Category Archives: CV Writing

12 days of Christmas, CV Tips, CV Writing, No, Project management CV, Seasons Greetings

On the 9th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

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On the 9th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

…9 Ladies Dancing! How wonderful and cheerful, almost like too many eggs in a pudding – which brings us onto: On the 9th day of Christmas The CV Righter gave to me 9 pages too long, 8 mistakes of applications, 7 deadly sins of job hunting, 6 Key Achievements, 5 Golden Rules, 4 calling cards, 3 networks, 2 referees and a killer CV.

Yep, we are back to the length of CVs and believe me – I have seen CVs 9 pages long. The longest CV I have ever come across was actually 13 pages, but the longer CVs don’t tend to come in just over the recommended 2/3 pages they average 7 to 9 pages… Wow! I cannot stress enough how off putting a long CV is, put yourself in the shoes of the hiring manager – when faced with a pile of CVs where all they want to see is that you can hit the mark of their “wish list” they do not want to read beyond the first couple of pages.

It says a lot about a candidate when they cannot condense their skills and experience down to a manageable size, they will be thinking how you interview – and it is not uncommon for them to assume the shear length of a book length CV will mean a really long interview. Can this person get to the point whilst covering all that is required? No, he/she will be going around the houses for a good half hour on the first question and I have 20 to get through!

Here is an article written previously which talks through the length of CVs and what is expected.

On the 1st day of Christmas The CV Righter gave to me a Killer CV

On the 2nd day of Christmas The CV Righter said to me Two Referees

On the 3rd day of Christmas The CV Righter gave to me Three Networks

On the 4th day of Christmas The CV Righter said to me 4 calling cards 

On the 5th day of Christmas The CV Righter gave to me 5 golden rules

On the 6th day of Christmas The CV Righter said to me 6 Key achievements

On the 7th day of Christmas The CV Righter said to me the 7 deadly sins of job hunting

On the 8th day of Christmas The CV righter gave to me 8 mistakes of applications

12 days of Christmas, Careers Advice, CV Writing, Job Applications, Job Hunting, No, Project Management Careers Advice, Project management CV, Seasons Greetings

On the 8th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

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On the 8th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

…8 Maids A-milking! Well all sorts could be read into that, but we’ll go for: On the 8th day of Christmas the CV righter gave to me 8 mistakes of applications, 7 deadly sins of job hunting, 6 Key Achievements, 5 Golden Rules, 4 calling cards, 3 networks, 2 referees and a killer CV.

A popular article is “What’s the worst that can happen? 8 gaffs when applying for roles” – which talks through some very valid points which I have seen over the years in my recruitment capacity; although they seem obvious these mistakes are still made by eager candidates.

The key to making a successful job application is not to rush – yes there are deadlines but if you have planned and researched from the outset then you will be in a position to start making applications, rather than deciding off the cuff to just start applying one day.

Make sure your CV is up to date – I’ve lost count of applications from candidates who sent in CVs which hadn’t been updated since securing a new role 3 years ago. Or worst still, an updated CV which has a garbled one line about the current role which tells us nothing and doesn’t follow the format of the previous roles so it is obvious they have rushed something to make the application. It does not create a good impression and if anything, says a lot about how you work and where you are willing to put in effort. Not good for a project person – not good for anyone but really, for a project professional!!!

Research your field and understand the basics such as skill-sets required, salary bandings (and where you sit), recruitment agencies specific to your needs, job boards yielding your types of roles and get networking in the right circles.

Putting that extra bit of effort in can be the difference between securing interviews with the lucky few or being discarded with the hundreds of competitors also looking for a new job.

On the 1st day of Christmas The CV Righter gave to me a Killer CV

On the 2nd day of Christmas The CV Righter said to me Two Referees

On the 3rd day of Christmas The CV Righter gave to me Three Networks

On the 4th day of Christmas The CV Righter said to me 4 calling cards 

On the 5th day of Christmas The CV Righter gave to me 5 golden rules

On the 6th day of Christmas The CV Righter said to me 6 Key achievements

On the 7th day of Christmas The CV Righter said to me the 7 deadly sins of job hunting

On the 8th day of Christmas The

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.

Careers Advice, CV Tips, CV Writing, PMO, Project Management, Project management CV, project management recruitment, project management resume

Recruitment for Project Managers – how to make it work

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I was approached this week by a new client asking me how recruitment works – having been in a permanent role for some years he is looking to go interim and wanted to know what the formula is to make recruiters sit up and take notice of him. There is no hard and fast rule as such – naturally the recruiter has a list of requirements from their client which need addressing in the CV, if your CV does not touch on these requirements then you will be discarded and often forgotten about. So what actually makes a recruiter work for you? For a start you need to really understand your own skill set and how this works in the project environment, clearly contextualising your experience and the project benefits is key to the basis of a good CV. Making sure you apply for roles which meet your abilities will put you in good stead with the recruiter and if you are not quite right for that role you have a better chance of being remembered for the right reasons, as from the start you have demonstrated your understanding of the role itself and are not just applying for anything.

If you have a wealth of experience managing a diverse range of projects then the recruiter needs to see the projects most relevant to the role you apply for, however this does not mean you need to leave out other information. The trick is to present a summary of the types of projects, complexity, budgets and team size / locations / skill sets, then you need to talk about how you deliver, the difficulties you have encountered and your specific aptitude – you may be great with demanding and difficult stakeholders or you may be great at manipulating data or balancing finances. Everyone is different and what the recruiter wants to know is what sets you apart from others. Talk about key achievements, don’t be fooled into thinking that delivering a project on time and to budget is an achievement – you are paid to do this right! Think about how you got there, what hurdles did you overcome, what have you learnt from the project and what measures have you adopted for future delivery?

All of this information needs to be kept to a maximum 3 page but ideally a 2 page CV, it can be difficult to edit and condense this information which is why a second pair of eyes can be extremely effective. We offer a free CV review at The CV Righter where honest and constructive feedback is presented to individuals – there is no obligation to take up the CV writing service however should you decide to take the service up then you will only be charged for a service bespoke to you. If you do not require an entire re-write then you don’t pay for one. The review is performed by a former project management specific recruiter and will be executed as such which will give you a valuable insight into how recruiters actually view your CV.