Kim Morton, Learning Experience Manager at The Skills Network, gives her top tips to help people find the job that could help transform their career in FE this National Careers Week.As we enter National Careers Week, it’s the perfect time to take stock of where you are in your career and where you want your next career step to take you.As a Learning Experience Manager at The Skills Network, the largest online learning provider in the UK, I have the privilege of leading a team which helps people every day in navigating those exciting choices – hopefully helping them make their dreams a reality.My true passion is supporting others, and being able to offer free advice to all our learners – whether they are individuals accessing our fully online courses and accredited qualifications, or people coming through our bespoke Skills Bootcamps looking to build their employability skills – is often a small but important link in the process of finding the right job to fit a person and their aspirations.No two people are the same and my first step is usually to speak to the learners to understand what motivates them and what potential career they are hoping for – that way we can give them bespoke advice which will really work for them.It’s important to remember that we don’t just work with young people coming out of school and college, but also adult learners who have many years’ experience in the workplace, who decide they want a change of career.The Covid pandemic saw many changes in the way people work. More than ever people can work more flexibly, often from home, and as a result have more time for other things such as family and hobbies, giving people a better work-life balance.Also the pandemic helped people re-evaluate what was important to them. Many of the people I work with already have existing careers but want to make the leap to something new – for example, recently I worked with a teacher who decided to do a Skills Bootcamp to obtain greater digital skills and IT infrastructure knowledge so they could branch out into wider e-learner development roles within education.We cannot have a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to career advice and career advancement, but there are some simple tips I can give you today which might help you in planning your next career move.My top tips:Make sure your CV reflects your key skills and experience – and quickly sets out who you are and what you offerA good CV can make the difference between getting an interview and your application ending up in the bin. Remember that if an employer has hundreds of job applications to sift through that you want yours to stand out for all the right reasons. It’s no use having all the skills and experience in the world, if you’ve tucked that information on page 3 of your CV, under your GCSE results from 25 years ago. Be concise and put the most relevant information near the top!2. Transferable skills are key. Try and make your previous experience support the role you are applying for. You probably have lots of transferable skills that will work in a new working environment, so have a think about how roles you have done in the past (both in the workplace and in your personal life) and see how you can apply those learnings in a new setting. For example, you might be applying for an office job but have 20 years’ experience as a builder – if you used Microsoft Office programmes to do your accounts and send out letters to customers, this might be a really important skill to flag up in your application. Don’t expect employers to assume you have knowledge or expertise, if you don’t mention it!3. Tailor your cover letter to the job you are applying for – and to the employer who will read itAlongside having a great CV that stands out, make sure your cover letter talks specifically about the role you are applying for and why you feel you are the perfect candidate for job. Whilst it might feel time consuming to tailor each and every job application you send off, it probably is w...

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