Arras People has been providing the Job Search Support Service in partnership with the Job Centre Plus for 12 months now. We are often approached by the job centre plus and candidates requesting support in their return to the job market after redundancy. The service is there to provide an analysis of the candidate’s individual status and then tailors a service to individual needs covering areas such as:
- A full CV review and assistance on producing a stronger competency based document
- Analysis on the candidates application approach
- Provision of tools and techniques to taking a managed approach to securing a new role
- Interview techniques and insider knowledge on what employers require in the current climate
- A personalised action plan
In addition to the above, we look to provide other areas of knowledge and expertise. For example a candidate came to us recently who’s CV was in good shape and she was securing interviews however she was not receiving job offers, often being pipped at the post by candidates demonstrating stronger competencies. On discussing the feedback she had received from interviews it became apparent that although she had the skills and experience, she was not demonstrating these effectively at interview. The candidate had a strong background in delivering nationally-recognised projects within healthcare, but after taking 2 years out to work in a voluntary basis in Africa, she had become rusty in talking through the project lifecycle. When asked technical project management questions, she was not clearly demonstrating her knowledge effectively.
Based on this, I structured some additional coaching sessions where I interviewed her formally, asking technically-based project management questions. It quickly became apparent that the candidate was struggling to answer the questions clearly and nerves got the better of her. We discussed a number of areas such as what is included in a project plan, how to put together a stakeholder management map and other areas such as risk and issue management, benefits realisation and change requests. I then advised the candidate to perform a skills audit where she listed her involvement in projects with a view to mapping this detail up to the various stages in the project lifecycle. On doing this the candidate refreshed her memory, brushed up her terminology and began to form usable examples to use at interview.
I was particularly pleased to receive an email last week from the candidate informing me she had secured a project manager position in an organisation she had been keen to join – based on the coaching she had received in regards to the technical interview questions. This is yet another example of how the JobSearch Support Services provided by Arras People to Job Centre Plus candidates has evolved – we are keen to ascertain why good candidates are not securing new roles and adapt to their needs.
All the consultants at Arras People come from a project management background and have re-trained into recruitment; we have our finger on the pulse of the changes in project management recruitment as the country emerges from recession. With a technical knowledge of actually being out delivering projects, we endeavour to pass on our skills and knowledge to ensure candidates receive a service which is insightful and works.
