Does the prospect of a Job Interview give you sleepless nights?

It doesn't matter how successful we get, or if we are used to being on the interviewers side of the table – many of us find it hard to conquer our nerves and truly excel in a job interview because so much is riding on it.

Even with extensive preparation and research, nerves can often reduce our confidence and with it, the dream job.

Don’t let fear ruin your job prospects.

Recrion is hosting an all-day workshop that will take away all the accompanied stress and panic that goes with interviews and leave you feeling wholly prepared and full of confidence, no matter how ‘big’ or desirable that job may be.

Our ‘Interview with Confidence’ Masterclass is being held in Cambridge on Friday 23 September and will give you:

• Genuine practice of interview situations
• Tips and advice on the body language that will impress interviewers
• Advice on what’s been holding you back in interview situations – and what you can do about it
• The skills to ensure you’re in the right frame of mind for your next interview situation
• The key to building a rapport with an interviewer
• Tips on making an impact and building rapport with the interviewer
• And so much more!

"Today has been a really useful session which went beyond your basic interview skills training!  I now feel that I have the skills to showcase my abilities in an interview much better than before."  Laura Halstead

This session is being co-presented by TWO career experts, Recrion Founder and former Mercury Business Personality of the Year Katherine Wiid and Master NLP Practitioner and Confidence Coach, Lindsey Reed, who has over 20 years’ experience in the field.

And the best thing is, under the Redundancy Support scheme, you could be entitled to attend this career-changing session for FREE!

The session kicks-off at 9.30 on Friday 23 September 2011 and is being held at Wolfson Court, one of Cambridge’s university colleges. The cost of the workshop – unless you qualify for the R2R scheme – is £149. The seminar will finish at approximately 16:30 – refreshments and lunch will be provided.

By the end of this workshop, you will be left feeling revitalised, confident and, most importantly, be able to put redundancies and interview nerves behind you.

Can you afford to not to do something that could dramatically boost your career prospects?  Sound interesting?  Why not find out more and take action – today!

Recrion is a specialist in talent and career management, which means we are able to work with you in order to ensure you are on the right career path. For more information contact us on 01780 484910 or www.recrion.co.uk.

I’ve previously written about how the R2R scheme enables Recrion advisers to meet, coach and revitalise hundreds of people from all walks of life, who have often experienced a variety of problems in the working environment. A good example of this is dyslexia sufferers, who have seen their condition – wrongly – affect both their career prospects and confidence.

Dyslexia is often misunderstood, particularly by employers, but it never stopped people such as Richard Branson, John Lennon or Salma Hayek reach the top of their professions.

When seeing people with dyslexia this is the message that I try to get across; that the condition shouldn’t prove a major stumbling block in succeeding in their chosen working sector. In fact, it shouldn’t prove a stumbling block at all.

As with all the career profiling we do, the key when speaking to someone with dyslexia, is to get them to understand their strengths, build their confidence and adapt their career focus accordingly.

With many employers now taking steps to help the dyslexic members of their workforce in order to ultimately yield the best results, the condition should no longer be used as an excuse to stop YOU achieving YOUR career goals.

If either you or someone you know feels you have been held back by your condition, career profiling can be an avenue to rebuild your confidence and leave you more focussed and driven than ever before.

And, if you’ve either recently been made redundant or are in-danger of redundancy, you could be entitled to this help, worth up to £1000, for FREE, due to the R2R scheme.

Sound interesting? Why not find out more about the R2R Scheme and see if you might be eligible. Alternatively, find out more about the career services we offer here at Recrion.

Recrion is a specialist in talent and career management, which means we are able to work with you in order to ensure you are on the right career path. For more information contact us on 01780 484910 or www.recrion.co.uk.

Waiting for the axe to fall?

There can be few worse feelings in life than the one you experience when you know it’s a question of when – not if - you are going to lose your job.

Being made redundant can be a horrible experience, but the wait for the axe to fall can be equally excruciating.

The wait. Whether the wait is for weeks, months, or years you know. You know that, through no fault of your own, you are soon going to be unemployed.

Recent findings suggest that more than one in five people believe it is likely that they will soon lose their job, suggesting that we, as a nation, are far from out of the woods  in terms of economic recovery.

But the one thing that wait does you give you, is time. Time to plan your next move.

