ExplorING the right jobs GET PREPARED WITH UNILEVER MODULE 3
This module will help you with.. How to research your chosen career/study path, how to make contact with organisations/ institutions and use that contact well, and how to make sense of job adverts. 1 Unilever LevelUP 3 - EXPLORING THE RIGHT JOBS
EXPLORING THE ROAD AHEAD WHERE AM I NOW? WHERE DO I START? MAKING FIRST CONTACT UNDERSTANDING JOB ADVERTS NEXT STEPS 2 Unilever LevelUP 3 - EXPLORING THE RIGHT JOBS
WHERE AM I NOW? WHAT IS THE MINDSET / ATTITUDE YOU NEED TO HAVE IN ORDER TO GET THE MOST FROM EXPLORING CAREER AND STUDY PATHS? 3 Unilever LevelUP 3 - EXPLORING THE RIGHT JOBS
WHERE AM I NOW? WHERE AM I NOW? BE OPEN to different opportunities. Your dream career may not be packaged exactly as you thought. BE CURIOUS to find out more. BE POSITIVE in every interaction. You never know where it will lead and can t make a first impression again. BE PROFESSIONAL so that every person you meet can see what you can offer. BE SWITCHED ON to thinking about how you might fit in each opportunity you come across. 4 Unilever LevelUP 3 - EXPLORING THE RIGHT JOBS
WHERE AM I NOW? CAREERS IN CAREERS USING Whether it s your favourite subjects, a field of research that has interested you, or something that came up as interesting to you during Module 2 (Choose), a good place to start your search is with some general searches on careers in the relevant area. Either using a general search engine, or heading to career-specific pages, put in some of the areas you re interested in and see what it generates 5 Unilever LevelUP 3 - EXPLORING THE RIGHT JOBS
WHERE AM I NOW? KEY WORDS, COMPANIES AND INSTITUTIONS Which are the key companies in the fields you re interested in? Look at company and university rankings. To open up more search options, try to find out where people you studied with went on to after leaving. Look at the company websites and as you look at these websites, read more about what s involved in those career areas. 6 Unilever LevelUP 3 - EXPLORING THE RIGHT JOBS
WHERE AM I NOW? LINKEDIN PROFILE Sometimes it s hard to know where to start in a career. We might have an idea of where we d like to work, in business or marketing or something medical but how do you get started and understand the routes to your chosen end-point? A great way is through networking with family and or friends, by checking out online profiles of people you admire (e.g. using something like LinkedIn we can see the career paths people have taken) etc. You can even look at the routes people you don t know personally have taken. For example, is a local businessperson speaking at an event you could attend? Does a famous businessperson have an autobiography or website that explains how they got where they did? It might give you some useful insight into starting jobs or subjects to study. TIP: Don't underestimate the importance of networking all the time when you re looking for your first job, always presenting yourself in a favourable light when talking to professors, family friends and others, as you never know who will be impressed. Maybe it will lead to an internship or interview. 7 Unilever LevelUP 3 - EXPLORING THE RIGHT JOBS
WHERE AM I NOW? COURSE DESCRIPTION AND JOB ADVERTS Even if you re not yet ready to apply, getting into the detail of job adverts can give you an early clue about things that will and won t appeal and might set you on the right path. Does it sound interesting and aligned with what you re good at? You can also use this research to start identifying what they look for in employees, something that will come in very handy when preparing CVs and cover letters. 8 Unilever LevelUP 3 - EXPLORING THE RIGHT JOBS
WHERE AM I NOW? IN THE NEWS Search for the companies, organisations, careers and industries you re interested in on the pages of credible newspapers and trade/ academic press. Is this industry growing or declining? What s affecting it at the moment? Where do people think it will be in a few years and why? What else is happening in that field at the moment that I should be aware of? Reading and answering some of these questions helps in a number of ways. It might give you direction (e.g. focusing your studies on growing areas) and it can certainly help you to form opinions/ questions/ things to talk about when you go to interviews. This is all about building your commercial acumen something that employers prize highly, particularly when trying to distinguish between several school- or university-leavers. 9 Unilever LevelUP 3 - EXPLORING THE RIGHT JOBS
