Getting no where applying for roles
Discussion
lyonspride said:
67Dino said:
A few additional thoughts I’ve learnt over the years, perhaps more generally managerial than OP, but hopefully useful to some reading this:
- CVs. Sorting a CV is less about the look and more about the harsh objectivity. A good expert will help you be clear how you define yourself and put a red pen through a project you died for but just isn’t relevant. People think they can but can’t do this themselves.
- Approach. Applying to a job ad via an online application is the easiest but least effective approach. Far more effective is to identify people in companies or sectors you’re interested in and ask them for ideas and connections. Time meeting and talking to people is better spent than time surfing.
- Time. Job hunting is a full time job (with some breaks, it’s hard, see below). In terms of time, a good rule of thumb I was given is it take 3 weeks for every £10k of salary to land a good role. You will need to be working 30 hrs a week at it.
- Volume. You will do a lot. Expect to end with a list of 50-100 firms or roles you went for. That list shouldn’t include ‘not really me but worth a try’ hopeful shots though. It’s easy to fire off hundreds of random ones but the ‘mud on the wall’ approach doesn’t work.
- Look after yourself. Job hunting is mentally very taxing, and it can feel desperate. The right state of mind is ‘positive that there’s a great role out there, I will get it, I’ve just not found it yet’. To keep that state of mind you need to keep physically fit, do some things you enjoy, and talk regularly to people who are encouraging.
Good luck!
I don't think this stuff applies to "normal" jobs, and I don't think you have done much job searching for "normal" jobs lately.- CVs. Sorting a CV is less about the look and more about the harsh objectivity. A good expert will help you be clear how you define yourself and put a red pen through a project you died for but just isn’t relevant. People think they can but can’t do this themselves.
- Approach. Applying to a job ad via an online application is the easiest but least effective approach. Far more effective is to identify people in companies or sectors you’re interested in and ask them for ideas and connections. Time meeting and talking to people is better spent than time surfing.
- Time. Job hunting is a full time job (with some breaks, it’s hard, see below). In terms of time, a good rule of thumb I was given is it take 3 weeks for every £10k of salary to land a good role. You will need to be working 30 hrs a week at it.
- Volume. You will do a lot. Expect to end with a list of 50-100 firms or roles you went for. That list shouldn’t include ‘not really me but worth a try’ hopeful shots though. It’s easy to fire off hundreds of random ones but the ‘mud on the wall’ approach doesn’t work.
- Look after yourself. Job hunting is mentally very taxing, and it can feel desperate. The right state of mind is ‘positive that there’s a great role out there, I will get it, I’ve just not found it yet’. To keep that state of mind you need to keep physically fit, do some things you enjoy, and talk regularly to people who are encouraging.
Good luck!
I will see maybe 8 per week which are within the range I want to travel, and that range has decreased substantially as I care less about chasing carrots on sticks and more about just having a job to pay the bills and feed my family. The whole concept of the "career" is bulls
t for most people, for anyone not in management, and even then things are changing.All my effort and hard work has ever done is painted targets on my back, "work hard and you'll go far" what a load of b
ks, i've never seen a single colleague get any kind of promotion through hard work, but dozens of bullies and backstabbers have.I don't tailor my CV to each role, have you ever used a job website? You upload a single CV, some of those sites take that data and create a CV in their own format, which you then have to pick through and reformat, because it makes a real mess of it. It not realistic to change your CV for each role.
When you apply to a role, your CV is sent to the agency or employer, if it goes to an agency or employer with an ATS system, your cover letter will get dumped and nobody will ever read it, so you have to make sure that EVERYTHING is in your CV.
Now I had an interview recently with quite a nasty/aggressive prick of an interviewer who kept saying "management experience, where does this fit in?" and I said "that CV contains everything relevant to any job I might apply for, if you'd ever used a job site to apply for jobs you'd understand".
I actually ended up withdrawing my application because this guy was such a knob and if that's how he is on best behaviour then what is he like to work for?
1) Bypass it. Deliberately ignore the process and uae creativity to get round it. Find an alternative route to the roles, or go for different roles.
2) Follow it to the letter. Great quote in Chris Hadfield’s book when talking about the frustrating tests they apply to astronaut candidates: “If that’s what it takes to be an astronaut, that’s what I’ll do”. Study the system, understand how it works, and ace it.
Nothing in between works. Wish you well, really do.
Thanks everyone for continuing to post, I do appreciate it.
I have some further applications on the go at the moment, but have paused any new as it is starting to annoy me that I am getting nowhere. If these do not to anything then I think I need to take stock of my current CV and skills and then look to open something with Rog.