It goes without saying that it gives you time to look elsewhere, but what it also does is give you time to think. Time to think about what you’re good at, what motivates you and, after having the morale zapped out of you, time to rebuild your confidence.

Here at Recrion, we able to give you all of these things at absolutely no cost.

We actively facilitate the Response to Redundancy (R2R) scheme by providing up to £1000’s worth of careers advice and training for FREE for people living or working in the East of England.

This scheme is funded by the European Social Fund and, since being launched in 2008, has helped turn around the lives of 12,500 people from all levels who were facing redundancy.

Sound interesting? You can read more about the R2R scheme and what it can do for you.

Recrion is a specialist in talent and career management, which means we are able to work with you in order to ensure you are on the right career path. For more information contact us on 01780 484910 or www.recrion.co.uk.

Sometimes just learning how to write a CV and practice some interview skills isn't enough.

If you have been made redundant or are facing redundancy uncertainty can creep in.  You may not know what you want to do next.  Your skills might not transfer easily to another market.  Self employment might be the only – yet daunting – option.

We understand what you are going through and have thought carefully about what you would find most useful in an all day workshop.

Need support through redundancy?

Our Promote Yourself with Confidence workshop in Cambridge on 22 March, is specifically-tailored to give you practical advice so that -

• you become clear about what you want to do in your career
• you know what you can offer
• you develop techniques to stand out from the crowd.

And the best thing is, under the R2R scheme, you could be entitled to attend this session for FREE! For more details on the Scheme, that is sponsored by the European Social Fund, click here.

By the end of the workshop, you will be left feeling revitalised, prepared to take action and, most importantly, confident about presenting yourself in all-manner of situations.

Here’s what some attendees of previous workshops had to say:

“I felt so confident after the workshop that I applied to be a fashion model and to do TV commercials – I have been accepted and now have a one year contract.  I have started to feel much more on top of things and decided to be bold and try something new and adventurous! I really can’t thank you enough for everything you have done for me.  I will carry on recommending you to other people I meet”. Sarah Freeburn

“Thanks to your encouragement and introduction to 21st century job searching techniques, I have embarked on a new career journey and I am now well on my way to achieving my goals of securing employment again. The workshop certainly gave me a renewed sense of direction".  Malcolm Davies

Another former attendee, who was previously made redundant, has recently been able to start their own business, after implementing some of the techniques taught by our career advisors at the session.

The session kicks-off at 9.30 on Tuesday 22nd March and is being held at one of Cambridge’s university colleges, Wolfson Court. It will finish at approximately 16:30 - refreshments and lunch will be provided.

The workshop is being hosted by Recrion’s team of career coaches, who have experience of coaching more than 600 people facing redundancy by delivering practical advice through individually-tailored mentoring and training.

Places are extremely limited as we only accept 15 delegates – to avoid disappointment, BOOK YOUR PLACE NOW.

Contact event co-ordinator Katherine Wiid on 01780 484910 or email  her for further details.

Encouraging individuals who have been made redundant and have a great business idea to take the plunge, is often difficult to do given the banks reluctance to lend to them.

I was heartened to discover that The Funding Circle lent £1m to small businesses in the UK in its first ten weeks.

The Funding Circle is the UK's first ever online marketplace – great to see innovation in times of economic uncertainty.

Co-founder of the social lending platform, James Meekings, said:

“The response to Funding Circle has been phenomenal. For consumers to lend £1 million to businesses via the site in just 10 weeks highlights the public’s appetite to support our small business community whilst also earning themselves a fantastic return".

So if you need a business loan at a cheaper rate than the banks are offering (average interest rate 8.2 per cent, substantially below the 12 per cent that banks typically charge businesses), visit www.fundingcircle.com.

Recrion is a specialist in career and talent management and is actively facilitating a Response to Redundancy scheme across the East of England and sign posting funding in the region. Click here to find out more about the R2R scheme or call an R2R Adviser on 01780 484910.

Known as R2R, it provides up to £700 per employee to cover career guidance, skills assessment, explore career options, training funding, vocational qualifications and workshops to help candidates match and market themselves to new and hidden opportunities.

“As with all government funding, not everyone will be eligible but many will be. The key to the funding is that we need to move quickly to help those affected by redundancy as soon as it is announced,” said Recrion director Katherine Wiid.

