Online Business Blog

A well-written application form can give you the boost you need to stand out from the crowd when applying to a banking job or any kind of job really. Whether you’re going for a part-time local job, or aiming at international recruitment, you may well be presented with an application form as the first hurdle.

In an application form, an employer will be looking for more specific information that may not be included in a CV. You need to make sure that you give it to them.

With that in mind, here are our tips for making sure any application form you fill in is the best you can make it:

• Make sure you understand all the instructions, and be sure to adhere to them all the way through. Dropping to lower case when you should be using block capitals will impress no one.
• If you’re given the chance to talk about yourself, take your time! Plan it out and be sure you mention what you’ll bring to the job. What makes you the best candidate?
• Emphasise any of your achievements that are going to be particularly useful in the job.

And if the application form is a paper copy, rather than an online copy:

• Make a photocopy for a practise run.
• Black ink means clearer photocopies. It also looks more professional.
• Handwriting counts! If the employer can’t read your form it’s going to ruin your chances.

And in all cases, be sure to double check! Spelling or grammar errors are not going to endear you to a potential employer. Ideally, get another person to read through your work.

Hopefully, you found the list of do’s useful; now here’s a list of don’ts:

• Don’t leave sections blank. An incomplete form is not useful. If a section does not apply to you, fill it in saying why.
• Don’t include a CV or cover letter unless specifically asked to.
• Don’t lie! The consequences of getting caught are simply not worth the risks. If you’re found to be lying you could be blacklisted from any future openings in the company, and the information may be shared among the entire group of companies, if one exists.

We hope that these points are useful to you. Remember them when filling in application forms. Good Luck!

Following on from our previous blog posts on writing job specifications and choosing the right candidates to interview, we will now look at job interview techniques. Most job interview articles whether it is for accountancy jobs or finance jobs you will read will concentrate on the interviewee and what they will encounter, but in this blog we will look at what the interviewer needs to do and look out for.

Conducting the perfect interview is all about getting the right balance of preparation, questioning and listening.

There are many interview techniques you can use, the two most common are the behavioural event interviewing technique and the criteria based interview.

The Behavioural event interview is where you look at the applicant’s past and you look at how they performed and handled previous tasks and roles. This is based on the assumption that the applicant will handle your role in a similar fashion to how they handled previous relevant roles.

Criteria based interviewing is when you measure a client’s performance in different areas, this is done by testing the applicants knowledge using structured questioning. This formal technique is a great way of testing the applicant’s performance but does involve the right questions and the ability to interpret the answers given.

The technique you use in your interview depends on various factors such as personal preference, objectives and company regulations to interviewing. But with careful planning, questioning and listening, you should be able to conduct a successful interview. Here are some of the things you need to factor into your interview.

Detailing your requirements and what you are looking for is something you have hopefully prepared already and used in your job advertising process. But it helps if you go into a bit more detail at this stage. Make sure you are clear about what skills, experiences and qualifications you are looking for.

You should always look and analyse the applications and CVs in advance, but this can sometimes be overlooked. Make sure to highlight any points you would like to raise in the interview, this includes both strengths and weaknesses. This is a great chance to highlight any questions you have about previous employment as most people don’t go into great detail in their CVs.

Remember you will not only be asking questions, the applicant will probably have some for you as well. So make sure you have relevant information to hand to make sure both you and the company appear professional, this may include history of the company, benefits or what its like to work there.

Make sure the area or room you will be conducting the interview is suitable. You want to put the applicant at ease, so don’t choose a place where you will be disturbed a lot.

Preparing an agenda for the interview will help you to stick to your time slot and also make sure you cover all areas that you wanted to go over. One of the best techniques to put an interviewee at ease is to introduce yourself and then cover your agenda so you can let them know what to expect.

Once you have finished your questions you should close the interview by asking the applicant If they have any questions. They may want to cover some of the areas you have introduced briefly. After the questions you can let them know things like, when they can expect to hear back and how the rest of the process will go. Whether there will be any other interviews for example.

As well as notes during the interview, it is always a good idea to make notes at the end to summarise what you thought of the applicant.

Once you have performed all this and seen a good range of applicants, you can hopefully come to a decision on who you want to see again or even who you want to offer the job to, completing your financial recruitment process.

We have written many recruitment blog posts here on the online business blog, but the majority of those were written to aid the person looking for a job. In our next few blog posts we will be looking at things from the recruiter’s perspective.

It may seem like any easy task to come up with specifications for a potential employee, but it’s a good idea to take a moment and evaluate what qualities you are looking for.

Coming up with a detailed specification will help you focus on what type of person you want and what skills you need, which will hopefully make the recruitment process much smoother.

The goal of a job specification is to come up with a detailed description of the job opportunity, and detail the responsibilities and goals of the potential employee will have.

The second part of the process is coming up with a person specification which is where you will create a profile of the ideal candidate that you think will suit the role. These specifications, not only help the employer work out what type of person they are looking for but also the candidates will be able to understand the role and position better.

Many employers and recruiters make the mistake of posting vague information about jobs hoping that many people will apply and they can choose the best. Using better specifications you can save time and resources by having the appropriate candidates apply in the first place.

