Relaunch Your Career

Question: Is the Government right to make people do enforced voluntary work in exchange for benefits?

Question: Everything I read about CVs says it’s important to say ‘I’ and not ‘we’, but I was only part of a team that achieved what we did. If I say ‘I’ all the way through, I won’t be being honest. How do I deal with this?

Question: I’ve been advised that I should include the number of people I managed in each job on my CV. This has varied wildly from job to job. Should I include this information, or leave it out?

Question: My partner was made redundant three months ago. He has recently become very withdrawn and depressed, despite working hard to get another job. How can I help keep his spirits up during his job search?

Question: If I chase up my application, will I seem pushy?

Blog posting: One of the questions that unsettles interview candidates most is ‘Tell me about yourself’. I have no idea why this makes people so uncomfortable: the way I look at it, this is an absolute gift of a question.

When you leave a job, don’t forget to collect your cards. No, not those cards, I mean your now-redundant business cards.

Question: My recruitment consultant says the only thing employers are interested in is my work experience, and this should always be on the front page of my CV (resume). Is he right?

Question: To what extent do you feel the constant negative approach to the economy, taken by most of the media over the past 12 – 18 months, has reduced the UK workforce’s self-confidence? What can ‘good men and true’ do to counteract this effect?

Question:I was an £80k a year professional, made redundant last summer. I’ve just had my six-month interview with the Job Centre and been told my jobseekers allowance (JSA) benefit is being ceased. That means no money unless I qualify for means-tested benefits. They also said I now have to apply for any job – I can no longer only apply only for managerial jobs. They have sent me for an interview as a cleaner. Can they do this?