Since 2008, more than 500 people benefitted from funding and advice from Katherine Wiid, Director of Recrion and facilitator of the R2R scheme:

I would recommend R2R to any individual who found themselves at risk of redundancy. This is not just a process about putting an individual on course for added training; it is about you as a person, to talk to someone independent about what you are going through.  Anthony Burgess

If you’re at risk of redundancy now or you know someone who is, or if you’re an employer considering redundancies and would like to know how to help your employees, call Katherine Wiid on 01780 494910 for free advice, or visit www.recrion.co.uk/free to find out if you are eligible for the scheme.

Response to Redundancy is a real, well-timed and practical solution that allows sensitive employers to help staff resettle and retrain in new vocations and directions.

Perhaps you are one of many who have been lured in to accepting a sugar coated job offer only to suffer digestive problems for months to come.

Here is a great visual of the pitfalls of making job changes without taking a long term view or thinking strategically about your career.

Redundancy is often a great time to re-assess and think about what you really want.  Talking to a career coach about your options and investing in your professional development are 2 ways to ensure you take control.

The Responding to Redundancies (R2R) scheme in the East of England offers free career coaching and a training fund of £700 to get you started.  Contact Katherine Wiid on 01780 484910 or visit www.recrion.co.uk/free to find out more.

In the same space of time, I have given skills advice and redundancy counselling to several people who have not embraced technology and realise they are being left behind.  Soon everyday tasks from shopping to paying bills will all be online (some already are), hence the many government and other learning initiatives to get everyone up to speed with the digital revolution.

Casting my mind back several years to when I learnt my IT skills, I took it for granted that I knew where to find the right  keys on the keyboard as I had learnt to type.   There is something to be said for newbies first getting to grips with the keyboard – consider doing a Pitman type keyboard course - and then tackling computers.

I would recommend taking a look at the Skills for Life initiative that is widely available across the UK.

If you are facing redundancy and would like to sharpen up on your skills, there is a practical Response to Redundancy initiative available in the East of England to help fund your training.  Take a look at www.recrion.co.uk/free for more information or call Katherine Wiid on 01780 484910.

Now the Peterborough City Council and East of England Development Agency (EEDA) have gone a step further and founded a Women’s Business Centre in Bridge Street.

The centre is the second of its kind in the UK. As well as offering advice about financing and setting up a business, the centre will include a wi-fi enabled computer and hot desking area, a training room and mailbox facilities which women can use for business correspondence. A crèche is on site for use by mothers who are taking part in the centre’s wide range of training courses and there will be a café and a wardrobe exchange.  To find out more, click here.

There is additional training support available to women who are facing redundancy in the East of England and are keen to develop new skills.  The R2R scheme offers a training fund of £700 as well as professional careers advice – contact Katherine Wiid an accredited R2R adviser on 01780 484910 or visit www.recrion.co.uk/free to see if you are eligible.

The rules have changed.

The "we have always done it this way" mentality will be frowned upon as businesses recognise the need to be open to change and become more fleet of foot.

Career resilience is often viewed as something to aspire to rather than something that is possible right now in the current market place.  In my opinion, it is a mindset change that is required and an active realisation that there has never been a better time to grab at the numerous opportunities for personal and professional development that abound.

A recent report by the Henley Business School’s Corporate Learning Priorities Survey 2010 reveals that organisations are pouring their resources into employees with the potential to lead them into an "uncertain" future.  It found that developing middle managers’ leadership skills and equipping them to deal with change were among participant organisations’ top priorities for 2010, along with succession planning, attracting new talent and developing a coaching culture.

John Mahoney-Phillips head of human capital at UBS bank re-iterated that aspiring leaders must be continuous learners.

“You need a certain amount of emotional resilience to put yourself in a position that is uncomfortable, difficult, uncertain and unknown and you need another set of skills that allow you to reflect and think how you can change your behaviour on the basis of what you’ve experienced,” he said.

Are you making the most of the development opportunities available to you?

If you are facing redundancy and are currently at risk of losing your job, you may be reading this blog with a sceptical eye.  However, you may be surprised to learn about several free learning and development opportunities that are available to you right now.

• The R2R scheme is available to anyone living or working in the East of England whose job is at risk and will provide you with professional careers advice and access to a training fund of £1200
• The Institute of Leadership and Management is offering 6 months free membership to managers being made redundant

Contact Katherine Wiid, a Career Management Coach and facilitator of R2R funding for more information on 01780 484910 or visit www.recrion.co.uk/free – your career is in your hands.