Reply to: Reached 1000 mark...!!! Still no Interview call..???

[SillyMilly]

I didn't hightlight the break since December, but the fact that the last contract listed has December as its end date is a bit of a giveaway!

April's the new financial year for lots of companies so hopefully there'll be more work out there - knowing my luck, I'll just have started the new job when rates start rising again.

[BlasterBates]

The Dec-Feb gap is not a problem, even after several months it doesn't make much difference.

[Darren_Test]

did you show contrcat break (dec-feb) in the CV..?? did your agent aware that you are looking for jobs for 2 months..????

BTW I am lookin gonly Uk roles..

[SillyMilly]

I'm also a tester - telecoms recently but pretty varied experience before that - and have been out of work since Christmas. Haven't reached 1000 yet but have applied for loads (probably > 100) of test jobs and been ignored by the agents. Have also been interviewed a couple of times and subsequently heard that none of the interviewees was taken on. I call that time-wasting - how can you look at 20 CVs, pick 4 or 5 to interview, say the interviews went well but then decide not to go ahead?

I have an offer now, but not at a good rate, and another interview lined up. A low rate is better than nothing I guess. But it is incredibly frustrating. I have re-vamped my CV but I don't think that's the problem, given that I've had some interviews. I do think there are lots of testers out of work at the moment - some pretty big projects have been canned recently. I hope that the new budgets in April will mop them up and rates will creep up again.

I had a call tonight about an OSS-RC test contract abroad if you're interested in travelling (I'm definitely not!) Best of luck, Darren. I hope things pick up for you.

[Emily]

I've not read your CV so can't comment, but what I can comment on is the number of applications. You don't want to be the guy whose CV gets ignored by recruiters and hiring managers because it pops up in their inbox for every position. Here's what happens:

• Joe Bloggs applies for a Test Manager role.
• Recruiter looks at CV, not quite right for role, moves on
• Joe Bloggs applies for a Test Analyst position.
• Recruiter looks at CV, not quite right for role, moves on
• Joe Bloggs applies for 50 other slightly test related roles
• Recruiter blanks CV completely- 'Oh no, not this guy AGAIN'
• Perfect role comes out for Joe Bloggs
• Recruiter still blanks CV because they've looked at it so many times for irrelevant roles the automatic assumption is that Joe Bloggs isn't right for the job.

It's wrong - but that's often how it works.

[BlasterBates]

I LOVE CICS/COBOL

[cojak]

Sadly I've just got rid of CICS/COBOL...

[Darren_Test]

Guys,

Thanks a lot for the invaluable feedback on this..
I am in the process of rewriting my CV based on the feedback & help i got from you guys...

Thanks again...
Darren

(BTW I am removing my useless CV from that site...)

[tim123]

My ratio of CV to interview was about 1 in 2, and my interview to offer was and still is 100%. I never failed to get an offer from a contract interview.
.

Oh for such an easy "yes/no" skill to check for on my CV as MF has.

(And I do just mean easy to check, no easy to do)

tim

[MarillionFan]

Firstly thats a very poor CV.

Nothing stands out, it doesnt flow, there is no stucture, it tells me nothing about the candidate, far too buzzwordy, I assume these were all contract roles, otherwise you move around to much.

This tells me you rate your technical, buzzwords highly. It also shows you are unable to structure, therefore implies that your work is unstructured and doesnt flow(critical for testing).

The style of the CV means it will go in the bin pretty much straight away.
Secondly you're sending this poor CV out by the sounds of it by email to every job you see, probably loads which dont even meet your CV, so your wasting your time and the agents. Again, straight in the bin. Be more focussed.

Now the fact, you have had 100 conversations says something else about you. My ratio of CV to interview was about 1 in 2, and my interview to offer was and still is 100%. I never failed to get an offer from a contract interview.

So this means, not only is your CV, your obviously not telling the agent what he wants to hear. The agent is not technical, you need to sell yourself to him.

Think more consultant than techie if you want to succeed in contracting.

