Table Of Contenti
SIXTH EDITION
ULTIMATE
JOB SEARCH
MASTER THE ART OF FINDING YOUR
IDEAL JOB, GETTING AN INTERVIEW
AND NETWORKING
LYNN WILLIAMS
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ii
Publisher’s note
Every possible effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this book is
accurate at the time of going to press, and the publishers and author cannot accept respon-
sibility for any errors or omissions, however caused. No responsibility for loss or damage
occasioned to any person acting, or refraining from action, as a result of the material in this
publication can be accepted by the editor, the publisher or the author.
First published in Great Britain and the United States as The Ultimate Job Search Book in 2006 by
Kogan Page Limited.
Second edition published in 2008 as Ultimate Job Search
Third edition published in 2012
Fourth edition 2015
Fifth edition 2018
Sixth edition 2021
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as
permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be repro-
duced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the
publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licences
issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the
publishers at the undermentioned addresses:
2nd Floor, 45 Gee Street 122 W 27th Street 4737/23 Ansari Road
London New York, NY 10001 Daryaganj
EC1V 3RS USA New Delhi 110002
United Kingdom India
www.koganpage.com
Kogan Page books are printed on paper from sustainable forests.
© Lynn Williams, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2015, 2018, 2021
Kogan Page books are printed on paper from sustainable forests.
The right of Lynn Williams to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
ISBNs
Hardback 978 1 3986 0219 9
Paperback 978 1 3986 0217 5
Ebook 978 1 3986 0218 2
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Control Number
2021939268
Typeset by Integra Software Services, Pondicherry
Print production managed by Jellyfish
Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY
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iii
CONTENTS
Introduction 1
1 First things first 3
1. Find out what skills, qualities and abilities the job requires 4
2. Match those skills, qualities and abilities with your own 6
3. Prepare examples of how, when and where you have demonstrated
them in the past 7
4. Present those skills, qualities and abilities clearly and confidently
both in writing and verbally 7
5. Demonstrate in your presentation, appearance and behaviour the
personal qualities required 8
2 The highly employable candidate 10
What makes someone stand out? 10
What every employer wants 10
A guarantee of professionalism 11
3 Making a start 15
Key tasks 16
Skills, abilities and knowledge 17
Qualifications and training 17
Results and achievements 17
Transferable skills 18
Match the skills you’ve got to the skills they want 19
Using the job posting to improve your CV 20
Reading the posting 20
Putting it in your CV 21
4 The skills they want from everyone 25
Teamwork 26
Communicating with others 26
Problem solving 26
iv CONTENTS
Analysing 27
Organizing and planning 27
Flexibility and adaptability 27
Drive and determination 28
5 Your CV 29
Attract attention 29
Create a good impression 30
Present your relevant skills 30
Keep your CV relevant 42
6 CV problems 47
Problem: there are gaps in my career history 47
Problem: my career history isn’t straightforward 48
Problem: my relevant experience is in a voluntary role 48
Problem: I’ve had lots of very different jobs 49
Problem: my CV is more than two pages long 50
Problem: I’m doing more than one job 51
Problem: I’ve only ever had one job 51
Problem: a lot of my jobs have been the same 52
Problem: I’ve been unemployed for over a year 53
Problem: my current job isn’t very impressive or relevant, or it’s a bit of
a step backwards 54
Problem: I haven’t got much experience for the job I want 55
Problem: I’m over-qualified 55
Problem: I’m under-qualified 56
Problem: I’m over 50 56
Problem: I’m under 25 57
7 CVs with special considerations 59
CVs for school, college and university leavers 59
CVs after a career break 65
CVs for career changers 67
CVs when you already have a CV 70
8 CVs for specific jobs 72
The clerical CV 72
The sales and marketing CV 75
CVs for technical jobs 78
CONTENTS v
The management CV 80
CVs for creative jobs 83
CVs for practical jobs 86
CVs for customer relations jobs 88
9 Application forms 93
Application forms section by section 94
10 Covering letters 100
Appearance, layout and readability 102
Content 102
Layout 103
What goes into the letter? 105
11 Telephone calls 113
General points 113
Information calls 114
Speculative calls 115
Follow-up calls 118
Telephone interviews 119
Video interviews 119
When they call you 119
12 The job search 122
Job search stages 122
