Category: Life
The reality of CV writing
I had recently written a post about rewriting your CV in todays work climate, what I learned, how to present it and all that kind of stuff, I had passed my new CV round colleagues, previous bosses and clients to make sure that it was exactly the CV they were looking for. and after some corrections nearly all of them stated that it was just what they were hoping to see coming across their desk.
Perfect.. New role here I come!!
The only problem was, that two weeks into job searching, and I was simply not getting any response to my CV submissions, so much so that I started to worry about my skill set and if I was missing something core in my abilities.
By the beginning of the third week, I decided that something had to be done. So I went back to the traditional way that I’d written CV’s for ages which is absolutely bring everything to the table. So I rewrote my CV again, but this time I listed every one of my skills, how long I had used them, everything I’d done, all of the improvements I brought to every client and company, all the successes, everything!
It was a full five pages, and I started using it on the following Monday, within three days I had four interviews lined up. I was apparently exactly what people were looking for, phew!!, just had my CV written wrong then..
However when I went to the interviews, I was asked for details that were already on my CV, I would answer the questions but was then asked why I had not listed it, this happened multiple times, after checking, it would turn out that agents would take my 5 page CV that their search filters would find, then quickly trim it down to the 2 page version before submitting it to the end client.
Ultimately all has ended well and I have a perfect new role, but the lessons I would take away in hindsight would be:
- You need 2 CV formats. 1) A full length full detail one that will get you through initial Agency filtering and 2) A 2 page summery version that clients want to read.
- When you are contacted by the Agent after they have filtered you from your 5 page CV, send them the 2 page version trimmed in the way they want {{No personal contact details and highlight which skills they want from your full list}}
- Maintain a version of the full length one on-line in an easy short URL that you can give to clients in the interview if they ask.
- Makes sure your LinkedIn job history and skills match your CV exactly {{Some clients just go to LinkedIn rather than ask for your CV so keep both up to date}}
Travel Toolkit
Ever since I started in support some 20 odd years ago, I have always tried to carry a small toolkit with me, back then it was a very cheap one supplemented with Christmas presents for my dad who has always known a quality tool {{being both a professional electrician and an amateur carpenter}}. Now it is custom built out of the very best bits and bobs that I know about.
This is my current carry. It’s a tiny bit on the heavy side for most ‘suits’ but then again I’m not a lightweight person. Let’s break it down {{This kit isn’t my absolute de facto kit. my day to day tools I use at home are not so compact. My go to screwdriver at home is a gigantic Stanley ratchet one and I have for the last 10 years been using a lovely set of precision screwdrivers that my dad bought me. In fact most of my home tools are ones bought by him at some point and they are both excellent quality and hold good memories but this is the custom kit I have built for travel}}:
Wera screwdrivers have long been my go to make, I’ve adored them for years. And they have reached their Pinnacle with the 8009 Zyklop ratchet screwdriver. 12 built in bits rather than the normal six. Beautiful quality all around , thoroughly recommended. I do however swap out two of the torx bits that they supply with two flat heads which are still used a lot. In addition on the photo, we have another Wera part, this is off another screwdriver and is just an extensionas you sometimes need a little more reach. Next we have a set of screwdriver adapters for Allen keys, the funny rounded heads on these are so you can use them slightly at an angle. strangely there is also a chuck adaptor for drill bits, I just seem to need it a lot and don’t like using proper drills in a number of places as a hand chuck gives a lot more control, for this I carry just one 5mm drill bit and a little bag for the various small parts. The missing items off here are sockets, the 8009 supports them but I just never seem to need them.
MegaPro 24-IN-1 Precision Driver
Bosch Professional 2608000495 Handle for Recip Saw
Next we have a precision screwdriver. There are lots of precision screwdrivers on the market but all seem to be designed to be desk bound, The Megapro one is the one that I’ve come to love. Not only does it have a good selection of bits inside which most precision screwdrivers don’t, because they’ve got a tiny useless handle, but as the bits are inside its a nice single unit. Next is a Bosch handsaw. Well it’s not really a handsaw. It’s just a handle, but it takes the standard blades meant for the big electrical reciprocating saws which are easy to get hold of and have different types of blades, I have found this a easy way of carrying around a small saw because the handle is hollow and can hold two blades. The construction feels a tiny bit flimsy but it’s held up to sawing through a variety of things so far, so I’ve got no objection.
Cooksongold Reverse Action Craft Soldering Tweezers
These are reverse tweezers, they default to closed rather than open meaning they can free up a hand and they work just as well as ordinary tweezers. Also because they’re held close by default, you don’t have to keep something on the end to protect the tip so they don’t get damaged or bent out to place.
Now you wouldn’t think you’d need a spirit level but I seem to {{mainly for mounting electronics to other stuff}}, This one is a free one that comes with big Dell monitors.
