Looking for Work with Horses? – Part 1
How to get the best from your registration with The Grooms List
At The Grooms List by Caroline Carter Recruitment we are regularly told we have the best, easiest to use website and offer the best service to grooms looking for work with horses and of course, we are delighted by that…but we want to do more for you.
It looks like many of you are choosing to register solely with us and not everywhere else so now you don’t have to maintain multiple profiles all over the place. To get the very best from this choice and to get the very best results you need to put the time in up front, if you haven’t already. Let’s face it, it’s fundamentally what we are all here for, (that and our blogs and the fun on our social media pages of course too.)
If you really are a serious job hunter and not just dawdling for your own reasons (?!) don’t get disenchanted about the industry when the wrong things happen or things don’t happen at all – help us to help you and let’s make a start by looking at your Jobseekers Profile. Make sure you:
- Tell us who you are
- Tell us what you’ve done
- Tell us what you want and when you want it
- Tell us what you want (Terms and Conditions) for doing it
Then we will genuinely go all out to get it for you or advise you if we think maybe you need to tweak your ambitions or consider options previously not so obvious that may, in fact, get you where you want to go arriving there in better shape!
Getting Started – your Jobseekers Profile
When looking for work with horses your Jobseekers Profile is your online advert in the shop window of the worldwide web. Think of it as a bit like an advert on a virtual noticeboard, but much, much better.
In reality, it is a lot more than that – it’s the key to you getting (or not getting) your next/perfect/dream job with horses. We want you to find your next/perfect/dream job through The Grooms List so we’ve provided you with everything you need to showcase your skills and potential to prospective employers, but this can only work if you put some quality time in up front to make use of what is available to you TOTALLY FREE OF CHARGE.
A successful job-hunt is never achieved by joining a recruitment agency and just sitting back and waiting for the magic to happen.
Why does it matter so much?
Although an excellent start, knowing just that a potential new groom can muck out, ride and plait is usually just the start point and not always enough to motivate or convince a potential employer to take time contacting you. You want the best jobs, the best salary, the best yards right? Well, you have to do your bit first – YOU NEED TO SELL YOURSELF. You need to lay the foundation of your job-hunt before anything else can happen, and this foundation is within the content of :
- your job seekers Profile
- your equine CV
Complete your Jobseekers Profile, then add a photo/s and upload your equine CV to it. That 10-20 minutes of your time can mean the difference between securing your perfect job and being overlooked altogether. Yes, really!
Just like you judge a job by how it appears on a website, so a potential employer will judge your suitability for their vacancy by how you appear in written and pictorial form on The Grooms List.
Nothing smacks of “I can’t be bothered!” more than a job seekers Profile with a few words thrown into it and most (or all) the non-required information missing, it’s required because we are trying to help you construct the ideal sale pitch to showcase your skills and abilities to potential employers. If you can’t be bothered to make an effort at the “I want a job, please consider me” stage, employers are not unreasonable to worry that this is a personality trait that you could bring to the care of their horses, even if in reality it isn’t the case!
Every question asked on The Grooms List job seeker Profile form is relevant, even if it’s not required.
TOP TIP: If you click the tooltip icon next to a question on the form it will reveal guidance on the correlating question asked.
It might seem like a boring waste of time to provide this information, but it’s simply a necessary part of the process of job-hunting. This is where a lot of job-hunts fail.
Sell yourself!
If you were advertising a horse for sale or loan and had pretty much unlimited space in which to convince the right potential new owner/loaner that they should choose your horse above anyone else’s, you wouldn’t simply put “Can ride it, brush it, jump it” and hope that potential buyers/loaners are sufficiently motivated by that to contact you – so why do exactly this when advertising yourself when looking for work with horses?
If you sell yourself as little more than a mucker-outer, you can’t expect to be shortlisted for a job as a Head Groom or Yard Manager, no matter how many years of experience you secretly have behind you! Take time to explain exactly what you bring to a new job.
Why do I need to give so many answers?
Here at The Grooms List by Caroline Carter Recruitment we are well connected with both equine job seekers AND employers. Not only do we know what equine job seekers need to find their ideal job, we also know what employers need in order to find potential new grooms and offer them their ideal job! Unless these two ends meet, the whole recruitment process becomes painfully slow or grinds to a halt altogether.
We try to help both parties by providing an effective search and filter option on our website, so either party can hone down their search. For job seekers in particular, unless these answers are provided we can’t find you, employers can’t find you, and you end up being overlooked and miss out.
I don’t know what to put!
One of the sticking points a lot of jobseekers find is knowing what to put in the Experience with Horses section (typically where just “muck out, ride, plait” appears!) It may seem like a simple solution to skip this bit or go down the “stating the obvious” route, but it isn’t a solution at all. We will rarely, if ever, approve a Jobseekers Profile with such little information and you will just end up with us chasing you to come back and do it properly.
In the Experience with Horses section, tell potential future employers about just that – your experience with horses:
- How long have you been involved with horses/worked with horses/both
- What type of yards you’ve worked in
- What you have done riding/competing your own or other people’s horses
- Any shows you’ve groomed at, awards you’ve won, or opportunities you’ve had
- What you particularly enjoy, e.g. Dressage, Point-to-Point, Western etc
- Anything else that may be relevant to helping employers choose you over everyone else also looking for work with horses
Update! Update! Update!
When looking for work with horses, whether you are casually keeping an eye out for a new job or you’re looking in earnest for a new job to start soonest, don’t neglect your Jobseekers Profile! Update your start date regularly, add new experiences and achievements regularly. Set a reminder on your phone if you need to, just don’t let things drift! Whether an employer views your Jobseekers Profile via the search results on The Grooms List, or because you’ve applied for their job vacancy, an incomplete/out of date Jobseekers Profile is not putting you in good stead for success. For the little amount of time it takes to update your profile, it really is an unnecessary disadvantage to present an inaccurate portrayal of your current situation.
If in doubt, give us a shout!
If you’re looking for work with horses and find yourself struggling to complete your Jobseekers Profile, or you’re not sure what to put, please do contact us! We are always happy to help you. We want you to find your perfect job through The Grooms List, and we are always more than happy to discuss your requirements, answer your questions and point you in the right direction. You can call, email or message us on social media. Make use of us! That’s what we’re here for!
Next steps
Have you got a CV? Is it up to date? If not, why not?! Read our guide to writing a good equine CV here, and download your FREE CV template!
New to The Grooms List? Add your FREE Jobseekers Profile here.
Need to spring clean your Jobseekers Profile? Access and update it here.
Want tips on getting your equine job application accepted? Click here.
Start looking for work with horses on The Grooms List here.
After some quality equine careers advise from equine recruitment specialists? Browse our articles here, or contact us for FREE one-to-one, confidential advice.
Are you a member of the BGA? Find out more here.
