Week 12 employment writing professional covering letters
Cover letter
- just as important as your cv
- builds on the info on your cv state why the company should hire you
- before you write your cover it's important to do research into the company
Points to consider
- what does the company do
- competitors
- address your letter with appropriate contacts
- should be short and straight to the point
Second paragraph
- explain why you are suitable to the job, refer to your academic and professional qualifications that are relevant to the role
Third paragraph
- what can you bring and do for the company what is your career role make it relevant to the role you are applying for
Fourth
- talk about your interest in the role and why you would be right for it
- indicate wanting to meet them for an interview
Closing the letter
- yours sincerely and your name
- arial size 12 font aligned
Job interview
- you have to sell yourself and your skills
- preparation
- practice
- performance
- confidence
- strengths what are you good at? Write bullet points
- what are your weaknesses, how a position in that company could help you improve
- what will you becoming in 5 years in time?
- what can you offer this company?
What influences the interviewer
- your personality
- your qualifications
- your relevant experience
- background and references
- enthusiasm for the post in question
What to do in an interview
- answer the question being asked in a concise way don't waffle
- speak clearly and confidently
- talk about your good points
What not to do?
- don't be to clever
- give evasive answers
- don't get to flustered
- criticise your former employers
- arrive on time
- dress smartly
- be enthusiastic
- listen carefullyto questions
- relax
- emphasise on your skills and experience
Types of interviews
- single interview
- group interview
- sequential interview
Employer will request these skills
- self awareness
- Initiative
- willingness to learn
- interpersonal skills
- communication
- teamwork
- problem solving
-flexibility
- commitment
- commercial awareness
- it/ computer literacy
What to consider
- find out about them
- skills you need to promote
- why you are interested in the job
- why you would be suitable
When applying for a job
- read the job description carefully
- read person specification carefully
- follow directions and be accurate
Task
- collect and research some jobs and write a cover letter
Tuesday 10 December 2013
Tuesday 3 December 2013
Week 11 self employment
Week 11 self employment- tax, national insurance, legal issues and basic buisness planning
Tax and national insurance
- when you are self employed you have to pay this
- you can offset your business expenses against your tax, for example if you buy a car or laptop
- you Only pay tax on your net profit not your takings
- 9,440 allowance before you start paying tax
-you can file a self assessment tax return to tell the tax office how much you owe them or a accountant can do this
National insurance
- if your self employed you normally have to pay class 2
- if your annual profits are over a certain amount you also have to pay class 4 contributions
- in certain circumstances you may be exempt from it
- to find out more www.hmrc.gov.uk/working/intro/self employment
Keeping records
- everything you spend on your business you need to keep a record of
- your basic business record must include:
- a record of all your sales and takings
- a record of all your purchases and expenses
- use these records to create a profit and loss accounts
- the more detailed you make the easier it is to answer any questions
Tax and national insurance working a second job?
- you need to decide whether to take the tax free allowance on wages paid by an employer or on your self employment
- if taken on a second job that would mean you'd pay the appropriate rate of tax on all profits
- nationally insurance is payed on both about 2.50 a week
Self employment health and safety issues
- public liability insurance
- other health and safety disabilities access requirements
- further employment insurance
- copyright law
- crb check if you are planning to work with people under 18 and your staff
- vat you need to be vat registered when you start earning larger sums the figure is currently around 75k
Basic business planning
- a basic plan will help you focus and plan all aspects of your business
- it will help set targets and collate your ideas
- a business plan is also essential for attracting funding to get started
- it should be reviewed on a regular basis to help you monitor and measure the performance of your business
Benefits
- bring your ideas and research together
- help you decide which markets to sell to
- clarify your business purpose to others
- stay on track with targets and objectives
- each section will have a heading these are a good starting point
- vision/mission what are you trying to achieve
- executive summary what will your business do how will it do it,who will your customers be and why will they buy
- history how did you get here how did you form your ideas which people have met that inspired this, why are you starting up
- product and the service, what will you sell? Wallpaper or fabric etc what will it do what problem will it solve does it have a unique selling point that makes it so different, who will buy your product is it new product?
