"feelling sorry for myself" - is my skill set worthless?
"feelling sorry for myself" - is my skill set worthless?
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DanoS4

Original Poster:

869 posts

222 months

Wednesday 27th April 2011
quotequote all
Hello,

I'm in the process of going through redundancy (like a great many people) and am trying to look for alternatives.

Sadly, my background is niche to say the least :-

Record producer, engineer & programmer for UB40, moving into Education (FE) where I now manage and train/deliver on Audio & Music Technology Courses.
I'm both academically and experientially qualified - seeing that the writing was on the wall, I've got a CMI Diploma in Management (Level 5), CIPD Mentoring certification along with my Teaching Qualification.
Vocationally, I've got Music-Tech (including video) qualifications, and have specialised in Apple Macs running Apple Logic (Apple-accredited too).

As you can see, pretty specific! BUT I'm hoping that a great many of these skills are transferable (time & project management, motivational etc without using up all of the key words!!)

I've never really had to write a CV, as my work has done the "talking" for me, however, I have created one (although, I think it is woeful)

I would be exceedingly grateful for PHer's feedback, both constructive and otherwise (can't be any worse than I'm thinking right now! biggrin)
And any suggestions on transferable jobs would be brilliant - music & education are great, but I think I need to be thinking "outside of the box".

Here's my "CV" as it stands.....



Finally, if you know of anybody who could utilise my apparently worthless skills, feel free to give me a shout!!

<brace for impact>

Dan
edited for a slight spelling error.

Edited by DanoS4 on Wednesday 27th April 16:55


Edited by DanoS4 on Wednesday 27th April 16:58

Eric Mc

125,357 posts

293 months

Wednesday 27th April 2011
quotequote all
UB40 - how appropriate smile.

I presume you've been humming "I am a One in Ten" to yourself in recent times.

DanoS4

Original Poster:

869 posts

222 months

Wednesday 27th April 2011
quotequote all
LOL!!! Thanks - I needed that cool

Eric Mc

125,357 posts

293 months

Wednesday 27th April 2011
quotequote all
Need to break open some "Red Red Wine" next.

ATG

23,572 posts

300 months

Wednesday 27th April 2011
quotequote all
FWIW, that CV doesn't look too bad at all. When you are going after particular jobs, you'll want to re-work it to target each application individually anyway (at least, I would).

lawrence567

7,507 posts

218 months

Wednesday 27th April 2011
quotequote all
Why not try applying at your local apple store to be a "genius"?
My mate did exactly this & is doing very well from it.
His only employment beforehand was working as a DJ in a nightclub & he'd done some college course on Apple products whilst un-employed.
It might be worth a punt!

Tyre Smoke

23,018 posts

289 months

Wednesday 27th April 2011
quotequote all
Absolute Radio are looking for a producer.....


http://www.mediauk.com/radio/jobs/11127/senior-pro...

LordGrover

34,138 posts

240 months

Wednesday 27th April 2011
quotequote all
While spelling is not vital on PH, I'd spell racket racquet sports correctly on a cv.

DanoS4

Original Poster:

869 posts

222 months

Wednesday 27th April 2011
quotequote all
Thanks for the info so far smile

My only snag is that I've got a set amount that I need to bring in, otherwise the my family's security is threatened. I fear that the Apple one is a lot less than I would require.

The producer was an interesting one, but I don't have broadcast experience, and the job application shut on the 22nd!

Is there a need for this type of thing in web-design?

Hypothetically, are there positions outside of music that could utilise my skill-set?

Apologies if these sound like stupid questions, but this is an entirely new (and altogether) situation I find myself in.

But thank-you so far :thumb:

Dan

DanoS4

Original Poster:

869 posts

222 months

Wednesday 27th April 2011
quotequote all
LordGrover said:
While spelling is not vital on PH, I'd spell racket racquet sports correctly on a cv.
Thank you - that spell-checks fine (blinkin' American spell-check!! biggrin ) - but edited to correct smile

Edited by DanoS4 on Wednesday 27th April 17:10

Emeye

9,781 posts

251 months

Wednesday 27th April 2011
quotequote all
I always thought it was good to be focused - I'm experienced over a very wide spectrum of the I.T. industry and that never seems to do me any favours.....

singlecoil

35,817 posts

274 months

Wednesday 27th April 2011
quotequote all
Do you have a fallback position should it transpire that your skill set isn't in demand at the moment? Is there anyhting else that you can do, or are interested in, that could form the basis of a new business that you could start?

RemainAllHoof

79,858 posts

310 months

Wednesday 27th April 2011
quotequote all
LordGrover said:
While spelling is not vital on PH, I'd spell racket racquet sports correctly on a cv.
Maybe he "protects" professional footballers for a "fee".

DanoS4

Original Poster:

869 posts

222 months

Wednesday 27th April 2011
quotequote all
Emeye, interesting - I fear that my area may be too niche!! biggrin Seems you're damned wither way you jump.

