My gf got a Business development loan from teh Bank, not sure on the age requirements though
(might have been a personal development loan?)
Forgot how bad job searching was :(
- Thread starter Delvis
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My gf got a Business development loan from teh Bank, not sure on the age requirements though
(might have been a personal development loan?)
you need to just be firm and say no/ignore further calls, send him an e-mail with your availability next week - the company already wants to interview you the recruiter is just trying to get things done quicker for whatever reason - if that isn't in your interests then don't go along with it especially as you're damaging your interview chances - it is very unlikely that anything negative will happen simply by being firm and saying 'no, I'm not free until next week'
What sort of software/products? Aside from product management are you looking for a 'sales engineer'/technical sales specialist type role?
Hi Ev0, Just checked back in the thread. Currently looking at product owner, senior technical product/project areas for software companies within the enterprise/mobile space (i.e. mobile engagement and operators) rather than presales (although I've done presales previously).
Also I've noted I've had a big upswing.. seems that cwjobs has a lot more active interactions from agents compared to linkedin. So I now have three things going on.. including being contacted by a recruiter after being recommended by a colleague in the past.
Fingers crossed
Soldato
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In the end I took the out of hours one and I know why he was pushing it, the main HR guy isn't often in Bristol but was last week so they wanted to be able to meet me without making a special trip etc. Not the best of reasons but it's fine.
I did the interview at 6pm on Wednesday last week, after working until about 11pm the night before on stuff for my current job and I explained to them that I'd not had time to prep properly because of this but covered over my CV, myself and experiences etc. They seemed to like me and we had a good almost informal chat rather than a hard and fast interview which does calm nerves and makes things much easier.
I was then informed that it's not their usual practice, but because I was so focused and busy with release week that they'd like to schedule a face to face for the following week (this week). They liked me and knew my mind wasn't totally on the interview due to work so want me back in for another chat and to have a look over their code to see what I think of it etc.
I told the agent that I could only do Friday, I was asked if I could do another day but I stuck to Friday and unsurprisingly they are totally fine with that so it's all booked in.
It's good/nice to know that they did like me and they are making special exemptions from usual practice to see if they want to offer, but I also feel it'll be a bit harsh if they decide after that not to offer. We'll see on Friday / early next week I suppose.
The other role I still need to do a technical task for but haven't had the time as I've been really busy with work, to the point of working late all of last week (bar weds) and then also all weekend too...I expect not to get any further with that one due to the delays from my current job.
Soldato
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Oh and for the guys saying how the Jobcentre Plus (hilarious name) people think their CV is fine, trust me, it probably isn't, especially if they helped on it.
I thought mine was good, others thought it was good, including agencies but I never really got anywhere with it. I had a friend go over it and basically redo it (lay out, wording etc. no lies) and now I get a decent response when I apply to places, often get interviews.
Only down side is I'm usually rubbish at interviews.
I thought mine was good, others thought it was good, including agencies but I never really got anywhere with it. I had a friend go over it and basically redo it (lay out, wording etc. no lies) and now I get a decent response when I apply to places, often get interviews.
Only down side is I'm usually rubbish at interviews.
hey guys thought i'd post in here instead of making my own thread.
I decided to start looking around after my recent pay rate dispute.(5years in June and they offered me 5%
)
I feel that my CV is up to standard anymore and probably never was. has anyone got any good templates? I'm also pretty crap at selling myself, I wonder if it would be worthwhile to get it written professionally?
thanks
I decided to start looking around after my recent pay rate dispute.(5years in June and they offered me 5%
)I feel that my CV is up to standard anymore and probably never was. has anyone got any good templates? I'm also pretty crap at selling myself, I wonder if it would be worthwhile to get it written professionally?
thanks
I had a month long Penna unlimited credits period as part of the redundancy package - so I had a personal coach (we spent three weeks rewriting my CV), did a couple of all day courses on interviews (including STAR), use of linkedin, etc.
My personal view is that you always give something back to people. So I'd be happy to help do some CV reviews and provide some interview pointers.
So a couple of basic interview points to start with:
* Treat as a business meeting and not an interview. You prepare like crazy for business meetings so.. if you're prepared then you'll not have so many nerves.
* 5 Ps - Poor Planning Prevents Pitiful Performance - you did spend time researching, creating and rehearsing STAR responses to probable questions, understand the company and the role - including how your experience fits?
* STAR - lots of ackward questions that should relate directly to the job specification, you should have prepared against it - defining your answers (a couple of lines that relay your experience succinctly).. this is NOT a point to waffle on.