WHERE AM I NOW? SOCIAL MEDIA This can be a great source of news and current research/ opinion pieces in the areas you re interested in. Choosing credible researchers and interesting trade/ academic press etc. to follow can keep you up to date with relevant developments that again give you something to talk about in interview, as well as insight into the direction of different job markets. Take a look at Module 4 Building your Brand for more information 10 Unilever LevelUP 3 - EXPLORING THE RIGHT JOBS
MAKING FIRST CONTACT If and when faced with the opportunity to make contact with someone from an organisation/potential mentor, remember the following: REMEMBER TO BE curious, open, switched on, professional and positive. SATISFY ANY HYGIENE FACTORS e.g. dress code, greetings. INTRODUCE YOURSELF CLEARLY. MAKING FIRST CONTACT KEEP YOUR RESEARCH IN MIND and be prepared to share your opinion. IDENTIFY WHO YOU REALLY WANT TO TALK TO. PLAN YOUR DAY so you get what you really wanted out of the event. ASK GREAT QUESTIONS. 11 Unilever LevelUP 3 - EXPLORING THE RIGHT JOBS
Take a moment to ask yourself What does the ideal candidate look like? What does a terrible candidate look like? WHAT REALLY MATTERs: Attitude counts for a lot when recruiting new students or employees, especially when we have limited experience. We display our attitude in how we dress, speak, smile, interact with and respond so we need to watch all of these things to make the best first impression. Do exercise 2D on the Unilever-LevelUP3-Handouts.pdf and think about some questions you could potentially ask employers/institutions Unilever LevelUP 3 - EXPLORING THE RIGHT JOBS
UNDERSTANDING JOB ADVERTS Understanding job ads Start with the details do you want a full time job? In London? Get Prepared by Unilever Look out for features of the working environment. Do you want to work with a large team? What will you spend your days doing? Does this sound interesting? Have you done similar things (with success? With enjoyment?) before? What hasn t this told you that you want to know? Salary? Working hours? Travel? Training? Career prospects? Whether you re the only administrator? What do you really want to know? What can you find out before applying? Use contacts to find out more a quick call can give you lots of hints and tips on what they re really looking for. Customer Service Administrator (full-time), London At Customer-Service.com we believe in putting the customer first. Due to recent legislative changes and our growth strategy over the coming year, we are looking for a young, personable, dynamic administrator to join and support our large team, based in London. Main responsibilities Generate reports on customer service data. Produce product updates for customer service executives. Provide ad hoc support to customer service team members. Manage logistics of all team training programmes. Support managers with recruitment and HR administration. Requirements A minimum of 5 GCSEs at A*-C. Basic computing skills and typing a must. Some experience of working in a customer service environment preferred. A good grasp of English and mathematics. A passion for working with customers. Great team player. Applications Click here to apply online. Closing date 17 May 2015. For more information, contact Jennifer Smith on 652100. www.customer-service.com/careers 13 Don t forget to check their website for more information on their values, mission, structure, size and more. Does this fit with what you are looking for? Unilever LevelUP Look out for hints that might help your application and interview e.g. can you find out about the legislative changes? Or their strategy? Or ask more about these in the interview? What s critical? Do I meet these requirements? Look out for hard words like must, minimum and maximum. Words like preferred or more subjective requests mean it s not essential you fit the bill but you may still need a proportion of these skills. 3 - EXPLORING THE RIGHT JOBS
UNDERSTANDING JOB ADVERTS Job advert (1) Unilever Future Leaders Programme - Marketing - Saudi Arabia Take look at the questions and answers on the handout under section 2A to see how to read a job advert DESCRIPTION: How exactly do you make some of the most popular brands even more popular? How do you take products that in some cases have a 100-year heritage behind them and bring them bang up to date? What will you do? You ll learn your craft hands-on and you ll also receive some of the best marketing training around. You will work in the areas of Marketing. You could be working for a local company or a regional innovation centre, customer development or market research. There are even opportunities to work on an international assignment. Who is it for? We