I’ve worked in the public sector for nearly 5 years and have always imagined that I would stay there. There is a certain sense of security and assurance working in the public sector which you just don’t get in the private sector. The NHS offer a good pension, good sick pay, good annual leave entitlement and you are highly unlikely to be made redundant which is great comfort in the current climate. The down side is that the jobs are not very well paid and internal promotion just doesn’t happen.

In my last job I was stuck in the same role for too long and although I was given many opportunities within the role and gained a good portfolio of experience, my salary did not reflect my work and qualifications.

Since our relocation to Cardiff and becoming unemployed I have made the decision to join the private sector rat race. Although I am still keen to stay within the public sector if the right position comes up it is just too closed to the external market at the moment so the likelihood of me finding a decent job with decent pay is pretty low.

I started looking at sites such as Monster and Jobsite etc, and instead of the usual public sector application form they ask for a CV and covering letter. I have never needed a formal CV while working for the NHS so I had no clue how to write an effective one. I soon realised that after 5 years in the NHS I had lost touch with how things work in the “dog eat dog” world that is the private sector.

Last week I attended a Job Seekers Interview at the Job Centre and for once they actually recommended something useful and productive. They paid for me to attend a seminar designed to help job seeking through internet searching. The seminar was ran by a company called Omega Consultancy and it covered CV writing, refining your internet search using Boolean techniques and competence based interview techniques. Although the teacher was a bit full of himself and the average age in the room was about 45 it was pretty useful. After today I realised that it was doubtful that my CV would have even been found by prospective employers let alone be successful. However, one of the most useful pieces of information I learned today was that if you do not refresh your CV on sites such as Monster on a weekly basis then your CV will work its way to the bottom of the pile and will stay there, probably never to be seen again.

So lets hope in the not too distant future I may actually be in a job that I enjoy and that pays good money. Yeah right!!!