Sir Alan Sugar’s advice
Monday, June 8, 2009@ 2:35 PM
While watching the last episode of The Apprentice last night I was interested to hear Sir Alan’s opinion on the current economic situation as far as looking for a job goes. He made the point that redundancy and difficult times rather than being a negative can be viewed as an opportunity to find a new career or direction in your life. Rather than accepting that times are hard and no one is recruiting, now is the time to make sure you have done everything you can to maket yourself as an exceptional candidate.
REDUNDANCY PRIORITY?
When I was made redundant, my next door teacher neighbour told me that his school was desperate for voluntary help with their boys’ football coaching. I’m a keen footballer & would like to help but shouldn’t I concentrate on job seeking?
Last week I was offered a job over the telephone by a company based abroad. I had been headhunted for the job but have heard nothing since. What should I do? The offer came from the HR Director at the company concerned and not the headhunter.
Sir Alan is right on one level. It is all about being positive and doing your research as well as planning out exactly what to do next. I see a lot of people who leave one job and have no real idea of what they want to do next.
They know they were unhappy in their previous job but they don’t analyse why. It’s important to take the time to work out what you enjoyed doing in your old job and what you didn’t enjoy. Then work out what sort of job that might give you next time.
It’s never easy to appreciate at the time but being made redundant can be an opportunity if you are prepared to see it as such.
I have just been made redundant and have received a payoff. But I don’t know how long I can survive on the money. I have a mortgage and plenty of bills to pay.
Has anyone got any advice on how to make the money go further?
Dear Roger
It is always difficult when you receive a job offer verbally and then hear nothing for a while. There is a natural period when you should be patient, but not for too long or you leave them with the impression that you don’t care.
I suspect that having been offered the job, they are now preparing an ‘offer’ letter. This is a letter which usually contains the formal offer plus the broad details about your package as well as a draft contract.
You say this is a company based overseas. Therefore there may be some issues as to the contract they issue. For example if they are based in France and you are in the UK they may have issues to resolve about whether they issue you with a UK based contract or a French based contract. You don’t say if you will be based in the UK or abroad, but if you are based abroad then that will also make a difference.
There may be other issues related to translation and checking out employment legislation for the country concerned.
If after a week you have heard nothing then I would send an email to the HR Director and ask for an indication as to when the offer letter will be sent. You also mention a head-hunter. There is no reason why you shouldn’t ring the head-hunter and ask the consultant if he or she knows what is happening. Remember head-hunters get paid when you are placed and they usually get a percentage of your first year salary. Therefore the head-hunter will have an interest in getting this resolved quickly.
Let us know how you get on.
The job is abroad and they have come back to me in writing. It seems the delay was due to a bank holiday and getting approval for the package being offered.
They are asking me to start immediately, but I have planned some holiday with my family in August. Should I cancel the holiday or tell them and hope that they will give me the time off?
Congratulations on getting the job Roger, and it sounds as though the package is OK.
If they want you to start immediately it sounds as though they are in some need to fill the gap quickly. If you are currently out of work then is there any reason why you shouldn’t start straightaway? Most companies are very reasonable with new recruits and if told in advance that holiday was pre-booked they will honour that holiday period. This is especially true if you are helping them by taking up the appointment immediately.
However, don’t start the job and then tell them that you have holiday booked. It is always best to be honest up front with any employer. Clearly they want you and therefore it is in their interests to be helpful.
Dear Ron, finding work takes time, especially finding the right job for you. We always recommend that you plan out your time carefully. Doing about three to four hours each day on searching and applying for jobs is about right. And I mean five days a week; treat weekends as exactly that. In other words, your new job is to find a job and should be your number one priority.
However, there are other things you can and should be doing provided they don’t take over your life. Do make sure that you get some exercise. Make sure that you are keeping in touch with your particular sphere of work so that you keep abreast of the latest developments and keep yourself mentally fit. Most people also take some time to do small jobs and DIY around the house. All of this is good provided it is part of a planned programme based around your core role of finding work.
So the answer is yes, do help with football coaching, but be very clear how much time commitment you can give and then don’t be persuaded into giving more time than you can afford.