[BlasterBates]

I wouldn´t worry yet, 7 weeks isn´t a longtime. Wait until it becomes months . Look at other sectors, Finance for example, for the middle/back office there are a lot of similarities with Telco. They are running real-time systems. Maybe this is something you need to emphasise.

Anyway good luck.

But just have in the back of your mind you need to be prepared for maybe up to 12 months out of work, at some point, I think you won´t find an experienced contractor that doesn´t have several months out of work at some time.

[BlasterBates]

Hi Darren

For Me I did Fortran 77 way way back in the first 3 months of my first ever IT job, I would never write that on my CV now.
Best.

Me too

Its stll on my CV,

I LOVE FORTRAN 77

[SueEllen]

Re the spelling, I hate to come across as picky on what for some might be a minor point but spellcheckers arent so good at telling in what context your using a word. This word would be correct in American English either way
but in UK English licence is the noun and license is the verb.
Go and look at said document or the DVLA's website to see how its spelt on there, its the very last line of your CV which i think is why it stood out to me.

Good luck btw, im sure you'll find something soon.

Picking up on the languages point if you speak other languages rather than putting you worked in other countries put that you speak the languages particularly if they are European ones and you are fluent.

[grey_lady]

Re the spelling, I hate to come across as picky on what for some might be a minor point but spellcheckers arent so good at telling in what context your using a word. This word would be correct in American English either way
but in UK English licence is the noun and license is the verb.
Go and look at said document or the DVLA's website to see how its spelt on there, its the very last line of your CV which i think is why it stood out to me.

Good luck btw, im sure you'll find something soon.

[thunderlizard]

I'd hire you: you've got the perfect tester mentality. You've gone through the same process 1000 times without complaint, realised it's broken, but need somebody else to fix it for you

Sorry, putting my serious pants back on...

had a look at the CV and would agree it's too bullety. Bullets lose their emphasising power if you put one on every line.

Main problem for me was that the relentless uniformity made my brain recoil and I physically COULD NOT read it. It's a 3 page list of unconnected facts and it makes you come across as more machine than man. (Having everything numbered feels somehow creepy too!) Maybe think of each placement-chunk as a chance to tell a mini-story: what the goal was, what the obstacles were, how you made a difference.

e.g. I'd personally change this:

• Co-ordination between different stake holders like Orange UK, Alcatel UK & Alcatel France
• Day to day test management, test reporting, defect management & analysis
• Test Strategy & Plan, Test cases for IMAGE OSS solution testing
• Broadband Product Order Management (Axiom O2S) solution testing for IMAGE
• Broadband Inventory Management (Axiom IMS) solution testing for IMAGE
• Alarm Management (Netcool) & Fault Management (Remedy) solution testing
• Performance reporting solution (Proviso) testing for IMAGE
• Defect reporting, analysis & management using phpBugTracker tool
• Successfully completed client’s ground breaking Broadband product testing in record time

to this:
"Managed the test phase of Alcatel's IMAGE project, an international £10m venture. Negotiated the overall test strategy with stakeholders including Orange, and Alcatel in the UK and France, and had responsibility for day to day test management and reporting. By introducing the phpBugTracker tool to the team, we delivered Alcatel's fastest ever test of a Broadband product."

A couple of people in this thread have recommended a "skills checklist" at the top. These are good because you don't have to get bogged down in technical detail when describing your recent placements - you've already fulfilled your buzzword-obligations.

Under "Certifications" - if any of them gives you the right to use a logo, put it on. Pictures are nice (if tasteful)!

Try and put some personal colour into it. Contractors needn't do as much as job candidates - e.g. maybe say where you got your degree, and maybe include your specialism. I'd rather meet someone who'd studied "nuclear power station design" rather than just "engineering".

It could do with more spaces between paragraphs - I'd rather see a 4 page CV that was easy to read than a 3 page one that was crowded. I also don't like all the "&"s instead of "and"s.

but fundamentally, 7 weeks is nothing. Enjoy the downtime!