Fewer job opportunities and higher living costs. It’s not the best combination ever but where there’s a will there’s a way. Regardless of your hussle you’re going to need to change your approach to find a role.

If on the hunt, you need to reassess your strategy to find a job. What are you doing better and differently to everyone else? Let’s explore you and your position – together.

Your skills : there’s no reason why a sales person can’t do a customer service role and vice versa. Why? For both roles you need to be confident, good with people, have great communication skills and be solution oriented, to name a few. Some excellent crossovers. So think about what your skills are and where else you can apply yourself as I’m sure it will open up doors for you.

Past success isn’t always the answer : it’s like recruiting someone. Don’t always look for someone who’s been there and done it- look for the person who hasn’t been and could do it- ie that future star. So look at yourself and consider not going for roles you’ve done before as I’m sure you can thrive doing something different.

Find relevant similarities : if you loved your sales and hospitality role, consider what factors made you love that role. Was it the selling, working with brands, was it the tech that excited you? Pending the answer, look at other similar roles just in a different industry as the core foundations of the job will be the same. I’ve changed industries before – food to plumbing. Sounds crazy but I’ve worked on delivering orders in 30 minutes just to two different types of customers.

Be flexible : a full time role would of course be ideal but why not consider part time to keep yourself afloat and to give a company an opportunity to still progress and most of all, give both of you an opportunity to experience working together to see if it could work in the long run.

Interview tips :

It’s vital you remember- interviews are a two way relationship. If your potential employer doesn’t make you think ‘wow’ then forget it. They need to sell themselves as much as you do.

Here’s some categories to consider when interviewing. If these boxes are ticked, I hope you’ve found your match!

 1. Can you succeed together

• What processes are in place to support my growth and development
• How do employees work with line managers to ensure that progress is being made month on month / quarterly
• Can you find out how people progress at the business? Otta often indicates how fast people can be promoted. You don’t’ want to join a company that restrict progression

 2. Do you like the people you will work with

• The people to focus on here will be your manager and team mates (pending who you meet during the interview process, whilst you can always request to meet / speak to the team if you like.
• What are their interests in and out of work
• What’s  their drive and why did you join the business
• What are their ways of working and what factors can aggravate or delight them with the way that people operate (do they like end of day check ins for 15 mins or is one longer session better for them every 2 weeks)
• How would friends and colleagues describe them
• What are the founders like and why did they start the business

 3. Expectations

• What can I expect from my first 30, 60 and 90 days
• How is one onboarded
• How does my department work with the relevant teams
• What is the status of the company re funding and run rate. You don’t want to expect 5 years worth of job security and be jobless in 3 months

4. Will you be happy

• What’s the company culture
• Which key behaviours and traits do you want and like within a team member
• When times get tough how do you pull together as a team and what do you do to take on challenges
• Do you know the staff retention and churn rates

5. What do you actually want

• How much is work life balance important to you, which will depend where you are in life and your responsibilities
• Do you need or want stability at a more corporate business or are you interested in the ambiguity of a startup, where structures, processes and planning will differ in abundance
• How is the current market impacting your priorities, for example : do you want a certain salary or do you need £x to stay afloat and are you willing to travel more to find a role

There’s lots more we can discuss, but I hope this helps get your juices flowing re how to approach your job hunt and how to manage interviews. Reach out if you fancy speaking further.