Vacancy Info: Public Outreach & Communication (POC) Specialist

Rabu, 23 Januari 2008

Public Outreach & Communication (POC) Specialist

The Environmental Services Program (ESP) is a fifty-eight month program
funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
ESP works with government, private sector, NGOs, community groups and other
stakeholders to promote better health through improved water resources
management and expanded access to clean water and sanitation services. ESP
is currently recruiting a *Public Outreach & Communication (POC) Specialist
*to be based in Yogyakarta. The position is for a period of one year (with
possible extension). Please send cover letters and CVs to the Recruitment
Officer at recruitment. esp@gmail. com not later than January 25, 2008. Only
short listed candidates will be notified. No telephone inquires will be
accepted.

QUALIFICATIONS

· University degree in communications, journalism, business development,
international relations, or related field.

· At least 5 years of experience (3 years for Master degree) in
communications or media relations, including journalism, writing and
editing, public relations, government relations, or information management.

· Excellent interpersonal skills, with ability to communicate clearly both
verbally and in writing.
· Experience working with local communities and media.

Finding a Job

Tips How to find out about job

Here are some top tips for finding out about job vacancies. Some you'll already know about, but there may be others you've not thought of.

Newspapers - local and national

Many newspapers have job vacancy adverts, usually near the back under the 'classified' section. Smaller, local employers may advertise in local papers. Adverts for professional, executive and senior vacancies tend to appear in national papers - usually broadsheets. These papers usually feature certain types of job on different days of the week. For example, The Guardian features media jobs on Mondays, education on Tuesdays, public and social sector on Wednesdays and IT on Thursdays.

Professional or specialist journals

As well as carrying job vacancy adverts, these journals contain features about latest developments in their sector. New Scientist is an example of a specialist journal. Large newsagents and libraries stock these.

Jobcentres

Jobcenters offer the following facilities:

Jobpoints - touch-screens with up to 400,000 job vacancies, which allow you to search for jobs suitable for you

Personal advisors can help you find the vacancies that are right for you, whether you're looking for your first job or are returning to work. They can also tell you about government training schemes open to you. They'll consider:

your work experience
your skills
your qualifications
whether there are any suitable training opportunities or courses for you
any help you might need, such as child care or health care
any special help you might need, if you have a disability for example

They will then help you decide on the best way forward.

The internet

Most large organisations have details of vacancies on their website. You can also find job vacancies on:

Recruitment and employment agencies websites
Newspapers' websites

You may also be able to download the application form and apply online.

Most job vacancy websites allow you to search for the types of vacancies you're interested in. You can usually specify the type of job, the level, the salary, the location etc. Some sites will even notify you when suitable vacancies are posted on their site.

Recruitment and employment agencies/consultants

Recruitment and employment agencies are like brokers - they recruit and fill vacancies on behalf of employers. Employers use agencies because recruiting is time-consuming and requires expertise.

What happens when you contact a recruitment agency?

Firstly, they usually invite you for an interview. This is to find out what kind of work you're looking for and what skills you've got. Depending on the type of work you're looking for they may ask you to sit a test - to test your typing speed or your IT skills for example. They will take your personal details and contact you when a suitable vacancy comes up. They may interview you themselves for the job or set up an interview with the employer. Many vacancies handled by recruitment agencies are temporary, but some agencies specialise in permanent or executive jobs; or particular sectors of work - media, law or social work, for example. Most agencies also display current vacancies on their websites.

How can I find recruitment agencies?

Recruitment agencies are listed in Yellow Pages or you can use a search engine like google.

Advertisements outside business premises

Some employers advertise job vacancies on signs outside their premises.

Creative job seeking

The traditional approach to job seeking has been opening the paper and looking for adverts. However, estimates are that about 70 per cent of jobs are filled without being advertised. This can be due to an internal candidate filling the post, someone being notified word of mouth by an existing employee, headhunting by the organisation or by the applicant enquiring on spec if there is a vacancy. So you need to be creative to ensure you're in the running for these unadvertised jobs.

Contact employers directly

Use Yellow Pages or other business directories to get names and contact details of suitable employers. You can drop in to see employers personally or send them a letter. Seeing them in person may take more time and courage, but it gives you a higher chance of speaking with someone.

If you decide to visit in person you will probably enter at the reception. Ask politely if you can speak to the manager or the person in charge of the department you're interested in working for. If you get to see them you should stress you're very keen to work for them and tell them what you can offer the company. If you can't see them at that moment you should ask for their name (so you can try again another time) and ask if you can leave a CV.

If you decide to enquire by post you should send off a CV with a covering letter explaining what you can offer the organisation. It's important to send it to the person who's in charge of hiring in the section you're interested in, not the Human Resources department. You could get the name of the person in charge by calling reception or looking on the organisation's website.

If you don't hear anything back, follow up with a phone call a week or two later, just to ask what the situation is. It's not rude or pushy to do this - they may have not contacted you because they were busy; and even if there is no vacancy, if they're impressed with your skills and enthusiasm they may keep your details on file for future vacancies.

Networking and word of mouth

Networking is all about making the most of contacts. These could be work contacts or friends and family. Let everyone know you're looking for a certain type of work. Each person might tell somebody else, and they may tell somebody else and so on. The more people who know you are looking for work the more chance you have of being told about an unadvertised vacancy.

You can also network at professional functions. Even if you're not working, you can still attend conferences and events. You can use these events as a means of making contacts in your line of work.

And don't underestimate friends and family. Even if you think an aunty or uncle couldn't possibly have a useful contact in your area of work, they might surprise you. People come into contact with more people than you think.

Safety tips

It's important to keep yourself safe when applying for jobs. The vast majority of interviews are perfectly normal and safe; but as with any situation involving strangers, you should use common sense.

Here are some safety tips for interviews:

Do

check out the organisation if the advert was very brief
tell someone where the interview is and what time you expect to be back
make sure it's on the organisation's premises or in a public place - not a private residence
arrange to be picked up by someone if the interview is at a strange time or in a remote location

Don't

agree to continue the interview on a social date - such as drinks or a meal
apply for jobs that seem too good to be true, such as ones offering huge rewards for little work
talk too much about personal matters
accept a lift home from anyone at the organisation

Further resources

Bookshops and libraries stock books about job hunting techniques.

That’s some tips for you to about job. Wish this tip can make you easy to think and to make plan. Good Luck