re behind some the world s most recognizable brands, but resting on our laurels isn t going to keep us competitive. To give us that constant edge, you ll need expert knowledge of your brands and the people who use them. We are looking for people who are analytical yet creative, with good gut instinct and who ll be able to find ways to make our products fly off the shelves. MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES: Bring the voice of the consumer into the business Review Brand strategy Formulate and implement short & medium term brand plans Monitor performance of the brand vis a vis plans and whenever necessary, initiate and ensure company appropriate response Develop and control support and promotional activities Formulate brand pricing and support policy to meet financial objectives REQUIREMENTS: Minimum of a Bachelors degree (or equivalent). Strong academic track record: well-standing GPA (or equivalent) Strong business motivation Between 22-26 years old Good analytical skills, willingness to learn and strong aptitude for communication skills. A strong customer focus and the ability to develop strategies to meet the needs of your customers and our business Passion for pace and competitiveness of the retail market. TRAVEL REQUIRED: 25-50% DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: 15 February 2017. Click here to apply. 14 Unilever LevelUP 3 - EXPLORING THE RIGHT JOBS
UNDERSTANDING JOB ADVERTS Job advert (2) Occupational Health Administrator Deadline : Jan-31-2017 Schedule: Full-time Primary Location: South Africa Travel: No At Unilever we act fast to anticipate our consumer needs, fast to translate ideas into new products, and fast to make, distribute and market them. We create products that people enjoy, trust and use as part of their daily lives. Which is why, as part of Unilever, you could make an impact on a global and local scale. We look for people with different views, ideas, experiences and backgrounds to bring dynamism to the business and, most importantly, an empathy with consumers. It's these people working together that make Unilever one of the most successful consumer goods companies in the world. People with the courage to be heard, seize opportunities and take risks. Could it be U? Then please, click apply. Please feel free to check www.unilever.co.za for more information about Unilever and our opportunities. BUSINESS CONTEXT AND MAIN PURPOSE OF THE JOB: We are looking to expand our Talent Pool of Occupational Health Administrators to: provide assistance to the regional OH Leads in accordance with the work plans; collate and coordinate data and information; to create and craft communications, as well as assisting with training materials and the OH events calendar; and to play a pivotal role in ensuring the countries are delivering as per plan. CRITERIA: Diploma or Degree preferred Minimum 1-2 years working experience in data collation and analysis, particularly experience of working with and analysing large amounts of data. Previous experience of project management Knowledge of or experience of Occupational Health preferred Highly organized, works effectively within given timeframes, and works independently when required Good communication skills, organizes ideas and communicates orally. MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES: Project management/support Report creation, data collation, quality control, data analysis, reporting (create scorecards/graphs). Communication of health issues/ travel health issues/newsletters/health campaign communications (newsletters/brochures/power points) and disease alert updates (disease map) Updating catalogue database and distributing of reading material to different countries Travel arrangements and diarising and coordinating meetings/ training/ conferences for Leads when required. Assisting in drawing up all training material (presentations/manual/usbs). APPLICATIONS: By CV and covering letter to annabel.rowling@unilever.com 15 Unilever LevelUP 3 - EXPLORING THE RIGHT JOBS
In summary Be open, curious, positive, professional and switched on to find the best opportunities. Make your search wide-ranging to help prepare you for making contact. Read between the lines in job adverts to understand what they re really looking for. 16 Unilever LevelUP 3 - EXPLORING THE RIGHT JOBS
NEXT STEPS What s next Start exploring areas you re interested in what unexpected opportunities can you find? Chat about careers with other people you know and meet. Prepare how you ll approach your next contact with an employer. Read some job adverts what stands out? 17 Unilever LevelUP 3 - EXPLORING THE RIGHT JOBS