Nice people thread part 6 - thrice by twice as nice :)

PasturesNew

vivatifosi wrote: »

Or alternatively "what michaels said" (he kinda beat me to it).

But with better spelling

SingleSue

Thanks everyone for those additions/corrections. Will work them in later today when I get the chance.

Re the networking aspect, have already asked dad, who is in regular contact with someone else in the department, to mention it. That was how I got the job there the first time all those years back!

vivatifosi

PasturesNew wrote: »

One trouble I am seeing at the moment is jobs through agencies - they don't even tell you what the company does/is/makes.

In that instance I'd separate that from the job description. You need to be able to meet the spec, but it is not so relevant whether you have experience in an industry that sells widgets, or one that flogs plane tickets. The key thing with any job ad is to break down in to sections what they are asking for and then almost forensically prove that you're the person who can do it.

vivatifosi

PasturesNew wrote: »

But with better spelling

I rarely check my spelling on MSE which leads to some total howlers. Particularly as for some bizarre reason my brain will think won but type one for example. That happens a lot . However my CVs are spell checked, grammar checked and then cast before critical members of my family before they are sent.

PasturesNew

vivatifosi wrote: »

In that instance I'd separate that from the job description. You need to be able to meet the spec, but it is not so relevant whether you have experience in an industry that sells widgets, or one that flogs plane tickets. The key thing with any job ad is to break down in to sections what they are asking for and then almost forensically prove that you're the person who can do it.

There is no spec or job description. I am applying to the ads the agencies put in. It is massively important where you've worked before; employers prefer/want people who have worked specifically in their industry before, then in their type of company, then in their size of company.

The job ads don't break down into sections what they're asking for... it's just an airy fairy title with some ad-written guff usually.

The others, with a list of "stuff", will usually get ignored by me if 90% of the stuff is alien

The words "will have a proven track record" usually stump me......

PasturesNew

vivatifosi wrote: »

However my CVs are spell checked, grammar checked and then cast before critical members of my family before they are sent.

My PC is now so old, I'm grateful it bl00dy loads the CV ...... I trust it's correct because it was correct when I wrote it ..... and I daren't run the risk of the PC playing up/dying if I decide to fanny about. It's in Word 2003, so can only be opened on the PC. I did try Open Office but that threw everything all over the place and really ferked it up.

lostinrates

Doozergirl...will send photos this pm....while you were snuggling with your honey in the middle of the night (or posting on here for some strange reason) I was forced to explain to the ambulance service that yes, last night they WERE my taxis.

Strangley, feel oretty good for 27ish waking hours on the trot now, and no drugs involved. Having a cup of tea and dealing with corespondance before hitting the hay for a couple of hours. Meeting a carpenter this afternoon to see if he and we are compatible.

Nikkster

PasturesNew wrote: »

There is no spec or job description. I am applying to the ads the agencies put in. It is massively important where you've worked before; employers prefer/want people who have worked specifically in their industry before, then in their type of company, then in their size of company.

The job ads don't break down into sections what they're asking for... it's just an airy fairy title with some ad-written guff usually.

The others, with a list of "stuff", will usually get ignored by me if 90% of the stuff is alien

The words "will have a proven track record" usually stump me......

I tend not to let things like 'proven track record' etc bother me toooooo much. I figure that if I can cover most of the rest of the spec then it is up to them to decide whether to interview me or not.

lostinrates

I like that everyone other than me is talking about spelling,

Nikkster

SingleSue wrote: »

Thanks everyone for those additions/corrections. Will work them in later today when I get the chance.

Re the networking aspect, have already asked dad, who is in regular contact with someone else in the department, to mention it. That was how I got the job there the first time all those years back!

Perfect!

Everyone has made great suggestions (of course), all I would say is to try to think of your CV as an advert to get you into the interview (networking aside). No need to mention the boys, or your own health. They can use the interview to ask further about anything on your CV - taking anti-discrimination legislation into consideration of course

I did some re-working of my CV earlier in the year, and I went for the skills sections format (with bulletpoints). I alter which sections are included and the order in which I put them according to the job (eg I prepared an application for an admin type job, so I took out the section about lab techniques, but put an extra bulletpoint somewhere else about being able to learn new techniques).

As viva (I think) said, if you have a job description/ person specification use that as a checklist for areas to cover. They probably will!