Welcome to Aaltje Vincent & Company

Geplaatst op 26 april 2011 door aaltjevincent

I am Aaltje Vincent. My passion is helping people who are job hunting to land a new job. I supervise and train people who – in many cases – have not applied for a job for 10, 20 or 30 years and therefore need a little pushing in the right direction to find employment. The real art is in getting these people to do exactly what they like best. Usually, that is also what they are best at.

On this subject I have authored two – by now very successful – books:
- Jobmarketing / Finding a job: how to go about it
- Solliciteren via Linkedin / Career Management via Linkedin (co-authored with Jacco Valkenburg)

In addition, I train colleagues in the field of careers advice.
Do contact me if you have any questions. Preferably by email, for a speedy response: info@aaltjevincent.nl

On YouTube you can watch various films in Dutch featuring Aaltje Vincent that will help you find employment.

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Tips: what to call the gap in your CV or resumé

Geplaatst op 23 februari 2011 door aaltjevincent

On 16 February I was happy to join in the discussion on BNR (Dutch newsradio station) on ‘The gap in your CV’. This resulted in requests for tips on how to present a ‘gap’. A CV or resumé has one single aim: getting the person doing the selection to think ‘Him/her I want to see’ during a 15-second first spell of reading. We know from experience that being as concrete as possible raises the least questions with the selector.

Examples:
- eight-month trip across North-, Middle- and South-America
- time-out for raising children
- time-out for social activities relating to sports, the environment, education etc.
- time-out for stay in Eastern-Europe
- reorientation re life and work
- refer to a period without work as being ‘in-between jobs’ or ‘ready for a new challenge’ or ‘(net)working for a new career move’ or ‘in for the next step on the careers ladder where I can follow my heart’ or ‘heading for a new challenge with professional careers advice’
- professional development
o studies: coaching, creative career development, counselling
o work experience: coach, trainer, counsellor (even if only as a trainee)
- being counselled by careers advice bureau on reorientation re work and career. Resulting in a motivated choice for working as a chemist’s assistant

Be prepared for questions re your ‘gap’ during the job interview.

Career ManagementThese examples are from the English language book Career Management, written by Jacco Valkenburg and Aaltje Vincent

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Are you ‘labour market proof’?

Geplaatst op 30 januari 2011 door aaltjevincent

If you are ‘labour market proof’, you will find a new job more quickly. I know this from my experience in coaching job seekers. Being job market proof consists of three elements.

Firstly: be aware of what you want to achieve!
Being aware of what you want to do ‘content-wise’, implies knowing your competences and the elements required for your ‘dream job’. And knowing that this job exists in the ‘form’ you desire, what sort of contract, travelling distance, salary etcetera. Talking to people now doing the work that you want to do is essential, in my opinion. A combination of ‘content’ and ‘form’ embodied by you, enables you to say ‘this is the job I can do’ with a sparkle in your eye.

Secondly: your confidence
You may have been working at a place where you did not stand out or were not appreciated for your expertise. Or you may have been doing the same job with the same employer for years. This may lead to the question ‘Am I capable of actually doing this somewhere else?’ and lower your self-esteem. Work on this*: a confident manner is essential to landing a job.

Thirdly: your frustration at being fired
If you have been dismissed due to reorganization you may still be angry and sad. A selector will sense this. If you start networking and apply for jobs, chances are that you will only get negative responses. This is not due to your (lack of) expertise, but to the fact that the other candidates do radiate that they are totally ready for the job. So, to get that sparkle in your eye, first deal with your state of mind.

In short, being job market proof means: knowing what you want to achieve and radiate with a sparkle in your eye that you can do the job!

* As landing a job ca be tough and hard, I advise you cordially to ask a steady job-landing buddy to support you all the way!

 

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