Reply to: CV Review

[hypersouth]

Oi!!!!!

These are the professional forums, please carry on in this thread I have created here:-

http://forums.contractoruk.com/gener...ml#post2437352

Thanks

Hahaha The username is purely for hiding my identity. Anyway sorry to hijack!

[MrMarkyMark]

Hi northernladuk,

I say 5 weeks, I am not doing the work onsite. I do it on evenings and weekends and it does not take up much time at all so I put myself forward as immediately available as I can do both at the same time. I'm a Northern lad too, Yorkshire!

I've consulted with the rest of Yorkshire. Your username is blasphemous. Yorkshire shuns you.

Oi!!!!!

These are the professional forums, please carry on in this thread I have created here:-

http://forums.contractoruk.com/gener...ml#post2437352

Thanks

[Scratch It]

Hi northernladuk,

I say 5 weeks, I am not doing the work onsite. I do it on evenings and weekends and it does not take up much time at all so I put myself forward as immediately available as I can do both at the same time. I'm a Northern lad too, Yorkshire!

I've consulted with the rest of Yorkshire. Your username is blasphemous. Yorkshire shuns you.

[hypersouth]

At five weeks you'll probably go in the bin for most. There seems to be a lot more people on the bench than gigs.

Have a read of the state of the market thread. I'll be willing to bet your CV is only a small part of the problem at the moment.

Hi northernladuk,

I say 5 weeks, I am not doing the work onsite. I do it on evenings and weekends and it does not take up much time at all so I put myself forward as immediately available as I can do both at the same time. I'm a Northern lad too, Yorkshire!

[MrMarkyMark]

There's no "right" CV.

Content is obviously key.

Expected format being a world apart if going to work for a relatively company or an IB.

A relatively young company may prefer a short and concise CV, usually engagements are shorter due to general project length and / or budget constraints, so contracts are often 6 months max in a lot of cases.

IB prefer a longer detailed CV, which aligns with using contractors for long running projects.
BCBS239 compliance has run for a number of years, however most engaged contractors will be given the boot as each tranche comes to an end.
However a lot with have worked for 2 years by that point.

[northernladuk]

I have got five weeks left of a contract and have been putting my CV out there with recruiters. I get interest from them but no interviews lined up. I decided my CV still looks too much like a 'permie' CV rather than listing project work done and skills utilised. I have updated this and hope to see some better progress in the next couple of weeks :/

At five weeks you'll probably go in the bin for most. There seems to be a lot more people on the bench than gigs.

Have a read of the state of the market thread. I'll be willing to bet your CV is only a small part of the problem at the moment.

[washed up contractor]

I have got five weeks left of a contract and have been putting my CV out there with recruiters. I get interest from them but no interviews lined up. I decided my CV still looks too much like a 'permie' CV rather than listing project work done and skills utilised. I have updated this and hope to see some better progress in the next couple of weeks :/

Unless your cv is a pile of tulipe, it doesnt really matter (cue loads of comments of 'yes, it does!) on the format. Ive participated in some of these cv reviews. They are nothing more than an income generator and in my experience, pitched at the permie market with contractor 'tinkering' at the edges or available for an extra payment.

Some people have said they've had improved results having used a review service. That begs the question was their cv tulipe in a previously bouyant market and whether they ended up being more realistic in their rate expectations \ location etc?

In the current market, you've got to have all the skills not just the key skills requested by the client. Then you need a sprinkling of 'buzz' words but not forgetting the most important points; one, there has to be available roles to apply for and two, your rate must make it easy for the agent to make a very nice profit on the deal.

Of course there are always exceptions and no doubt one or two trumpet blowers will be along soon enough.

[hypersouth]

CV

I have got five weeks left of a contract and have been putting my CV out there with recruiters. I get interest from them but no interviews lined up. I decided my CV still looks too much like a 'permie' CV rather than listing project work done and skills utilised. I have updated this and hope to see some better progress in the next couple of weeks :/

[Swamp Thing]

I used Matt's service about a year ago, when I was still in 2 minds about contract or perm. I first put out the chrono CV for perm roles. My original CV wasn't that bad, but I could see the improvement in using the new ones. I got immediate hits, and my 2nd perm interview converted into an offer. 14 months' later I went back into contracting, and dusted down the case study/portfolio CV. After 3 interviews I got a gig, secured in one month after serving notice on my perm role. That was the degree of confidence I had in the CV. BTW, Matt was also available for follow-up and advice/tweaking the CV template - no extra charge, one year later. I'm not sure all agencies would do that?