Singlecoil - let's put it this way, I'm willing to do pretty much anything: my family come first. Due to being conscientious, I'll attack everything with the same level of determination.
My travel is a potential issue, as Herefordshire isn't exactly in the heart of the bustling city-life!! biggrin It's an idyllic area to live in, but work is sparse.
I've got access to Wales, Bristol, Shropshire, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and at a push up into the South Birmingham area.
Travel associated costs are an issue that would have to factored in.

Dan smile

DanoS4

Original Poster:

869 posts

222 months

Wednesday 27th April 2011
quotequote all
RemainAllHoof said:
Maybe he "protects" professional footballers for a "fee".
LOL - I'm too nice for all that malarkey!! biggrin

singlecoil

35,817 posts

274 months

Wednesday 27th April 2011
quotequote all
DanoS4 said:
my family come first
I never doubted it.

But the presumption is that a certain level of income is needed to sustain the idyllic lifestyle, and it that level is not forthcoming that something has to change to be in line with whatever income is available. The worry is that if a suitable job isn't fothcoming and change doesn't take place quickly enough, then savings and redundancy payments are consumed in a temporary effort to make up the shortfall.

That's what happened to a friend of mine, fortunately his family were grown up, and his wife is able to support him. Not suggesting that will happen to you, just mentioning it for the benefit of anybody else in a similar position who might read this.

Carrot

7,294 posts

230 months

Wednesday 27th April 2011
quotequote all
singlecoil said:
DanoS4 said:
my family come first
I never doubted it.

But the presumption is that a certain level of income is needed to sustain the idyllic lifestyle, and it that level is not forthcoming that something has to change to be in line with whatever income is available. The worry is that if a suitable job isn't fothcoming and change doesn't take place quickly enough, then savings and redundancy payments are consumed in a temporary effort to make up the shortfall.

That's what happened to a friend of mine, fortunately his family were grown up, and his wife is able to support him. Not suggesting that will happen to you, just mentioning it for the benefit of anybody else in a similar position who might read this.
(Please don't take the following as a dig, or insulting to your type of job as it is not intended to be smile )

Maybe the reason you are finding it so hard to find a job with the income you desire is because your type of job does not pay it any more?

Had a mate who was earning 28k plus shift allowance doing some kind of IT Database support at a large company in Slough. He got made redundant as they were outsourcing to India and other reasons, since he joined (back in 2001 when there was some money about), the same job now commands around £20k if lucky...

I wish you luck, but there is not a lot of jobs around at the moment, but they are out there.

How many CV's are you putting out? I landed a job on a fairly good wage fairly quickly recently, but I was applying for 20+ relevant jobs a day.

DanoS4

Original Poster:

869 posts

222 months

Wednesday 27th April 2011
quotequote all
No digs taken smile

I've only really found out about this situation in the last few days, so there's still a lot of procedure to go through with my current employer (including any formal redundancy notifications) - the worst outcome may not even come to fruition, but I feel that I need to be at least looking at a plan "b" - just in case.

The matter of income/lifestyle is purely based on enough to exist, rather than a new opulent lifestyle (I wish!!! biggrin) - tbh, working in Education doesn't pay as healthily as the Music stuff did, and I didn't expect it to. Ironically in terms of stress and demands, it's about the same!! LOL!!
I'm certainly not after a mega-high paid job - just something that brings in close to what I'm on now. I can always build on this later on (feet under the table scenario).

I suppose the reason behind this post was (a) to get it off my chest (and I feel better for that, so a BIG thanks to all!!) and (b) to see if my skills could be transferred into different jobs, be it management, IT, web, music, mobile phone technology...... or something totally unrelated. (c) feedback on my CV, which so far hasn't been as bad as I was bracing myself for smile

I'm guessing that for respective job applications, I would have to tweak a section of the CV to cater for that specific position, but in terms of formatting, most of it is acceptable? Is there anything that stands out as interesting? Is there stuff that should be omitted?

Thanks for the support so far though smile

Dan

bigandclever

14,322 posts

266 months

Wednesday 27th April 2011
quotequote all
I'm going to word this in a bad way, but only because I can't form a better way of putting it...

I don't understand the correlation between "owner of DA Productions" and "gizzajob". As a potential employer I might think you'll be off as soon as the next UB40 (god help us) turn up. At the very least you'll be keeping more than half an eye on your own business, not sweating blood for mine.

DanoS4

Original Poster:

869 posts

222 months

Wednesday 27th April 2011
quotequote all
Fair enough - I hadn't thought of that. Perhaps it's worth my re-wording it, as it is purely a side-line project now. I was hoping that by seeing I "ran" my own company, it would be seen as a good thing, dedication to getting jobs done, the ability to work using initiative etc...
Or at least, a talking point in an interview.

But I can see how it may be seen negatively, so thank you for the insight smile

Dan