By specifying exactly who you are looking for and the skills and experience they should have will also avoid problems once they have been accepted and started. This can avoid unnecessary training that may be needed if the candidate is missing any skills.

One problem that crops up with vague job descriptions is that a new employee may leave the company fairly quickly as they might find that the position was not what they were looking for. This will then take you back to square one of looking for someone to fill the position, so it is always best to get it right the first time.

This is especially true for international recruitment as you want to make sure the right candidate is chose if they are having to move abroad for an international job.

We have written an accompanying piece on our tumblr blog

There are many reasons to consider a career in the area of dentistry, reasonable pay, social able atmosphere and good career prospects. Some people choose this career path as they like what the profession represents which is a continually evolving field which provides ongoing challenges not just in the form of ever changing patience’s but advances in technology that moves the industry forward.

The challenges that the industry brings to your knowledge is constant and the desire to improve and better yourself is essential. Providing a high standard of service and the best practices on a daily basis is undoubtedly at the forefront of your work.

What benefits can you expect while in a dental career? The ability to become self employed is a feature that draws many people in to the industry and intern allows them the freedom to work independently and be more flexible with life. As the business expands this will enable you to take on more help and generate more job openings for those looking to start in the industry. Each day provides a different challenge and the industry really allows you to grow. As with any profession there is a downside, and this comes in the form of children as patients. I’m sure they aren’t all frightened of some one looking at their teeth but with the stigma associated with the dentist, they will do well to keep their cool!.

Teaching people about the importance of oral care can be another benefit of working in the industry and with the public. A lot of people can be very grateful for additional advice when it comes to oral care. The advice you can give will allow people to understand the consequences of lack of care to their teeth and gums. The job is equally about prevention and cure of problems that may arise. It’s in the patients best interest to take care of themselves as this will inevitably lead to better oral health and regular check ups will address any problems that might occur before the become an issue.

Consider a dentist job for a long term career and a challenging job that will allow you to continue to grow.

People have been moving abroad for better career opportunities for a long time, but with the recent economic downturn insiders are expecting even more candidates to move abroad for career opportunities. But working abroad is not an easy task and requires a lot of planning and research to make it work.

One of the biggest issues that candidates need to get right is visas. The laws on working in certain countries can be confusing and so needs plenty of research to make sure you apply for the correct visa allowing you can legally work in your desired country. Different visas will determine the length of time you can work in a country, so bear that in mind while researching. Two sites that can help with visa information are the www.visabureau.com and www.fco.gov.uk/.

If economic conditions are the reason a candidate wants to move abroad to work, then research should be taken on the desired country’s situation as the British financial struggles are also happening in other countries such as the US.

Attention should also be paid to rates of pay in different countries. Recruitment companies who deal with jobs abroad can help you with rates of pay for various positions, so you can establish which country can offer the best opportunities. Housing prices should also factor into a candidates decision about which country to work in as markets can vary wildly compared to what we are used to in the UK.

After looking into pay rates and housing prices, candidate should also consider the tax regulations of the desired country. Especially so that they can make sure they will pay the correct rates and not get into hot water. This is a complicated area and expert advice should always be taken before making any decisions.

One of the best tips for candidates looking to work abroad for jobs such as important banking jobs is to visit the country for a holiday, so that they can get a feel for the country they are thinking about relocating to. This can also be combined with interviews with potential employers and looking at property to rent or buy.

References are a part of recruitment that are often forgotten about by candidates and not seen as important as a good CV or cover letter. But with high profile jobs like public sector jobs or accountant jobs, every stage of the recruitment process is just as important. Recruiters will be keen on checking references from previous employment but references in the eyes of the law aren’t simple and can cause a lot of problems.

Employers are not legally obliged to give references for previous employees, but sometimes the obligation may be added to an employee’s contract.

You may wonder what a reference should actually contain, well an employer needs to be aware that they owe a duty of care to the employee. If you lie in a reference, a third party using the reference maybe able to take legal action against you. In a reference, you need to be truthful, accurate, fair and not misleading.

The best way to think of a reference is that old saying “if you haven’t got anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”.

When applying for banking jobs or accountant jobs your CV is the first time a potential employer will come in contact with you, so you should utilise it as a marketing tool and make a good impression. Before you start writing, you should ask yourself, where you are and where you want to go, what experience and qualifications you have and what your strengths and weaknesses are.

Format

• You should keep your CV under 3 pages
• Put personal details at the beginning
• Work experience should go in reverse chronological order
• Use bullet points to break up the CV
• Print on high quality white A4 paper
• Use examples of managerial and leadership success
• Honestly is the best policy as if you get caught it will make you look bad
• Be as positive as possible about previous work

Content

• Draft out your CV and make sure you get some friends or colleagues to proof read it for you
• Outline instances where you have instigated a particular concept or project
• Talk about how you took this project from start to conclusion
• Detail unique skills that you possess that will make you stand out from the crowd

Your finished CV should be printed on high quality A4 paper, but many employers will ask you to submit your CV by e-mail. When submitting your CV by e-mail you need to remember to use standard fonts and a universal file type like Microsoft word.

Most employers will require you to send a covering letter, but we will save that guide for another post.