I was fortunate enough to attend a recent Officers Association symposium in London in March, where one of the speakers was Sarah Owen from The Referral Institute.  The RI provides training for businesses in obtaining new clients via referrals (or networking), but the principles apply equally to finding a job.

One of the first things Sarah told us was that businesses are "interested in their future not your past", so a key point when you are talking to someone who may have an employment opportunity is to make sure they understand what value you are going to add for them and why you are better than everyone else they are considering for a job.

Planning your networking campaign is also key.

You need a MISSION - this is to get a job

You need a VISION - the type of job you want

You need PRODUCT CLARITY - think about yourself, your strengths, talents which you can bring to a business.  Develop a clear message about this and don't be too modest - this is not a time for hiding your light under a bushel.

Think about your TARGET MARKET - think about companies you would love to work for and focus on these.  This doesn't mean ignoring everything else, but allows you to concentrate on finding contacts in a smaller number of organisations who you can engage with before they have a vacancy.

Start recruiting your network and brief them on how they can help you.  When you are given contacts or opportunities, act on them and finally, make sure you let your network know how you are getting on and thank them for their help.

For more inforamtion about the Referral Institute look at www.referralinstitute.com

As you probably know already, 70% of ex-military officers get their first job through networking.

As an executive candidate, it is vital that your CV is in the same league as you.  A mistake that too many applicants make in their CV is to focus on what they have done or what their job responsibilities were, not what they have achieved. To do full justice to your CV, make sure your accomplishments are presented. Clearly worded, quantified achievements are the way forward, but remember to also include supporting job descriptions to provide a frame of reference for recruiters.

Careers Guidance

If you are currently thinking about what to do next and you have the benefit of using the Regional Resettlement Centres, you will be able to access two career search websites:

• Odyssey
• Adult Directions

If you don’t have access to these, don’t worry, there are some excellent alternatives:

• Careers Scotland
• Jobs 4 U

In addition the Careers Service Northern Ireland has a useful careers match tool which allows you to input your preferences for different work related activities and then uses these preferences to generate suggestions about careers you might want to explore further.

Jobs 4 U is another careers website which will help you narrow down the range of careers you are considering.  You can look for information by job family e.g.  Engineering or Manufacturing & Production and then find a range of jobs under each heading.  Alternatively you can browse an A-Z for something which looks interesting to you.   When you click on a link for a job, you will find details of the job itself and suggestions about related jobs.  Both methods of searching the database will provide you with links to external databases which may be of help.  For example, the link on Telecommunications Engineering will give you links to the Institute of Telecoms Professionals and similar organisations.