Books for Job Clubs No 3 - CVs in a Week (Book Review)

In 2002 the Chartered Management Institute published CVs in a Week, a book of about 84 effective pages, which day-by-day gives motivation to the CV-compiler to complete a first class CV of appropriate style in seven days. The authors are Steve Morris and Graham Willcocks.

The seven 'chapters' are indicated by page headers as the days of the week. Each gives directions and balanced comment on a selected part of the process, namely:

1. ways to see oneself in a processed manner (on Sunday);
2. basics of the CV (on Monday);
3. understanding the prospective employer(s) from the advert and in other ways (on Tuesday);
4. a retrieval mapping approach to one's life and working life (on Wednesday);
5. putting the CV on paper - approaches to style and format - almost a first draft (on Thursday);
6. fine-tuning the layout and phraseology of the various sections of the CV (on Friday); and,
7. attracting the right employer - partly by the covering letter (on Saturday).

The approach will give the applicant a wealth of self-understanding, approaches and ideas for the CV and confidence that one is probably spot-on. A criticism of this slender volume is that there is no index - hopefully, however, the reader will only once need to use the book for the first CV that is then sent to the perfick employer who immediately recognises the perfick employee!
Footnote: It was not until about Wednesday that I remembered that I am a member (albeit retired) of the CIM!

Books for Job Clubs No 2 "How to turn an Interview into a Job" (Book Review Update july 2011)

How to turn an Interview into a Job (2004 Edition) by Jeffery G Allen has about 98 very effective pages (veps) of seemingly effective advice for the would-be job searcher cum interviewee.

The 14 chapters are short and pithy; the chapters, notes and index etc are written for the USA market circa mid-2000's but I would guess this very readable and useful book has a UK-following. The first read took less than a day but it is a book I would want to go back to time and again.

The principal subject matter of the early chapters includes:

• the process of preparing for a job interview;
• job searching on the internet;
• the use of 72 buzz words for CVs;
• some 75 questions for stress or interrogation interviews;
• researching the employers;
• Do's and Do not's in given situations;
• etc, etc.

Although written for the job seeker in the USA much of the material is transferable to the UK. Some of the advice might be innovative or even over-the-top for the UK job market in 2004 and since. My read has taken less than a day and I want to go back to the book for mock interviews at the Hextable Job Club and Swanley Job Club. - as interviewer!

Frequently were the thoughts: "Why haven't I thought of that!" or "I will adopt that approach!"

Job Club Diary No1 Events in the Hinterland

Diary creation for a job club is a patchwork of internal and external events. Internal events are special happenings at the regular weekly meetings - say, a speaker on a specialist topic. Outside events are quite different! Literally the sky is the limit but for now we have our feet firmly grounded.

A search has given our members much to do. Mention was made previously of the joint HMRC and HSE event in Swanley. Just recently at a meeting a jobs fair was bought to my attention. Back home I googled and found two more job fairs within reasonable distance of travel.

We now have a fairly full diary of business-to-business shows, business-to-consumer exhibitions, job fairs, and trade exhibitions. "WHY?"

The answer to the "WHY?" may lie a marketing approach when attending a meeting such as a job fair or trade show. The formulation of a personal or business promotion based on networking to convey specific messages to targeted audiences, ie individuals or businesses. Hopefully the result will be an invitation to a job interview or an opportunity to bid for business.

Job Clubs for Parents

Places where parents cluster for parenting matters - schools, nurseries, Sure Start, etc may be the kind of places at which facilitators might either offer typical services that job club members need or recruit new members.

The book "Working mothers - An essential guide" (see Book review) does not give details of the importance of the role of job clubs to mothers and fathers who want to return to work or work for the first-time.

Of course, if niche job clubs are created for say mothers, bankers, surveyors etc, wanting to work it could be argued that the unique worth of an all-comers job club might be lost. An essential feature of many, if not all job clubs, is the members' diversity of experience, age range and knowledge and skills which can be utilised for the mutual benefit of members. This might be absent in a niche club.

Starting a Business No 1 HMRC and Taxation

Business and tax go together so the start-upper needs to know the exemptions, reliefs and concessions which may be available. As a start members of the Job Club might attend a few HMRC courses.  Our Job Club has taken the opportunity to attend a HM Revenue and Customs event on starting a business. The emphasis on VAT and income taxes was expected from the programme but other subjects included:

• online VAT returns (computer demonstrated) and other online services;
• Health and Safety (from the HSE); and,
• 10 tips for success from a Business Link representative.

Members of Job Clubs in attendence had a good opportunity to discuss issues with the staff of HMRC and HSE - both groups were very informative. The "course" included opportunities:

• to brush up knowledge on tax and other business related topics;
• to network with the presenters and other attendees;
• to collect detailed Notices, information leaflets; and,
• prospectively, to update the CV and covering letter!

We were told that the course was a taster; more detailed courses on taxation matters are available in Kent (and elsewhere no doubt).
Members who missed today will find the programme very useful.

Swanley Job Club - The Beginning - 2nd March 2011

Not quite, yet! Meetings will be dovetailing with those of Hextable Job Club - which has already began on 9th February.

