Reply to: *** The official good luck Richard Cranium thread ***

[moorfield]

Congrats RC. Wot we like to hear.



Smoke yourself a kipper for breakfast.

[BrilloPad]

Very best of luck

[rsingh]

Quote:
Originally Posted by rsingh
Well done. It just goes to show that BS and spin will pay off eventually

Naaaaaaaaaaah is doesn't

HTH

Sorry - I've corrected my post for you.

[suityou01]

Well done. It just goes to show that perseverance will pay off eventually

Naaaaaaaaaaah is doesn't

HTH

[rsingh]

Well done. It just goes to show that perseverance will pay off eventually

[Spacecadet]

Good work RC, I hope the new contract works out!

My 2 cents about applying for contracts:

From advice received when I first joined this forum I just apply and forget, never bothered with cover letters. I don't even bother noting which contracts I've applied for.
I get call backs on about 1 in 5 realistic applications I make.
I do apply for other contracts which I don't have a chance of getting if it looks like my skills could be used in another capacity in the clients project. If the agent calls back I explain why I applied and have a chat about what I can offer
Call backs are better than 1 in 10 on average
For every 2 application call back I get I'll get 1 unsolicited call about a role. So far unsolicited calls have been much more fruitful than trawling through jobserve.

Any tips from fellow contractors about "friendly" agents are noted and acted up appropriately (although this happens about twice a year)

Unless an interview has been confirmed (or is in the process of being arranged) I do not call agents.
I do keep my phone with me at all times and avoid situations where answering it would be difficult or impossible. I've learnt that if an agent calls and has to leave a message then by the time you can return the call they've already got enough good applicants.

So far I've spent 6 weeks benched this year. 3 weeks in Jan thanks to previous contract ending on 31st december, possibly the worst time for a contract to end upturn or downturm

and 3 weeks in July due to a bit of bad luck with interviews.
1 pipped at the post - although admittedly I could have done better in the interview
1 client who didn't have a ****ing clue what they wanted
1 instance of being literally blown out of the water by another applicant with several years experience to my paltry 12 months in the technical area (they were from a different agency, only found out when I happened to bump in the client by chance and asked him what happened).

[Zippy]

Sorry. Give me a few days and I'll be too busy to post.

Git!

[voodooflux]

If what he said is right, once I've read, checked, had re-written the contract, I think I start on Wednesday.

woohoo i get to be the first to congratulate you..

Late to the party, let me be one of the last. Well done sir

[RichardCranium]

It made me sleepy

Sorry. Give me a few days and I'll be too busy to post.

[RichardCranium]

NZ eh! One good thing about the agents down there is that they don't play all the games they do here.

In which case, setting up as an agent down there but with knowledge of the dirty tricks might be a good plan...

[chef]

It made me sleepy

heeheheehe

dont hold back there SA, SA what you really think..

[SallyAnne]

Seriously, good post.

It made me sleepy

[suityou01]

Oh, you want the "DSS stats"? The "What have you been doing this past two weeks to find work" stuff?

Background:
Stopped working full-time at the start of Feb 'cos of being signed off sick. Did a day or two a week until mid-March when I finished a handover to a fit person. I did not start looking in earnest immediately.

The Stats:
5 applications between mid-March and mid-April. Started looking properly 21/04/2009.

From 21/04/2009 to 12/08/2009 (about 80 working days): 288 applications.
About 3.5 applications per day.
One telephone interview (went nowhere).
One face-to-face interview (probably got the gig).

More waffle for those who might be interested:
I probably tweaked my CV for half the applications. I did it where it was worthwhile.

I did a covering letter for about ¼ of the applications. That was bad, I should have done it for all of them.

I probably followed up the applications with a phone call for about ¼ of the applications. That was also bad, I should have done it for all of them. But with the market as it is, I found if I had not got the agent within one hour of them placing the ad, the role had already gone. Any later than this and I gave up phoning but sent the CV anyway just to tell myself I was being productive.

I used to be good at getting past the 'gatekeepers' and getting through to the agents. The gatekeepers have got better and the agents more rude and evasive. However, I can understand why and so tend not to get upset about it.

I did not waste time applying for roles I knew I would not get. However, I seem to be within the 1% of the applicants who do that, according to about 20 agents.

My gut reaction tells me that my CV was looked at in about 1 in 10 to 1 in 20 applications.

At the start I updated my CV, my LinkedIn and my iProfile to match one another. iProfile has worked for me this time around. LinkedIn has not.

I have a list of agencies that specialise in my niche field. I then re-submitted my CV to them.

Every time I saw an advert for a role I particularly wanted I made sure I also registered with that agency via their web site.

I primarily rely on Jobserve but also check another 4-12 sites depending on how I feel. Most have all the same roles anyway.

The web sites that send out jobs I made sure they had an up-to-date CV and set up suitable searches. (Some of those searches I have had running for years anyway, for "perfect permie jobs" that come up once or twice a year, if ever.) Recently, the jobs-by-email stuff has been very tedious to follow as it usually comes in AFTER I have seen it on the web site and applied! That includes the "alerts" messages.

