Application - Find Those Jobs
Once you know which direction you are headed, drawn up your ten year plan, have compiled all your relevant life information, know where your combined life experiences can realistically place you, and prepared a draft of your CV, you then need to find the jobs to apply for. There are several different avenues to use:
Recruitment Agencies
The number one leisure recruitment company, Leisurejobs Group (tel. +44 (0) 207 622 8500). Recruitment companies will require a copy of your CV for you to register and apply for any of their vacancies. If suitable you will then be required to interview with them. This is a bonus for the clients that they represent as it filters out some of the inappropriate candidates before they contact them. The better you perform at interview, the more likely they will be to put you forward for the better positions.
The advantage of applying through a recruitment company is that you need only send one CV and attend one interview. The company will then try to place you in a suitable role without you having to do any further searching - and the service is free.
On-Line
On-line recruitment services, such as Leisurejobs.com, allow you to search through any number of jobs, from anywhere in the world. Once you have mastered the simple methods of attaching your CV to an e-mail message, you can easily apply for twenty jobs in the time it would take for you to apply for one job in the traditional method. Your application will be on the recruiter's desktop instantly and you will receive any response directly.
Press
There are several levels of press to consider:
- National press
National press sometimes advertise national level positions on specific days. For example, The Guardian has a marketing and media section on Thursday and Saturday, which may contain national marketing and P.R. positions within the health and leisure industry.
- Local Press
Often positions which do not need specialist qualifications or are offered by independent operators may be advertised in the local press. Local press is also an ideal option for new openings to attract potential members and staff.
Trade Publications
This type of media advertise a selection of the jobs available within the titles industry. Before the advent of the Internet, this was one of the few ways that employers could target their advertising to a specific industry.
Trade Fairs
Trade fairs, for example Leisure Industry Week and Bar Show will often be attended by representatives from most of the leisure recruiters, recruitment agencies, trade publications and manufacturers. Dress well and take several copies of your CV -perhaps in different formats to suit the different positions in which you are interested.
Career Advice Centres
If you have graduated from a college or university in the last three years, you are likely to be eligible to return there for advice.
If you have taken any vocational qualifications with companies such as Premier Training, they will be happy to provide a post course publications and independent advice. Although these centres are not in the business of advertising jobs, they can act as a resource to help you search.
Direct Approach
Another option is to apply directly to the human resources department of leisure operators. This is a bit tenuous as you are gambling a bit on approaching or getting the attention of the best person and of course whether the position you are after is free.
Although most recruiters say that they keep any relevant CVs, these can end up in a filing cabinet with thousands of other candidates - and the better the employer the more CVs they will have. This cannot compare with your CV, targeted at a specific role that you know is currently available, arriving on their desk.
Job search | Careerzone | Training courses | Industry links | About us | Contact usAdvertise your vacancies now!
