Top 10 things to consider before you hand in your notice:

1. Chase Zander would always suggest that you have your next job lined up with contracts signed before you resign but sometimes that might not be possible but at the very least get yourself as far down the process as possible

2. If you haven’t got your next role lined up then do consider your finances and try to reduce your out-goings if need be to allow for a reasonable period (and over-estimate this to be safe) to find the job you want

3. What sort of reference would you like your current employers to give on your behalf? How you resign and act in your notice period can be the abiding memory people at your company have of you so act in good faith

4. Write a list of the things that you have liked and disliked in your career to date as this will help you define what you want in your next role. Also consider what your absolute ideal role would entail and consider whether you are qualified to get a job like that?

5. Consider the overall direction you want to take your career in and why. Don’t just take ‘another’ job unless circumstances force you to. Research shows that the most successful people tend to have a clear long term career plan. Follow both your head and your heart!

6. Touch base with all of your industry contacts and colleagues as early as you can before you resign. Ideally do this regularly as a matter of course and not just when you are desperate for a job. Well connected people normally find a job more easily and can reference possible companies more easily to help them find the right cultural fit. A personal recommendation is also a great way to join a company

7. Depending on the sensitivity / nature of your role be prepared that your employer may ask you to leave immediately so ensure that you have contact details for your colleagues or other key contacts who may be useful in your job search

8. Update your CV and start applying for jobs and send it to the relevant agencies in your field as soon as you canGet some interview practice under your belt even if it is just with a friend or your partner so that you are ready to interview for the job you really want!

9. Get some interview practice under your belt even if it is just with a friend or your partner so that you are ready to interview for the job you really want!

10. Remember leaving your employer without a definite job to go to can end up being an expensive exercise and leave a gap on your CV which is awkward to explain if you don’t secure something relatively quickly so do as much as you can before you leave to move towards securing that new position!

If you have found this article valuable then you may be interested to read some of our other job seeker help guides including some great video guides starring members of the Chase Zander team!

Leading London based recruitment consultancy, Chase Zander, today announced plans to increase its focus upon and presence within the UK insurance market and particularly on General Insurance.

Managing Director of Chase Zander, Adam Tallamy, said that “at this time of increased regulatory activity in the insurance sector and the demands that places upon companies and their IT systems and processes we are finding that our clients there have growing recruitment demands which we are well placed to meet. Our intention is to build upon Chase Zander’s 9 year association with the market and to expand upon it both in terms of headcount and specialism over the coming 2 years.”

Top 10 things to consider when you start a search for your next job

1. Write a list of the things that you have liked and disliked in your career to date as this will help you define what you want in your next role. Also consider what your absolute ideal role would entail?

2. Consider whether you are qualified to get a job like that and if not what sort of training or additional experience you need to get first? Then create a plan of action to get you there. It may be that your ideal role is a step too far in which case look for a role which will offer you the right training and progression to achieve it.

3. Consider the overall direction you want to take your career in and why. Don’t just take ‘another’ job unless circumstances force you to. Research shows that the most successful people tend to have a clear long term career plan. Follow both your head and your heart!

4. Touch base with all of your industry contacts and colleagues as early as you can before you resign. Ideally do this regularly as a matter of course and not just when you are desperate for a job. Well connected people normally find a job more easily and can reference possible companies more easily to help them find the right cultural fit. A personal recommendation is also a great way to join a company

5. Update your CV and get it proof-read by several people including a specialist recruiter in your field and incorporate all feedback to make it the strongest possible tool to sell you for the role you want

6. Start applying for the type of jobs you are interested in and gauge feedback on your CV relative to your competitors. Do what you can to differentiate yourself positively

7. Send your CV to the reputable and relevant agencies in your field and articulate what you are ideally looking for ideally in the CV itself as cover letters often get separated.

8. Consider posting your CV to relevant job boards as this is a great way to let jobs find you. Be aware however that your current employer’s recruitment team may use these boards to find new recruits so it may pay to disguise your current employer etc.

9. Set yourself up for job alerts on the relevant job boards and websites of the leading recruitment agencies in your field.

10. Get some interview practice under your belt even if it is just with a friend or your partner so that you are ready to interview for the job you really want!

Good luck and feel free to contact the team at Chase Zander if you want any further tips or advice on what to consider when starting your search for a new job.

If you have found this article valuable then you may be interested to read some of our other job seeker help guides including some great video guides starring members of the Chase Zander team!

Chase Zander is pleased to announce that it has joined Twitter.

Our intention is to post short pieces of information onto Twitter designed to add value to and provide useful information to our clients, candidates and potential employees helping them all achieve their goals in the most efficient way possible and thereby helping us achieve our business goals.

We are also keen to add tweets on the state of the recruitment market, on hiring trends, salaries and who is doing what, where and when! We want to keep it light-hearted and interesting to grab your interest and make you want to read more. You, yes you are key to this whole project and as such we would love to hear what you would like to hear about to make sure we are meeting the needs of our community so feel free to contact us with your thoughts.

To join our Twitter community and to follow our latest tweets click here or you can simply click on the twitter icon in the footer of our new website to sign up.

Chase Zander, the leading IT, Business Change and Executive Appointments recruitment consultancy  has launched its new website at www.chasezander.com. The new site developed by award-winning website design firm Spring Digital symbolizes the significant transformation Chase Zander has undergone over the last two years leaving us with a website and business that is stream-lined, efficient and focused on success, service and delivery

Adam Tallamy, Managing Director at Chase Zander said that “from the start of this project we placed a real emphasis on what our clients and candidates wanted from a recruitment website and that really directed everything that we have done since.”

In fact this is the start of a long-term vision to provide our candidates with all of the resources that they may need as they leave one company and join another. We will be adding more and more candidate advice, guidance and tools as we move forward.

To celebrate the launch of our new site Chase Zander is offering:

• all of our candidates a free CV review and feedback
• (as part of our on-going relationship with Trees for Cities) to plant 1 tree for every 25 candidates registering with us for Jobs by Email or via RSS feed from the 20th July to the end of August 2010

Furthermore we would welcome any comments on the site – good, bad or ugly so please don’t hesitate to drop us a line via the contact us page.