Category Archives: Seasons Greetings

Merry Christmas from The CV Righter

Well this year has flown by; we’ve seen a great deal of change in the recruitment market with rollercoaster dips and rises in jobs. Good to see a rise in contract positions which have suffered over the years and PMO roles coming back into play. Clearly organisations are yet again realising the benefits of a central control room for project capability, having spoken to a number of interim PMO specialists a trend of businesses cutting back on the support aspect of projects have seen a significant impact on project success. Businesses are not meeting targets and delivery is a major contributor to this, thank goodness the value of the PMO is so apparent. Financial services are still the leader in volume of roles but technology is also a very healthy area too. Unemployment is reducing and I have worked with a number of candidates struggling to get back into work who I am pleased to say, have all now secured new roles.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and look forward to working with clients new and old in the New Year. Hopefully the rise in new roles will continue and I wish you all success, good health and happiness for a promising New Year.

A bit of fun, Christmas Prize Draw, Seasons Greetings

Christmas Prize Draw – win a copy of The Project Management Coaching Workbook

Nicola Caswell-Thorp Leave a comment

Would you like to own your your own copy of the fantastic “The Project Management Coaching Workbook”?

As a bit of fun we are offering up this review copy for a Christmas prize draw.

I reviewed The Project Management Coaching Workbook by Susanne Madsen for APM Project in October, as I thought it was so good I want to give away my review copy to a deserving Project Professional who can really reap the rewards from the valuable advice supplied in the book. All that you need to do to be in with a chance of winning is share your funniest Christmas story – whether it be work or home related. It might be the office Christmas do or an epic shopping trip to get that all important last packet of stuffing… You choose, and once we have some stories we will put them up for public voting on our facebook page.

Send your funny story to: noreply@thecvrighter.co.uk

All entries must be received by Friday 6th December 2013

The draw is open to UK mainland residents only, winner will be picked Friday 20th December 2013.

Prize is a signed copy of The Project Management Coaching Workbook by Susanne Madsen.

12 days of Christmas, No, Planning, Seasons Greetings

On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

Nicola Caswell-Thorp Leave a comment

On the 12^th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

…12 Drummers Drumming! In our final 12 days of Christmas piece we are going for: on the 12^th day of Christmas The CV Righter gave to me a 12 stage plan, 11 ways to keep motivated, 10 years in detail, 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.

It seemed only fitting to round up the series with a 12 stage plan of finding that next role:

Check your CV – get it professionally reviewed, plenty of organisations will do this for free including The CV Righter.
Make appropriate updates – listen to the feedback given and make sure you address these in your CV.
Make a list – what do you want to achieve? More money, a new challenge, career progression.
Research – look at the roles out there which match your skill-set and start to really understand where your applications will progressed.
Networks – make contact with your networks and let them know you are looking for a new opportunity.
Get your CV out there – place your CV on job websites and register with agencies. Make sure you refresh regularly so you are not going to the bottom of the pile.
Decide who you want to work with – having made a decision about which agencies and job boards work for you, keep to a short list of these and keep in regular contact.
Be clever – set up “jobs by email” and google alerts so you can let the technology do the trawling for you.
Research employers – understand all there is to know about the companies you wish to work for and keep an eye on activity. You may get ahead of all your competitors by anticipating new roles due to changes in the organisation such as new product launches, partnering with other businesses and mergers etc.
Join in professionally related discussions – LinkedIn and Twitter often have lots of discussions; you can get yourself noticed and hear about new roles through such networks.
Review – keep an eye on your applications and see what works and what doesn’t, you may need to revisit point 1 if you are not harvesting interviews.
Keep organised – a simple spreadsheet covering all your applications and endeavours to keep track of everything is a good way to help generate new ideas and see trends for the right jobs for you with specific agencies and job boards.

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

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

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

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

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

On the 6^th 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

On the 9^th day of Christmas The CV Righter gave to me 9 pages too long

On the 10^th day of Christmas The CV Righter said to me 10 years in detail

On the 11^th day of Christmas The CV Righter gave to me 11 ways to keep motivated

on the 12^th day of Christmas The CV Righter gave to me a 12 stage plan

12 days of Christmas, Motivation, No, Seasons Greetings

On the 11th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

Nicola Caswell-Thorp Leave a comment

On the 11^th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

….11 Pipers Piping! For our penultimate twist we have gone for: On the 11^th day of Christmas The CV Righter gave to me 11 ways to keep motivated,10 years in detail, 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.

This is a subject often comes up, both now in my CV writing capacity and previously when I was recruiting, candidates do find it hard to keep motivated when looking for a new role so here is a list to help you along your way:

Keep it fresh – try different aspects of job hunting, from job boards to networking and identifying roles which aren’t necessarily advertised.
Set aside an hour a day – don’t turn job hunting into a daily trawl, if you are currently in employment then you needn’t put all your spare time into finding a role if you set up jobs by email and google alerts.
Ask a friend – speak to your peers and find out what they do when looking for work, you may learn something new.
Chase up – follow up your applications to understand how they are being received.
Ask for feedback – not only from recruiters but from your peers, find out if the methods you are using and the CV itself is clear and says all the right things.
Take a holiday – this doesn’t necessarily mean pack your bags and jump on a plane, taking a break from looking at new roles can really help you come back with a fresh outlook.
Get out – go to networking events, seminars, training sessions, etc there are plenty of free events around so attend and see what is new in your field.
Research companies rather than jobs – looking into businesses you would like to work for can yield more success. Look out for changes in an organisation and make speculative applications based on these before they decide to advertise the role!
Grow thick skin – I know rejection after rejection can be hard but you need to take on board the fact that you are one of many applying for these roles so this time you weren’t lucky but next time you might be.

10. Go above and beyond – join in group discussions on LinkedIn and Twitter, get yourself noticed, you’ll be surprised where this gets you.

11. Write about it – create a blog talking through the pitfalls of finding a new job, don’t focus on the negatives and keep it upbeat. You could help others, let off steam and may get some assistance along the way!

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

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

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

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

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

On the 6^th 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

On the 9^th day of Christmas The CV Righter gave to me 9 pages too long

On the 10^th day of Christmas The CV Righter said to me 10 years in detail

On the 11^th day of Christmas The CV Righter gave to me 11 ways to keep motivated