That first clumsy post that I don't want anyone to read, but need to do, in order to see if I am getting this right...
It's been almost two months that I have been actively looking for work after being made redundant, from a role I loved, in a global company, which, I suspect may not be around in a few years' time.
The thing is, this company is loved around the world as a brand that brings comfort just to see it round the house. It reminds you of your much loved Granny, and has history. It's a brand you trust (even if it reminds you of cardigans with leather patches)...but the flip side is that it is like poison on your CV.
Despite the young and vibrant people who worked there and its innovative approach to online and iPad apps and the like, it is not seen as edgy, new or relevant. It's staid and musty to the current batch of Gen Y recruitment consultants.
Quite frankly I would probably be better to have any number of other brands or roles on my CV than my last (respectable) role ..Lehman Brothers perhaps? Or Exxon Valdez? Campaign Manager for Bob Katter? Maybe I will add these in future and see if they work better...
In the time since I left that company I think I have seen about eight head-hunters...for the most part (with the exception of two similarly mature women with brains and a varied CVs) they are the all same...from the uber manicured nails to the complete lack of understanding about what I do.
It's simple - I do exactly what my CV says I do. It's one of those careers that is hard to muddle up. Like Taxi Driver or Doctor.
They all ask me to promise they can exclusively represent me for any role I apply for (even if it's advertised privately), because of course my salary would attract a rather generous commission...In return, they will do absolutely sod all to generate any proactive leads for me, and putting every candidate on the books forward for the same role at the same time for listings that come in. Sounds fair eh? Hell... why not?
Without fail, when a role comes up they all ring me and preface it with: "I know this role is a little bit left of centre..." - that means it ticks absolutely none of the boxes I want in a job, but they know I am redundant and therefore must be desperate. And after two months attempting the at home mummy thing, they may have a point.
I have had 8 different consultants tell me 8 different ways to write my CV and have even had one suggest I remove the year I did my HSC...It's not like I finished school just before Arthur Philip and his mates clambered ashore at Botany Bay. It was exactly 200 years AFTER that point! I have a good two and a half decades of working life in me yet!
I have been told to "condense" my decades of experience into a single A4 sheet...presumably this is for the brain dead Twitter generation with ADHD after 140 characters. I have also been told to stretch it to a page per job, which equates to probably half the world's sustainable timber just to print off. So frankly I now have about eight CVs and no idea which one people prefer.
The fun thing about recruitment consultants is that they INSIST on meeting you face-to-face before putting you forward for a role. Now there's nothing wrong with that, but I live a fair way out of town, so if we can ensure I am half way suitable for a role before I schlepp into the CBD, that would be great.
Take today for example, I travelled three hours there and back for a meeting that took about 25 minutes, for an consultancy role. Now even though consultancy work is not my first choice, I am trying to be open minded about things...The recruitment lady (or rather girl) has had my CV for around 10 days...Only after I have schlepped into town did she bother to look at my CV and tell me that as I haven't worked in an consultancy for about 15 years, that may be an issue for the role she has in mind. Couldn't she have decided that before I spent $30 on tolls and parked in a car park that would cost me $49 after 30mins?? Luckily the interview was so damned short, I still got the discounted rate. She was the Twitter generation after all.
The other thing was she transcribed what I said verbatim, without bothering to process the information. After asking me about a role I left in 2003, she honestly wrote down "entered captive breeding program - 2 kids". I. Shit. You. Not.
Anyone got any bright ideas about surviving the recruitment consultant interview phase? How about new ways to present your CV?
It's been almost two months that I have been actively looking for work after being made redundant, from a role I loved, in a global company, which, I suspect may not be around in a few years' time.
The thing is, this company is loved around the world as a brand that brings comfort just to see it round the house. It reminds you of your much loved Granny, and has history. It's a brand you trust (even if it reminds you of cardigans with leather patches)...but the flip side is that it is like poison on your CV.
Despite the young and vibrant people who worked there and its innovative approach to online and iPad apps and the like, it is not seen as edgy, new or relevant. It's staid and musty to the current batch of Gen Y recruitment consultants.
Quite frankly I would probably be better to have any number of other brands or roles on my CV than my last (respectable) role ..Lehman Brothers perhaps? Or Exxon Valdez? Campaign Manager for Bob Katter? Maybe I will add these in future and see if they work better...
In the time since I left that company I think I have seen about eight head-hunters...for the most part (with the exception of two similarly mature women with brains and a varied CVs) they are the all same...from the uber manicured nails to the complete lack of understanding about what I do.
It's simple - I do exactly what my CV says I do. It's one of those careers that is hard to muddle up. Like Taxi Driver or Doctor.
They all ask me to promise they can exclusively represent me for any role I apply for (even if it's advertised privately), because of course my salary would attract a rather generous commission...In return, they will do absolutely sod all to generate any proactive leads for me, and putting every candidate on the books forward for the same role at the same time for listings that come in. Sounds fair eh? Hell... why not?
Without fail, when a role comes up they all ring me and preface it with: "I know this role is a little bit left of centre..." - that means it ticks absolutely none of the boxes I want in a job, but they know I am redundant and therefore must be desperate. And after two months attempting the at home mummy thing, they may have a point.
I have had 8 different consultants tell me 8 different ways to write my CV and have even had one suggest I remove the year I did my HSC...It's not like I finished school just before Arthur Philip and his mates clambered ashore at Botany Bay. It was exactly 200 years AFTER that point! I have a good two and a half decades of working life in me yet!
I have been told to "condense" my decades of experience into a single A4 sheet...presumably this is for the brain dead Twitter generation with ADHD after 140 characters. I have also been told to stretch it to a page per job, which equates to probably half the world's sustainable timber just to print off. So frankly I now have about eight CVs and no idea which one people prefer.
The fun thing about recruitment consultants is that they INSIST on meeting you face-to-face before putting you forward for a role. Now there's nothing wrong with that, but I live a fair way out of town, so if we can ensure I am half way suitable for a role before I schlepp into the CBD, that would be great.
Take today for example, I travelled three hours there and back for a meeting that took about 25 minutes, for an consultancy role. Now even though consultancy work is not my first choice, I am trying to be open minded about things...The recruitment lady (or rather girl) has had my CV for around 10 days...Only after I have schlepped into town did she bother to look at my CV and tell me that as I haven't worked in an consultancy for about 15 years, that may be an issue for the role she has in mind. Couldn't she have decided that before I spent $30 on tolls and parked in a car park that would cost me $49 after 30mins?? Luckily the interview was so damned short, I still got the discounted rate. She was the Twitter generation after all.
The other thing was she transcribed what I said verbatim, without bothering to process the information. After asking me about a role I left in 2003, she honestly wrote down "entered captive breeding program - 2 kids". I. Shit. You. Not.
Anyone got any bright ideas about surviving the recruitment consultant interview phase? How about new ways to present your CV?
This is just so familiar. I love that the agency flack wrote down 'captive breeding program' verbatim.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the answer? My friend is in a similar position and agencies just tell her the market is 'tight' at the moment.
You are both excellent candidates and highly employable.
Is it the beginning of the GFC wave starting to form in Australia, is it an age thing or is it just that most of the agency 'girls' are refugees from the GFC in the UK and they gave up long ago?