Category Archives: Seasons Greetings

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

On the 10th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

On the 10^th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

….10 Lords A-leaping! In our case: On the 10^th day of Christmas The CV Righter said to me 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.

The golden rule for writing a CV is to keep the detail within the last 10 years of work experience – you should also cover work experience prior to the 10 years but you can keep this down to 1 line per role stating dates, names of company, job title and location. There are a couple of reasons for this, the first being that actually the most recent work experience is what the employer wants to see – anything over 10 years is deemed as a long time ago and not really relevant to them. This is hard for some as I know you are proud of some of the amazing projects you have been involved in delivering but it is where you are now and what you are doing now (or within the last few years) which matters. This is particularly important with technology as we are in a fast changing world so something which may have been huge back in the day has been superseded over and over.

If there is something which you do deem relevant that is past the 10 year mark then you may wish to talk about this in your cover letter, therefore you are still presenting your most recent work on your CV but also pointing out that you have had exposure to XXX when working at XXX in the past. This also gives a fresh perspective to your application as it says something different in the cover letter than the CV – a lot of candidates feel the need to copy and paste parts of their CV into a cover letter which is a waste of everyone’s time and gives the impression of lazy behaviour.

The other reason it is good to keep with 10 years of work experience is that it helps to reduce the size / length of your CV – helping you keep to the ideal 2/3 pages and encouraging you to keep focussed on the important bits.

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

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…

Nicola Caswell-Thorp Leave a comment

On the 9^th 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 9^th 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 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

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…

Nicola Caswell-Thorp Leave a comment

On the 8^th 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 8^th 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 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

12 days of Christmas, Job Applications, Job Hunting, No, Seasons Greetings

On the 7th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

Nicola Caswell-Thorp Leave a comment

On the 7^th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

…7 Swans A-swimming! Ah lovely, as long as you don’t get too close and then they hiss like geese. So we’ll steer clear of the swans and go for: On the 7^th day of Christmas The CV Righter said to me 7 deadly sins of job hunting, 6 Key Achievements, 5 Golden Rules, 4 calling cards, 3 networks, 2 referees and a killer CV.

Lust – Lusting after a new role can land you in trouble. The recruiter in me loves passionate project people, they are so easy to sell on to clients and the need for challenge over remuneration package is truly a refreshing change. But calling up recruiters to tell them how much you hate them and will never work with them again because this IS the job of your dreams and you must be put forward is verging on the stalker / psycho behaviour.
Gluttony – move away from the job boards; stop eating up every role with the word “Project” in it. It is quality not quantity, pick your roles carefully and apply in bite sizes to keep track of your efforts.
Greed – money isn’t everything; look at what else is on offer and I don’t mean pensions and healthcare. What is the organisations training policy? What are the chances of career progression? Are the projects going to add something to your portfolio?
Sloth – make an effort, don’t just bulk apply with the same cover and CV. Tailor your letters and CV for each application. Making the effort does make a difference and lazy candidates become quickly apparent to employers.
Wrath – sits close with Lust this one; keep your cool when looking for a job. I know it is frustrating and scary and you feel like you are putting all the effort in to a black hole. If you come across aggressive and grumpy to others then you are not going to get very far at all.
Envy – don’t sit there thinking your colleagues / friends seem to have something you don’t as they seem to manage to score interviews and job offers whereas you never hear back from applications. Get some feedback on your CV and ask to see your peers CVs to understand what it is about them that attracts employers.
Pride – stop being so proud, ask for feedback and listen to what you hear. Just because your CV reads fine to you, doesn’t mean it is!