I have some further applications on the go at the moment, but have paused any new as it is starting to annoy me that I am getting nowhere. If these do not to anything then I think I need to take stock of my current CV and skills and then look to open something with Rog.
Have you tried running your CV and the job spec through Jobscan to see your match?
Its likely you are failing at the first hurdle which is the computer filtering (ATS)
I have tried it a few times and found it to be pretty useful to highlight keyword missing in my CV and it has worked for me in the past
Its likely you are failing at the first hurdle which is the computer filtering (ATS)
I have tried it a few times and found it to be pretty useful to highlight keyword missing in my CV and it has worked for me in the past
blueg33 said:
Sorry, but I am going to be blunt.
Not sure what roles you are applying for. But if your Grammar on your cv or covering letter is as bad as it is in your post on this thread then for me your cv would be passed over immediately.
Communication, written and verbal is critical in my business and is often client facing, however, if you are looking for roles that do not require that its probably less of an issue.
Do your CV and Linkedin profiles align?, have your sterilized your social media?
I don't know whether anyone has replied to you specifically on your post, but having read it I'm going to have to be blunt and patronising to you, not the OP who clearly wrote to seek guidance from others as opposed to a self-righteous rant by someone on something that they themselves could not even get right: grammar with a capital 'G'? CV in lowercase?Not sure what roles you are applying for. But if your Grammar on your cv or covering letter is as bad as it is in your post on this thread then for me your cv would be passed over immediately.
Communication, written and verbal is critical in my business and is often client facing, however, if you are looking for roles that do not require that its probably less of an issue.
Do your CV and Linkedin profiles align?, have your sterilized your social media?
Edited by blueg33 on Thursday 27th May 13:31
You haven't properly punctuated your sentences either and your post itself contains bad grammar.
I'm not getting a kick out of this and I'm not a grammar Nazi, but please think twice and keep it respectful, especially where you can't even practice what you preach.
On those grounds I wouldn't employ you.
Peace out and no hard feelings.
I work in IT (not helpdesk but have worked in 1st, 2nd and 3rd line support in the past) and my advice would be to work on your LinkedIn profile and to complete some skills assessments on the site. Be very specific about your skills. Words like "servers" and "desktops" are far too general. If you know any technologies that aren't ubiquitous, make sure you mention them. My profile lists the specific technologies I am well versed in so that when recruiters search for the technical terms they have been given in the job spec from their clients, they find me quickly.
captain.scarlet said:
blueg33 said:
Sorry, but I am going to be blunt.
Not sure what roles you are applying for. But if your Grammar on your cv or covering letter is as bad as it is in your post on this thread then for me your cv would be passed over immediately.
Communication, written and verbal is critical in my business and is often client facing, however, if you are looking for roles that do not require that its probably less of an issue.
Do your CV and Linkedin profiles align?, have your sterilized your social media?
I don't know whether anyone has replied to you specifically on your post, but having read it I'm going to have to be blunt and patronising to you, not the OP who clearly wrote to seek guidance from others as opposed to a self-righteous rant by someone on something that they themselves could not even get right: grammar with a capital 'G'? CV in lowercase?Not sure what roles you are applying for. But if your Grammar on your cv or covering letter is as bad as it is in your post on this thread then for me your cv would be passed over immediately.
Communication, written and verbal is critical in my business and is often client facing, however, if you are looking for roles that do not require that its probably less of an issue.
Do your CV and Linkedin profiles align?, have your sterilized your social media?
Edited by blueg33 on Thursday 27th May 13:31
You haven't properly punctuated your sentences either and your post itself contains bad grammar.
I'm not getting a kick out of this and I'm not a grammar Nazi, but please think twice and keep it respectful, especially where you can't even practice what you preach.
On those grounds I wouldn't employ you.
Peace out and no hard feelings.
CV in lower case is interesting. Lots of roles advertised use lower case for cv.
It wasn’t a rant, it was an observation, others thought the same.
All is fine, I don’t need you to employ me, I do ok. I also use proof readers for anything important
captain.scarlet said:
blueg33 said:
Sorry, but I am going to be blunt.
Not sure what roles you are applying for. But if your Grammar on your cv or covering letter is as bad as it is in your post on this thread then for me your cv would be passed over immediately.
Communication, written and verbal is critical in my business and is often client facing, however, if you are looking for roles that do not require that its probably less of an issue.
Do your CV and Linkedin profiles align?, have your sterilized your social media?
I don't know whether anyone has replied to you specifically on your post, but having read it I'm going to have to be blunt and patronising to you, not the OP who clearly wrote to seek guidance from others as opposed to a self-righteous rant by someone on something that they themselves could not even get right: grammar with a capital 'G'? CV in lowercase?Not sure what roles you are applying for. But if your Grammar on your cv or covering letter is as bad as it is in your post on this thread then for me your cv would be passed over immediately.
