All posts by Nicola Caswell-Thorp

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Graduates, Personal Statement, Q&A, Transferable Skills

Personal Statement, what do I do?? Questions Answered

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Hi Nicola, I am currently studying at University and I have been asked to write a personal statement for a work placement as part of my course – I have no idea where to start as my original personal statement to get on my course reads like a biography, help!!!

Steve, Manchester

Hi Steve, Many thanks for your question. First of all it is great to hear universities are actively encouraging work experience placements for students, I cannot think of a better way to gain some relevant work experience whilst you are studying and this will certainly help you once you have graduated and are looking to start work.

The importance of such placements does bring some pressure to make sure you can piqué interest  with the best employers in your field to ensure a worthwhile placement, reassuring them you can do the job albeit in a junior capacity will make the difference between being actually picked for the role and also the duties that you will incur on the placement. You don’t want to be brewing up and making photocopies there right!

To start I suggest you talk a little about yourself in a work capacity, how you ended up taking the course and how you have utilised your skills so far. Use examples of putting the theory into practice whether it has been in paid work or for family and friends. Make sure you research the employer to understand what their USP (Unique Selling Point) is and match up your abilities and skills in this area. Then you should look to introduce what skills you have gained on the course and how you wish to progress in your specialist niche. Make sure you keep referring to particular projects the employer has worked on and start to introduce specific skill-sets; it is also good to touch upon the software you may have been using and your general ability to pick up new software packages. As this is a personal statement I also recommend you talk about why it would mean so much for you personally if you were picked for the placement, don’t go over the top with compliments to them but get a balance of your respect for their work and genuinely why you want to work there. Conclude with a paragraph about how you see your career progression once you have graduated and gaining specific work experience will assist you in reaching your goals.

I am assuming you will be submitting your CV with your personal statement, therefore let the CV be the formal part of the application and allow a more personal feel to the statement itself. Good luck!

Careers Advice, CV Tips, Job Applications, Project Management, Project management career progression, Project Management Careers Advice, Project management CV, Recruitment, The CV Righter

Asking for help – why does it seem so hard?

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We’ve all been there – having a moment when we really could do with some support in something we do. Having googled for hours and found snippets of information which help to build up a rather bitty solution. CV writing is no different and I have lost count of the websites which offer some advice on how you should be doing things, however there are no real practical examples of profiles, bullet points etc  for project professionals which can become very frustrating.

One of the most common questions I was asked as a recruiter was “why is my CV not working?” often candidates wondering if there was an unwritten rule by recruiters which stopped them being picked over others. Of course there were always the candidates who were adamant that their CVs were the best thing since sliced bread as they know how good they are. I have said it over and over but it isn’t necessarily the best candidates who get the interviews, it is the best CVs. Hiring managers have such high expectations when it comes to a CV, it is not just the well formatted and spelling error free CV they expect to see. They want to know a whole lot more about you and how you work. They want to see examples of projects and methods of delivery as well as how you add value, what sets you apart from others and whether you have a good understanding of what it is you do. The art of CV writing comes down to including all the above in a concise and clear format. Not just a list of duties, contextualise those duties and that additional information about some of the challenges you have come up against. Merely delivering on time and to budget just doesn’t cut it, if anything there is concern for those who never face big challenges such as slippage and tricky stakeholders. Let’s face it, you will have been very lucky to always have an easy route to success so how would you cope in a more challenging environment where you have to work much harder to gain buy-in and succeed?

This is where The CV Righter can help you with your project management CV; project management covers a multitude of roles from programme, portfolio, projects, risk, change and business analysis; from support roles through delivery and team management / direction. We offer a no obligation CV review for project professionals wanting to understand how your CV reads to others. Think of us as a sounding board, you may not like all you have to hear but the information is constructive and wouldn’t it be better to know where the weaknesses are in your CV rather than keep assuming that it is great and that it is the recruiters and employers who clearly cannot see you are perfect for the role!

We also understand that you may want to write your CV yourself – I always say, if you can do it then do. However you may need some assistance and a sounding board to work with along your journey – this is also a service we can provide, it doesn’t cost as much as you might think. For those who are adamant to go it alone we have a free CV writing booklet with examples of the various elements of the CV and advice on how and why certain aspects need to be addressed in the CV – providing a recruiters perspective.

