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The ICAEW Guide to Successful Job Search Episode 4: The importance of planning

In the fourth podcast of The ICAEW Guide to Successful Job Search series, host Simon Gray, FCA, argues that the old adage of ‘fail to plan; plan to fail’ is particularly true when it comes to changing jobs.

To create the ICAEW Guide to Successful Job Search, ICAEW worked with Simon Gray, author of ‘Super Secrets of Successful Executive Job Search’ and founder of Career Codex, in addition to experts from across the recruitment and business world to share their knowledge of how to find and secure the job you want.

In Episode 4, ‘The importance of planning’, Gray draws on his experiences as a former recruiter, explaining that few jobseekers actively plan their job search and how that is to their detriment. He outlines how to create a jobseeker plan that’s right for you and how to stick to it. 

He outlines the three stages that are crucial in that plan:

  • Destination – defining where you want to be in your next role and why.
  • Direction – setting daily activities that will get you there.
  • Discipline – staying committed to your plan.

In this podcast Gray is joined by:

  • Sally Adams, Acting Chief Financial Officer at Electrocomponents Plc; and
  • Jonathan Firth, Managing Director Michael Page Finance.

Listen now

Episode guide

You can listen to the rest of the series on icaew.com or on iTunes:

 
 
Episode Title Date available
Getting started on your successful job search   
The job market environment   
The psychology of job search success   
CVs that stand out and impactful cover letters  4 March 2016 
Getting in front of decision makers  11 March 2016 
The power of networking  18 March 2016 
Positioning yourself online  25 March 2016 
Delivering a first-class interview  01 April 2016 
10  Handling the offer and negotiation stage  08 April 2016 

Meet the experts

  •  Simon Gray Career Codex

    After starting his career at KPMG, Simon Gray, FCA, has spent more than 15 years working in recruitment. In 2013, following the publication of ‘Super Secrets of the Successful Jobseeker’, Gray set up Career Codex which offers training to jobseekers on how to take a different strategy to their job search and stand out from their peers. His latest book, ‘Super Secrets of Successful Executive Job Search’, was published in July 2015.

  •  Sally Adams Electrocomponents

    Sally Adams joined global engineering parts distributor Electrocomponents in 1996. Listed on the London Stock Exchange, Electrocomponents has operations in 32 countries and an annual turnover of more than £1.2bn.

  •  Andrew Clark Costa Enterprises

    Andrew is Finance Director of Costa Enterprises, (part of Whitbread Group). He started his career at KPMG where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant and as a Corporate Treasurer. He spent a year in audit before moving to Corporate Restructuring where he spent five years advising banks who had invested in companies which were underperforming.

  •  Jonathan Firth Michael Page Finance

    Jonathan Firth has 20 years’ recruitment experience in the UK, with the last 10 years at PageGroup. While the majority of his career has been in finance recruitment, his experience at PageGroup includes assisting with building their search business and running their legal recruitment business across the UK.