INSIGHTS FROM SIMON GRAY’S BOOK – MAY 2018

BOOK TITLE: “SUPER SECRETS of the SUCCESSFUL JOBSEEKER – everything you need to know about finding a job in difficult times”

As the saying goes, ‘You’ll remain the same in five years’ time, except for the books you’ve read and for the people you’ve met’, reading the right books can change the course of our lives. Do you agree?

Simon Gray’s book is one of those!

Simon has written a book that can change the course of the young people in any country where there’s a dearth of sound knowledge on tips to manoeuvre the storms of the competitive job market.

If I had the wealth of a millionaire, I would place this book in the hands of all the young people in Africa, and then sit back, cool off with a Champagne (hurray!) and wait for a ‘job finding revolution’ soon. True! I said this because the book has so much good information that you wouldn't miss knowing what to do exactly and early enough before graduating from the university so that you'll be able to get a job.

You would know that ignorance forms a larger percentage of the reason most people are unable to get good-paying jobs"

This month, I’m starting a ‘series’ titled “BOOKS OF THE MONTH.” The aim is to document my thoughts and insights gained from the book readings I do in the month. It’s a challenge I set for myself recently to help me to not only be writing the salient points at the back of the books I read (poor me for defacing the books, so no resale on Amazon!), but to keep the memory of the book electronically.

So, in May 2018, come with me to explore this fantastic book by Simon Gray.

Simon Gray's background

Simon started as a recruiter in 1999; and after over 10 years in the industry, left to form Career Codex to provide career and job search advice to those who need it most. He’s a chartered accountant (from KPMG), past president of the Nottingham, Derby and Lincoln Society of Chartered Accountants and an accomplished martial artist.

He’s an experienced commentator: appeared on BBC National News at Ten, quoted in The Guardian, Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal and regularly offers tips to jobseekers and employers.

With this background, his mental discipline, understanding of the psychology of people and expertise as an ex-recruiter, his book gives the jobseeker that all-important edge.

His other books I’ll be reviewing in this series are ─

1.      Super Secrets of the Successful First-Time Jobseeker: Everything you need to know to supercharge your career and find your first job when leaving school

2.      Super Secrets of Successful Executive Job Search: Everything you need to know to find and secure the executive position you deserve

“SUPER SECRETS of the SUCCESSFUL JOBSEEKER”

Let’s delve in briefly to the first six chapters!

I know there’s no way I can do the best justice to this fantastic book here, I’m only scratching the surface.

You need to read the book because there are so many salient practical insights that it would be impossible to capture all these in this summary.

CHAPTER 1- ATTACK FROM THE HIGH GROUND

Like soldiers who attack enemies from the high ground and not from the low plane or valley, the author wants people to have a positive mental state and be willing to open their minds to fresh and new ideas of how to find their next job. In doing this, people should ─

?? Know that rejection is a part of the job-finding process; when they’re rejected, ask for feedback

?? Understand that they only need ONE JOB, so not every job they to go for

?? Not make finding their next job their sole focus. Plan.

?? Write a strategic business plan with targets and action points to find their next job (Chapter/Section 4)

?? Realise that the interview process is a two-way street and change their thinking accordingly (Chapter/Section 8). So, what do you feel and think of the employer interviewing you? It’s not only about the employer, but you also.

I join the author, to sum up, the chapter this way: You and you alone have total responsibility for everything (mind, attitudes, feelings, reactions to life’s events) that happens in your life and this includes finding your next job.

CHAPTER 2 – UNDERSTANDING A TOUGH MARKET

This chapter mirrors Nigeria’s graduate job market where finding good-paying graduate-level jobs is tough. Therefore, you need superior knowledge of the job market to differentiate yourself.

Employers think differently about job seeking and vice versa. So, to succeed as a jobseeker, you should know how and what employers think.

Simon Gray suggests that any jobseeker should make their skills and experience indispensable using “‘reverse psychology’ to tip the power in their favour” (Chapters 7 & 8).

?? Research the local economy because you’ll always be restricted by your sector and location

?? Research job boards to know what’s happening and what skills employers are looking for

?? Talk to the professionals – meet up with local recruiters to ask about what’s happening, skills employers want, salary levels, etc.

?? Map the businesses across the region; who dominates business in the sector you’re seeking jobs in; who are the up and coming SMEs, etc.?

Therefore, armed clearly with the true picture of how things are, you will be well-positioned and empowered to ‘plan your attack’ and find your next job.

CHAPTER 3 – HOW YOU CAN WRITE A SUPER CV

Some of the nuggets of this chapter:

Simon Gray advises strongly people should not ‘update their CV’, but right from the scratch

Write the CV yourself

In some industries, the CV won’t give you the job, it’s your performance at the interview that will. He explains the reasons in Chapter 9.

 In today’s extremely competitive job market, your CV –

?? MUST be outstanding

?? MUST be memorable

?? MUST be impactful

Your CV should be your “sales” document. State the things that make you outstanding and memorable quickly like film advertisers use “the trailer” to show and captivate you to go pick the film. Your CV should not be your life chronicle!