* Figure out some real questions you have for them ahead of time..
* Take 3 or 4 copies of your CV, the job spec (marked up if desired) including taking a piece of paper with your questions etc.
* They give you The Silence - wait just long enough to offer them time to be possibly thinking an then ask "Do you have any more questions?".. most people feel awkward and start to waffle/ramble about points they've not prepared and so you end up wrong footed.
* Agents call "do you have time to talk?" = can I qualify you for the role right now? .. now the 5Ps here.. no point in saying yes if you're pressed for time, not in a quiet place or not prepared. Say that I can't, get the role title and arrange a new time to talk - give yourself an hour to figure out some prep before the call - you call them if they don't call.
CVs
* Don't Lie.
* CV is to get you to an interview - so it's demonstrating your fit (seller) with their requirements (buyer).
* format is the first point. It should all be the same format throughout to help people's eyes quickly find information.
* Third person - active verb driven on your achievements. Don't speak about projects, speak about what you have done in the project.
* Scale is important - having real factual numbers in the CV adds detail that really opens eyes: "Lead a large programme.." vs "Leadership of a $100 million programme with 12 direct reporting project managers geographically located within the UK". The don't over do it but it provides gravitas and shows you really probably have lead the project..
My format:
NAME - larger font size and in bold
Line of contact details - location (not address) mobile number email address
Profile
6-8 lines of profile about you, no waffle. A summary that someone can see instantly if you're even close to a fit.
Key Skills - 4-6 skills as an optional section, normally fit to
* Key Skill - evidence of key skill experience, these are 1-2 lines max.
* Project Management - Prince2 certified, Agile certified, leadership of $100M programme with 12 project manager reports.
Experience
Company Name (bold)
1-2 lines of intro to the company (italics)
Role Name Mth Year - Mth Year
3-5 lines of role
3-4 bulletpoints of achievements in the role that I have done, starting with active verb
Ie, here's one of mine:
• Authored research paper on changing engagement patterns, emerging markets and technologies including market analysis, competitive landscape and entry timing.
• Assisted in building the multi-million USD business case to create NAME HERE proposition, focusing on drastically reducing business incident time.
• Analysed proposed corporate acquisitions for NAME HERE.
• Drove internal go-to-market programme with marketing and pre-sales readiness; lead integration of COMPANY's business operations: sales, on-boarding, billing, customer care and portal.
• Managed third party partner delivery of PRODUCT NAME HERE.
Education and Professional Development
One line for each including year.
Final details here.. mine has a declaration of British citizenship (and a couple of other points). Note you should not need your age, gender, martial status, kids, pets names, hobbies..
My personal view is that you always give something back to people. So I'd be happy to help do some CV reviews and provide some interview pointers.
So a couple of basic interview points to start with:
* Treat as a business meeting and not an interview. You prepare like crazy for business meetings so.. if you're prepared then you'll not have so many nerves.
* 5 Ps - Poor Planning Prevents Pitiful Performance - you did spend time researching, creating and rehearsing STAR responses to probable questions, understand the company and the role - including how your experience fits?
* STAR - lots of ackward questions that should relate directly to the job specification, you should have prepared against it - defining your answers (a couple of lines that relay your experience succinctly).. this is NOT a point to waffle on.
* Figure out some real questions you have for them ahead of time..
* Take 3 or 4 copies of your CV, the job spec (marked up if desired) including taking a piece of paper with your questions etc.
* They give you The Silence - wait just long enough to offer them time to be possibly thinking an then ask "Do you have any more questions?".. most people feel awkward and start to waffle/ramble about points they've not prepared and so you end up wrong footed.
* Agents call "do you have time to talk?" = can I qualify you for the role right now? .. now the 5Ps here.. no point in saying yes if you're pressed for time, not in a quiet place or not prepared. Say that I can't, get the role title and arrange a new time to talk - give yourself an hour to figure out some prep before the call - you call them if they don't call.
CVs
* Don't Lie.
* CV is to get you to an interview - so it's demonstrating your fit (seller) with their requirements (buyer).
* format is the first point. It should all be the same format throughout to help people's eyes quickly find information.
* Third person - active verb driven on your achievements. Don't speak about projects, speak about what you have done in the project.
* Scale is important - having real factual numbers in the CV adds detail that really opens eyes: "Lead a large programme.." vs "Leadership of a $100 million programme with 12 direct reporting project managers geographically located within the UK". The don't over do it but it provides gravitas and shows you really probably have lead the project..
My format:
NAME - larger font size and in bold
Line of contact details - location (not address) mobile number email address
Profile
6-8 lines of profile about you, no waffle. A summary that someone can see instantly if you're even close to a fit.
