What the Wookey Hole Witch has taught us about looking for a new job in today’s climate

Oct 2009

As Carole Bohanan beat off more than 3,200 rival applicants with her broomstick to land the much-publicised £50,000 a year Witch of Wookey Hole job, the story was not so much one of surprise that so many people applied for the same job but that it highlighted the challenges that job seekers are increasingly faced with when looking for a new job.

For most people finding a new job is hard enough but, what with fewer positions available for those higher up the corporate ladder how do the many senior executives looking for a new role take advantage of the few vacancies available?

Not for 14 years have employers had such a wealth of talent available with hiring managers in the luxurious position of being able to cherry-pick the candidates they want. But positioning yourself as one of the chosen few who will be invited for interview is not as hard as you may think.

It’s a question of marketing. You need to identify what your target market (employer) is looking for in a product (you) and promote yourself as the candidate who offers exactly what they need. Which means that you need to give the employer a glimpse of what they will get in return for their investment in you.

The clue to what an employer is looking for can be found in the job advert itself. However, like the holiday adverts that lure you with the promise of white sandy beaches and deep blue seas, job adverts are designed to seduce you with the promise of high earnings, job security, career progression, or a great working environment. So forget the PR blurb and get a copy of the full job description to unearth the key requirements that the employer is really looking for in their ideal candidate.

But to really stand out from the crowd you need to capitalise on your career enhancing moments and demonstrate what difference you made to your company. Did you increase sales by 25% despite testing economic conditions? Perhaps your strong negotiation skills secured a number of lucrative contracts worth £1.5m? Maybe you introduced a number of new procedures that cut costs by £30,000 per quarter?

Remember, your CV is designed to market YOU Ltd to a potential employer. So make it clear, uncluttered, appealing and address the three key questions that employers want answered: What can you do for me? What have you done before? Can you do it for me again?