Monthly Archives: November 2012

CV Tips, CV Writing, Friday Snippet, Graduates, Starting out in Project Management

Graduate CV – how to begin.

Leave a comment

Your CV is the most important starting point for you to market yourself to potential employers – as a marketing document you need to ensure it is clear, concise, relevant, has a unique selling point (USP) and is personal to you.

To begin
Don’t pull your hair out we have all been there and although it may seem difficult to start with – you will soon develop a creative flow. Play around with a few CV templates and find a style that works for you. Then consider the following:

  • Use positive statements and an enthusiastic tone – use an active tense such as managing rather than managed and facilitating rather than facilitated.
  • Talk through your demonstrable experience – giving workable examples.
  • Avoid generic statements such as “good communication skills” and actually demonstrate how you have used the skills effectively to achieve something or get something done.
  • The space you devote to a matter suggests the importance you give to it. Be careful not to dedicate half a page to education and a line or two to your achievements or role remits.
  • Account for all gaps in the CV – if you took a year off to travel; that is fine just ensure you list it.

It is very important to make a good first impression – remember you are not the only person applying for the job! You will have competition and if you are not a strong contender – your CV could be rejected within 20 seconds of being viewed.

  • Make sure the job you are applying for is something you can realistically do – take care to place emphasis on the skills required for the role.
  • Address the application specifically to the name on the website / advert and write a cover letter matching up your relevant experience.
  • Put in the effort to make sure you are selling yourself in the best light.

Here are some links to articles which you will find useful moving forward:

CV Tips, guest blogger, Planning

How (Not) To Make a HR Professional Cry

Leave a comment

For a number of head-bashing frustrating years I once worked in an HR department, where I had the dubious pleasure of perusing graduate and undergraduate applications for work experience and speculative applications for employment.  In terms of advice to many of these young hopefuls I would, in a nutshell, have been able to offer the simple mentoring statement “go back to school, learn to spell and then start again”.  A couple of others also spring to mind; here’s a basic list of what to include and what not to include on those all-important career starting CVs and letters.

Spell Check is your Friend

The spelling one is really top of the list; if you are applying for a professional role, whatever the level, basic inability to spell is not really excusable.  Spell check, for a start, makes life easier; however the simplest rule to live by is if you aren’t 100 per cent sure on any word – look it up.  Your letter or CV will, believe me, stand out like a close range supernova if you don’t.  Spell check, double check then get a friend to check.  You know what those pesky Meerkats would say.

Objectionable Statements

“Career Objective” statements are, to say the least, pretty objectionable.  There are, unfortunately, a lot of these about at the moment but they are not vastly interesting to most employers.  The main point they’re interested in is why you’re applying for this job; not your long term career plans.  In theory it shows commitment to a chosen career, in reality it doesn’t get read and seems a little cloying.  The section is best ditched, in all honesty, but if you must include it, keep it short and explain why you’ve chosen this particular organisation to apply to.  If your careers advisor suggests you put it in, punch them, for me.

Wow, a gold star

Again, probably the fault of over-enthusiastic careers advisors, but you really don’t need to list all and every achievement you’ve ever been awarded.  There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with adding an achievements section, especially if you are starting out your career and haven’t masses of relevant work history to display.  However “relevant” here is the key word; applying for a role as a trainee accountant doesn’t mean you need to tell anyone you got a Gold Star for Adding Up when you were four.  HR people like a laugh just as much as the next person, but they don’t have that much time on their hands.  You may think I’m joking with the example back there.  I wish I was.

selbstinszinierung durch fremdbestimmung

Presentation is everything

Most young applicants today are from the slightly intimidating group known as the “internet generation”.  Employers assume this means a basic familiarity with the computer.  Poor document presentation is, therefore, not excusable.  Badly formatted, overly formatted (please, no Gothic Script, even if you are applying to work with the local undertakers) unaligned dates or sub-headings and bullet points.  These issues won’t appeal to anybody, whether you’re working towards a career in PR recruitment or a position as an artisan backer.  These all indicate a high level of incompetence, unwillingness to ask for help, learn, or even care very much.  HR offices have large re-cycling bins, strategically placed and there for a very good reason.

Waffle Free Applications

When you apply for a job pack you will get a job description.  This tells you exactly what the employer is looking for – there really is nothing esoteric about the whole process.  There will be a list of essential and desirable qualities.  If you have the essential qualities the chances are you’ll be on at least the long list for interview.  Take each point and bullet point your experience; there’s no need to wax lyrical, unless you’re applying for a job as a poet.  If the job requires cash handling experience say on your application that you have cash handling experience.  The form is for selection purposes, the interview is where you back up what you’ve said with examples.  HR people like a good novel, which is why they also favour concise, short, application forms.

