All posts by Nicola Caswell-Thorp

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CV Tips, CV Writing, PMO, Project Management

CV format

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As it is Friday and the sun has blessed us all week I wanted to share a few insights into CV formatting from a recruiter’s perspective with our Friday snippet.

Here are a few things to consider when creating a CV:

1. Make sure you format your CV properly, using different fonts and inconsistent spacing, not to mention bullets that do not align throughout the document says a great deal about your MS Word skills. I have lost count of the CVs I’ve reviewed in a recruiter capacity which state advanced user of MS Word – and this is clearly not demonstrated. smiley

2. Placing a photo of yourself on your CV may be the recognised format across the EU, it isn’t popular in the UK especially if you are using a holiday snap or one from a wedding – it’s quite endearing I know but honestly, do you expect to be taken seriously? Why not have a pic on your Linkedin account and a link to your profile on your CV.

3. Using tables may make formatting easier for the document but please do remember that a great deal of software used by recruiters cannot read such formatting therefore you could lose a great deal of information in the system and thus not have your CV viewed as your keywords are not searchable in their databases. This also goes for a good deal of the online job boards, I have come across one major well known job board which loses all formatting of CVs and sends block text in an email for job applications. If you have the opportunity to send a MS Word attachment – do so.

4. Font style should be kept to something readable – back in the day, Times New Roman was the font of choice, however this is dated and with much reader friendly fonts such as Verdana and Tahoma available – use them. Avoid creating a rainbow on your CV utilising different colours, black is fine – remember this is a professional document, you want it to stand out for the right reasons and colours tend to detract away from the content.

Make sure you regularly check over your CV and ask someone else to do so for you – working on your own document over and over can start to restrict your objective observations.

Have a fantastic weekend and keep checking in to our blog for tips and advice in creating that all important CV.

You can follow us on twitter via @TheCVRighter and we also have a Facebook page

CV Tips, CV Writing, PMO, Project Management

Skills based CV versus Chronological CV – which is most effective?

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Having read thousands of CVs in my recruitment days and interviewed hundreds or candidates it became abundantly clear that the answer to the above question is the chronological format is most effective within the Project Management domain – why? Because employers need to understand where and when the skills have been used, simply listing core competencies does not give the reader any context. Also some skills may not have been used for 5 or 10 years, the hiring manager may require recent exercise of a particular skill as this plays a major part of that project. By listing expertise in skills based CVs you may be fortunate enough to reach interview but will be asked questions about those skills in the interview and be rejected against another candidate who does have recent relevant experience. Bear in mind when applying for a role you could be up against a large number of applicants, if there are candidates contextualising their skills on their CVs it is likely your CV will be discarded for those “ticking the boxes” for the recruiter / hiring managers role requirements list.

In a chronological CV each role should have a good level of detail which clearly states the key skills required for that role, every project is delivered differently and due to size and complexity a pragmatic approach to which aspects of formal methods used is key to successful delivery. There’s no point over complicating a fairly straight forward project, this only ties up the project manager or the support team in unnecessary “paperwork”. Do not assume the reader has worked in your organisation or on similar projects – if the CV isn’t clear, it does not get short listed.

Writing a skills based CV may seem like the easy option, it is. Being able to provide a list of bullet points or statements at the top of the CV which covers your entire career in project management would seem to make sense but it detracts away from the subtleties of each role and makes it difficult to actually “paint a picture” of you, the types of projects you have delivered and your style of execution.

Your CV is your personal marketing document – your customers are the recruiters and more importantly the hiring managers. What sells a product to you? For me it has to be a straight forward piece of information which says what it can do, how it works and how up to date it is in key areas of interest for me. Now take that formula and add to it the key requirement for any project management role which is exceptional attention to detail and written communication – think about all the reporting, MI etc.

The CV Righter is a dedicated Project Management CV writing service aimed at righting the CVs of project professionals who could use some insider perspective from PM recruitment specialism and having worked in PM previously. For more information visit: www.thecvrighter.co.uk

Careers Advice, CV Tips, CV Writing, Graduates, Project Management

Starting out in Project Management – CV tips

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Project Management is not for the faint hearted – it’s commonly being recognised as a profession and as such core skills and qualifications are a key requirement for those wanting to venture into the career path. Most of us have used project management whether formally or informally in unrelated roles and often those who wish to take next steps to work in the dedicated field of project management do so due to having a taster. The key thing to remember is that project management can be stressful, with deadlines and often difficult issues to overcome in order to ensure success.

