- This topic has 35 replies, 24 voices, and was last updated 8 years ago by stevemuzzy.
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Um, Job Advice
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veedubbaFull Member
I never (well, apart from now) do this, as I prefer to lurk on the forum since I’m fairly private. But, people seem to give good advice on STW, when we’re not all being utter helmets about things. 🙂
However, my whole site is being made redundant in a few weeks (probably, after a consultation period. It’s pretty certain stuff though) and I’m in need of a new job.
I’m really after some advice from people as to where to look other than the usual places as they all seem to have the same roles all the time.
Some info about me: I live in the North West. I have 10 years experience in quality management and process improvement in heavy industry, defence and oil & gas. I don’t mind travelling.
Is there something I’m missing with regards to recruiters I should be targeting? Should I be trying the direct approach?
And to those of you who started your own business in this situation, how did you do it?!
Quite a few questions and I’m hopeful I’ll get some good info from you all.
Thanks,
C
perchypantherFree MemberI have 10 years experience in quality management and process improvement
Comedy Answer : Tried Yodel? From what I gather they could be doing with some quality management and process improvement.
Serious Answer : Tried any large scale construction companies? Some of the big boys in the industry employ people with these particular set of skills.
nickjbFree MemberIn terms of jobs don’t go looking for advertised jobs as there is loads of competition. Look for companies you’d like to work for and offer your services. You’ll get a lot of rejection or ignores but any bites are far more likely to result in a job.
If you fancy starting your own business then you need to do a few sums. How long can you last without work? How much would you need to earn for it to be sustainable? How likely is that? If it adds up then go for it. Far better than working for the man. No idea about your sector but I chased the few contacts I had, went to a few events to build a network, used LinkedIn and set up a website. The website was probably the biggest draw, and after repeat work is pretty much the only thing that brings in new business now.
Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition
Latest Singletrack VideosFresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...TooTallFree MemberNetwork, network, network. If you’re not on LinkedIn, get on it. If you are, start mining it and talking to contacts in the fields you work. If you’re in a professional org, go to their events. If there are socials and networking events relevant, go to them. A lot of vacancies are still not the ones that recruiters end up with on their desks.
jimdubleyouFull MemberGet on Linked-In if you’re not already on it and start tapping up your contacts for leads – not forcefully, you don’t want to piss people off. But, let them know you’re looking.
When I first went contracting, it was only the first one I got through applying to adverts, everything else was through word of mouth.
Have a look at http://www.contractoruk.com if you’re thinking about starting a one-man-band.
rickmeisterFull MemberSome musings,
If its certain its going to happen, get in early.
Fire up your network like perchyp suggests, ear to the ground, contact all your mates
Prep your cv and linkedin
CV – focus on achievements and benefits, not just a dear diary of role description
Do the difficult maths re outgoings to see how long redundancy pay will last
Check UK Gov site on redundancy t&c’s. Its best to be informed
Dont be too loyal to your soon to be ex business, or mercinary for cracking on and leaving teh old behindGet in early before the rest of your site wakes up and is on the market
Good luck with the career search..
veedubbaFull MemberThanks for the advice. I am on Linkedin but I’m not a particularly good networking (I think, anyway) so I need to improve in that area.
I best get on with making a list of companies I want to work for and cold calling them too. Not something I’ve ever done before but sounds like it could work.
My redundancy will be statutory minimum so not a great deal, and IMO it’s already been decided, but the legalities mean we can’t be told just yet.
What’s in Sweden?
cornholio98Free MemberWhat’s in Sweden? — Swedes.. 🙂 Man some days I hardly get any work done due to my hilarity
Seriously though would you consider relocating the family? I’ll send you a mail with my thoughts..
howsyourdad1Free MemberNo it think what I mean is that here there is a lot of demand for that type of work. Be positive and look further afield, if you can . All the best with the search
veedubbaFull MemberThat’s what I thought you meant! Best places to look online for work there?
nicko74Full MemberSorry to hear you’re going through this; on the plus side at least you should get a solid payoff, right?
In terms of future jobs, just echoing what everyone else has said. With 10 years’ experience you’re starting/ have already moved away from the “job gets advertised, apply for it” space. I’ve literally just gone through this myself, and spent 6 months looking for job ads with the right combination of experience, pay, responsibility etc. I got to 3 relatively solid leads, none of which had a job posting. To be honest, none of them really had a particular job description in mind – just an idea that they need someone who can do “this kind of thing”; talking to me then helped them get a handle on what it was they needed, and from there one has turned into a signed job offer.
I was thinking about it; I reckon it’s because beyond a certain level of experience, the hiring person isn’t absolutely sure what the job *is* – it’s like they need someone to come in who knows the space, knows the need, and will give them the answers. If they knew exactly what they needed, they could get a more junior person in.
All of which to say, in a roundabout way: get yourself out meeting peers, former colleagues; get to industry events/ conferences, speak to small firms in the space. Be honest, say you’re just looking to get some ideas, understand more about it blah blah.
A recruiter here told me her theory that you have to have coffee with 70 people (separately) for opportunities to start really springing up. It’s an odd rule of thumb (and very recruiter-esque), but gave me a target to aim for.veedubbaFull MemberThat’s a lot of coffee. I like coffee. That’s a great bit of advice though Nick, thanks.
The payoff will be pretty rubbish as I’ve only been here 3 years, so it’ll be well under a months’ salary equivalent, plus any notice. Makes things a bit more urgent.
I had thought about offering a Quality-for-hire service to SMEs whereby those who need some form of control over their processes and records but don’t necessary need a fulltime QM could pay for a package tailored to their needs, with me being on site for them a certain number of days a month, alongside an offering where I would get them through accreditation. Where I’d start with that is the big issue though.
howsyourdad1Free Memberre sweden look at all the big companies , Saab spring to mind for defense. Bombadier are here, volvo of course! Mail in profile if you want further advice although it may be totaly way off what you want!
NZColFull MemberI had thought about offering a Quality-for-hire service to SMEs whereby those who need some form of control over their processes and records but don’t necessary need a fulltime QM could pay for a package tailored to their needs, with me being on site for them a certain number of days a month, alongside an offering where I would get them through accreditation. Where I’d start with that is the big issue though.
Find one client that wants it, then find more. That’s one way to get started ! I’m not being flippant here, if you can get one cornerstone client then that gives you some feeling it will fly. Get it packaged up, be clear on what they get and don’t get, be clear on pricing of the service and any options. Basically, make it easy to buy – what is it, wht do i get, how much, when.
HansReyFull Member+1 for LinkedIn. Also worth joining groups specific to your interests, as often companies post job adverts in those. These vacancies may not be ‘paid’ adverts, which would be found through the LinkedIn “jobs” section.
Also, look at EURES, https://ec.europa.eu/eures/public/homepage, if you’re willing to move abroad.
Lastly, what about advertising yourself here on STW? I’ve had a few interviews on the back of posting to some others thread. Not everyone works in IT.
(excuse the poor writing. I’m running a fever of 39C!)
stumpyjonFull MemberWhen you say Northwest, east Manchester any good? Any H & S experience?
SundayjumperFull MemberThat.
If you’ve got security clearance from your defence work then Sellafield should have your name all over it. Not necessarily on site, there will be ‘List X’ companies working on it from their own offices. Lots in Manchester I expect.
I used to work for Jacobs and they were trying to recruit up there, because they had THIS in the pipeline.
cdaimersFull MemberSecond for sellafield, it would fit your descriptions for experience etc. For recruiters try some of the local ones around Cumbria for sellafield. West lakes recruitment are good in my experience.