Miscellaneous stuff wot I has learned:

• If you have not got the 'essentials' in the ad, don't bother applying. You are wasting your own time and morale.
• If you see nothing to apply for today, that is the market's way of saying "Spend some time learning a new skill".
• Always do a very short covering letter. In it list all the 'essentials' - possibly as bullet points - saying when you did / obtained them.
• Always follow up with a 'phone call. It is tedious and frustrating but it works.
• Roles needing current security clearance are inundated with applications from people who neither have, nor are likely to get, clearance. If you have current clearance, you MUST phone up to make yourself known.
• There are some small, obscure jobs-by-email lists that do specialist areas. They do work. (Find them for yourself, I don't know your specialist area.)
• If the gig was advertised yesterday, it has gone.
• If you cannot get hold of the agent, you are unlikely ever to hear anything.
• Once the agent has the 3 candidates they need, they delete all further applications unread.
• At the moment, for every role the agents are getting hundreds of CVs from liars, wishful-thinkers and no-hopers and a handful from professional contractors hidden amongst them. Think about what you can do to counter that.
• If you are patient and understanding with the agents, they will give you free information (but they are unlikely to remember you ten minutes later.)

Some common sense, some absolute gold. More needs to be done with this post. I may frame it. Well ok, put it on the wall in the office with some blue tack, but that's nearly as good as framing.

Seriously, good post.

[TiroFijo]

I'm in New Zealand. Not because I thought that it would be better than the UK but because this is where Mrs Gonzo was born and she wanted to go home. Some aspects of life here are better, some aspects aren't.



Well done Dick Head. Everyone is pleased for you.

NZ eh! Was seriously considering heading down there one time! I was always checking seek for the jobs in my niche in Auckland and it used to return about 250 (2 years ago) and I just checked again last week just out of curiosity and now it is about 75!

One good thing about the agents down there is that they don't play all the games they do here.

Ae you looing for a permy job down there then? It does look like a better place than the UK, on the other hand it is just so far away from everything.

[RichardCranium]

Good on ya! How long was you on da bench fur?

Oh, you want the "DSS stats"? The "What have you been doing this past two weeks to find work" stuff?

Background:
Stopped working full-time at the start of Feb 'cos of being signed off sick. Did a day or two a week until mid-March when I finished a handover to a fit person. I did not start looking in earnest immediately.

The Stats:
5 applications between mid-March and mid-April. Started looking properly 21/04/2009.

From 21/04/2009 to 12/08/2009 (about 80 working days): 288 applications.
About 3.5 applications per day.
One telephone interview (went nowhere).
One face-to-face interview (probably got the gig).

More waffle for those who might be interested:
I probably tweaked my CV for half the applications. I did it where it was worthwhile.

I did a covering letter for about ¼ of the applications. That was bad, I should have done it for all of them.

I probably followed up the applications with a phone call for about ¼ of the applications. That was also bad, I should have done it for all of them. But with the market as it is, I found if I had not got the agent within one hour of them placing the ad, the role had already gone. Any later than this and I gave up phoning but sent the CV anyway just to tell myself I was being productive.

I used to be good at getting past the 'gatekeepers' and getting through to the agents. The gatekeepers have got better and the agents more rude and evasive. However, I can understand why and so tend not to get upset about it.

I did not waste time applying for roles I knew I would not get. However, I seem to be within the 1% of the applicants who do that, according to about 20 agents.

My gut reaction tells me that my CV was looked at in about 1 in 10 to 1 in 20 applications.

At the start I updated my CV, my LinkedIn and my iProfile to match one another. iProfile has worked for me this time around. LinkedIn has not.

I have a list of agencies that specialise in my niche field. I then re-submitted my CV to them.

Every time I saw an advert for a role I particularly wanted I made sure I also registered with that agency via their web site.

I primarily rely on Jobserve but also check another 4-12 sites depending on how I feel. Most have all the same roles anyway.

The web sites that send out jobs I made sure they had an up-to-date CV and set up suitable searches. (Some of those searches I have had running for years anyway, for "perfect permie jobs" that come up once or twice a year, if ever.) Recently, the jobs-by-email stuff has been very tedious to follow as it usually comes in AFTER I have seen it on the web site and applied! That includes the "alerts" messages.

Miscellaneous stuff wot I has learned:

• If you have not got the 'essentials' in the ad, don't bother applying. You are wasting your own time and morale.
• If you see nothing to apply for today, that is the market's way of saying "Spend some time learning a new skill".
• Always do a very short covering letter. In it list all the 'essentials' - possibly as bullet points - saying when you did / obtained them.
• Always follow up with a 'phone call. It is tedious and frustrating but it works.
• Roles needing current security clearance are inundated with applications from people who neither have, nor are likely to get, clearance. If you have current clearance, you MUST phone up to make yourself known.
• There are some small, obscure jobs-by-email lists that do specialist areas. They do work. (Find them for yourself, I don't know your specialist area.)
• If the gig was advertised yesterday, it has gone.
• If you cannot get hold of the agent, you are unlikely ever to hear anything.
• Once the agent has the 3 candidates they need, they delete all further applications unread.
• At the moment, for every role the agents are getting hundreds of CVs from liars, wishful-thinkers and no-hopers and a handful from professional contractors hidden amongst them. Think about what you can do to counter that.
• If you are patient and understanding with the agents, they will give you free information (but they are unlikely to remember you ten minutes later.)