Job market research 123
Ways of job hunting 127
Using your skills effectively 131
The ultimate job search skill 132
13 Your online job search 137
Using the internet effectively 137
Online recruitment resources 137
Your online CV 140
Online extras 147
Privacy and safety online 149
14 Job search strategies 151
Answering advertisements for vacancies 151
CV and follow-up call 152
vi CONTENTS
Personal letter 154
Recruitment agencies 154
Networking 156
Job fairs 157
Personal appearances 158
Foot in the door 159
Unconventional approaches 160
15 Interviews: making a great impression 164
Why have an interview? 164
What happens at an interview 165
Preparing for the interview 166
Making a good impression 172
Looking the part 176
Acting the part 178
Overcoming nerves 179
16 Answering interview questions 183
The three rules 185
What sort of questions will they ask? 185
What are the important points? 186
Questions they ask everybody 187
Dealing with negative questions 192
Questions about salary 194
Dealing with closed questions 195
Dealing with the person-specific questions 195
Inappropriate and illegal questions 200
Your questions to the interviewer 201
17 Questions for specific jobs 203
Questions for practical jobs 204
Questions for creative jobs 209
Questions for clerical jobs 214
Questions for sales and marketing jobs 218
Questions for technical jobs 224
Questions for management jobs 229
Questions for customer relations jobs 237
CONTENTS vii
18 Questions for school and college leavers 243
19 Interviews and more 251
Different types of interview 251
Interview extras 256
20 Offers and rejections 264
Write a letter 264
If the organization doesn’t make you an offer 266
Keep applying 269
If the organization makes you an offer 269
Negotiating the offer 270
Index 272
viii
SECOND EDITION FIFTH EDITION THIRD EDITION FIFTH EDITION
ULTIMATE ULTIMATE ULTIMATE ULTIMATE
PRESENTATIONS CV IQ TESTS PSYCHOMETRIC
MASTER INTERVIEW TESTS
PRESENTATIONS AND MASTER THE ART OF CREATING 1000 PRACTICE TEST QUESTIONS
1000 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FOR VERBAL,
LAND YOUR DREAM JOB A WINNING CV WITH OVER 100 TO BOOST YOUR BRAINPOWER NUMERICAL, AND PERSONALITY TESTS
SAMPLES TO HELP YOU GET THE JOB
JAY SURTI MARTIN JOHN YATE KEN RUSSELL and MIKE BRYON
PHILIP CARTER
FIFTH EDITION FOURTH EDITION SIXTH EDITION SIXTH EDITION
ULTIMATE ULTIMATE ULTIMATE ULTIMATE
COVER LETTERS APTITUDE TESTS JOB SEARCH INTERVIEW
MASTER THE ART OF WRITING THE OVER 1000 PRACTICE QUESTIONS FOR
PERFECT COVER LETTER TO BOOST ABSTRACT VISUAL, NUMERICAL, VERBAL, MASTER THE ART OF FINDING YOUR 100s OF SAMPLE QUESTIONS AND
YOUR EMPLOYABILITY PHYSICAL, SPATIAL AND SYSTEMS TESTS IDEAL JOB, GETTING AN INTERVIEW ANSWERS FOR INTERVIEW SUCCESS
AND NETWORKING
JIM BARRETT and
MARTIN JOHN YATE TOM BARRETT LYNN WILLIAMS LYNN WILLIAMS
FIND THE JOB YOU WANT.
AND GET IT.
KOGANPAGE.COM/ULTIMATE
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1
INTRODUCTION
Changing jobs rates as one of life’s most stressful experiences. However, few of
us are still doing the same job we went into after school or college, so it’s an
event most of us have to cope with at one time or another. How can you make
the most of each job move despite economic ups and downs, ensuring you get
the job you want, rather than one that will just about do?
Work fills a good one-third of our lives; it’s what most of us do all day, every
day until retirement. Who wants to spend a third of their day unfulfilled and
unhappy in a job they don’t like? Yet most of us resist change of any kind, espe-
cially dramatic career shifts, even though dissatisfaction at work affects all
aspects of our lives, spilling over into our personal lives so our spouses and
children feel the effects, too. Being unhappy at the office can also affect our
physical health.
This book can help you get the job you want. It can’t give you the technical
skills or training you need – that’s up to you, there are enough colleges and
vocational courses out there. What it does give you is the job search skills and
techniques that take the stress out of job hunting and make sure your job appli-
cations meet with a positive response.
It doesn’t matter how weak or strong the economy is, job hunting is a demand-
ing task. This is true even when there is low unemployment and skill shortages.
Even during boom times, the average job search takes around three months.
Knowing what you’re doing during the ins and outs of the recruitment process,
remaining optimistic, positive and confident are even more important when
times are tough.
You only look for a job a few times in your life. Compared with the amount of
time you spend actually doing it you can see that investing time and energy in an
effective job search repays the effort many times over. Studies show that people
