Your employment questions answered

Q. Since our company underwent a 16-month restructuring programme, the whole dynamic of our department has changed. There have been several redundancies and promotions and ­ as a result ­ trust among us is at an all-time low. We feel like the survivors of war. Everyone seems to be out for themselves alone.

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Careers In Web Design

With almost every business and organisation in the country having its own website, there is an ongoing need for designers who can create well-constructed and effective websites to provide information. Many companies now trade over the internet; mail order companies, in particular, create large, sophisticated sites that complement their printed catalogues.

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Careers In Insurance

A career in insurance offers well qualified professionals an interesting and varied life in secure and well-paid circumstances. Because there are now so many different areas of our lives that can be insured, there are plenty of opportunities to gain experience as you work your way up in the business. The insurance industry is a

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Make Employers Come to You

Utilizing job listings, networking with people in your industry (and in other industries), and applying to companies you want to work at–these are all great ways to go after a job. But how can you make employers and recruiters come after you? We asked Career Rocketeer’s Chris Perry, a career-search and personal-branding expert, for five

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5 Subtle Ways to Sabotage a Job Interview

We all know that showing up late to an interview or dressing inappropriately can ruin your chances for a job. But what about the more subtle ways you might unexpectedly sabotage your job interview? Don’t let it happen to you! Here are ten common subconscious mistakes that many people don’t even know they’re making.

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Learn How to Manage Job-Search Stress

Thirty years ago, I was fired with enthusiasm. Looking back, I know that if I’d stayed in that mismatched job, I’d have lived my life less fully and not grown in ways that serve me now. This is easy for me to say now, but at the time I felt angry, victimized and embarrassed. For

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How to Gain Control Of Your Job Search

Only 25% of all positions are found through published and defined markets, such as employment ads, placement agencies and recruiting firms. Unfortunately, job seekers favor these markets even though they face less competition for the remaining 75% of jobs found through networking and direct unsolicited contact with employers.

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Why Contacting Recruiters Is a Waste of Your Time

It’s a scene that’s played out all too often these days: You’re looking for a job and you’ve read or heard that you should contact executive-search firms. After all, they recruit people for jobs, and you’re looking for a job. You send a well-worded letter or leave a polite voice mail for the recruiter, and

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Taking the first offer?

First, let’s get something straight. There’s nothing wrong with taking the first job you’re offered, as long as it’s the ‘right’ job. And what with parental pressures (“We’re not supporting you any more”, “It’s time you found your own place” etc), the burden of student debts and the desire to join your peers on the

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Starting salary

“Can you give us some idea of your salary expectation?” is the question that strikes fear into the heart of every interviewee. Just how do you answer? Pitch it too high and you look unrealistic and overly confident, pitch it too low and you undervalue both yourself and your ability to do the job.  

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Relocation packages

If your skills and talents are much in demand, some of the biggest employers from around the country will be tripping over themselves to snap you up – and they may offer you more than a generous starting salary.

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Perks

To truly assess a job offer, you need to look at the whole package rather than just the size of the first pay cheque. Are you being offered the following perks?

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Multiple job offers

The good news is you’ve got a job offer. The bad news is you’re not sure if you should accept. There are interviews you are still waiting to hear back from. There are still more interviews at which you fancy your chances. What should you do? Take the bird in the hand? Wait to see

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Nepotism

Nepotism is an ugly word. It reeks of old school ties, cliques and clubs; daddy putting a word in with the boss, or mummy pulling a few strings. In our new flexi-friendly, high-tech egalitarian corporate world it might seem that there is no place for nepotism any more; success is based on skills, creativity and

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Speculative letters

If, as is claimed, only 30% of the total number of job vacancies are advertised, your best bet could be to job-hunt more creatively. Many job-hunters resort to sending off speculative letters to relevant companies. And many employers would rather turn to their pile of speculative letters than spend thousands of pounds on advertising. The

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