Monthly Archives: June 2012

Careers Advice, CV Tips, CV Writing, PMO, Project Management

CV reviews for Project Management professionals

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When was the last time you had your CV reviewed? Your CV is the key tool to gain interest by hiring managers and recruiters. I have had a fair few enquiries recently from candidates wanting to understand why they had applied to many roles with little or no feedback; often describing their job applications disappearing into a “big black hole”, never hearing anything back. There are a number of reasons for this, one being that you may be one of up to 100 applicants (sometimes more depending on role type, location, salary etc.), as a rule of thumb the recruitment process will filter down the list of applications to a manageable shortlist of candidates to speak to or interview outright. When I asked the candidates if they had chased up their applications, a good percentage said yes but felt fobbed off with standard responses such as “candidates with a closer match to the experience required made the shortlist”. When pushed for further feedback the recruiters and HR staff were reluctant to provide any useful feedback stating the CV was OK. However, if the CV is “OK” and you feel you have a strong synergy to the role requirements, why are you not making shortlist? I always recommend going back to the recruiter for further feedback as it is important when you feel your CV says XYZ – why it doesn’t to the person reviewing it for the role.

As a professional CV writer, specialising in the field of project management I have sat on the recruitment side of applications too – I have spent many an hour discussing candidates CVs with the applicants in order to assist them in getting the right information down on the CV to ensure successful applications for roles in their field. As such one of the services we provide at The CV Righter is to perform a free CV review for candidates where a one to one appointment is made and areas of the CV are discussed. I have found the feedback for such a service to be very positive, after all another person’s perspective is always beneficial but particularly when that other person has actually done the job and recruited for hundreds of roles spanning, PMO, project management, programme management, portfolio management, change management and business analysis to name a few.

If you feel your CV needs that competitive edge and you feel you have gone as far as you can with it but still are not securing interviews – then it may be time to let a professional CV writing service take a look. We offer a competitive value for money service which is tailored to your needs. If the CV does not require a complete rewrite then we talk through areas that do need work and charge accordingly. We also offer an insight into the recruitment aspect of applications and advice on how to move forward with success by taking a detailed account of what you do at the moment and equip you with new approaches to applications and getting noticed in your field.

Get in touch with your CV for a free CV review – be prepared for honest and constructive feedback, we believe you can only add value if you know where you are going wrong. Visit www.thecvrighter.co.uk and make contact through our contact page.

Careers Advice, CV Tips, News, PMO, Project Management

Are you using LinkedIn to its full potential?

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LinkedIn is a fantastic, free, self marketing business tool. Originally created as a business networking site, it has evolved over the years to become a powerful tool in the recruitment world. As such the pressure is on to ensure you are utilising the tool effectively as employers are checking your profile not only for potential employment but for current employees to understand how you are networking. Networking has long been a fantastic way to enhance your special interest groups but has also become an integral part of successful business in a risk averse world – the old saying, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” really does stand.
So what can you do to ensure your profile is saying all the right things?

  • Make sure you state your current and previous employers / job titles / dates, as a bare minimum.
  • Try to add some detail to each role, treat the profile as a CV but don’t just copy and paste your CV into your profile. Think about adding something different / extra – chances are, those reading your profile have also seen your CV.
  • Get some recommendations from current and previous employers – also clients and colleagues can be great, they all operate similar to references and give a reassurance about you in a working capacity.
  • Write a good profile, think about what you want the reader to gain from this and what your intentions are moving forward – don’t state you are looking for new work if you haven’t discussed with your current employer.
  • Keywords are as important in your LinkedIn profile as they are in your CV – they will help you rise up the searches towards the top of the list.
  • Connect to all your former colleagues, friends and associates. Grow your network; try to avoid randomly sending invites to connect to those you do not know. If there is a particular reason you wish to connect to someone, write them a message explaining why. Etiquette on this site is not to treat it like Facebook, sending out lots of requests to get as many connections as possible. You should know your connections or at least explain and show willing that you will get to know them.
  • Join groups and get involved in discussions – there’s just about every type of group now available on the site, join some of particular interest and add to the discussions. Some ask advice or generally want opinions. By joining in, you can quickly gain a reputation for expertise in a particular field. PMO and Project Management groups are very active on the site.
  • Don’t just use it when you need something – time and time again I have seen connections be dormant on the site for months and even years then suddenly, they are in touch asking for work. Again this is not good etiquette – touching base every now and then is the best course of action as it keeps you fresh in people’s minds but also won’t seem quite so bad if you do need assistance with getting a new role.

