In the UK jobs can be applied for by sending your Curriculum Vitae (CV) to agencies in your respective fields. It is important to send a good CV. There are various websites where you can find advice on how to write a CV or see Birgit's CV, as an example please click here.
Please click here or here for websites that detail various agencies.
Agencies source suitable jobs and will inform you about interviews. You should ask about the company where you will be sent for your interview and do some research of your own, perhaps on the internet. You could research the following:
- Company overview
- The industry the company is in (e.g. retail, care)
- Major markets for the company
- Market share of the company
- Competitors
- Analyse the company by looking at their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for the company
- Recent news about the company
Prepare for questions about yourself, such as:
- Why did you apply at this company?
- What are your strengths?
- What are your weaknesses?
- Why should we hire you?
- Where else did you apply?
- Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Questions you could ask:
- What are future training and career possibilities?
- Will company XXX expand their product range or will they tap into different products?
- What are the expansion plans for Company XXX? Are there special geographic areas where Company XXX would like to expand to?
- What is the salary structure and health cover?
It is always good to be prepared and to show interest in the company. It might be that the interviewer doesn't even ask you all this but it is good to be prepared and to know a bit about the organisation for which you might work. Maybe you don't want to work for that company after researching it or maybe you really like it!
Information can be easily obtained by looking at the company's website, reading their annual reports or by simply typing their name into Google and seeing what comes up. Industry information is easily obtainable by checking official publications.
Good luck with finding your new job!
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