Reply to: Hitting a brick wall...how do I break through this?

[Peter Loew]

Hello,
Thanks for the fantastic replies, there's some really good advice in there. Thanks for taking the time.

I am Prince2 but I'm finding that the competition has that, and a lot more time served in contracting to get them across the line.

The CV is nearly always described as being strong, and I do get the call backs, but as a lot of agencies search for candidates on key words alone - that doesn't necessarily mean a good gig match.

I do think that the ' service' on offer has to be refined, it's PMO or PM; by marketing myself as some kind of hybrid I'm going to be overlooked every time.

I am starting to rethink my direction, and that's throwing up some exciting options away from corporate life. Maybe this is the type of break I really needed. We'll see.

Thank you very much again.

How many years of experience do you have and does your CV read in a project-oriented way? Sounds like your issue might be your indecisive CV and you're possibly being shadowed out by more experienced contract PMs. Also consider that there is an initiative to move the PMO and the portfolio level investments towards Agile (e.g. SAFe), so if you have any of that kind of experience it may help you.

[Pherlopolus]

have you split your permie CV up into descrete projects to make it look more contractory at first glance?

[connore]

Hello,
Thanks for the fantastic replies, there's some really good advice in there. Thanks for taking the time.

I am Prince2 but I'm finding that the competition has that, and a lot more time served in contracting to get them across the line.

The CV is nearly always described as being strong, and I do get the call backs, but as a lot of agencies search for candidates on key words alone - that doesn't necessarily mean a good gig match.

I do think that the ' service' on offer has to be refined, it's PMO or PM; by marketing myself as some kind of hybrid I'm going to be overlooked every time.

I am starting to rethink my direction, and that's throwing up some exciting options away from corporate life. Maybe this is the type of break I really needed. We'll see.

Thank you very much again.

[eek]

WHS

I've seen internal feedback at my client that niche technical skills are getting difficult to fill with offshore people.

They always have been difficult to fill but after 15 years companies are starting to realise changers are chancers

[BolshieBastard]

You are right NH however, the prescription is a risky one now.

I have a similar problem on my CV (just in a different area). I think the risk is because the background checks have become so draconian now the chances of you getting caught out on changing your CV to fit the role is far, far higher. Unless the recruiter is 'in on the game' on that it is now too risky (IMHO) to make your CV consistent in this manner.

The double whammy of course is that most recruitment consultants get very confused if you do more than one job role.

There's absolutely no issue in changing your cv for each role providing you arent telling fibs. You cant include every aspect of the tasks done in a role on your cv (unless you're advocating a 10 page cv!). So, there nothing wrong emphasising some tasks as more important than others to different potential clients.

Covering up gaps is however risky. I used to include one liners to explain gaps on my cv when I was active. Several interviewers commented on and appreciated it. Each to their own though.

[Goldengirl]

Do you use the honey as lubricant on the mike before you shove it up your arse?

No need to be vulgar

[jjdarg]

I was told only last week by head of client services at BAML that it's a sellers market - he doesn't remember ever before having so many contractors refuse to do a tech interview, etc, etc.

I guess it all depends on sector & role.

Could be Canary Wharf? It's a pain to get to.

[SpontaneousOrder]

Its not just you...its a buyers market......employers can pick and chose who they want & how much for put an ad online they will get 100s of highly qualified/experienced contractors rapidly.

I was told only last week by head of client services at BAML that it's a sellers market - he doesn't remember ever before having so many contractors refuse to do a tech interview, etc, etc.

I guess it all depends on sector & role.

[LadyPenelope]

Matt updated my CV a few years ago, since then it's been the land of mike and honey for me

Next demo here

https://www.ipse.co.uk/events/2015/0...elop-brand-you

But best £199 I've ever spent

Hi Matt!

[Bluenose]

You are right NH however, the prescription is a risky one now.

I have a similar problem on my CV (just in a different area). I think the risk is because the background checks have become so draconian now the chances of you getting caught out on changing your CV to fit the role is far, far higher. Unless the recruiter is 'in on the game' on that it is now too risky (IMHO) to make your CV consistent in this manner.

