It takes two to tango!

It's very well preparing answers for intervew questions, but a job interview is a two-way process. Preparing questions to ask at the interview will not only potray initiative, but also give you a more thorough vision of what the company are like to work for.

We've put together some examples that might come in useful...

• How would you describe the responsibilities of this position?
• How would you describe a typical working week in this role?
• How many people are in the team that I'll be working with?
• How would you describe the company culture?
• What are the prospects for growth and advancement with the company?
• Are there regular performance reviews?
• What do you enjoy the most about working here?
• Are there any other questions I can answer for you?
• When can I expect to hear from you?
 

Don't ask them all, and be careful not to ask anything that has already been covered in the interview - otherwise they'll think you've not been listening!

Good luck!

How to get a job through social media...

Nowadays, people use social media for lots of different aspects of their lives – socialising, shopping, for educational purposes and informational purposes, so it’s not surprising that companies have started using social media to recruit as well. We’ve put together some tips to help you source your next role through social media.

·        Don’t just search for jobs – search for people. Websites such as LinkedIn allow us to search for companies and it's employees. It provides you with direct access to the HR manager. You can also use it for research purposes when you do bag an interview.

·        When someone thinks of twitter, they probably won’t think of it as a place to find your next job. However, several companies have twitter accounts dedicated entirely to their recruitment team – plus recruitment companies are always tweeting their positions. Search specific hash tags to find live vacancies. Some examples are, #jobsearch, #jobseeker, #vacancies. Or try industry specific hash tags such as #housingjobs or #publicsectorjobs

·        Several companies have Facebook fan pages with a dedicated job search tab. The HousingJob Facebook page has a job search application whereby you can search through live vacancies without leaving the website.

·        Subscribe to blogs – a lot of people don’t realise that blogs are the number 1 social media tool. A quick google search will provide you with a vast range of blogs on every topic you could imagine. Look for industry specific blogs, as well as ones based on job seeking and HR matters.

Be careful not to focus all your efforts solely on social media though – you should do the above in conjunction with more traditional methods to make sure you’ve got all bases covered.

Men = women?

A recent article on personneltoday focuses on the results of research conducted by recruitment consultancy, Robert Half. The research has found that more than three-quarters (78%) of HR directors believe that male employees do not have an advantage over females within the workplace.

The survey, completed by 180 HR directors, also found that half of those who did think that there was an imbalance between males and females at work believed that family commitments were responsible for this difference.

Respondents also identified a lack of promotion opportunities (42%) and the desire to maintain a good work-life balance (36%) as key factors behind the difference in men and women’s professional development.

Phil Sheridan, managing director of Robert Half UK, commented: “While it s encouraging that over three-quarters of HR directors don’t view men as having an advantageous position over women in the workplace, more needs to be done.

“Companies should regularly review their succession and remuneration plans to ensure that women are treated fairly and equally, with policies to take into account their family and personal commitments.”

Previous research by Friends Life found that more than half (55%) of women believed that there would still be a significant pay gap between men and women in 2020 and 53% thought that they would still be facing more barriers than men to secure senior roles.

The Equality Act 2010 states that it’s unlawful for an employer to discriminate against you because of your sex. The Act covers the following aspects of employment:

• recruitment
• employment terms and conditions
• pay and benefits
• training
• promotion and transfer opportunities
• redundancy
• dismissal

Equal terms – equal pay refers to where men and women whom work for the same employer, are doing one of the following, they are entitled to the same terms in their employment contract:

• the same or similar work (like work)
• work rated as equivalent in a job evaluation study by the employer
• work of equal value

Pay secrecy clauses in employment contracts are unenforceable if you are trying to find out if any difference in pay is connected with a 'protected characteristic', for example sex.

If you think you are being discriminated against, visit the direct.gov website for further advice on what to do next.