Author
Carlo Pandian is a freelance writer and community outreach person for Media Recruitment. He blogs on media jobs, career advice and latest trends in the public relation industry covering everything from CV tips to the latest social media trends.

Interviews, Project Management Careers Advice, Project Management Interview Questions, Project Management Interviews

Addressing weaknesses in your Project Management Interview

2 Comments

One question burning on the lips of most interviewers is “what is your weakness” – time and time again I have asked this question and been met with a variety of responses, the worst response to date was “I do not have any”. Clearly that is their biggest weakness, not being able to objectively analyse themselves or generally recognise where their weaknesses lay. It can be difficult to admit that we have imperfections nonetheless we all do, this is not going to stop you getting the job – not recognising them and addressing them however, will!

So once you have identified your weakness you need to tackle it head on with a solution. For example, I am often taking on more than I should do and work in a way which appears to be disorganised – often dipping in and out of various pieces of work and dealing with issues all at the same time. Now for me, this works as I find I take a creative and energised approach to work and avoid getting bogged down in areas I may otherwise be forming a block. So to keep a track of everything I am doing and need to complete; I write lists – yes, just lists. I then work with my outlook calendar to schedule in priorities and only dismiss my reminders once the actions are complete. Ideally at the start of the day I will schedule in my commitments and “to do” list in my calendar and “tick” them off throughout the day.  Did you notice that I have actually described more than one weakness?

  1. Taking on more than I should – positive outcome: like to multi-task
  2. Disorganised
  3. Dipping in and out of various pieces of work – positive outcome: able to easy switch brain to different matters
  4. Dealing with issues as they arise – positive outcome: doesn’t “park” items which require immediate attention

Four issues all brought under control by one change in how I work – a simple solution and equally simple but effective method of reassuring your interviewer that you have your weaknesses in check; in fact you can turn your weaknesses into strengths quite easily. All these positive outcomes are fantastic for project management professionals – by carefully thinking out your weaknesses to talk about at interview, you can actually manage to really add that extra little something which may just push your candidacy over the finish line and seize you that job offer over everyone else.

The thing to remember when being questioned about weaknesses is to not dwell on them, keeping the interview positive is very important – the interviewer isn’t asking you to divulge really personal things about yourself, so keep it professional and constructive.

Job Applications, Project Management Careers Advice, project management jobs

Organising your Project Management job search

1 Comment

Project management is all about being organised and disciplined – it makes us more efficient, however as prepared as we are in the office / about our projects, some of us are less organised outside office hours. Now that is not to say in everything we do as we still need structure to function, getting the kids ready for school, walking the dog and making sure we all eat at the right times etc. but when it comes to applying for jobs. It can be a case of go online, find a few project management jobs, adjust CV accordingly, apply and then forget all about them until you (hopefully) receive a call.

Creating a good impression with HR and recruiters is a must – they are the gate keepers, if you mess up with them, then your application goes no further and all the work you put in to writing a cover letter or reshaping your CV has gone to waste. Therefore it is important to make sure you keep a note of what you are applying for, a simply excel spreadsheet will suffice. Create a few headers for the columns such as job title, salary or day rate, location, reference number, agency/business applied to, date applied, version of CV sent (make sure you name your CVs so you can track what went where), where you found the advert/role (this may be a particular search term or website) and date to follow up application.

Once you have this document you can print it off or email to your phone (screen shot it for Apple products) and then you are ready to take calls from recruiters and employers on the go – when you receive a call, ask who is calling and the job title they are calling about. Ask them to hold the line (say you are taking a private room) and scan through your document for the role. You will sound far more organised and professional as you talk through the job and are more likely to gain success with the “gatekeeper” to actually get your CV put forward to the hiring manager for the position.

You can use the spreadsheet to collate details about where you are finding relevant jobs from which will assist you moving forward in deciding which websites you should be spending more time / less time on, noting dates for applications and setting follow up dates to call employers / recruiters is great practice. All the good project management people are always following up actions!

I cannot emphasise enough, the need for a professional approach to job applications – remember first impressions. Don’t blow it with an agency by answering the phone unprepared and sounding disinterested, there are plenty of other great candidates out there who are happy to take your place and will do so if you fall at the first hurdle – excuse the Olympic themed idiom!