For setting up on your own, you need a large network, people to feed you work or refer work to you. In my experience recently, this takes a while, I am 4 months in to that and only now beginning to see fruit from my labours.
squirrelkingFree MemberPlus there is the new Meadowhall build coming up, the reactor design (Westinghouse AP1000) won’t be signed off till the end of 2017 IIRC but until then there is probably loads to get nuclear experience in on site. See also EDF, your qualifications and experience look spot on for engineer positions (Morcambe Bay/ Heysham locally or any other site in the UK).
jimoiseauFree MemberI work for EDF. If I had to pick one of the stations to work at it’d be Heysham, it’s the closest to civilisation by quite a bit (by which I mean Lancaster, not Morecambe). Also commutable from the lakes if that’s more your thing. If open to relocating from the North West there’s also the two Scottish sites and new build stuff in Bristol or North Somerset.
globaltiFree MemberSomeone told me that 70% of jobs are not advertised; so the advice to network and write letters is the best. I got my present job (been there 28 years now) by writing to companies who I knew would be ready to recruit somebody with my experience and personality.
squirrelkingFree MemberJim, you forgot Essex 😛
Of all the sites to work at I’d say Hunterston has the best views though, the rest are pretty bleak by all accounts. But then, I would say that…
jimplopsFull MemberUpload your cv onto cv library, plenty of employers and recruitment agencies get in contact via there.
dovebikerFull MemberLots of big employers don’t use agencies, but talent-pool online applications. Big civil nuclear programme in the Northwest imminent. Going self-employed usually means a 7-day working week.
veedubbaFull MemberThank’s for all the advice chaps!
I have my CV with an old colleague up at Sellafield, and I’m also looking at employers up there too, so perhaps I should focus on there a bit more.
EDF is a good call. Even though I can almost see Heysham from my house, it’s easy to forget that it’s there!
Today’s jobs are: get a decent cover letter sorted, build up a list of potential employers I want to work for, follow up my previous applications.
I really would like to start out on my own, so I’ll give that “plan” a lot more thought too.
Please do keep the info coming though. 🙂
edlongFree Memberget a decent cover letter sorted
I’d recommend more than one – in fact one per recipient.
As someone who receives unsolicited CVs, the ones with covering letters that say
“I have some skills look, some of them might be of use to you in whatever it is that you do?”
get much less attention than the ones that say
“I’ve got some skills here and here’s why I think you and your organisation might be interested in them, and here’s why I think I would be a good fit for your organisation and here’s why I really want to work with you”
veedubbaFull MemberGood point. I meant more along the lines of getting the general “me” details right so I can then tailor them to the company
cdaimersFull MemberI would suggest approaching some of the big consultants and contractors locally in West Cumbria. Talent pool is very shallow and any decent experience as you say, will be snapped up. I used to work for Atkins and we took people on with certain skills for 6-9 months at a time to get over the projects, they were freelance or via agency and got great rates.
One I would recommend is the Balfour Beatty / Jacobs venture in box encapsulation plant (or big box as its known locally). Its a large project and needs the sort of people with skills you have. I worked on the original project which was mothballed in 1999 but Jacobs are pushing it on now with new technology.
TooTallFree MemberI best get on with making a list of companies I want to work for and
digging through LinkedIn to see if I have any connections to people in those companies.
veedubbaFull MemberLittle update: subject to signing a contract and starting, I appear to have found myself a little job, which is great.
Thanks for the advice and support, both on the thread and off it.
JohnClimberFree MemberWhen searching for LinkedIn connections use your smart phone as you soon run out of your “monthly use” on a laptop
We’ll done on the job offer
FrankensteinFree MemberNice to head to some good news and advice I’ll be using after handing in my notice in August.
stevemuzzyFree MemberMan you want to speak to in jacobs is called gary anderson. He is thier talent guy. Based in glasgow but does all the uk. I have placed 4 or 5 people with Aker/ Jacobs but only deal in Scotland. Good luck!.
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