The new rules to IT Contract Jobhunting
by Ruadhri McGarry, www.mynewcv.ie
You are back on the market, your contract has not been renewed or has been terminated or you’re unhappy in your current one.
Whatever the reason, how can you make sure that you secure the best IT role that you can?
If you are sending your CV to an IT Recruiter, or to a busy Human Resources Department, or indeed you’re posting your CV to a jobsite or even uploading to your own site, you need to make sure that you’ll be found.
You cannot guarantee that the person viewing your CV will recognise what’s second nature to you, sometimes your CV will be in front of someone who’s empowered but not qualified to say yes or no. So be careful with abbreviations. Remember, the first look may well be from a non technical person.
Keywords
To get around this you must be aware of keywords, in the same way that search engines rate webpages, you must play this game to win.
Ensure you have all keywords on your CV. The best way around this is to have a skills matrix at the end of your CV, including all training you’ve done in any technology.
Irrespective of whether the searcher is an experienced Recruiter, a junior Human Resources Administrator, or the IT Director of a small company searching online, applying keyword techniques to your document will get it found.
Value Adds
If you can think like the hiring manager, you’ll have to ensure that once your CV is found, it stands out. Can you demonstrate all “value adds” that you’ve brought to all of your positions? If you just list facts of what you have done and where, it can be boring. If you can say that your work enabled a quicker time to launch for a given product, you finished the job of work on time and under budget, that’s value and ultimately a cost saving.
Also recommended is that you use a Word document rather than an Adobe PDF. PDFs print better but it’s an image and tricky to search. Most recruitment machinery, agency or inhouse is based on keyword searching using Word. Also use Rich Text Formatting as this will help with keeping any formatting you’ve done.
Mirroring your potential employer’s ad or company typeface can be a small but useful trick too.
Who to send it to?
Ask around? Who is employing contractors in this market? Use your personal network or professional networking sites to establish who the hiring managers are. Do you know who the best IT Contract recruiters are? Who’s placed you in the past? Are they working with the same company now they were then? Whatever process you use…track everything. If you’re not sure where your CV has gone, then you’ll be in trouble, you’ll double apply (or agents will on your behalf), potentially develop a poor reputation, because Contract employers move jobs too, you may be making a rod for your own back. Again, post your details online where anyone who’s looking could find it, be it a free ad site or your own or a friend’s site. Use hiring manager’s phraseology so when they type - Java Contract Developer Dublin into a search engine, they’ll find you, and importantly for them at present, they’ll find you for free!
Potential Negatives
Spellcheck is good to an extent, however, I recommend that you type “IT Manger” into a search engine, and you’ll be amazed how often this type escapes conventional spellchecking technology. Read your CV and better still have a third party read it for you!
Don’t use photographs of yourself, don’t use logos of companies you’ve worked for or courses you’ve done. It takes up processing space and can lead to formatting nightmares.
Finally, as social networking takes off more and more, I strongly suggest you run a “vanity search” online. Type your name into a search engine and ensure that nothing embarrassing comes up on a networking site. Almost every candidate being offered a role will be “googled” so make sure that there’s no reason online for you not to be hired.
In conclusion;
* Use a skills matrix with keywords
* Demonstrate Value
* CVs should be in Word (Rich Text Formats)
* Don’t use Logos/Photos
* Register with online databases (let employers find you) or free sites
* If possible, create your own website and upload your CV
* Track everything
* Have someone else read your CV, don’t just press F7
* Vanity Search
To learn more about CV and Jobsearching advice visit www.mynewcv.ie or contact sales@mynewcv.ie.