Salary Negotiation Guide

There does seem to be quite a few jobs being advertised at the moment but actually getting that job is another matter. It is important if you are in need of employment that you apply for as many job vacancies as possible to give yourself the best chance of landing a job. This will often mean spending time searching every few days and filling in application forms or sending off your CV and covering letters to as many employers as you can.

If you are in the unfortunate position of being made redundant or have had to leave a job due to relocation or have been off work for a while for another reason and need to return you may need support finding a vacancy and going through the application process such as putting your CV together or completing the application forms. Making errors on your CV or application form can cost you an interview, so it is important that you get it right.

With high competition for jobs, you will need to ensure that your CV and covering letters are the best that they can be to compete against other candidates. Experience and qualifications are often the main thing an employer looks for when they make their choice as to who they should invite for an interview.  If you are not as qualified as others, you can still land a good job if you show that you are willing to undertake further training and show other attributes that will be valuable to the company.

If you find yourself unemployed perhaps because you have been made redundant from your job or you have just finished a training course you may wonder whether going self-employed is the right route to take. The skills and knowledge that you have can be used to develop a business of your own and as good tradespeople are difficult to find presently this could be an excellent opportunity to tap into this demand.

There are advantages and disadvantages of being self-employed, but most people report that the biggest headache is cash flow. There will usually be a delay between carrying out a job and getting paid for it which can cause an issue if materials for the job have had to be bought. There are several ways of overcoming this problem, the first being to ask the customer for some of the money up front. This is common practice, and most customers are happy to do this. The second option is to use a business credit card when buying the materials so that you have a period of time to pay for them. By the time you need to pay the balance the customer will probably have paid for your services, and you can clear the balance without incurring any fees.

Looking for a new job can be stressful and for some of us the though of attending an interview can just be too nerve-wracking. So, what can you do to keep calm under pressure and fly through your interview with confidence?

Preparation is key, ensure that you know when your interview is and where it is being held. Look up online how long it should take you to travel there and make sure you allow yourself plenty of time to get there on the day of the interview.

It’s important to do you research before an interview, look into the company and their key objectives as well as their competition and a bit of company background. It can be useful to come up with a couple of relevant questions too, for the end of the interview, to show that you are interested in the company’s future.

Ensure that you dress appropriately for the interview in clothes that you feel comfortable in but are smart and in line with the job you are being interviewed for. 

Prepare some answers for typical interview questions such as ‘What could you bring to this role/company’ and ‘Give us examples of times in the past you’ve dealt with a similar role’.

When going for an interview never underestimate the power of preparation to give you the advantage against the other candidates.

No matter what line of work you are in, whenever you start a new role, it can feel rather daunting. The key is to take it in your stride and keep a realistic view on what you can achieve in the early days of a new career. For your first couple of weeks you can expect to be shadowing people and taking notes. Familiarising yourself with the processes of the work day and the jobs you’ll be expected to do.

Always make sure that you arrive at work on time, dressed appropriately and ready to learn. Take pens and note books with you so that you can take notes as you are watching others work. This will make learning the tasks much easier when the time comes for a handover.

In the first few weeks it can be easy to feel overwhelmed, however you need to remember, Rome wasn’t build in a day! These things take time and as long as you are eager to learn and keep focused you’ll do great at picking up your new role in no time.  So ask lots of questions, take lots of notes and give it time. Your new role could become your dream job.

Due to the events of the last two years the lines between work and home life have become blurred causing many people to experience anxiety and stress. Working from home has become commonplace but this makes it difficult to switch off from work at the end of the day. What can we do then to reset a good work, life balance and protect our mental health and wellbeing?

Having a dedicated work area in the home is a simple way to distinguish work from home. Even if it is just a desk in a corner of the living room walking away from it can feel like leaving work for a while. This is preferable to working on your laptop on the sofa all day as during your downtime in the evening you may not then feel as relaxed.

Prioritising your time should be top of the list so if you have lots of different tasks or deadlines to meet rather than getting overwhelmed write a list of tasks in priority order and work your way through.

Taking breaks for lunch and coffee just as if you are in the office is crucial and may in fact make you more productive. Stepping away from your workstation to stretch your legs or even taking a lunchtime walk are all ways to bring some stress-relieving times into your day.

For some people their wage goes up every year in line with inflation but for lots of people this simply isn’t the case and they instead have to ask if they can have a pay rise. If you are self employed you will have to decide when you want to put your prices up. People that are self employed often find it hard to put their prices up as they will have to contact each one of their customers to tell them about the increase. Often, they feel bad about putting their prices up but as the cost of living rises we all need to be earning more and people usually understand this.

If you are struggling and have been on the same wage for a number of years in your employment, then now is the time to see if you can get a little more. It may be that you need to request a review meeting with your manager to discuss it. You should try and gather evidence of work you have done that you believe warrants a rise. For example, if you have won new contracts, increased a clients spend or simply learn new processes at work, you could mention this to your employer.

With the costs of living rising for everyone, it is understandable that you may want to ask for more money to cover your living costs. It can be hard asking for a pay rise but many employers won’t offer you one without you asking for it.

Often people worry about being rejected when asking for a pay rise. This can be enough to put them off completely and unfortunately some employers will play on this and make it a bit uncomfortable for people to ask. The truth remains that if you are doing a good job and proving your worth there is no reason why you shouldn’t ask for one. You first need to decide exactly what you would like to get. It is unlikely you are going to get a huge pay rise in one go. Often asking for an extra pound or so an hour is the best bet or if you are salaried then asking for less than a 5 -10% increase is reasonable.  

You may want to go in with a higher figure than you expect to get so if they try and knock you down you still get what you wanted in the first place.

Make sure that you have been working hard prior to asking for a pay rise. Turning up late, running out the door right on the dot or doing the bear minimum at work is likely to not help land you that job.

If you are starting off on a new venture whether it be for work or personal, you should take the time to do a bit of research and studying. It is always good to have a bit of an idea about what you are going to be doing before you start. For example, if you decided to take up baking, then you may want to read some books or start watching baking programs on the TV. Video tutorials are a great way to see how to do something, often being able to have a visual aid makes it easier to learn that reading about it in a book or on a website.

Learning a new language is often said to be easier if done from a younger age. If you can get your child in to learning a new language then this can be very beneficial when they get older and start to apply for jobs. A good way to learn a new language is to listen to the language been spoken. This may be in person or through an audio recording.

Sometimes you get to a stage when you cannot read or listen anymore about the topic and just need to give it a go. If this is the case then be sure that you are safe and that you take things one step at a time.

If you are in the process of applying for jobs then you need to make sure that you are showing potential employers your best side.

There are a number of ways in which you can do this but the first is to ensure your CV is correct. Spelling and grammar mistakes on a CV can be enough to push you off the list of people who are invited in for an interview. It’s not that employers expect everyone to be perfect but they may view it as you can’t be bothered to get it spell checked or ask someone else to check it for you. This is a simple thing that could make a big difference. The next point is to ensure that if you do get asked for an interview you reply in a timely manner. Be sure to keep checking your emails and phone to make sure you don’t miss out on any correspondence from the jobs you have applied for.

If you are preparing to go to an interview be sure to make sure you allow enough time to get there. Arriving late for an interview is a definite no no.

Also be sure to dress smartly. You are better to be over dressed for an interview than under dressed.