Jon Gregory's blog

"I haven't found a job yet and someone advised me to try freelancing to build up my experince. Isn't that just job-hunt masochism? If I can't get one job, why should I be able to get half a dozen instead?"

Geeta raised a smile from everyone with this question, along with simultaneous nods and frowns. It does seem a tad counter-intuitive, doesn't it? Never the less, freelancing can be great to get you out of a hole, build up some experience and make yourself much more employable when your dream job comes along.

"I went to an interview last week prepared to face a barrage of competency questions which looked back at events from my work experience. Instead, I didn't get any. None. I got loads of questions like, "What would you do if …". I was completely thrown. What was going off?"

Drazen can be forgiven for getting needlessly caught out in the stress of an interview situation as I've known that type of question blind-side many people.

"We all know that employers want to select people who have a positive attitude and I know I have one. Unfortunately, I've had feedback to say that I don't come across that way, so what should I be doing?"

Angela R's confidence had taken a knock over this. When you see yourself a certain way, and then find out that others see you differently, it can be a shock if that difference is negative. So how can you ensure that you portray a positive attitude at interviews?

"I've actually got a job-offer in my hand for a position that I'm really pleased to have. However, the terms differ from what was advertised and subsequently discussed during interviews and phone conversations. What should I do?"

Paul D was concerned, even though the differences weren't that major. Starting a new job that you were very keen to do, do you really want to feel shafted before you even set foot in the place? Equally, do you want to blow what you saw as a major opportunity for yourself? What do you do?

"I've read about people who've sent dozens, sometimes hundreds, of applications out. I've only sent a few, should I be doing the same thing as them? I'm puzzled why they're still unemployed after all that effort - is it really that tough to get a job?"