Communication, written and verbal is critical in my business and is often client facing, however, if you are looking for roles that do not require that its probably less of an issue.
Do your CV and Linkedin profiles align?, have your sterilized your social media?
Edited by blueg33 on Thursday 27th May 13:31
You haven't properly punctuated your sentences either and your post itself contains bad grammar.
I'm not getting a kick out of this and I'm not a grammar Nazi, but please think twice and keep it respectful, especially where you can't even practice what you preach.
On those grounds I wouldn't employ you.
Peace out and no hard feelings.
blueg33 said:
Sorry, but I am going to be blunt.
Not sure what roles you are applying for. But if your Grammar on your cv or covering letter is as bad as it is in your post on this thread then for me your cv would be passed over immediately.
Communication, written and verbal is critical in my business and is often client facing, however, if you are looking for roles that do not require that its probably less of an issue.
Do your CV and Linkedin profiles align?, have your sterilized your social media?
Oh the irony...Not sure what roles you are applying for. But if your Grammar on your cv or covering letter is as bad as it is in your post on this thread then for me your cv would be passed over immediately.
Communication, written and verbal is critical in my business and is often client facing, however, if you are looking for roles that do not require that its probably less of an issue.
Do your CV and Linkedin profiles align?, have your sterilized your social media?
Edited by blueg33 on Thursday 27th May 13:31
67Dino said:
A few additional thoughts I’ve learnt over the years, perhaps more generally managerial than OP, but hopefully useful to some reading this:
- CVs. Sorting a CV is less about the look and more about the harsh objectivity. A good expert will help you be clear how you define yourself and put a red pen through a project you died for but just isn’t relevant. People think they can but can’t do this themselves.
- Approach. Applying to a job ad via an online application is the easiest but least effective approach. Far more effective is to identify people in companies or sectors you’re interested in and ask them for ideas and connections. Time meeting and talking to people is better spent than time surfing.
- Time. Job hunting is a full time job (with some breaks, it’s hard, see below). In terms of time, a good rule of thumb I was given is it take 3 weeks for every £10k of salary to land a good role. You will need to be working 30 hrs a week at it.
- Volume. You will do a lot. Expect to end with a list of 50-100 firms or roles you went for. That list shouldn’t include ‘not really me but worth a try’ hopeful shots though. It’s easy to fire off hundreds of random ones but the ‘mud on the wall’ approach doesn’t work.
- Look after yourself. Job hunting is mentally very taxing, and it can feel desperate. The right state of mind is ‘positive that there’s a great role out there, I will get it, I’ve just not found it yet’. To keep that state of mind you need to keep physically fit, do some things you enjoy, and talk regularly to people who are encouraging.
Good luck!
Would this approach work for any job ?- CVs. Sorting a CV is less about the look and more about the harsh objectivity. A good expert will help you be clear how you define yourself and put a red pen through a project you died for but just isn’t relevant. People think they can but can’t do this themselves.
- Approach. Applying to a job ad via an online application is the easiest but least effective approach. Far more effective is to identify people in companies or sectors you’re interested in and ask them for ideas and connections. Time meeting and talking to people is better spent than time surfing.
- Time. Job hunting is a full time job (with some breaks, it’s hard, see below). In terms of time, a good rule of thumb I was given is it take 3 weeks for every £10k of salary to land a good role. You will need to be working 30 hrs a week at it.
- Volume. You will do a lot. Expect to end with a list of 50-100 firms or roles you went for. That list shouldn’t include ‘not really me but worth a try’ hopeful shots though. It’s easy to fire off hundreds of random ones but the ‘mud on the wall’ approach doesn’t work.
- Look after yourself. Job hunting is mentally very taxing, and it can feel desperate. The right state of mind is ‘positive that there’s a great role out there, I will get it, I’ve just not found it yet’. To keep that state of mind you need to keep physically fit, do some things you enjoy, and talk regularly to people who are encouraging.
Good luck!
LunarOne said:
I work in IT (not helpdesk but have worked in 1st, 2nd and 3rd line support in the past) and my advice would be to work on your LinkedIn profile and to complete some skills assessments on the site. Be very specific about your skills. Words like "servers" and "desktops" are far too general. If you know any technologies that aren't ubiquitous, make sure you mention them. My profile lists the specific technologies I am well versed in so that when recruiters search for the technical terms they have been given in the job spec from their clients, they find me quickly.
Including the management tooling - familiar with ServiceNow, etc - state itGassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff