperation or enthusiasm?

As the callback day approaches and the rejection email makes its appearance in my inbox, what hurts the most, is the pity in my parents eyes as I tell them that my efforts (and their financial help) have been in vain. I know that the job that is for me will not pass me by and that practice makes perfect on my interview technique. I have every confidence that myself and my readers will break the statistics barrier the Government see graduates as and indeed get that job/career that we strive for.

 

xo

Job hunting: Maintaining the perfect online presence

The exhaustive task of maintaining the perfect online presence in todays’ ever digital world is a daunting and sometimes a stressful task to manage. Odds are someone is searching the web for you right now, or at least has looked you up fairly recently. Do you know what they have learnt? Better yet, do you have control of the pages and profiles they visit? If not, it is time to take your online reputation into your own hands instead of leaving it to Google. Here’s some tried and tested examples on how to do so:

Why first impressions matter on the Internet

It is not a secret that friends, ‘nosy’ family members, and potential employers will all take to Google, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to look for more information about you to see if what you have put on your CV equates to your online profile/personality. In the case of family and friends, they already know the ‘real you’ but when it comes to potential employers, it is important to make sure that the things they find about you, are representative of who you are.

You don’t have to be a job-seeker to understand the importance of your online reputation, though. You could be a freelancer or entrepreneur who would like to control their image, or just someone who doesn’t want your name dragged through the mud. It may seem that the wall of Google search results when you search for yourself is impossible to control, but there are some clever things you can do. In this post, we’ll tackle some of them, and by the end you’ll have a better picture of what people find when they search for you. With work, you’ll even have better control over what they find.

Step One: Find out where you stand (and erase embarrassments)

Before we get started, it’s a good idea to see what others see when they search for you. Then we can tweak what we find so it is representative of the ‘you’ that you want the public to see, not just what Google collects.

Search for yourself on Google and Facebook

Let’s start with Google. Log out of your Google account(s) or use an Internet browser where you are not logged in – Google personalises results based on your account activity – and search for your name. Don’t bother going more than a few pages in, make a note of what you see. Remember, that making a good first impression requires actually making an impression. While turning up nothing means no one will find anything bad, it also means they will not learn anything good about you, and that can potentially be bad too.

Next, let’s check Facebook. You can view your public self on any social media platform by doing the following simple steps:

1. Log out (or use a browser that’s logged out) and search for yourself by name. Even if you don’t use your name as your account ID, it may be easy to find yourself with a quick name search. Check to see if that is the case, and see what is visible.
2. Log back in and view your profile ‘as public.’ Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+ all make it easy to do this from your profile page. This way you can see what your profile looks like to someone who stumbles on you, even if you’re not easily found.

Clean up any results you don’t like

Now that you have seen what others see about you, it is time to get rid of anything you don’t like. You probably won’t get an opportunity to explain the ‘bad stuff’ away in a phone or in-person interview. Whether the behaviour is your own, someone trolled you and set up fake profiles to defame you, or someone’s been impersonating you online, here’s how to handle it for each service:

• Google and other Search Engines: If you found the offending results at Google or another search engine, ask them to remove the pages from their results. Google has a process for this, and another for Google Images, but they only apply to pages that have been taken down, or old, cached versions of pages that are still up-it’s not for pulling down any old page. DuckDuckGo has a feedback form, as does Bing, where you can submit takedown requests for non-legal reasons.
• Facebook: Deleting your account is the best option (so no one takes screenshots or makes your private posts public without you knowing) but if that’s too extreme for you, there is the option to change post visibility individually, or can go to Privacy Settings > Limit Past Post Visibility to hide everything at once. Get familiar with Facebook’s privacy options. Make sure private posts are truly private, the only things public are the ones that showcase your public persona, and always think before you post.
• Twitter: Twitter is easy, just look at your profile by name. If your profile is public, everyone can see it, and if you use your real name as your handle, it is easy to find. You can take your account private, but that won’t stop public users from quoting you (although it does stop retweets) or responding to you publicly. Remember, Twitter is probably the most public of all networks. And again. Think before you tweet.
• Google+: Your posts at Google+ aren’t as important as your Google profile. Hide anything you saw but wanted private when you viewed your profile earlier. Make useful details (a contact email address, links to your portfolio or personal web site, etc) are visible. Create topical circles for sharing and familiarise yourself with Google+’s privacy settings.
• LinkedIn: If you post articles to LinkedIn, make sure they are professional in nature and relevant to the public persona you want to put forward. While you are there; go ahead and fill out your profile with additional details: odds are your profile may be incomplete, or the last time you updated it was the last time you changed jobs.

