Tag Archives: professional CV writing

Case Study, Project management CV, project management resume, Recruitment, The CV Righter

Case Study – Project Manager not securing interviews

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Last month I worked with a client who we shall call Matt, he is a Project Manager who implements bespoke software solutions. Working closely with clients Matt takes the project from scoping in conjunction with the account management team right through to business as usual. Matt was made redundant at the end of December and decided to take a few weeks break as he had been with the company for a Head in handsnumber of years and felt a short break with the comfort of his redundancy payout was well deserved. When Matt came to start applying for jobs (bearing in mind he had not been on the job market for a number of years), he found that his applications were going into a black hole – rarely receiving acknowledgement.

 

We talked through how he was applying for roles and he was covering all the usual approaches such as online applications, registering with agencies, making his CV searchable on all the large job websites and using his contacts for advice/referrals/insider information etc. I performed a review of Matt’s CV with him over the phone, pointing out the areas which weren’t adding value and also clarifying information, as it soon became clear that he was selling himself short with the information he was supplying.

At the end of the call, Matt told me he’d never had such a thorough review of his CV and that asking recruiters he was told it was OK. I pointed out that calling up already very busy recruiters for feedback might not be the best route as they are often just trying to get you off the phone so they can get on with filling roles. Also the recruiters might not have an in depth knowledge of Project Management and so wouldn’t really know where to start in teasing out the relevant information. At the end of the review, Matt explained he was very low on funds and couldn’t justify paying out for a professional CV writing service as his house was soon going to be at risk. I sensed his desperation and supplied him with some support documentation which together with his notes from the review would arm him to rewrite the CV himself. I offered to review the CV again once he had rewritten it and told him to spend some time over the weekend working on it.

On the following Monday I had another call from Matt who told me he needed to secure a job within 3 weeks and he had sat down to write his CV but was struggling to articulate himself, he decided to take the CV writing service and I promised to coach him in addition to sorting the CV. We worked together to create a fresh CV, performed a skills audit and worked through effective job application coaching.

At the start of the process, Matt was panicky and deflated – by the end (which we conducted an intense few sessions to quickly get him in a good position) he was reinvigorated and had a new found confidence in his abilities. Within hours of loading his CV online he had recruiters calling him and also started to receive call backs from the roles he applied direct to. Within a week he had 3 interviews secured, by week 2 he was on second interview stage with 2 companies and by week three he had an offer for a job he really wanted.

We did it!Matt called me to thank me and told me he was initially hesitant to engage because of his financial situation but now realised it was the best investment he had ever made towards his career.

Advice I always give to those who are between contracts or made redundant is to try job applications with your current CV and see what kind of response you get, but always set aside a budget for support services such as CV writing and don’t waste your money on services which do not understand where you are coming from. You may not need the assistance, but as Matt found out, sometimes you may just need that helping hand. The most common comment I receive from those who contact me is that they just need to get through the door of the interview and they know they will do fine, but actually getting their foot through the door is the issue.

Careers Advice, CV Writing, Project management CV, project management resume

Project Manager CV writing services

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Writing your CV doesn’t come naturally to a lot of people and Project Professionals particularly find it difficult to strike a balance between getting the project information versus the core competencies. This is understandable as there is often a great deal of detail you wish to include and in doing so, key criteria is missed out completely. Knowing what the hiring managers want to see has changed over the years and with the volume of job applications increasing for roles you are unlikely to be called in for an interview to discuss the missing parts when there are those who have clear and concise documents which do have the correct balance of information.

I was talking with a recent client who had previously had her CV professionally written and one of the bullet points stated Change Management – I probed what this involved in that role and she said she hadn’t actually done any CM in that role but had been advised to state it anyway. I pointed out that should she secure an interview with the CV that she would inevitably be asked to expand, as there was no detail and it is a point of interest for a Project Manager job. She became very concerned that her CV was not saying the right things and began to question the advice she had received from the service she had invested time, money and faith into. I have come across a number of CVs which have been professionally written, which either don’t make sense or are limited in content – the problem with not using a CV writing service which is specialist in your field. At the CV Righter we work with you to understand where your skill-set lies and help you achieve a CV which will draw attention for the right reasons, we look to add that extra information about your style and where you go above and beyond the role. Setting you apart from your competitors is crucial to getting you on that shortlist for interview.

Service your CV

Do not make assumptions about the reviewer of your CV – they can come from all sorts of backgrounds and may not necessarily understand Project Management, you need to be hitting the right keywords but also adding in context to make the information understandable to all.