Key Skills - 4-6 skills as an optional section, normally fit to
* Key Skill - evidence of key skill experience, these are 1-2 lines max.
* Project Management - Prince2 certified, Agile certified, leadership of $100M programme with 12 project manager reports.
Experience
Company Name (bold)
1-2 lines of intro to the company (italics)
Role Name Mth Year - Mth Year
3-5 lines of role
3-4 bulletpoints of achievements in the role that I have done, starting with active verb
Ie, here's one of mine:
• Authored research paper on changing engagement patterns, emerging markets and technologies including market analysis, competitive landscape and entry timing.
• Assisted in building the multi-million USD business case to create NAME HERE proposition, focusing on drastically reducing business incident time.
• Analysed proposed corporate acquisitions for NAME HERE.
• Drove internal go-to-market programme with marketing and pre-sales readiness; lead integration of COMPANY's business operations: sales, on-boarding, billing, customer care and portal.
• Managed third party partner delivery of PRODUCT NAME HERE.
Education and Professional Development
One line for each including year.
Final details here.. mine has a declaration of British citizenship (and a couple of other points). Note you should not need your age, gender, martial status, kids, pets names, hobbies..
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Soldato
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Lots of people say to keep it down to two pages however I don't agree with that at all, if you need more pages to show your experience, run over to more but don't waffle with it.
Below is mine and as you can see I run it on three pages. The first being the 'about me' page which is headed by my name, address and contact details, with general profile, education and skills following below. The second and third being my previous related roles followed up by my interests outside of work.
For each role I just have the job title and company and how long I have been there with roles and achievements as bullet points, no waffle, simple and clean. I also use the same font throughout although with my blurring you can't tell that.
As I say, in my industry (software / web application development) it's done and doing me well so I see no reason to change it. A CV doesn't need to be pretty, shouty or fancy, it just needs to be clean and to the point.
Below is mine and as you can see I run it on three pages. The first being the 'about me' page which is headed by my name, address and contact details, with general profile, education and skills following below. The second and third being my previous related roles followed up by my interests outside of work.
For each role I just have the job title and company and how long I have been there with roles and achievements as bullet points, no waffle, simple and clean. I also use the same font throughout although with my blurring you can't tell that.
As I say, in my industry (software / web application development) it's done and doing me well so I see no reason to change it. A CV doesn't need to be pretty, shouty or fancy, it just needs to be clean and to the point.
If a direct application I'd agree. Don't forget the sales pitch letter .. err I mean the covering letter
For job boards, you may be better to target the general search terms being used - you can always say to the agent, "Have you got my latest CV?" then tailor around the conversation and send it to them.
The problem with job boards are that they can normally offer storage for one CV and having multiple CVs confuses agents.
Education above work experience ONLY if you've just come out of university and I was advised that people would ask for references regardless of the authorisation in a CV.
Anything over 7 years ago.. you're likely to have less detail (unless you've been doing the same role for 7 years).
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Soldato
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Never had an issue with it in the current format when applying for previous/current roles or when applying now, not had any negative feedback from recruiters or companies about the format / layout either, all have liked it.
As for references, again, never been an issue. I've only ever been asked for them when I've signed the contract of employment which is also the only time they'll need them anyway. I've had them on there before and been asked to fill them out on their own documentation so removal from the CV is fine.
As for references, again, never been an issue. I've only ever been asked for them when I've signed the contract of employment which is also the only time they'll need them anyway. I've had them on there before and been asked to fill them out on their own documentation so removal from the CV is fine.
I think both ways are suitable although for me there's 17+ years between degree and now 
so I think the format needs to adapt.
Soldato
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I'm only around 4 years out so it's still fairly fresh/relevant although it's not a stunning result, maybe I should hide it at the bottom...
I quite like how I have it for now but if I used it in 2016+ I'd probably re-word and maybe reorder a tad to make it focused on experience rather than education/experience.
Main thing though is the lack of waffle etc. with it all being factual and to the point which we both agree is a key thing for someone to redo/write their CV.
I quite like how I have it for now but if I used it in 2016+ I'd probably re-word and maybe reorder a tad to make it focused on experience rather than education/experience.
Main thing though is the lack of waffle etc. with it all being factual and to the point which we both agree is a key thing for someone to redo/write their CV.
So, you'll be happy to know I'm no closer to finding eternal happiness and am in fact still doing IT Support which I don't really want to be doing
How come it seemed quite along time ago that you first mentioned this, have you done anything about it?