Category Archives: The CV Righter

Careers Advice, CV Tips, Job Applications, Project Management, Project management career progression, Project Management Careers Advice, Project management CV, Recruitment, The CV Righter

Asking for help – why does it seem so hard?

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We’ve all been there – having a moment when we really could do with some support in something we do. Having googled for hours and found snippets of information which help to build up a rather bitty solution. CV writing is no different and I have lost count of the websites which offer some advice on how you should be doing things, however there are no real practical examples of profiles, bullet points etc  for project professionals which can become very frustrating.

One of the most common questions I was asked as a recruiter was “why is my CV not working?” often candidates wondering if there was an unwritten rule by recruiters which stopped them being picked over others. Of course there were always the candidates who were adamant that their CVs were the best thing since sliced bread as they know how good they are. I have said it over and over but it isn’t necessarily the best candidates who get the interviews, it is the best CVs. Hiring managers have such high expectations when it comes to a CV, it is not just the well formatted and spelling error free CV they expect to see. They want to know a whole lot more about you and how you work. They want to see examples of projects and methods of delivery as well as how you add value, what sets you apart from others and whether you have a good understanding of what it is you do. The art of CV writing comes down to including all the above in a concise and clear format. Not just a list of duties, contextualise those duties and that additional information about some of the challenges you have come up against. Merely delivering on time and to budget just doesn’t cut it, if anything there is concern for those who never face big challenges such as slippage and tricky stakeholders. Let’s face it, you will have been very lucky to always have an easy route to success so how would you cope in a more challenging environment where you have to work much harder to gain buy-in and succeed?

This is where The CV Righter can help you with your project management CV; project management covers a multitude of roles from programme, portfolio, projects, risk, change and business analysis; from support roles through delivery and team management / direction. We offer a no obligation CV review for project professionals wanting to understand how your CV reads to others. Think of us as a sounding board, you may not like all you have to hear but the information is constructive and wouldn’t it be better to know where the weaknesses are in your CV rather than keep assuming that it is great and that it is the recruiters and employers who clearly cannot see you are perfect for the role!

We also understand that you may want to write your CV yourself – I always say, if you can do it then do. However you may need some assistance and a sounding board to work with along your journey – this is also a service we can provide, it doesn’t cost as much as you might think. For those who are adamant to go it alone we have a free CV writing booklet with examples of the various elements of the CV and advice on how and why certain aspects need to be addressed in the CV – providing a recruiters perspective.

It is nice to give something back having worked in recruitment specifically for project professionals for 5 years – that is why we offer the free CV review and free CV writing booklet, we are happy to talk through what services we feel would be of benefit to you and clearly state prices. Plus we have a process which means we will not stop working on your CV until you are happy with it – unlike a lot of off the shelf CV writers, we make sure you are completely comfortable with the content and even invite you to take your CV and try it with recruiters and hiring managers to gauge reactions. If you feel it is not working, we rework. Although to date we have received only good feedback from clients’ mainly stating that they have got the job (some after months of trying before taking our service, others who came to us before making the application for their ideal job), others have received lots of interest from recruiters (having not had any or very little interactions despite applications and having their CV in PM databases) or those who aren’t particularly looking for a new role but want to be in a good position for when they do – who have a new found confidence about themselves as project professionals.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help – it is openly given at The CV Righter, whether it’s some free assistance or a paid package, we can help. Get in touch today with your current CV and see what we can do for you.

CV Tips, CV Writing, Friday Snippet, Job Applications, News, Project Management, Project management career progression, Project management CV, The CV Righter

Free Project Management CV writing essential guide

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Are you trying to put together your resume but unsure of what you should be included in your CV? Over the past couple of months we have covered a great deal of information on CV writing for project professionals on the blog and have drawn together all this information into one easy guide.

Covering areas such as:

  • An explanation of why job applications are rejected – a great start to writing your CV is to understand the pitfalls of making an application.
  • Basic CV structure – an easy guide through the structuring of a professional CV, what to include!
  • Understanding your target audience – you need to know what your prospective employers want to know about you, some handy hints to get you started.
  • Specific detail about writing your profile and examples of good and bad profiles.
  • The benefits of adding key achievements and what to state.
  • Employment history – addressed with specific examples of a role, written the right and the wrong way.
  • Information about stating referees and hobbies in your CV – understand how an employer views these.

This document has been compiled for those of you who want to write your CV yourself – however once you start to understand the complexity of writing your CV to include your experience and skill-set versus what the employer needs to understand, you may decide to take up the services of a professional CV writer such as The CV Righter. There’s no shame in it – in fact having a recruiters’ perspective to how your CV reads is invaluable in the ever competitive job market.

If you would like a free essential guide to CV writing, please contact us through our webpage here.

Infographic, News, No, Project Management, The CV Righter

Unveiling our new animated infographic by Zack Esterhuizen Design

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Infographics are becoming increasingly popular in a number of fields and apps which produce these are a plenty however taking the infographic to the next stage is an exciting concept which is being embraced across the digital media industry and spreading out to other sectors – the animated infographic. Intrigued by the concept The CV Righter engaged Zack Esterhuizen Design to create an infographic about our business and were very pleased with the service we received. I met with Zack who is the company founder of Zack Esterhuizen Design – he performed requirements gathering and really worked to understand what The CV Righter as a business hoped to achieve from the animation. Our primary goal was to have a piece of work which clearly covers our service offering and has a humour element too. Once Zack had taken down a detailed brief about the business they went away to work on a project plan and were back in touch with a story board and script for the animation which we went through together, slide by slide, to ensure it worked and said the right things. Perky Pair engaged S2Blue, an established audio services business in broadcasting, to create the voiceover – who took on the assignment with as much professionalism as Perky Pair and created a great piece of work which runs over the animation. Once this was approved and changes were made we were presented with the final product.

Not only were we impressed by Zack and Vikki’s professionalism throughout the project – we also felt included in the process which I have to say was very exciting. The final piece is both informative and easy to follow – it says a lot in a short time frame and as such I personally feel this would be an exceptional tool for engaging stakeholders on large projects. It moves away from the traditional “stuffy” format and brings a fresh element to presentations. But don’t take it from me – have a look for yourself here.

The animated infographic is a fantastic way to present service offerings to a wider audience and unlike the static format – it engages its audience with a short presentation which gets to the point and presents some great facts without getting embroiled in confusing detail. Perky Pair manage the project from start to end and engage the third party suppliers as required – overall I would say they have embraced stakeholder engagement exceptionally!