Identifying a CV service which is right for you and your skill-set is important – just because it is cheap or very expensive, doesn’t mean you will be getting value for money. Ask for a review of your CV before engaging services and see what their understanding of your experience is, it is all well and good pointing out grammatical errors and formatting – but what will they do with the content and how will they work with you to achieve a good, strong, honest document which will harvest results?

 

Get in touch today to receive a free review of your CV and constructive advice on how to improve it.

Careers Advice, CV Tips, CV Writing

Writing a CV from scratch

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One thing we’ve all been guilty of doing is putting off writing a CV – sometimes it makes sense to start from scratch and build it up, this sounds even more daunting than reworking what you already have, even though it is very dated and surely only needs a little more work. But I beg to differ; taking a fresh look at what you should include in the CV is a great way to really get down the right kind of detail to attract employers.

Getting started:

  • Write a list of all your jobs, note dates, company names and job titles – then place them in chronological order with most recent at the top.
  • Source a professional looking template from online to help you get started and add in the jobs as above.
  • Include some information about what your main tasks were – think about why you were brought into the business and what you set about to achieve.
  • Make notesThen start to list what you actually did, how did you achieve getting from A to B. Include areas specific to your role and make sure you talk through things that set you apart from others such as working globally you may have dealt with cultural differences etc.
  • Read back through the role and make sure it is clear and concise – look at roles you may be looking to apply for which are asking for your skill-set, are you speaking the same language (terminology) and covering what they ask for?
  • Move down each role taking the above structured approach to adding in detail as you move further down the CV to older roles you should reduce the detail. Anything over 10 years old should be a line stating dates, company name, and role title as a list.
  • Add in your education and any additional training towards the end of the CV (unless you are a recent graduate, in which case this should be included at the top of the CV).
  • State some hobbies – think about what you really enjoy doing, group activities, sports, etc.
  • Now it is time to go back to the top of the CV and write a short profile about yourself; make sure it gives an overview of your skills and experience. This should be much easier to write now you have run through all your skills and experience in the role remit, all you are doing is summarising the information.
  • Place some key achievements beneath the profile and above the employment history, consider adding in where you have really added value. Employers like to see where you have gone beyond the specified role and actively reaped results.

Now you have a CV – wasn’t so hard was it? However, this new CV needs to be checked by someone else for some honest feedback. Ask them to read it and then ask them, what is it I do? If they can tell you and are correct then you are on the right track – remember when you apply for a job you will have your CV reviewed by people who may have no exposure to your job so it is imperative that you are communicating to all levels. So we’ve covered the basics, now is time to really work on terminology, target audiences, and tweaking to ensure you are keeping the emphasis on the right skills for that job (remember priorities are different for each hiring manager).

Career Objective, CV Tips, CV Writing, Project management career progression, Project Management Careers Advice, Project management CV, project management resume

CV Objective – to include or not

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Stating a career objective in your CV can be a great way to highlight where you wish to go next in your occupation, however it can also be stating the obvious. If you have a resume which is clear in your goals then stating an objective can over egg the pudding so to speak, however if you are looking for a change in career or want to be taken seriously for progression then including this detail can really help. For those who display their CVs online for recruiters and hiring managers to pick up, the objective can help stop wasting time being called for roles which are not on the radar for you. Especially those who may currently (and have a history of) managing projects and would like to progress to managing programmes and equally for those who have previously worked in a field which they wish to move away from.

Be careful what you state as an objective and don’t pitch yourself out of the market, a good objective will talk through why you wish to move into a particular field (such as interest or exposure to something you wish to specialise in) and also give a view of where you see yourself in the future (progressing up the career ladder).

Here’s an example of an objective which covers the above:

  • Following a successful career supporting a number of large projects now looking to progress to the role of project manager where these skills can be utilised to their full potential; following 3 years experience of managing smaller projects through the lifecycle. Long term goals include eventual progression into managing programmes of work.

Here the candidate is clearly stating that they are ready for that next step up to managing projects rather than supporting and they have experience which means it is not unrealistic. The long term goal tells the reader that the person is serious about their career and is working to a plan; they are not unreasonable and know that it takes time (and experience).

You can justify your potential for promotion / progression with your objective therefore if this is a route you are looking to take then including the objective can really work for you. Likewise if you are looking to move into a new industry or career you can also use the objective to highlight your transferability.

If you applying direct to an employer for a role, they may ask for an objective to be included on the CV. I cannot emphasise enough that all job adverts need to be read thoroughly, following instruction can be part of the recruitment process and as such you need to take this seriously and comply.

Making sure you are pitching to the right audience is key to getting viewed favourably for roles – don’t leave it to assumptions, make sure you are clear about what it is you want.