It is nice to give something back having worked in recruitment specifically for project professionals for 5 years – that is why we offer the free CV review and free CV writing booklet, we are happy to talk through what services we feel would be of benefit to you and clearly state prices. Plus we have a process which means we will not stop working on your CV until you are happy with it – unlike a lot of off the shelf CV writers, we make sure you are completely comfortable with the content and even invite you to take your CV and try it with recruiters and hiring managers to gauge reactions. If you feel it is not working, we rework. Although to date we have received only good feedback from clients’ mainly stating that they have got the job (some after months of trying before taking our service, others who came to us before making the application for their ideal job), others have received lots of interest from recruiters (having not had any or very little interactions despite applications and having their CV in PM databases) or those who aren’t particularly looking for a new role but want to be in a good position for when they do – who have a new found confidence about themselves as project professionals.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help – it is openly given at The CV Righter, whether it’s some free assistance or a paid package, we can help. Get in touch today with your current CV and see what we can do for you.

Careers Advice, CV Writing, Friday Snippet, Job Applications, Project management CV, project management resume

Making your CV as good as food

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Just making my lunch I stood away to admire what I was about to eat and it made me think about CVs – before you ask, I don’t eat, sleep and live CVs but I am always thinking about new ways to bring a professional document to the forefront of a recruiter/employers mind.

So, my comparison comes down to how you draw-in a potential employer. Often hiring managers have little time to review CVs and lunchtime proves to be a good time to run through a short-list, it will have to be good to gain uninterrupted attention!

Your CV is next to be reviewed, have you thought about what your USP (unique selling point) is? Have you made a sandwich of all your skills and experience which would spur a hunger to want to try it? Your CV can work just like this, looking attractive from a distance and containing all the ingredients to satisfy the palette requirement that day. The sandwich looks so good, anyone being shown it would want to take a closer look.

Life is about choice and some jobs require more or different meat, some require a great deal of salad with the right amount of mayo whereas mustard is key for other roles (or rolls). This is why it is important to make sure that you have a truthful CV which showcases your actual skills and abilities in an attractive and easy to identify way. By producing a well written piece which clearly contextualises your skills rather than a dull list which tells the reader nothing, you are starting to make the document interesting.

Put yourself in the hiring managers’ shoes – busy and needs to create a shortlist for interviews. Is he/she going to pick a CV which out of hundreds looks the same and doesn’t tell him how you work or what your true skills are or will he/she pick a CV which shines above the rest because it intrigues him/her by ticking the boxes of requirements AND says so much more? Do not be fooled that a lengthy CV will do this either – no one wants to be over-faced by a large meal right! Keep it to a size which will say all the right things in a clear and concise way.

News, Project Management Job Boards, project management recruitment, Recruitment

Project Management Job Boards

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Looking for a new job can be frustrating, and understanding where to look can become wearisome as using the large generic job boards can make you feel like a little fish in a large pond. However there are a number of profession specific websites available and Project Management is not lacking in this area. Here are a few job boards worth paying some attention to in your job hunting endeavours:

  • Project Manager jobs.co.uk – another dedicated job board for PPM professionals, there’s a lot of “partners” and therefore adverts and sales going on with this website however it does also boast a blend of direct employer roles and recruiter adverts.
  • The Guardian – OK so this isn’t a dedicated PM job board however it does attract a great deal of project management positions and unlike a lot of the larger generic job boards you can search on direct employer roles; definitely worth keeping an eye on this one.
  • Exec-appointments – another non-dedicated jobs website however for the higher earners, this website is a must.

 Specialist PM recruitment jobs boards

 

  • Arras People – dedicated PPM recruitment agency with a wealth of experience in recruiting at all levels in the project management field, the job board is easy to use; adverts are full of information about the role, they clearly state “wants/needs” and are kept fresh. There’s also a repository of information for PPM professionals to delve into, which is very thorough. You can sign up for jobs by email and also follow them on twitter for new job alerts.
  • Programme Recruitment – another dedicated PPM recruitment agency. The roles on the job board can be filtered to specific categories, this feature I like. However the adverts themselves are a little limited in content, you don’t get a feel for the types of projects the roles are aimed at which can prove frustrating for candidates applying as there’s no way to know if your experience is relevant. The board is kept fresh and every visit seems to yields a new position or two – a well maintained job board is essential for the users.
  • Wellingtone – A three pronged business offering consultancy, software solutions and recruitment in the PPM domain. The job board is easy to view however you do have to click into each role to get an idea of whether it is relevant unlike other job boards. There is a search facility which is useful. The adverts look like job descriptions supplied by the employer (some very lengthy, others are purely one line stating xx years in BA role required), disappointing for a specialist agency but you get to see what the employer has set out (even though JDs can often be out of date / not a true picture of the role).

Do you have any experiences you can share with using the above job boards or another job board you would like to throw into the mix?