There's no one-rule-fits-all in terms of structure in writing your CV, it all depends on your target audience, what they want to see, the need to address the reader, etc.

Simon Gray summed up what you should include in a CV (p.23):

?? Name

??Current residence and whether you are willing to relocate and/or geographical flexibility if relevant

??School/university education (include grades) and place of study

?? Professional qualifications, including exam record if relevant

?? Languages and level of ability

?? Work experience for each role you have help, including for each

?     Company/organisation and description

?     Job title

?     Responsibilities and achievements

?? Computer/IT skills including ability with each system

?? Hobbies and interests and to what level

He delved a little deeper into each of these sections.

He also added the CV FAQs, example:

?        Should I include a cover letter with my CV?

?        Do I include a personal summary at the top of my CV?

?        Should I attach a photo?

?        How long should my CV be?

In my previous article, I showed how you can write an interview-winning CV; I attached a sample CV to illustrate.

CHAPTER 4 – SETTING YOUR ROADMAP

Where are you going? Do you have a clear direction in your quest to find a job? This is a useful question because you’re the Managing Director of FINDING A JOB LTD. Hahaha!

Simon Gray advises that candidates be clear about why they’re looking for a job – he added, it is because you have skills to offer and can add value to the employer’s organisation.

Also, know the type of job you’re searching for.

Don’t put your success in too much risk by trying to apply for a job completely different from what you’ve had experience in – surely, that’s a huge risk and unlikely to succeed in a highly competitive job market!

Other sub-heads covered include “setting realistic timelines”, “let your significant others know you’re looking for a job”, and “write what you want to do down and be accountable to someone”.

The chapter has lots of nuggets on what should be the priorities on your “To-Do” list in your job search months and in following through with your plan.

Check these out from chapter four!

CHAPTER 5 – EFFECTIVE NETWORKING

When you understand how to network well, the benefits can be great. The gains range from striking business deals, getting job referrals to building lasting social relationships.

In this chapter, Simon shows how we can leverage the Internet (using social media) to raise our profile and to get a job.

The point Simon made is: the end goal of social media networking is to create opportunities to have face-to-face engagements, where the real relationship building happens. Social media provides a link to who you should be in communication with for fruitful networking.

Effective networking requires you ask yourself ─

             WHO? [who can find you or help you find next job? Your “marketmakers!”]

             WHERE? [at targeted events]

             HOW? [to strike up conversations, to get people to like you, etc.]

HOW OFTEN? [should you engage with your marketmakers to maximise leverage from those relationships in which you are investing your time and energy]

The author then walks you through the “How To” of each and with interesting “conversation scenarios” to drive home the points.

Having a plan and a yardstick for measuring your networking success is a game changer (p.59).

I add here also that you network with your university alumni on LinkedIn (www.dhirubhai.net/alumni) because of the several benefits this relationship can bring as I showed in my post – https://www.dhirubhai.net/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6395145305079242752

The chapter creates practical scenarios of what to do and what not to do that will shift how you take your networking to the best level.

CHAPTER 6 – THE ONLINE ‘YOU’

“If you don’t exist in cyberspace, you don’t exist at all.” I’ll add also “exist in cyberspace with a strategy!”

The common cyberspace media are:

??Facebook (www.facebook.com)

?? Google+ (www.plus.google.com)

?? LinkedIn (www.dhirubhai.net)

?? Pinterest (www.pinterest.com)

?? Twitter (www.twitter.com)

Although LinkedIn serves as a primary tool for finding jobs, employers and recruiters will still check your other media, so be conscious of what you post.

So, ensure you remain ‘professional’ consistently across the Internet, else reset your privacy setting on the profiles you wouldn’t desire to make public.

Complete your LinkedIn profile to 100%. Be active on the platform. Read, post and publish articles on your interest areas. Read, share and comment on others’ posts and articles. These actions will increase your visibility.

Highlight your “Skills & Experience”;

Make “Connections”;

Join “Groups”

Get “Recommendation and Endorsements”

Set “Contact Preferences”

Set “Contact Details”

Use “Status Updates”

Don’t “ask people outright for a job ─ there’s no faster way to clear a room or lose interest from your online connections.” Instead, one of the best things to do is to ask for help or advice.

This chapter is extremely useful because it shows further how to use your “status updates” to seek help from your connections for a job (p.98). It highlights how to use your “Comments” to your advantage as well as how to get in front of your target marketmakers (p.97).

Chapter 7 – Getting in front of the decision maker

Chapter 8 – Delivering a world-class interview

Chapter 9 – Super secret advanced techniques

Chapter 10 – Final thoughts

Appendix – CV templates

HAVE AN ENJOYABLE READING!

RATING

1.      Amazon 5-star (64 reviews) – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Super-Secrets-Successful-Jobseeker-Everything/dp/0857192485

P.S.─ For more information on Career Codex, please visit – https://careercodex.com