I recently applied for a role at railway and got the job! The interview was conducted on 15 February and I got the offer on 19 February. I signed and sent back the contract on 25 February.
CV
Believe it or not, mine is 1 page only. Important details I have considered are: personal profile/statement, address, mobile, chartered membership, professional honour, degree license, training attended and conducted, skills/competency, and achievements on the previous roles. Ensure to provide accurate information. Neither exaggerate nor lie on your resume. Degree, license, employment and chartered membership will be verified by a Third Party on the BackCheck process. P.S. long, complicated, or multiple pages CV is a big no no.
Recruiters
Searching jobs online (i.e. indeed, reed, jobs, cvlibrary, etc) is a bit of a gamble. The application you will submit will be directed/forwarded to the recruiters. In my experience recruiters are not the right persons to be contacted. Their knowledge about the job advertised is limited to the job description provided by the recruiting company. They will not dig further to understand the connection or how relevant your experience is to the vacancy.
Direct Hiring
Understand your market. Search on industries doing the same stuff as yours. I have looked on the UK construction firms and searched for vacancy directly on their website. I have applied on the top 2 companies and I was invited for interview on both. Result of the other interview will be advised next week.
Interview Preparation
Study the job description advertised/given by the recruiting company. Do some research about the company background and the project. Learn the techniques of managing situational interview (samples are available online). If pre-interview task is given, make it comprehensive! I did practice interview with my husband Trefor and that exercise boost my confidence.
On the Day of Interview
Dress properly and be on time. I arrived 30 minutes early and managed to relax. When I entered the conference room Im expecting to meet the HR and Quality Managers. I was surprised to see 4 men so as one of my rules: always expect the unexpected. I was interviewed by the HR, Quality, Safety and Environmental Managers. I was nervous on the first question but I felt relax as I go through. Questions raised were:
1. Discuss the company background and project details
2. Quality Management System - guidelines and requirements
3. Management meeting rules and actions
4. Corporate Governance
5. Professional membership, degree, achievements on previous roles
6. Dealing conflicts at work
7. Expected salary (again do a research. Know your market job band so you'll have idea about the salary range).
Referees
Stay in contact with your previous managers. You need at least 3 referees. Save their contact details (email and telephone very important) and give a word about your application.
I'll be working as Quality Engineer/Auditor and will join the company after my Philippine holiday in April. The construction starts in 2017 but there are lots of work to do right away, so it's a long term role/project scheduled to complete by 2033! Happy days
Quote Reply
.
Originally Posted by joebloggs
... I'll be almost 90 by then! 
's a sobering thought!
. 
... Wow ... you're a real globetrotter, Trefor! I have a nephew who's "on the go" all the time too, in his capacity as Far Eastern Manager for an American-based computer firm. Likewise, a friend of mine [now retired] did a lot of jetting back and forth 
to the United States & Canada whereas, me ... well ... 
... I'm also a "man of leisure" myself now, but my work - for the most part - tended to be based in and around the appropriately-named, historic *'Fair City' (
- *except when it's 
!) of Perth.
), but I used to spend half my life in the San Francisco area and visited Japan a lot. 2hr flights around Europe seem easy now 
.
