If you are not getting interviews

[DodgyAgent]

I can vouch for dodgy. He was kind enough to review my CV and discuss tactics after the dot com boom.

Right, who can vouch for me?

For the price of a couple of er references I will

[Olly]

Oh go on then, you can have a bash at mine.
There's no meat on the bones of the companies I've worked at though.
Indeed 2007's little darling is gone and busted and under fraud investigations.

Please PM your email address and I'll forward the spicy document to you.

P.S. I meant to type "done and dusted" but after the rum it came at as "gone and busted" which seems somehow more appropriate

[fishslice]

It's the same with people who network constantly and have long lists of recommendations on LinkedIn. I cringe at the thought of going to a work colleague and asking them to write several paragraphs of gushing praise about how wonderful I was to work with (or to put their name to some awful hyperbole which I'd written myself). But some people do that routinely and take great pride in it, and reap the benefits.

I have about 1/2 dozen recommendations on my LinkedIn profile and I use a number of them on my CV in a subtle context - works very well for me as it also provides a validated reference (of sorts).

These have not been requested but typically have been generated after I have recommended someone else - which I will do without being asked if I think they deserve the comment.

Feedback from pimps has been pretty positive and something that I will retain.

TIP: Find something that works for you whilst retaining the confidence to talk through the entries with both pimps and clients...

fs

[MPwannadecentincome]

If you are not getting interviews

Then it is the CV.

...

DA

hmmm yes and no....

If your skills are not in demand then yes its your CV but can you do anything on your CV about that? Only indirectly by updating your skills and getting a new gig that helps bring the skills upto date.

For most of 2009 I had NO interviews through agents even though I would occasionally get agents calling having found my CV somewhere, yet with the same CV I had some interest through consultancies and direct clients.

This year has been different, OK I did tidy up my CV a little but I don't think that was what made the difference.

[norrahe]

any part of the business that does not involve me having to listen to tw*ts who speel out "we've got a PSL"

That rules out my neck of the woods then.

[DodgyAgent]

That rules out my neck of the woods then.

PM I have one other like you. I cant promise anything.

[norrahe]

I have about 1/2 dozen recommendations on my LinkedIn profile and I use a number of them on my CV in a subtle context - works very well for me as it also provides a validated reference (of sorts).

These have not been requested but typically have been generated after I have recommended someone else - which I will do without being asked if I think they deserve the comment.

Feedback from pimps has been pretty positive and something that I will retain.

TIP: Find something that works for you whilst retaining the confidence to talk through the entries with both pimps and clients...

fs

With LinkedIn a lot of people seem to think if they have 20 recommendations from co workers that it looks good. 1 or 2 from people who actually managed you will have far more impact.

[questiontime]

one or hundred, if all your references are generic tulip (ie, hardworking, skilled, reliable, friendly etc) then it is unlikely to help ..
References should mention something specific you did ..

With LinkedIn a lot of people seem to think if they have 20 recommendations from co workers that it looks good. 1 or 2 from people who actually managed you will have far more impact.

[BolshieBastard]

As long as they are working legally then yes.

Er nope! As long as they are working for marketable rates it may be OK in some people's eyes. But, if they are seriously undercutting UK contractor rates by doing the same job for £80 - £120 a day (I know of several UK consultancies who will pay immigrant contractors these rates) then it is not OK.

I'd also argue that UK workers should be doing the work before any immigrant worker should be.

These internal transfers are as much bogus as the scheme from a few years ago (cant remember the name that went under) which saw huge swathes of UK IT contractors turfed out of roles for these 50 quid a day chappies.

[d000hg]

Er nope! As long as they are working for marketable rates it may be OK in some people's eyes. But, if they are seriously undercutting UK contractor rates by doing the same job for £80 - £120 a day (I know of several UK consultancies who will pay immigrant contractors these rates) then it is not OK.

I'd also argue that UK workers should be doing the work before any immigrant worker should be.

These internal transfers are as much bogus as the scheme from a few years ago (cant remember the name that went under) which saw huge swathes of UK IT contractors turfed out of roles for these 50 quid a day chappies.

What if there are foreign people at £100/day who are as good as home-grown talent at £400? Take away the "it's not really saving them money" argument... now you want a company to pay more than it needs to. Isn't protectionalism considered bad thing for trade and general prosperity?

Work I am taking on right now from outside the UK, there's no way at all I would get the work if I had to hire contractors on UK rates; my customer would just find someone in a cheaper country to run the project. Net result - less money coming into the UK, and unemployment up by 1 (me)