Wednesday 16 March 2011

The 5 'P's

In the latest in a series of original blog posts, we look at the specifics of what you need to put across at interview. Things always look more manageable when we break them down into smaller chunks -- the question is, how do we do this with a job application?


Approaching a job interview is a daunting prospect. What are they going to expect from you?

There are a thousand and one things you can do to prepare yourself for the interview, but the good -- or bad -- news is that there’s not a lot you can do about the interviewers’ expectations of you...

So, more importantly, what do you want from them?

Think about what you need: a precise idea of what you want from a job, so that you can go into an interview confident that this is the job you really want.

Broken down into manageable chunks, your application needs to consist of your responses to 5 important factors:


Performance           ~ what exactly can you do? What skills do you want to be able to
                                  showcase in a job?

People                     ~ whom do you want to be working with? Whether it’s the clients or
                                  customers you want to serve, the colleagues you’d like to work
                                  alongside, or your ideal boss, the ‘who’ of your intended job is
                                  very important.

Place                       ~ where do you want to be working?
&
Pace                        
~ what speed do you want to be working at? (These ‘P’s go together --
                                  they focus on the environment or atmosphere of your ideal workplace.)

Proposition             ~ the most important factor: what is your pitch to the company? What
                                  are your unique selling points? What do you have that other people
                                  lack, and that this company needs?


If the situation at the job you’re applying for doesn’t match any one of these factors, you need to do some serious thinking: is this the right job for you?

If not, however impressive your CV or resume is, and however much experience you have, you may just be wasting their time -- and, more importantly, wasting yours!

4 comments:

  1. There are several steps an older job seeker can take to make the most of their job search. First and foremost, take a career inventory. Make a list of all the positions previously held. What tasks were completed? What accomplishments were made? One of the biggest obstacles for older workers is that they may be overqualified for jobs they’re applying to, so try to narrow down experience to what’s really important.

    employment tips

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Dan, that was right on time I'm an older person getting ready for an interview and needed that

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    2. Thanks Dan, that was right on time I'm an older person getting ready for an interview and needed that

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  2. Thanks for commenting, Dan, and those are really good points -- the experience of the older job seeker is definitely something we need to address more in the blog.

    ReplyDelete