Getting a new job

[Elite]

I went to Starting point, which is a career advisory scheme that is local.

I wanted to get into a job working with the disadvantaged and they gave me all the info and got me application forms for jobs that suited my requirements. I have a job that I love.

[aws]

Don't build your hopes up, SD.

The Poles will have nabbed any jobs you're after.

[taliesin08]

Depends where you live for websites in general but the Guardian & local papers are good for looking for jobs as well as local authority's and F.E. websites. Agencies are good as a stepping stone for jobs as its easier to get a job when your in a job. Oh yes and by the way that EU CV template is a joke.

[Moschops II]

Have you considered the role of a manwhore?

[greenoak]

Your CV

How long you been out of uni?

Who gives a flying fuck if youve got a degree, every tom dick and anton under 25 has one. As an employer all i care about is what can he do that the next bloke cannot. I managed an IT call centre where almost none of the managers had degrees, but over half of the people on 12k answering the phone had one. In the 80's banks only starting recruiting with a degree and they manged to recruit the thickest dumb arses with the common sense of bricks. The vast majority got laid off in the 90's and they kept the people with people skills rather than degrees.

The very top of your CV needs to be your key skills. What have you achieved in your last job. If I want a manager i want to know what sort of budget has he managed. I need to know can he make decisions. It amazing how many mangers are totally incapable of making decisions for themselves. Management is so much about making choices, if need someone who can make a decision and explain why he did it they way. If I want a graphic designer I want copies of his work, if a web developer I want to know what websites he has managed, what happened to that website. Whats he like with ROI KPI etc. If I want a customer care bod I want to know about his written skills and telephone manner, and the first interview is always a telephone based one. If you are looking for an office based job IT skills are vital. advanced Excel skills are gold dust. Every team leader going will use excel, the good ones can use advanced excel charting pivot tables. A good cv tells me what tasks they can do in excel not just I can use excel word etc. I IT skill test before an interview for those sort of roles. I have the test custom written for interviews that really test the common tasks they will use every day. I want to know if a PA can write a tables of contents understands revisions. Can they imbed excel charts etc etc Do they understand concepts of house styles. I can tell you if i recruit someone who will use word excel access photoshop etc every day I know they can use them. Without those advanced skills they have not a hope of getting recruited.

If I see a CV thats breaks the mold and tells me what they can do will do and have done, they get my attention. For some jobs I have hundreds of cv to go through, a plain single page cv will never ever get my attention unless it a really low grade job. If someone can fill a page with their skills and achievements they get more than the 20 seconds most cvs get.

Then when they get called in for interview they then have to prove they are not bullshitting. I see plenty of people I call in for interview that I never see because they fail the pre interview tests. They cannot believe it when I tell them that I will not be interviewing them as they failed the pre interview tests. I dont see why I need to waste my time when all I have proved is they lied on the CV. HR love it. If I shortlist 5 can didates for interview i expect 2 to fail the pre interview tests. If they pass the skill tests, then we physcometric test them as well, but I can tell you some interviews are very very short, as I dont stand fools lightly. It costs a fortune to recruit and even more if we hire, and then ever more to get rid of the one that cannot hack the job.

[wiiksie]

Originally Posted by greenoak Who gives a flying fuck if youve got a degree,

Horses for courses, but every senior IT position I've had since graduating has required degree-level education.

What is your job greenoak?

[RedinSweden]

I read greenoaks post in the manner of CJ from Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin. I was disappointed that there was no "I din't get where I am today.." at the end though. Sort it out greenoak!

[Bourbon]

Greenaoak - The J Jonah Jameson of TLW!

[Nick Leeson]

I love posts like that. I read them out in my head in a cockney accent "lock, stock" style.
Inserting lots of "fackin"s in them.

He was right though, in my opinion and kinda enforced what I was trying to say. If the job is worth anything then there'll be competiton for it. It's not a fair competition with a level playing field or even any kind of rules; factors have to be taken into consideration like did the person who will be reading the CVs have enough water to drink that morning, or has his best mate been promised the job already.

Finding a clever way to make your CV stand out is just increasing your chances in what is essentially ja numbers game. In fact it's the just the first round of a game. The numbers round. Making your CV interesting enough, relevant enough and impressive enough is the next challenge.

[Tom R]

Everything Noos said.

And I'd add that I reckon you're pricing yourself way too low. £16k for a Graduate with 8 years work experience? You're underselling yourself massively there mate.

You're in a position of power i.e. you're already working. There's no rush. So why not look for a job paying £20-25k, and you might just get £18k-23k. At the end of the day you're already working, so take your time and find teh right role for the right money, not just the job that isnt' the job you're in now.

[Tom R]

Degrees don't mean shit unless you're a Doctor, Lawyer, Teacher or an Engineer.

Every other degree is an utterly pointless waste of 4 years of your life and many thousands of pounds.

Do the right thing, kids - drop out of school.

[greenoak]

Not sure I like that reference...

[RedinSweden]

Originally Posted by Tom R Degrees don't mean shit unless you're a Doctor, Lawyer, Teacher or an Engineer. Every other degree is an utterly pointless waste of 4 years of your life and many thousands of pounds. Do the right thing, kids - drop out of school.

I don't agree. i got started on my career path because of my degree. That was 10 years ago I suppose, but there are still degrees out there wort having. In my case the grade of degree matters not in the slightest. No on has even asked. I am so glad i did the bare minimum.

[Bourbon]

Originally Posted by greenoak Not sure I like that reference...

It was a power-rant par excellence, Oakster.

Loved it.

[taliesin08]

Lazy employers ask for CV's its better to have a job application with specific questions etc geared towards the role they are looking for.

[Stu Monty]

Originally Posted by Tom R Degrees don't mean shit unless you're a Doctor, Lawyer, Teacher or an Engineer. Every other degree is an utterly pointless waste of 4 years of your life and many thousands of pounds. Do the right thing, kids - drop out of school.

Bollocks. Got in at the bottom level as an Engineer because I had a degree, in a completely unrelated discipline. It proved I could learn and then apply that learning.

I do think that if you're going to go to Uni and come out with anything under a 2:1 then in many instances you might as well have not bothered.

It's weird, but I have no real ambition in work. I could piss £250 a day if I wanted to but I can't be arsed with the hassle of having to move contract every nine months and chase work when it dries up a bit. I'm a mug really but I'm a relaxed and content mug, so I'm okay.