The double whammy of course is that most recruitment consultants get very confused if you do more than one job role.

[northernladuk]

Obtain Prince2 Practitioner, MSP Practitioner, CISSP and TOGAF Certification.

In that order.

Get all those under your belt and I will be stunned if you don't find a job.

Don't have them? That's one of the reasons why you are being pipped, your competition does and they are being called about roles whereas you are out there looking.

For a non-niche PM role, once a job gets posted you are basically f'ed. You need to rotate so they call you before a job gets circulated.

It's a start but I don't agree to be stunned if he doesn't get a gig. His experience will still show a mix of PMO and PM which an agent won't understand so will pick the next person who has been carrying out the exact role the agent is looking for.

[Bluenose]

Hello,
I came into contracting last year after years as a perm PMO Manager and PM. I held my first contract for 9 months and I absolutely loved it - hard work but so satisfying.

Obtain Prince2 Practitioner, MSP Practitioner, CISSP and TOGAF Certification.

In that order.

Get all those under your belt and I will be stunned if you don't find a job.

Don't have them? That's one of the reasons why you are being pipped, your competition does and they are being called about roles whereas you are out there looking.

For a non-niche PM role, once a job gets posted you are basically f'ed. You need to rotate so they call you before a job gets circulated.

[GlenW]

Matt updated my CV a few years ago, since then it's been the land of mike and honey for me

Next demo here

https://www.ipse.co.uk/events/2015/0...elop-brand-you

But best £199 I've ever spent

Do you use the honey as lubricant on the mike before you shove it up your arse?

[tarbera]

Matt updated my CV a few years ago, since then it's been the land of mike and honey for me

Next demo here

https://www.ipse.co.uk/events/2015/0...elop-brand-you

But best £199 I've ever spent

[BolshieBastard]

Hello,
I came into contracting last year after years as a perm PMO Manager and PM. I held my first contract for 9 months and I absolutely loved it - hard work but so satisfying.

Now I have hit a brick wall in finding my next contract. I have been searching feverishly for a contract since November last year, and my CV never fails to garner interest and I do get call backs and interviews; however that is where it ends - I cannot seem to secure a contract.

After 4 months of being messed around by agencies, hopes built up then let down at the 11th hour, turning up for interviews only to find they have changed the role; being offered a start date then told the role has been 'filled internally' I am beginning to get extremely worried and discouraged.

I appreciate that it is year end, and new budgets are yet to be launched; I also know that a lot of roles are niche or specialist and I wont be shortlisted for interview every time, but I am extremely particular and realistic about what I apply for anyway; it is the agencies that call and push for my consent to apply for roles which they have sourced me for based merely on one matching key word in my CV; that just drives me mad! They are just so appallingly unprofessional.

I am fairly flexible on location, and I always get great feedback from interview. But....??!

Has anyone else faced this type of challenge, and if so, how did you overcome it? Was it just a matter of time and perseverance, or maybe 'right place at the right time'?

I don't want to write this off as a career path yet.

Many thanks.

Welcome to the world of contracting, it isnt all continuous invoicing and can be quite long stretches of no income. A lot of noobies dont really seem to consider this when making the switch but everyone comes across it sooner or later.

Applications is a numbers game, the more you make the better chance you have. The big but though is agencies and recruiters can be very selective. You could satisfy 14 out of 15 requirements of the job spec but because you dont have number 15, its the round filing cabinet for your cv.

Agencies are the major stumbling block because you usually end up talking to a drone about an advert they placed. They may consider you suitable but they say that to probably 90% of applicants. If you're lucky, your cv is then passed to an account manager. If your cv doesnt tempt him \ her in 30 seconds, its the round filing cabinet again.

In the current market, clients also seem to be taking back contractors who've worked for them before. Nothing wrong with that but again, it narrows the opportunities.

If you've amended your cv for each app, it may be the rate you are asking needs to be reduced a little. No one likes reducing their rate but sometimes its what clients will look at.

Sometimes it is a question of right place, right time.