Your work history, sometimes called your employment history is a list of all the jobs you have held and includes the names of the companies or people you have worked for, job title held, and importantly, the start and end dates of your employment. Different companies require you to note down different period of your history. Some may want information on your last two to five positions, others may wish for a period of years e.g., last 5-10 years and some roles require a ‘full’ work history, meaning they wish to know all the positions you have held since you left full-time education. You will need to note down the reasons you left your jobs too.
So, what are employers looking for and why do they need all this information?
Live in care employers review employment history to determine whether the jobs you have previously held, and your experience are a good match for the company's requirements and the role you are applying for.
Employers look at how long you have stayed in your positions to ascertain whether you may stay a long time or be a bit of a ‘job hopper.’
The information you provide enable Employers to do ‘background checks’ to literally check the validity of the information you are providing.
Some industries, especially those in which the safeguarding of vulnerable adults (like domiciliary care) is paramount also explore any ‘gaps’ in your work history.
Writing up your full work history may take you some time to do, especially if you left education thirty odd years ago! Best practice would be to note each job down on your CV or a list as you go, but, I have yet to meet a person that has done this. Below are my top 5 tips to writing your work history and keeping it up to date.
Firstly, find the time, give yourself a good hour to a full afternoon. (I recommend a fresh cup of tea and biscuit to help ease the process!)
Start by filling out where you currently work and work your way backwards in time.
Ask yourself, “Why did I leave this job?” or alternatively, “Why did I start this job?” This can help to jog your memory.
Contact previous employers and politely ask for the exact dates you were with them.
Look at your old pay slips and tax assessments for information.
Most people tend to remember what their first ever jobs were, and of course their most recent should be easy to fill in- it is the jobs in the middle which become a bit of a blur! Why not see if you can find your old CV’s to help you fill in these gaps in your memory? Start with a brain storming session and relevant life events, like graduation, your wedding day or a baby can help with your timeline.
For those people that have been ‘self-employed’ it is perfectly acceptable to write for example ‘Self-Employed Live-in Carer’ and the dates to and from etc.
I am a recruitment administrator and part of my role is to check the validity of the full work histories of the Livein Carers that apply to register with our company, Access Care. Here is a checklist I use which will be useful for you too. Make sure that your work history has:
The full name of the company your worked for
The job title you held
The date you started & finished employment
The reason you left the company
An explanation for any gaps between employment
Once you have taken the time to write up your full work history, we highly recommend that you make another to keep. This way, should you need to complete this again in the future, you already have a copy to hand! One last top tip; Keep Track of Your History. Once you have your work history, compile it into a list and save it somewhere. Be sure to update it regularly.
If you would like to register with Access Care and become a self-employed live-in carer, call our recruitment team today on 01264 319399 or email jobs@access-care.co.uk
Best wishes,
Frankie
Recruitment Administrator
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