Page 28 - James Caan - Get the Job you Really Want

aim is to retain clients. And as it happened, at that time the
serviced-o≤ce sector was performing really well as an industry,
so recruiting good people was key.
I thought to myself, ‘Sherene would be really good at this,
because she has those interpersonal skills, she is smart, she’s

had a pretty solid job history, and the pay is quite similar, if
not better.’ When I suggested she apply to serviced-o≤ce
companies, she had never thought about them – because she

had never even heard of that kind of business. I suggested she
look on the internet to find the top five players in the market,
then rewrite her C V, placing her customer service skills right
at the front. I advised her to make those skills very appropriate
and relevant to the business centre environment, by spelling

out that the reason she was applying for the position was that
she understood the most important thing for those companies
was the value of their clients, and retaining those customers.

She worded her C V very well, sent it to five companies, got three
interviews, and landed a job.
Sherene was delighted, of course. ‘I can’t believe it,’ she said,
‘I’ve been looking for a job for nine months, sending out C V
after C V, getting nowhere. Now, after three weeks, I’ve got a

job o≠er.’
The lesson was that sometimes it’s about trying to under-
stand not a job title but the actual component of the job. Talk

to friends and people you know to explore which other industry
sectors could value or benefit from your experience and skills.
There is constant evolution within di≠erent sectors. For
example, for those employees over forty who are now working

16 get the job you really want