If all else fails, you can turn to services that promise to protect your online reputation. They’re usually effective, but they all cost money. For example, BrandYourself and Reputation.com will all help streamline this process for you.

Step Two: Beef up your online presence with better profiles

Now that the bad stuff has been ditched, it is time to build up the good stuff. Potential employers, business contacts, and people you network with will look you up anyway, so make sure what they find is what you want them to know.

1. Spruce up your social networks. Your social networks can be valuable tools if you use them. Update your LinkedIn profile with your interests and skills, not just your work history. Add some relevant interests to Facebook and leave them public. You may even want to like a few job or industry-related pages, or create a Facebook page specifically for your professional persona. Upload a good-looking profile photo to your Facebook, Twitter, and Google profiles, and consider filling out your photo gallery with flattering shots of you, your work, or even your projects and things you’ve worked on. Use every opportunity to showcase your skills, talents and interests, whether it is in the “Likes” section of your Facebook profile, or the photos in your Instagram account.
2. Sign up for new services that best showcase your skills. For example, if you want your indie film to get attention or you want to expand the audience of your video podcast, consider signing up for Vimeo as well as YouTube. You get access to a whole new community, and much more exposure. Are you a writer? Consider a Tumblr account, even if you already blog at WordPress. If you’re a photographer and want to build a portfolio, consider hosting your photos at Flickr or Picasa to get the most exposure and make it easy for people to find you. At the very least, you can direct visitors to the service you regularly use.

Step Three: Keep your best foot forward

By now, you’ve done your homework to find out what other people find when they look for you, cleaned up your profiles, and added content to the web that you control so people only see what you want them to learn about you. As you go forward with your shiny, professional online persona, make sure to keep it clean by following the fundamental rule of sharing on the internet: don’t post it if you don’t want it to be public. The Internet is a big place with a long memory.

Keep in mind that your ideal online first impression doesn’t have to be a perfect, rosy picture of your personality, just a truthful one. If putting your best foot forward keeps you from being a jerk, then great, but don’t let it stifle your brilliance or keep you from expressing your opinion and being true to your ideals. After all, those are the things we want people to learn about when they go looking.

By sticking to these three steps, it will help you maintain the online presence that won’t make potential employers ‘run for the hills,’ after the first glance of your profile and/or online presence.

Good luck. xo

Interview preparation

At the moment I have a number of publishing internships lined up but in the meantime I desperately need a part-time job to save up for a number of things that are on my ‘want list’ and well… in general, to get by.

Finding part-time employment in this economic climate is hard, even more so, now that I have obtained my Masters. It scares a lot of employers off that ‘you’ may look down on the company/job/role but believe me when I say this:

 

I want to work. I want to contribute to my pension. I want to save up for a car. I want to rent/buy my own apartment. I want to be employed.

 

I know a lot of graduates in this same position as I, and the only advice I can say is to: keep trying and not to give up! I believe that everything happens for a reason. Once you get that first graduate job, just think, how elated you will feel!

 

Before coming up with questions to ask the interviewer, it is good idea to have done prior research for question prompts.

Prompts to think about before creating questions to ask employer:

Should I ask my interviewer questions?
In short, yes you should ask the employer questions. This reveals the full extent of your job interview preparation. By not having any questions to ask the interviewer could give off negative impressions such as: incompetence, ill prepared, etc. By having questions prepared it shows the employer you passion and enthusiasm about the company and/or role.

