Reply to: Boasting on your CV

[tim123]

Indeed it seems IT and engineering are different then. Steam turbines haven't changed a lot in over 60 years But there are a lot less folk around who know anything about them

It used to be possible to jump technology in Engineering Software, but outsourcing put paid to that - there are 1000 Indians who have "whatever the client wants" and they are cheaper too.

tim

[Fred Bloggs]

well so have I,

But I still can't invent 3 years experience of 3GPP, XYZ video processing or whatever other "modern" buzz word it is that they want.

Unless you have security clearance, most weeks there are approximately zero jobs on offer in the UK that don't have one of these buzz words as a must (and I do mean as a must) have.

(Assuming you don't want a job doing "integrate the crap delivered by our offshore monkeys")

tim

Indeed it seems IT and engineering are different then. Steam turbines haven't changed a lot in over 60 years But there are a lot less folk around who know anything about them

[tim123]

More in my case of having been around the block many times and seen it all before.

well so have I,

But I still can't invent 3 years experience of 3GPP, XYZ video processing or whatever other "modern" buzz word it is that they want.

Unless you have security clearance, most weeks there are approximately zero jobs on offer in the UK that don't have one of these buzz words as a must (and I do mean as a must) have.

(Assuming you don't want a job doing "integrate the crap delivered by our offshore monkeys")

tim

[Fred Bloggs]

Then you must have one of the knowledges to which I eluded.

Lucky bugger, without them, getting a decent job is somewhat difficult IME.

tim

More in my case of having been around the block many times and seen it all before. When I apply for a project assignment there's a 90% chance that I can massage my CV to bring out exactly what the client wants without telling lies. There is often an advantage in engineering to having a few grey hairs which might not hold true in the world of IT.

[tim123]

I almost never work for an IT department, my last gig was for a Supply Chain and Logistics unit in a major manufacturer, while I was delivering IT projects and products the requirements were strictly Business ones and the motivations were to reduce costs and improve lead times (increased profits).

Your product adds value to their final product and makes it attractive to customers over the competition i.e. more sales revenue. Believe me there is a financial motive behind every project, in your case the Product PM isn't good enough to get all of the products and processes in place in a timely manner so money is wasted reducing the financial benefit from your work.

Well of course, but this doesn't mean that any of this is in control. I work as a small cog on a multi person project purely to implement something that someone else has decided should be implemented.

By the time that I arrive on a project there is little that I can do to change what that product will do.

Most of the companies that I get (a chance) to work for, use contractors as a very last resort. Having engaged them, they only use them for a very narrow defined task. They certainly don't employ contractors in positions where they can make strategic decisions and if (as happens often) you see something which could (should) be improved you rarely get a route to the person who might be in a position to make that change, and if you look for that person you will discover that a dozen other people have already suggested it.

So, how, in that environment, do I boast about the things that I do that can make a difference? (Which as I have said three times already, is finising my own alloacted task early)

tim

[tim123]

Savings can be quantified on any project,

I know they do, but that was never the question.

The answers that I have received (seem to be) to highlight the business change that that saving represented.

But not all savings result in a change in the business.

The question is "how does someone put a cost saving on a CV when the only benefit to the client was the saving in my fee".

Please believe me on this, there is no other saving. So how do I represent it other than by saying "completed 4 months work in 2", which if this were on a CV that I received, I would look at and think that the company's estimating was lousy.

tim

[TykeMerc]

You need to move outside of your IT department mentality.

It's to develop (the software part of) a product that will sell in a shop to punters at a few 100 quid a time.

Given that when doing such a development it is IME (almost always) the hardware (or more precisely the production process for that hardware) that is late, all my being early with my software does for the client is to save him a few days/weeks of my rate (and some worry lines)


tim

I almost never work for an IT department, my last gig was for a Supply Chain and Logistics unit in a major manufacturer, while I was delivering IT projects and products the requirements were strictly Business ones and the motivations were to reduce costs and improve lead times (increased profits).

Your product adds value to their final product and makes it attractive to customers over the competition i.e. more sales revenue. Believe me there is a financial motive behind every project, in your case the Product PM isn't good enough to get all of the products and processes in place in a timely manner so money is wasted reducing the financial benefit from your work.

[TykeMerc]

Savings can be quantified on any project, even in the case of doing a project to comply with new or updated regulation or legislation there's a saving motive as it removes the risk of being fined or shut down.

Almost every project has a cost saving or revenue earning motive even if it's very long term, without either of those there's no business case. No business case = no project, very simple.

[tim123]

The answer to that question is quite simple....

WHY did they decide to spend time and money developing the application?
The answer splits out into one of the following basic questions with their obvious variations.

Is it to replace a legacy app that is inefficient or expensive to host?
Is it to add new capacity to meet a new regulatory need?
Is it going to add value to their customers increasing retention and new sales?
Is it going to allow the same number of staff to do their job faster so reducing customer delays?
Is it going to allow the same job to be done with less staff?
.

You need to move outside of your IT department mentality.

It's to develop (the software part of) a product that will sell in a shop to punters at a few 100 quid a time.

Given that when doing such a development it is IME (almost always) the hardware (or more precisely the production process for that hardware) that is late, all my being early with my software does for the client is to save him a few days/weeks of my rate (and some worry lines)


tim

[tim123]

I'm talking about engineering actually.

Then you must have one of the knowledges to which I eluded.

Lucky bugger, without them, getting a decent job is somewhat difficult IME.

tim

[Sockpuppet]

How do you know how much you saved them? Why are you hired to save the money anyway, rather than to get a product nearer completion?

I don't work in IT

I work in logistics and warehousing - more of a traditional consultant.

So I have a budget to work so any any savings can be quantified.

[Fred Bloggs]

Come over to the embedded world and (unless you have in-depth knowledge of 3GPP or Video standards) it just ain't like that.

tim

I'm talking about engineering actually.

[TykeMerc]

The point is, the only way that I save the company money is by doing the job quicker than ANOther would.

I don't go into companies to advise them to change the way that they work, I go to a client to develop something that they has already decided needs developing.

So the question is, where I do save the company money by doing the job quicker, how do I reflect this on my CV in a way that doesn't just look like an unsubstantiated boast?

tim

The answer to that question is quite simple....

WHY did they decide to spend time and money developing the application?
The answer splits out into one of the following basic questions with their obvious variations.

Is it to replace a legacy app that is inefficient or expensive to host?
Is it to add new capacity to meet a new regulatory need?
Is it going to add value to their customers increasing retention and new sales?
Is it going to allow the same number of staff to do their job faster so reducing customer delays?
Is it going to allow the same job to be done with less staff?

In effect cost savings, increasing throughput and regulatory compliance are the mainstay benefits of the business case which got your projects signed off and you hired to do the development.

[tim123]

Honestly, I find that a client wants to talk to me because I know things that they do not know. Then I find it very easy to look like a superstar. Of course, you then have to deliver the goods. But any contractor worth his salt should have no trouble looking good IMO. Remember this- "In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king". It's true.

Come over to the embedded world and (unless you have in-depth knowledge of 3GPP or Video standards) it just ain't like that.

tim

[tim123]

Exactly.

My CV is:

Client Co - Date from - date to

They paid me x. I saved them y which is more than x by sum z.


Seems to work. Results speak for themselves.

The point is, the only way that I save the company money is by doing the job quicker than ANOther would.

I don't go into companies to advise them to change the way that they work, I go to a client to develop something that they has already decided needs developing.

So the question is, where I do save the company money by doing the job quicker, how do I reflect this on my CV in a way that doesn't just look like an unsubstantiated boast?

tim