Most of the project management professionals I know have “fallen” into the field, like myself, often carrying out day to day duties in their role and being asked or volunteering up their services to work on a project within the business. Gaining experience working on projects within your current role is one of the best ways to gain attention from potential employers to take you into a dedicated PM role. However, it is a rarity for candidates to go straight into managing their own projects as a first role – look at it from an employer’s perspective, if they have a bundle of cash and a project needing execution they are likely to give the responsibility to a seasoned professional. Especially in frugal times such as today where sign off on projects is being scrutinised fiercely.

A good starting point is supporting a project – either by assisting a PM such as Assistant Project Manager, Project Coordinator or Junior Project Manager or supporting a large project or programme such as Project Support Administrator, Project Support Coordinator, Programme Support etc. But do not be fooled by these roles, there are a vast number of seasoned project / programme support staff out there who are all looking for their next challenge and do not deem these roles as “junior”, the Project Support field is a career in its own right. Often the support people are keen to progress in this area, not to become a PM, but to work in and eventually manage PMOs (programme Management Office).

Here are some tips on strengthening your CV for such applications:

1. Ensure your CV is well written – a key point of project support is to be able to demonstrate effective written skills, if you are providing MI (Management Information) then you’ll need to be able to construct clear concise information.

2. Learn the PM language, utilise the internet and publications in the PM field to understand the terminology used and apply this to your CV. Keyword searching is very popular with recruiters and this can be the difference to having your CV picked up or left behind. Especially those of you who have taken PM qualifications, match up your skills to those required for the role.

3. Be honest, do not write a CV which has all the required competencies if you have not actually done it – you will be found out at interview, try to match up areas you use regularly such as reporting, planning, arranging meetings, taking minutes and client facing skills etc.

4. Don’t aim too high – as stated above you need to take the employers perspective into consideration as to the experience level they are willing to engage on a project. You may have a lot of experience in your current role but be prepared to take a step down as you are effectively taking a career change so it is deemed as starting over.

5. Utilise your relevant sector or industry knowledge and experience. As you are new to the PM field, think about how you can give something back – the employer will need to train you in the role so being able to offer some solid background knowledge to the role is a fair return.

The CV Righter has a wealth of experience in providing careers and CV advice to those wishing to change careers to Project Management, visit: www.thecvrighter.co.uk for further information on how we can help you break into the field.

Careers Advice, News, PMO, Project Management

Online presence – what your social media antics say about you

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Communications in the technology world have evolved so much that we rarely have a need to pick up the phone to call a friend to know what they have been up to thanks(?) to the likes of facebook and twitter. In some respects it’s a fantastic way to keep in touch, in others it is quite sad that we can become complacent and lose that human touch too. In a bid to tell everyone what we are doing you must remember what effect this will also have on your recruitment potential. With reports of businesses in the US asking for passwords to prospective employee’s social media accounts to check their behaviours, a trend is starting to emerge where employers and recruiters alike are looking a little deeper than the CV to understand what potential employees are really like.

Now we have all had the warnings about privacy settings on our social media – but as the likes of facebook become more popular and naturally as a business it wants to extend out to a wider audience, privacy settings are constantly changing so profile pictures are no longer private to the outside world if your settings aren’t up to date. And even posts on your wall can be more readily accessed through other connections; it is time to consider what you want the wider audience to see about your life. Photos of drunken shenanigans and status updates about funny but silly behaviour could be in the reach of employers and could make a huge difference to you being offered a role.

It does seem unfair as your private life should be just that and a great deal of people live by the “work hard, play hard” rule. You may be incredibly professional and results driven at work with a wealth of delivery success under your belt but some organisations don’t take too well to knowing their employees (or potential employees) like to binge drink and make fools of themselves out of work. Fear that the employee may turn into work worst for wear and make costly mistakes and also the biggy – how does it reflect on the business, especially when there is a large new client about to invest who may also fall upon information about the person responsible for handling their expensive project.

The lesson to be learned here (as we are talking project management) is to ensure all your social media privacy settings are tight and up to date. Think about what you actually want people to see and for twitter – think before you tweet!

Now go out there, work hard and play hard – make sure your CV is saying all the right things about you and that your social media is saying the right things too.

For advice on social media and a free CV review from a consultant with project management recruitment experience (who has actually worked in Project Management), visit: www.thecvrighter.co.uk