Have your questions already been answered on the company website?
Saying that, you should make sure that your questions are not easy ones that the company answers on their website. Instead, try to be a bit more original i.e. how do I need to perform in order to be successful in the desired role? Etc.

What shouldn’t I do?
Do not ask the interviewer anything irrelevant or personal. A lot of people research their interviewer before the interview through LinkedIn (myself included) but make sure you use any knowledge gained from this to your advantage. For example: are they a video blogger on YouTube presenting a work-related presentation? Then can you apply this knowledge to one of your questions. There is no point just throwing in a statement highlighting the fact you have researched them. I know how I would feel if someone started listing facts about me that were not relevant to the conversation.

 

Once you have done the prior research, now it is time to come up with questions to ask the interviewer/employer.

Questions to ask the employer at the end of an interview:

1. Can you tell me how this role relates to the overall structure of the company?
2. Is this a new position, or did someone leave? If someone left, why and what have they went on to do?
3. Self development is very important to me. Does the company offer continued education and professional training?
4. In your opinion, what is the difference between someone who would do the job well, to someone who would do the job exceptionally well?
5. In what way is performance rated and reviewed?
6. If possible, can you show or tell me about what kind of projects I would be working on?
7. For someone looking to relocate into the area, what advice can you give me?

 

I hope these prompts and example questions have been useful. If you have any other prompts/questions that have worked for you, please do get in touch. I look forward to hearing from you.

 

NOTE: I have secured part-time (maternity cover) with Thomas Pink part of the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey Group (LVMH) and will be starting tomorrow (Wednesday 7th May, 2014).

 

Wish me luck!! xo

Margarita Cupcakes for Cinco de Mayo

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

This is of course a historical day for the people of Mexico, Cinco de Mayo officially commemorates the anniversary of an early victory by Mexican forces over the French in the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. As with such celebrations there is authentic food, drink and music to enjoy.

I, for one love Mexican food and I am quite partial to a margarita or two so when I found the Brown Eyed Bakers recipe for Margarita cupcakes, I just had to make them.

Margarita Cupcakes

yield: 12 cupcakes    prep time: 25 minutes    cook time: 25 minutes    total time: 50 minutes

Ingredients:

For the Cupcakes:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
Zest and juice of 1½ limes
2 tablespoons tequila
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup buttermilk

To Brush the Cupcakes:
1 to 2 tablespoons tequila

For the Tequila-Lime Frosting:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2¾ cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoons tequila
Pinch of coarse salt

 

A Margarita whilst in baking mode… Oh, go on then!

 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

3. In an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter and sugar together until pale, light, and fluffy (about 5 minutes).

4. Reduce the mixer speed to medium and add the eggs one at at time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.

5. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the lime zest, lime juice, vanilla extract and tequila. Mix until combined. (The mixture may start to look curdled at this point, but don’t worry, it will all come back together, power on!)

6. Reduce the mixer speed low. Add the dry ingredients in three batches, alternating with the buttermilk in two batches. Mix only until just incorporated, using a rubber spatula to give it one last mix by hand.

7. Divide the batter between the muffin cups. Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until just slightly golden and a skewer shows only moist crumbs attached, rotating the pan at the halfway point.

8. Allow cupcakes to cool for 5 to 10 minutes, and then remove to a cooling rack. Brush the tops of the cupcakes with the 1 to 2 tablespoons of tequila. Set the cupcakes aside to cool completely before frosting them.

9. To make the frosting, whip the butter on medium-high speed of an electric mixer using the whisk attachment for 5 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium-low, and gradually add the powdered sugar, mixing and scraping the sides of the bowl until all is incorporated. Give it a mix on medium speed for about 30 seconds. Add the lime juice, tequila and salt mix on medium-high speed until incorporated and fluffy. If the frosting appears a bit too soft, add some additional sugar, one spoonful at a time until desired consistency is reached. Frost cupcakes and garnish, if desired, with lime zest, an additional sprinkling of salt and a lime wedge.

