Hi,

There’s a lot of conflicting guidance on writing CVs and tackling the job market and I’m interested to hear what’s worked for you in getting interviews and job offers.

I’d also like to hear the views of any IT recruiters on what makes a good CV and any do’s and don’ts of working with Agencies.

I guess the thing I’m finding hardest is giving my CV some ‘personality’. I’m looking for IT project Management roles (isn’t everyone?) and want to avoid just using bland cliches like ‘motivated team player’ etc which are pretty meaningless.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

I think I would treat the CV like selling any other product.
Do a strength/weakness analysis, and be honest, very, very honest.
Think about how you will benefit your future employer, not the basic features.
Tailor you CV for each application.
Learn to be comfortable talking about yourself, but don’t brag.
Don’t think that there is either a simple of correct solution to this.

I’m no expert on this by any means.

Do’s and Don’ts?

Don’t expect the agent to proactively find you a job.

Do expect to have to keep calling them to check they haven’t forgotten about you.

Ok, ok. I’ll be serious.

Are you an experienced PM or are you looking to move into that field?

Officially my role is a ‘Technical Implementation Manager’ but the same role in other companies would be PM. The thing is I feel that I need to ‘package’ myself as a role the job market recognises.

What I’m struggling with is getting away from the generic job description which is factual but doesn’t stand out.

I’m a PM in the investment banking industry…hiring banks will perform background checks on your CV and do not look favourably if you have changed your job title.

Keep it as it is, but add a small explanation on your role…

Aug 2007 – To Date : Technical Implementation Manager
Fleshlight Industries

Employed as a Project Manager coordinating the implementation and use of Fleshlights in high security prisons and assisted users with hands on training.

My responsibilities on these projects and others included;

…then add a load of points on how you applied project management methodologies in your role.

Hiring organisations will be interested on specific issues you’ve encountered and how you applied your skills as a PM to deal with them…say you managed projects with staff in several timezones. Also make sure you indicate the budget you managed.

Job description should be factual and fairly generic, then add some of your experience after it to highlight your skills.

In most cases, your CV will initially be processed by a computer not a person, you need to get the key skills into the description that will get it in front of a person, then you need to sell yourself to the person with your experience and accomplishments.

Thanks for the info. Mchamish, good advice on the background checks etc, better be careful of that!

I’ve heard of people having job offers rescinded because a background check identified that they had lied about their current salary.

Although I’ve only recruited on the technical side (server analysts) I much preferred the “straight to the point” CV’s with a clear listing of skill sets followed up by relevant work history highlights. If I put Citrix/VMware/Exchange in the job requirements I don’t want to be reading two pages of crap about Windows NT experience etc. (true story :p ). Obviously in a PM role you need to be highlighting project successes.

I pretty much ignored the introductory paragraph and the hobbies part was irrelevant on CVs. I wouldn’t mention weaknesses etc., that kind of stuff is for the interview stage so you can talk around it and bullshit it into a positive, you don’t want it in black and white on a CV.

I know we’re struggling to recruit good IT PM’s at the moment so good luck.

Quantify your CV. If you say you trained staff, say how many and in what. Proof read again and again and again – spelling and grammar mistakes go in the bin.

Hobbies are useful if you have something to say. There are hundreds of applications for each job and good number of them could, on the basis of their CV do the work. But I’m employing a person so I want to see what sort of person you are, so if you are a Cycle coach, Scout leader or Samaritan, then tell me – it makes you look a bit less two dimensional. If on the other hand your leisure activities are “Socialising with friends and family” then don’t waste the ink.

I’ve just appointed someone as Junior Teaboy and got bloody annoyed at some of the rubbish CVs and applications I saw.

We had 79 applicants and interviewed 8.

The applications that stood out had the following in common:
1) Were tailored to the job description and person spec so I could instantly see how relevant their experience was
2) Were specific in stating what they did. If you put ‘I was part of a team…’ it’s useless as I have no idea what you actually did.
3) Didn’t contain waffly, unverifiable rubbish like ‘I am a team player’.

It’s a job recruitment. I want to know that you’re technically appointable at this stage. I don’t care about your hobbies or your family or whether you’re ‘nice’. This will come out at interview.

Remember, if you get an interview, you’ve beaten 90% of the other applicants.

Good luck!

Employed as a Project Manager coordinating the implementation and use of Fleshlights in high security prisons and assisted users with hands on training.

😆

He hasn’t denied it yet.

The applications that stood out had the following in common:
1) Were tailored to the job description and person spec so I could instantly see how relevant their experience was
2) Were specific in stating what they did. If you put ‘I was part of a team…’ it’s useless as I have no idea what you actually did.
3) Didn’t contain waffly, unverifiable rubbish like ‘I am a team player’.

This.

Give a couple of lines about your job description, then cover your successes and individual contributions. Quantify any statements – how big was your budget and/or headcount, how close to forecast were you?

When working with an agency, always either register in person or call them before and after sending your CV – give them some time to digest it so you don’t come across as obsessive, instead asking for their comments on it.

A good recruiter will find you work based on your skillset as opposed to bombarding the client with CVs of jobs you might or might not be any good at or interested in. My wife, who works in recruitment, compares this to flinging enough muck at something and hoping some will stick. Similarly, a good recruiter will minimise the number of interviews the client needs by careful screening of applications, so if you don’t get put forward then get as much feedback as possible as to why not.

Sorry Mchamish it was lost on me. Never heard of those before!

I think this ‘team player’ thing is something we feel we should include lest people think we might be the office loner.

Just a couple of things to add to what’s already been said:

1) The CV is a sales document, not a life history. It has one purpose only – to get you an interview. It’s worth bearing this in mind when you’re putting it together. It’s ok to drop irrelevancies so long as you don’t lie.

2) Ultimately the document will be read by a recruiter and, as should be clear from contradictory information given here so far, there is no single “right” way to do it. Different people will want to see different things.

The “hobbies” thing is a good example here; when I was interviewing, I liked to see some indication of personality on a CV, and being interesting helps you to stand out from the crowd even before you’ve stepped through the door. I’ve actively looked forward to meeting some people based purely on their CVs; far better for a recruiter to be thinking “hey, it’s the moutain biker / barbershop quartet singer / walrus collector next” rather than “oh good, it’s applicant six.” But as discussed, it’s also something that can come out in interview. Bottom line is, you can’t please everyone.

The CV is a sales document, not a life history

Yes! In the CVs I binned there was a 35-year-old who included his sunday afternoon job in Next. There was a section for ‘Reason for leaving’ and his response was ‘Revision for A-levels’!

ONLY INCLUDE RELEVANT STUFF!

I won’t mention the treasurer of the university Fantasy and Roleplay Society who mentioned in the financial management section his epic annual budget of £700…

At the very least, that sort of thing should be front-weighted. So you’d maybe have a couple of paragraphs relating to your current / last job, with less detail as you go further back.

It’s a while since I last looked at my CV, but I think my first full time job after Uni is still listed but solely as “Job Title (Dates)” just to account for what would otherwise be a gap. Anything part time / prior to that got dropped. An employer doesn’t really need to know about my paper round when I was at school. Arguably at almost 40, my GCSEs and A’levels are probably moot by now too.

To the point, accurate, levels of detail enough to get the reader interested but still leave them things to talk about in an interview.

7 pages one came out at recently, I didn’t read it all of course, so being succinct is relevant too.

@toby1

True. But if you’ve been around a few years and have a lot of relevant experience then don’t worry about keeping it to two pages.