I'm Jo Courtney, a 30 year old woman from South London. I have worked in the wonderful world of online recruitment for three and a half years in one guise or another. I now find myself unemployed and to save myself from succumbing to "Loose Women" and "This Morning" I thought I would share my experiences with you so that I don't go mad with boredom and you never know, you might get entertained or perhaps learn a thing or two.
I moved from Office Management to Marketing a year and a half ago. I love marketing, it allows creativity and is great for those of you who are results driven. There's a certain buzz you get from seeing a campaign turn into a success from a "light-bulb" moment (and I still get a certain thrill when I see my ads in print). Specialising in online recruitment marketing - it is quite a learning curve to now be sitting on the other side of the recruitment fence.
I lost my job at the end of January, 2 days before I set off on my two week holiday to Thailand. Bad timing you may say but I disagree. I boarded that plane at Heathrow without a care in the world, I was chilled and stress-free, looking forward to the craziness of Bangkok and some beach action on Koh Tao and Koh Phangnan. I have now returned tanned, even more chilled and eager to start the hunt for my dream job (although freelance / part-time / contract work will do in the interim - I even have an application form for my local JD Weatherspoon!) Being the pro-active person that I am I even found myself applying for jobs in hot, sticky internet cafes whilst on holiday when I could have been supping a cocktail on the beach, unfortunately this was necessary given the current climate.
Yesterday I took the brave step of shedding my pride and going down the local job centre plus office to sign-on. Oh the irony - having once written articles for candidates on how to optimise your job search, writing the perfect CV and nailing that all important job application - I now find myself on the receiving end of such advice (and trying not to be cynical!) I have to apply for 3 jobs a week and keep a note of my applications in my job-hunting diary, and I have to call the job-centre plus number once a week. Failure to do so will result in my weekly benefit of £60.50 a week (must remember not to go and spend that all at once) from being withdrawn. I found myself being subjected to questions such as: do I know how to write a CV and would I like to attend a CV clinic, do I check the local paper for job opportunities etc. I found myself teaching my "advisor" a thing to as I reeled off the various different job-boards where I have up-loaded my CV - explaining there's been a dramatic decline in print publishing and the internet is the way forward when it comes to looking for a job. When asked what have I done to find employment I explained that in the 4 days that I have been actively seeking a job since I got back from holiday that I have indeed applied for 17 jobs! I had to seriously bite my tongue (and without wanting to sound like a snob) - did the lady seriously think I needed advice on how to hunt for a job? I wanted to tell some of the more desirable job centre plus attendees to get off their back-sides and at least look like they wanted to get a job - they need the advice more than I do! And these offices are crammed full of security guards, I had no idea that job-hunting had become so aggressive! At the end of my consultation I found myself telling the advisor how the government could learn a thing a two from commercial job-boards and was offering advice on how they could improve their job-searching facilities to improve user experience and functionality!!!
And then there's the constant applying, applying and applying for jobs. One of the main things I loved about my previous roles was adding value to the job hunting process, for both candidates and clients. Now I'm sitting on the other side of the fence I feel like the reams of advice that have been given to recruiters over the years has fallen on deaf ears! I really enjoyed nurturing my candidates, keeping them informed of market developments and advising them on how they can take advantage of this to help them land their next job. In turn, I'd send quarterly e-DMs to clients, telling them about our star candidates, how to take advantage of web 2.0 when it comes to finding potential job-seekers, basically trying to encourage a symbiotic relationship between clients and candidates. Candidate marketing is very important for job-boards, by nuturing that relationship candidates will naturally keep in contact with you (even if they land a job), after all - isn't it every recruiters' dream to convert a potential job-seeker into an employee? It seems that now we are in the middle of the deepest, darkest recession this country has seen for many years that recruiters are no longer interested in nurturing their candidates, or adding any sort of value to the recruitment process. Companies (particularly recruitment publishers) are petrified of going bust and rather than taking their own advice and looking after what they have, they are more interested in selling recruitment advertising space (be that on or off-line) rather than looking after the one thing that makes their job possible in the first place - their candidates!
So recruiters, just because there is a glut of candidates in the market it doesn't mean you should neglect them. When I have taken enough interest in your organisation to want to work for you, then let me know my application has reached you safely, if I have cajoled my CV to fit nicely on two sides of A4, written a cracking covering letter then the least you could do is stick to your end of the bargain and acknowledge my application. If I have taken 45 minutes out of my day to have a telephone interview with you, have forwarded you examples of my work and followed up with a polite email thanking you for taking the time to speak with me then the least I expect is for you to do what you said you were going to do and come back to me within the agreed timescales.
So, I end my first week of job-hunting preparing for my 9.10am appointment on Monday morning at the social (remembering to get there 10 minutes early so I can take advantage of the job points to help me with my search, and to fill out my job hunting diary), and I am continuing to trawl the internet to apply for even more phantom jobs! Having just written that I have just taken a genuine call from a recruitment consultant and we're meeting on Monday - hoorah - maybe I should have more faith?!
Unemployment does have it's benefits, my husband is delighted that I have now become a "proper wife." He comes home to find his dinner on the table, the washing up done and the laundry has been hung out to dry (although I draw the line at ironing his shirts). I now have time to complete my 3rd assignment of my Professional Diploma in Marketing and can take advantage of the free gym downstairs - after all, I am taking part in a half marathon this year so some training would be a good idea. However, I would much prefer to be back in the wonderful world of employment...... any takers?!
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