Taste test:

Absolutely moreish!!

Though as it is frosted with a butter creme frosting, it is only ‘good’ for a day or two after applied. Which is either bad or good for your figure, depending on if you decide to share (or not?!)

 

Enjoy!! xo

 

Mission for May

This year is flying by fast and before I know it, it will be 2015! I want to make my dreams come true this year and have decided that the month of May is the perfect opportunity for this!

There are a number of reasons why we fail at making our dreams come true, this can be down to:

1. Being scared of the act of failing.
2. Our own perceived limitations stop us from believing that we can actually do it.
3. Don’t know a good method of how to reach chosen goals.
4. Failing to do the things we really must do in order to make it happen.

But since I want to have an amazing year and really achieve the things I want, I will not let my excuses stop me. I have to get out there and give it all I’ve got!

‘Mission For May’ is all about…

• Making a plan for how to make it happen.
• Committing to making it happen.
• Take control of the situation.
• Staying accountable by letting other people know i.e. YOU. The reader.

 

 

What to do next:

Take action!

When setting goals do NOT limit yourself to what you THINK you are capable of or what you think is possible for you. We are all guilty of thinking that we’re far less capable than we actually are, by thinking of the method of how you can reach your goal is the secret, KEEP thinking and taking action on the method. It is this method that will help you reach your goal.

There’s a quote by Thomas Edison, that I think sums up what I am trying to say: “If we all did the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves.” How many amazing ideas have you come up with and then thought it wasn’t possible to achieve it?

It is easy to think you can’t do something, especially when you’ve never done it before. Have you ever thought: ‘I can’t do it because I need more experience?’ ‘I can’t do it because I’m not clever enough/smart enough/talented enough.’ We often think we need to be something else before we can achieve what we want, and so our dreams stay out of our reach.

Just imagine where you’d be right now if you believed that there were no limits to what you could achieve!

• People are doing the impossible everyday, they are far and few between, but they are out there.

The impossible is possible.

• It was thought impossible to land on the moon… we all know it happened (even if some question it).
• They thought it was impossible for a human to travel at the speed of sound, Felix Baumgartner smashed that belief in 2012.

People are doing the impossible every day, they are far and few between, but they’re out there. Will you be one of them? Are you prepared to stand out from the crowd and believe that you can achieve things even though some might think it is impossible or unrealistic?

Whatever you want to achieve, believe that it is possible and make it your aim to achieve it.

Don’t let others limit you.

There are always going to be naysayers and people telling you that you’re crazy, ridiculous, unrealistic, blah, blah, blah! But you have to ignore them. Don’t let other peoples’ perception of you or what you are trying to achieve become your perception. Stay strong and never stop believing in yourself and your dreams. If you want to achieve amazing things, go out there and make it happen. The small things can add up to be something great. This is your life, make the absolute most of it and never let anyone bring you down.

• Don’t let other people’s perception of you or what you’re trying to achieve become your perception.
• Remember that what you focus on is likely to become your reality. 

You have to ignore the doubts and the worries.

Make a conscious effort to become aware of your thoughts. Those ‘little dark thoughts’ have a way of distorting your creativity, perceptions and sometimes reality. If you feel like everything is a struggle, everything will be a struggle. If you tell yourself that it’s impossible, you are quite literally making it incredibly difficult for yourself.

Remember that what you focus on is likely to become your reality. So, if you spend a lot of time focusing on feeling like you’re not going to be able to make it, focusing on all the things that could go wrong, you are going to attract that into your life.

• When the negative comments voice their opinion, you have to have the strength to tell them to shut up!

 

My Mission for May…

1. To try all the things I have said I would. i.e. Rock Climbing at the ECIA, climb Dumyat, one of the Ochil Hills in the Stirling area, etc.
2. To write regularly.
3. To people watch whilst sitting in the window of independent coffee shops more often.
4. To save enough money to buy an Audi A1 – my dream car.

 

 

Good luck!! xo

 

NOTE: unsure where and who to give credit of imagery.