I'm no slouch at marketing myself, but after several years of doing the same thing with your CV and being referred for new assignments rather than competing thru agencies, I was prepared to accept the game may have moved on, and some 3rd party input wouldn't go amiss. For the cost, I thought it well worthwhile. You just have to do your homework and align with the proven CV agencies.

Just to be clear, I am in no way connected to Matt or his business.

[CVMatt]

These guys featured on CUK run webinars and offer a review

Hi all - I just saw this post. The webinars we have done talk about 2 CV types, the traditional chronological CV (with our suggested optimisations) and a more portfolio based CV. The portfolio style CV is only for certain people and we have several stipulations that need to be met before we deem it appropriate for a customer. We present it as an option which can work great but we don't pretend its a silver bullet. The chrono CV (which we recommend still contains 3 case studies) is the safe option. You're welcome to contact me for a free and genuine critique of your CV and I'm happy to discuss the merits of using a professional service offline. Cheers - Matt

[TheFaQQer]

I attended one of those webinars just over a year ago. Kept two versions of my cv after it. One in the way they told you to do it and one in the way I always did. Sent both versions off to many agencies. The webinar version zero replies, the old version tens of replies several ending up in interviews and one in a contract. Needless to say I deleted the webinar version

Maybe it's something within certain industries - my friend had the exact opposite, whereby he had no responses to a "traditional" CV but found a role within a week using the new format.

Different horses for different courses

[Eirikur]

These guys featured on CUK run webinars and offer a review

Contractor CV review - why get your CV reviewed? :: Contractor UK

I attended one of those webinars just over a year ago. Kept two versions of my cv after it. One in the way they told you to do it and one in the way I always did. Sent both versions off to many agencies. The webinar version zero replies, the old version tens of replies several ending up in interviews and one in a contract. Needless to say I deleted the webinar version

[DevLad]

This is waste of money, instead of spending money on CV review you can do some useful Training related to your technology/business and update it in CV.

You can find many CV formats online and change it as per your skillset.

[fatJock]

As a newbie contractor I nearly got sucked into one of those paid for reviews. Fortunately a friendly agent who id placed people with gave me some advice.

It's just a case of having several CV versions, playing to strengths of particular roles. Don't part with your hard earned - it's not worth it and you'll be disappointed.

[uk contractor]

@ OP you also need to understand your CV is a self marketing document and only a way to bypass the agency & get in front of the end client. They will give it the once over so it must be relevant & look good but also be concise and easy to read as getting it past 2-3 people in the agency is your first hurdle then probably another 2-3 people at the end client before you earn the interview. Most of the time agencies will reformat your CV anyway in the rush to remove all your contact details from the CV they often reformat and sometimes through gross incompetence alter the formatting & or lose vital info from the actual CV in their rush to imprint the agency logo into the CV! You would be amazed how far removed your CV looks from the one you submitted for the role by the time you arrive for the interview.

Finally your CV is just marketing tool to get the interview the real work is selling yourself within the interview framework & responding to the questions in a manner which reveals your the ideal candidate & also giving examples at the same time on your CV of how & why your the right person. With these simple but effective techniques your 70-80% of the way towards securing the role. I went on an intense 2 day CV writing course a few years ago when sitting on the bench at the time & was amazed how simple & common sense techniques produced the required job offer for me within days of the course ending!

Use lots of concise bullet points avoid rambling long sentences & pro tip of the decade!!! use white words !!! Find several keywords from the jobspec then type those onto your cv at the very end (does not have to be the very end but usually easiest to avoid breaking formatting) but make the font colour white so they are hidden !!! is a guaranteed way to ensure your cv does not get binned or even picked from the 100s the agency may receive in the initial rush of applicants.

Even with all of this its still as always down to your strong interpersonal skills & positive interview technique but good luck to you anyway.