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Expert chat: Job Hunting Tuesday 26th March 7-8pm

**helen****helen** Deactivated Posts: 9,235 Supreme Poster
On Tuesday 26th March our expert Graham Allcott will be joining us again in live chat from 7-8pm. This time he?s here to answer your questions on job hunting. We met Graham back in November last year where he answered you questions on building your confidence, getting back on the career ladder and online volunteering.

What can I ask?

This session will be more focused around interview and applications. You might be....

Looking for some advice on an upcoming job interview or application?

In need of some tips to help you stand out or prepare?

Just starting the job hunt and looking for advice?


About Graham...


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Graham is the founder of Think Productive, a training company that specialises in workshops that boost productivity. Launched in April 2009 Think Productive has earned rave reviews from the likes of British Airways, The Cabinet Office, Blackberry, eBay, University College London and Barclays Commercial Bank.

Away from productivity, Graham?s background and other big passion is for the charity sector. A keen social entrepreneur, he is the founder of Fruitful Consulting, a social enterprise consultancy, and Intervol, an international student volunteering charity.

Previous roles include Chief Executive of Student Volunteering England and Head of Volunteering at the University of Birmingham and as an advisor to UK Governments red and blue on youth engagement policy.

He was the founding Chairman of READ International, an award-winning charity recycling English curriculum textbooks by sending them to Tanzanian schools, and is a trustee of the youth homelessness charity Centrepoint.

Graham is married and lives in Brighton. Despite an intolerance of failure elsewhere in his life, he is an Aston Villa season ticket holder.

How does it work?

If you've not been to an expert chat before, they work a bit differently. Your questions and comments will be approved before they appear in the chat room so that Graham can answer questions one person at a time. Jo and I will be there to explain things on the night and approve all your comments.

When the chat is open you'll be able to enter from the normal page: http://www.thesite.org/community/thesocial/chat

If you have a question but can't make the chat then you can post it here or PM me and we'll ask it on your behalf. The transcript from the chat will be published a few days after the event.

Hope to see lots of you there!

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    He's not as pretty as the last expert we had. But that's just my personal preference.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ask him where all the .NET web developers in Brighton are. We're trying to recruit at the moment and we can't tease anyone out of the woodwork for a £40k+ salary.

    Despite all the gloom on TS with people bemoaning lack of growth and unemployment and hundreds of people applying for jobs, it ain't the case in I.T. in Brighton, that's for sure. It's a geeks' market. We can't give jobs away.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Can we PM you questions, Neleh?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Can we PM you questions, Neleh?

    Neleh!! lol :p
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    *simba* wrote: »
    Neleh!! lol :p

    The new Helen took Helenmelon, so Helen is now Neleh :P
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The new Helen took Helenmelon, so Helen is now Neleh :P

    Does anyone else remember the melon(watermelon and some inappropriate stuff) joke in chat before Helenmelon joined in? :chin:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Have you tried a recruitment agency CptCoatHanger. May have some better luck.

    As it stands though, most jobs are thin on the ground, please don't undermine the real impact felt by many of the board users on here. The majority aren't 30+ sys admins in high technical expertise jobs, but 16-25 year olds having a shit time of it.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    ShyBoy wrote: »
    Have you tried a recruitment agency CptCoatHanger. May have some better luck.

    As it stands though, most jobs are thin on the ground, please don't undermine the real impact felt by many of the board users on here. The majority aren't 30+ sys admins in high technical expertise jobs, but 16-25 year olds having a shit time of it.

    We've tried a number of recruitment agents. No one's biting.

    We're not exclusively looking for high technical expertise. We're advertising for junior through to senior roles and getting practically nothing. It's the same all over Brighton and other parts of Sussex, according to other people I speak to in the industry. There are plenty of jobs and no applicants. As inconvenient as this might be to anti-government rhetoric, the fact is there aren't the people to fill the positions, in my industry and location at least.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'm not trying to be anti government, I am just saying a bit of sensitivity doesn't go amiss. We are advertising for a junior dev ourselves and it's not easy to find someone who can hit the ground running, as we don't have the time or resources to babysit. But I'm not going to say it's easy for jobseekers either.

    Bear in mind a lot of users on these forums and indeed those who would be looking for help on job advice have been struggling for a long time to find employment, or get out of underemployment. It's not about the government, it's about a tough economic climate.

    It isn't really the right platform to say 'things aren't as bad as everyone complains about'. P&D is better suited to that.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    You're adding qualifiers that I haven't advanced. I've said nothing about expecting people to hit the ground running, juniors or otherwise.

    What's better help than to highlight an area of the country where a particular skill set is lacking? I'm telling people it's not a tough economic climate in Sussex for web developers.
  • **helen****helen** Deactivated Posts: 9,235 Supreme Poster
    ShyBoy wrote: »

    It isn't really the right platform to say 'things aren't as bad as everyone complains about'. P&D is better suited to that.

    K, few things here... Firstly, I think Mr Carpet was just being a bit opportunist - saw the thread and thought, hey, I should probably let people know there's some jobs about in Brighton at the mo. He did mention people complaining, which could have been worded a bit more sensitively, but he has been very specific in his point - he's not trying to undermine people's plight.

    You're right, ideally this kind of discussion would take place in P&D - just wanted to highlight it's worth being careful of taking offence to something when there really was none intended - and to perhaps forgive someone when they're genuinely trying to point out something helpful that some people might not have realised.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    This chat is tonight folks :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Joooooooooooo :D who going to be there mod wise
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I will be modding tonight :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    We're open guys, Graham will be with us any moment :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    As it happens I'm looking at an IT role in Brighton...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    As it happens I'm looking at an IT role in Brighton...

    If you're still looking, stick your CV on monster.com, lots of friends of mine have found it dev roles easily through there.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I prefer CV-library it's worth doing more than one, and I've found that a well constructed LinkedIn profile helps too.
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