Market research,chow do you know there is demand for your product, what research have you done into this to demonstrate how it will sell, field research getting research from the public questionnaires etc describe your customer there characteristics and there buying pattern
- the market,what is the size of your overall market, is it a growing market, what might your share of the market will your share be over the 3 years? Who is your competition
- research and development, what work have you done so far if work still do, do you have intellectual property rights to address such as trademark patents copyright etc
- basis of operation, will you partner up with someone, premises, equipment, will you need staff, insurance sole trader or partnership?
Management, do you have a team? How many people are involved they need to know their background and what they bring to the business, explain how they can be trusted and how you cAn be trusted with a loan
- cost, initial set upCost, and ongoing costs, how much finance are you investing, funding requirements, and potential sources
Task research into current regional funding options and post graduate free business start up schemes
- www.gov.uk/buisness
- princes trust, wwww.princes trust
Tax and national insurance
- when you are self employed you have to pay this
- you can offset your business expenses against your tax, for example if you buy a car or laptop
- you Only pay tax on your net profit not your takings
- 9,440 allowance before you start paying tax
-you can file a self assessment tax return to tell the tax office how much you owe them or a accountant can do this
National insurance
- if your self employed you normally have to pay class 2
- if your annual profits are over a certain amount you also have to pay class 4 contributions
- in certain circumstances you may be exempt from it
- to find out more www.hmrc.gov.uk/working/intro/self employment
Keeping records
- everything you spend on your business you need to keep a record of
- your basic business record must include:
- a record of all your sales and takings
- a record of all your purchases and expenses
- use these records to create a profit and loss accounts
- the more detailed you make the easier it is to answer any questions
Tax and national insurance working a second job?
- you need to decide whether to take the tax free allowance on wages paid by an employer or on your self employment
- if taken on a second job that would mean you'd pay the appropriate rate of tax on all profits
- nationally insurance is payed on both about 2.50 a week
Self employment health and safety issues
- public liability insurance
- other health and safety disabilities access requirements
- further employment insurance
- copyright law
- crb check if you are planning to work with people under 18 and your staff
- vat you need to be vat registered when you start earning larger sums the figure is currently around 75k
Basic business planning
- a basic plan will help you focus and plan all aspects of your business
- it will help set targets and collate your ideas
- a business plan is also essential for attracting funding to get started
- it should be reviewed on a regular basis to help you monitor and measure the performance of your business
Benefits
- bring your ideas and research together
- help you decide which markets to sell to
- clarify your business purpose to others
- stay on track with targets and objectives
- each section will have a heading these are a good starting point
- vision/mission what are you trying to achieve
- executive summary what will your business do how will it do it,who will your customers be and why will they buy
- history how did you get here how did you form your ideas which people have met that inspired this, why are you starting up
- product and the service, what will you sell? Wallpaper or fabric etc what will it do what problem will it solve does it have a unique selling point that makes it so different, who will buy your product is it new product?
Market research,chow do you know there is demand for your product, what research have you done into this to demonstrate how it will sell, field research getting research from the public questionnaires etc describe your customer there characteristics and there buying pattern
- the market,what is the size of your overall market, is it a growing market, what might your share of the market will your share be over the 3 years? Who is your competition
- research and development, what work have you done so far if work still do, do you have intellectual property rights to address such as trademark patents copyright etc
- basis of operation, will you partner up with someone, premises, equipment, will you need staff, insurance sole trader or partnership?
Management, do you have a team? How many people are involved they need to know their background and what they bring to the business, explain how they can be trusted and how you cAn be trusted with a loan
- cost, initial set upCost, and ongoing costs, how much finance are you investing, funding requirements, and potential sources
Task research into current regional funding options and post graduate free business start up schemes
- www.gov.uk/buisness
- princes trust, wwww.princes trust
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