As with anything written about you, ensure you have someone proof read it and let you know if anything doesn’t make sense. It’s usually best to have someone who doesn’t work at your business do this for you as you need to avoid internal terminology and someone who knows the projects. An outsider perspective is ideal, a partner or best friend is ideal. They don’t generally know what we do at work beyond office gossip and job titles – if it makes sense to them, you’re onto a winner.

The CV Righter can assist with creating and writing content for business networking websites, for a free review of your current profile or CV get in touch: www.thecvrighter.co.uk

Careers Advice, News, PMO, Project Management, Sector Advice

A shift in strategy for top police job, is this a sign of change in attitudes?

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Friday’s news made an interesting read; “Tom Winsor ‘best candidate’ for police watchdog role” was the headline on the BBC news website. Interesting because what has traditionally been seen as a role for a police individual has been opened up to a civilian, the first time since the role was established. Winsor, a commercial lawyer has been handpicked by a committee and backed by the home office to take the role.

Could this be the start of a shift in the job market? Particularly for project management staff, who in recent years have struggled to shift into any role other than the sector or industry and project type they have experience in? PMO professionals have had an easier ride in transitioning into other industries but purely due to a lack of experienced individuals in the field during a time where employees in secure roles are less willing to move roles due to uncertainty in the market. PMO staff can be recycled within the organisation and set up to support the next programme of work whilst project managers (particularly those with a niche specialism) are more likely to be moved on or kept but to work on projects which do not “light their fire” hence more project managers actively searching for roles, meaning more competition which has lead on to hiring managers (in a risk averse state) picking candidates most closely matched to the organisation.

Adapting to change

I have often felt that businesses are missing a trick when it comes to bringing new employees onboard, surely someone who has a breadth of experience and skills in the field of PPM but less exposure to the “product” will be asking questions often overlooked by teams who are too familiar with it? Also it has often been seen that organisations adopt different ways of working across sectors – could elements of this be introduced into a different industry? It all comes down to perspective, strategy; and no doubt – fear of change.

So reading that Winsor is a prime candidate for the role filled me with a sense of hope for everyone looking to make changes moving forward. And a lesson to be learned here is that Winsor took on a piece of work to analyse police pay – the review left him unpopular with people within the force however he gained a great deal of exposure to how the force is operated. This insight and his ability to address key areas of change without fear of losing popularity coupled with a different perspective, the home office feel, has placed him in pole position for the job. Take opportunities to look into different areas and fields – it may well be your passport out of your current industry into a great new challenge.

The CV Righter is a professional CV writing service which was formed to assist all those in project management – having a background in managing projects and implementing PMO processes followed by 5 years experience in recruiting project management staff from support roles through to programme directors across all industries and sectors means we have a good insight into what the employer expects to see on your CV. If you would like to learn more about how we can assist you, get in touch: https://www.thecvrighter.co.uk/

 

CV Tips, CV Writing, News, PMO, Project Management

Details you should leave out of your CV – Friday snippet

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Your CV is your marketing tool to that next role and as such needs to contain a good deal of information about you and your career experience – but are you giving too much away? I have addressed the necessity to leave out information such as date of birth due to identity fraud previously. But there are other pieces of information you should also ensure you are not putting in your CV such as:

  1. References – most employers want to perform a reference check, however, this should only really be performed once you have begun the interview process and in an ideal world once you have been offered the role. By providing the contact details and names of your referees on your CV you are leaving yourself open to hiring managers contacting your current employer (who may or may not know you are looking to move on) and also leaving your referees open to unsolicited calls from recruiters who are looking for their next lead. Not only are you assisting unprofessional and unscrupulous recruiters in potentially gaining new work, you are also allowing your referees to be pestered. Not ideal when you are wanting them to provide a good reference for you later on down the line. It is perfectly acceptable to state; “references available on request” on your CV – it also frees up space on your CV for you to add more detail about yourself.
  2. Have you ever checked the properties of your document? If you have utilised a CV template or had a professional CV writer work on your CV then it may well have their name in the properties. I have also seen company names in the properties which may not be creating the right impression if you have been updating your CV in your current workplace – a potential employer may not be too impressed to see how you spend your working day looking for another role and utilising their licences, time etc. to do so.

When putting together your CV you should treat it with as much care as you would a report for senior management – after all, at some point it is exactly that level who will be reading your CV. Take care and time to ensure you get it right the first time as first impressions last.

For advice on creating a professional CV get in touch: www.thecvrighter.co.uk