Reply to: Getting that first contract

[expat]

With experience you'll get to notice the signals an agent sends out that (s)he would like a back hander: doesn't like to use email, prefers the phone, suggests meeting up for a cup of coffee, beer, glass of wine, asks about your personal life, partners, where you're going on holiday (on your own?)...

dream on.....

[threaded]

I think it's about time I stabbed that bloody angel on my right shoulder and listened to the devil on the other one some more.

With experience you'll get to notice the signals an agent sends out that (s)he would like a back hander: doesn't like to use email, prefers the phone, suggests meeting up for a cup of coffee, beer, glass of wine, asks about your personal life, partners, where you're going on holiday (on your own?)...

[Mordac]

He did say "and cut it down to 2 for each job" ......

Yep, you're quite right. I am a muppet.

[expat]

6 pages is way too long. 3 max, most agents will never read past page 1. Whatever you do, make sure all the good stuff is on page 1.
Brief contact details, list of skills, brief summary of achievements etc.
Don't bother with hobbies etc. No one cares.

He did say "and cut it down to 2 for each job" ......

[Spacecadet]

FFS.

Call the agencies. Explain this is your 1st contract, but you are ******* brilliant. Offer to pay the agent £500 direct, cash in hand, if they secure you are contract as a bonus.

Haha - That actually sounds like a plan

[ASB]

If he had more than one....

Of course. But whether it was singular or not was not knowable due to the lack of the possessive.

[threaded]

Does that actually work?

Of course it does! A little bit of corruption can take you a long way.

[Spacecadet]

Thanks again for the replies

The results aspect of my last job is something that could definitely be expanded within my CV.

Still frustrated though, feels like I'm flogging a dead horse... and I'm the dead horse

Maybe a few beers are in order tonight

[DimPrawn]

FFS.

Call the agencies. Explain this is your 1st contract, but you are ******* brilliant. Offer to pay the agent £500 direct, cash in hand, if they secure you are contract as a bonus.

[Mordac]

Look for your USP's and highlight them, make sure they are easy to read.

Tailor CV to each job, have a 6 page CV and cut it down to 2 for each job making sure each buzzword is in there with a positive result.

6 pages is way too long. 3 max, most agents will never read past page 1. Whatever you do, make sure all the good stuff is on page 1.
Brief contact details, list of skills, brief summary of achievements etc.
Don't bother with hobbies etc. No one cares.

[Fleetwood]

If he had more than one....

[ASB]

at your company's expense

Companies[I][B]'[B][I] could be ok too.

[vetran]

Think estate agent

Look for your USP's and highlight them, make sure they are easy to read.

Tailor CV to each job, have a 6 page CV and cut it down to 2 for each job making sure each buzzword is in there with a positive result.

[VectraMan]

At, or rather just before, the interview for my first contract they gave me a coding test.

Some time into the contract, one of the other guys criticised the test to the PM and the team in general. I agreed, and remarked that in fact I had made that criticism at the interview. So did I, said another.

The PM said with a grin, You all did. That's why I hired you.

Tis a good point. I've interviewed loads of people for permie roles (fresh graduates mainly), and what I was always looking for was not that they knew how to do stuff, but that they understood how and why stuff worked.

[expat]

Contracts are like bird cages. The birds on the outside are all fighting to get in, and the birds on the inside are sitting there biding their time and looking forward to when they'll be free again.

No, permanent jobs are like bird cages. The birds in cages are safe and well-fed, but it's the birds flying around outside that do the singing.