Swanley Job Club - free to members - will be meeting on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month at 3pm to 5pm. Starting on 2nd March 2011. Meetings will be informal with an ethos of mutual support in planning the approach to getting employment or going into business. Career planning and/or business planning will feature in some sessions but the initial emphasis is likely to include:

• improving, if necessary CV and covering letters;
• developing employment search potential - on-line and hardcopy;
• progressing approaches to interviews; and,
• forging the best interviewing skills.

It must be said that the activities will be largely member progressed.

By kind permission of Swanley Town Council our venue is within the Cafe of the Library and Information Centre, Town Centre, London Road, Swanley, BR8.

GB Job Clubs - in Kent and Elsewhere (Updated July 2011)

Kent is gaining a share of the momentum or surge of job clubs being created in the country - a total of nearly 100. Hextable which started on the 9th February 2011 is probably one of the latest; it must be one of the few situated in a village.

Other Kent job clubs include Ashford, Edenbridge & Oxted, Dartford, Folkestone, Gravesend, Hextable, Sevenoaks and Strood. Swanley started in March 2011. They are all listed in the on-line GB Job Clubs Directory. See the linked pages at: www.gbjobclubs.org/

The Jericho Skills Directory webpage embraces what might become of considerable interest to job club members seeking a loan for their business start-up. In essence upto £2,000 may be forthcoming to members who meet the requirements.

The website is wealthy in information about and for job clubbing. Any wannabe facilitator, coordinatior or leader of a job club cannot better the advice available at this site or from Chris Neal and Jane Gould.

Since starting we are now getting a trickle of referrals from the government's Job Centre Plus and have informal links with other agencies, eg HMRC and HSE. Found a HuffPost Social Network reference which indicated that the US Federal Government values job clubs. See Twitter Jaef2

Working Mothers - the essential guide (Book review)

The 2008 2nd Edition came my way this week. It was easy to read and not long - about 70 pages of followable chaptered prose - with some useful information sections at the back.

Lacking an index worried me a little but the Contents clearly demarked the subjects covered. However, a list of the seven main sections of the Helplist is essential for later editions. These include: Financial; Childcare; Small Business Resources; Professional Organisations and Networking; and Links for Fathers. Most of the entries in Helplist give website addresses which allows the reader to update any dated material in the chapters.

The strength of this slim volume is in the treatment of life as a working mother. The gist of the contents lies in each chapter title; the latter include: Flexible Working and Time Off; Childcare; Financial Help for Working Parents; and The Role of Fathers. Other chapters concern time, childcare, health, staying positive and guilt.

The shortish chapter on Starting your own Business could have said more and a miss was a chapter entitled say, Seeking and being Selected for a Job - it might be a useful addition..? One problem an author faces in writing about governmental policy and statutory mattes, eg benefits, is updating - the solution in this guide is the use of website references.

Denise Tyler has given mothers who work or who intend to work a sympathetic and valuable insight into the issues of managing life with work colleagues, children and any other half. It is packed with references and has a very short bibliography.

HEXTABLE JOB CLUB

Hextable Job Club is the first past the post in the Swanley and Northern Parishes Job Club Network's stable. We started on 9th February 2011 in the Heritage Centre. Our job club will meet every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month at 1.30pm to 3pm. The use of the accommodation in the Heritage Centre is by the kind permission of the Hextable Parish Council. Our next meeting is on Wednesday 23 February 2011.

Hopefully, accommodation at the Olympic in Swanley will be confirmed shortly. Meanwhile, the HM Revenue & Customs one day course on Thursday 17th February 2011 in Swanley and the Business Link half-day course on Saturday 5 March 2011 in Swanley will both be available to members who want to find out about starting a business.

There are other Job Clubs in Kent at Ashford, Edenbridge & Oxted, Dartford (soon), Gravesend, Sevenoaks, and Strood.

Intellectual Property Rights No1 - Job Clubs for Inventors?

After I closed down the last post a thought galloped into my mind. I wondered whether aspiring inventors could be another potential group of members for any job club.

After a bit of searching I had came across a British Library free on-line course in protection of intellectual property. It covers the definitions, background history, and procedures for obtaining the appropriate protection for an idea etc, namely:

• patents;
• copyright;
• registered designs; and,
• trade marks.

The job club function would cover the above by facilitating the would-be inventor to get into:

• the need for early protection;
• concurrently or subsequently, appproaches to the development and start-up of a business.

SWANLEY AND NORTHERN PARISHES JOB CLUB No 1 - STARTING

Slow start to the Job Club but since the spur of announcing it to many, we began to canter to the real start line. On course and several hurdles have been jumped to the end of the beginning and the start of the real work. There are several hurdles still to be jumped but have trotted round them and will come back to them on the second lap.
Secured one venue for two afternoons a week and a second venue is likely to be confirmed shortly.

"What is a job club?" has been asked on many occasions since the 1 December 2010 - the virtual beginning. I have visited three and seen descriptions of many more - on-line articles.

My conclusions are as follows:

• a regular informal gathering members, ie those looking for employment or wanting to start up a new business;
• a set of principles for the operation of the club's activities;
• a ethos of mutual assistance between members
• a supported network of individual volunteers and community organisations;
• a set of agreed principles for working the job club;
• an underlying desire of every member to leave the job club's membership!

No doubt the my conclusions will be modified and expanded as the Job Club starts to gallop!