Here ’ s a short checklist to start you on your way :

Check your social media profiles . Not just Linkedin , but all of them . If there are pictures of you online looking absolutely hammered at last year ’ s Christmas party , get rid of them . Or , at least make sure they are private . Your Linkedin profile picture should be a passport style picture . Make it a good one if you can . Don ’ t put up the picture of you and the kids , and definitely not the one of you in full evening dress . Your family might think you look great . Potential employers will cringe .

Have you got your CV ready ?

Take care over this . There is a full guide in the online career section , but the main points are :

• Almost certainly , it should be no longer that two pages .

• It is the last five years in which the employers are interested .

• Is it relevant to the jobs to which you are applying ?

• Have you spell and grammar checked it ? ( This is important )

• Get a headhunter to look it over it for you .

Are you in touch with any recruitment / search consultants ? If not , you should be . But , don ’ t over do it . The last thing you want is your CV being brandished all over the place . Pick one or two you can trust and insist that they do not approach any employer without agreeing it with you first . There are some highly professional recruitment consultants out there . Unfortunately , there are also plenty at the other extreme . All the consultant firms on this job board are highly reputable .

CV Banks

Many job boards have CV banks where you can place your CV and wait for employers to approach you . Be very careful of these if you are still in work .

It is entirely likely that your current employer would see it . Shockingly , there are some unscrupulous consultants who will take your CV and submit you to clients without your knowledge , and it is not unknown for them to send it to your own employer in error . The Retail Appointment ’ s CV bank does not allow clients to see their own employees and only sells space to a very limited number of highly reputable consultancies .

Searching online

This is the big one . But it is not all encompassing . The way the internet search engines work is not as thorough as you may think . Generic job titles like Store Manager and Area Manager will be found , but some companies call their people by different titles . They might refer to Store Managers as Branch Managers , and Area Managers as District Managers . Consider alternative titles .

Go to industry specific job boards rather than to the generics . Obviously , retailappointment . co . uk for retail , but there are other job boards for hospitality and retail , too . The generic jobs boards have thousands of jobs but so many will be irrelevant . Most employers will choose both generic and a niche ( industry specific ) job board .

Think about who you want to work for and consider approaching them directly .

If you ’ re interested in working with ABC plc and have not seen any adverts , have a look at the careers section on their website . Just because there isn ’ t the right role there for you , there is no harm in writing in directly . Or , consider visiting one of their sites and talk to the local managers about potential opportunities . Remember , more jobs change hands through word of mouth and through agents and consultants , than those that are advertised .

More than anything else , write down your plan , get a checklist and then tick off the items . This is a very important task , so do everything you can to get it right .

Kick-start your job search by attending Retail Appointment Live 22-23 September 2022

retailappointment . co . uk / live

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