Next is one of the nicest little torches I have ever met, Yes I’m aware that we all have torches in our phones, but quite frankly, battery life is a serious thing and sometimes it’s good to have a good torch that won’t overheat. This one is well constructed. It’s USB rechargeable, and you can also swap out the built-in lithium battery for 2 x AAA’s in case you run out.
Knipex Cobra® XS Water Pump Pliers
Next are a pair of Knipex Cobra® XS Water Pump Pliers, they double up as spanner and pliers for me, they are tiny but you would not believe how strong they are. If you doing electrical or electronic things in server rooms or with computers and you need more grip than this pair of pliers can give then you’re doing something wrong in my opinion. They are apparently used by all of the small toolkit people and I can understand why.
Japanese micro snips, I don’t know why Japanese but these kind of very small cutters from Japan seem universally good. I originally bought them for modelling but now use them for everything. They’re obviously smaller than a proper pair of wire cutters but they take up less space, and for the stuff I’m doing I don’t need any more. Obviously they won’t handle things like a nail or something really serious. But again, I am not doing large scale construction.
And the last tool is a folding Stanley Knife, it’s not something you tend to carry around in public, but a main stay of every tool kit, this one as normal, carries a couple of spare blades and is rock solid.
All of these go in a little bag. I know that some people like all the foldout/fancy ones, but quite frankly, who has time for that. A decent indestructible bag works for me and I’ve ever found better than the Magma three pocket set. it just fits hand tools nicely.
There you go, my odd little portable tool kit.
Sharp Elbow Pain No swelling : Solved
This is just a reference blog for other people because I couldn’t find what I wanted out on the internet.
In another post I started to get a very sharp pain in my elbow, which was initially diagnosed as bursitis, by both my PT and by a very good physio, it had all the symptoms, apart from the fact that it had no swelling, the symptoms were:
- No issue with movement or restriction.
- No loss of strength.
- An incredibly sharp and sudden pain when my elbow was touched on the bone (just the slightest brush was enough to trigger it), no other pain experienced.
This persisted to the point where it reached probably an 8 out of 10 on the jump up and down in pain scale. To the point where I decided that a trip to accident and emergency was in order. I went and was initially diagnosed with bursitis by the GP in attendance, I said that was what had been diagnosed before but none of the normal treatments had made any difference, he allowed me to go for an x-ray to confirm one way or another, when the x-ray came back it was determined what was actually happening was that the soft tissues in my elbow were being aggravated and inflamed and were in turn then pushing out my Ulnar nerve so that it was resting on the outside of my elbow. explaining the tenderness and pain.
He prescribed some really powerful painkillers, that ice was better for it than heat and advising me to use an elbow splint to sleep in {{,the same that is used with repetitive strain injury in your elbow}}. The painkillers didn’t do what I hoped, as my guts hated them more than my elbow liked them and the arm splint hurt like hell when I rolled over on it in the night. However now that I knew what it was and what it wasn’t, I could have a good check on what had changed in my life, Although it seemed the obvious culprit, I discounted the fitness I do, my PT is fanatical about keeping my activities even on both sides and this was very definitely effecting only one side.
Then I realised that one of the main changes recently was that I’d moved desks. And as someone that uses a trackball, I previously rested my elbow on an ordinary mouse wrist rest, just to keep my elbow off the table. however in my new desk, I didn’t do that as the mouse was much closer to the front of the desk. So I went and purchased one of those strange elbow arm things to rest my elbow on,
and while I was waiting, I found a very good make of gel pack that was soft after freezing, and took to putting that in the bottom of a bowl of water, letting the water chill to near freezing, then suspending my elbow in it without touching anything for 10 To 15 minutes.
This gave me amazing relief. The pain would completely recede, stay away for nearly three hours and then only very slowly start to come back. when the arm rest arrive I started using it. And now the pain stopped getting worse.
I’m not a doctor but I feel its a reasonable conclusion that as I was doing 60 hours a week with my elbow raised and no support using a trackball, I was rubbing a very small part of my elbow joint and inflaming it.
So if you are getting the same thing try:
- Resting the joint so its not constantly in use in on what seems low impact work.
- Proper Ice baths for that joint.
The therapy of writing your CV
To most people in IT, and indeed to all of business, updating and refreshing your CV is, at best a burden and at worst torture. Particularly, if you have moved from role to role on the basis of reputation. This means that long periods can go without you having to sit down to rationalise and justify your knowledge and skill base.
This is a poor state to be in, as for most of us, our skills and abilities are what we are selling and you need the marketing for your “product’s” kept up to date and relevant.
I was once told that you’re supposed to redo your CV every six months, and yes I do normally do that, but I don’t do it with the same vim and vigour that I really should.
I’ve decided to change that. And given that I’m in the middle of looking at new roles I figured a proper sit down review of my CV was worth the effort, and it’s amazing what it turns out you’ve done in your life.
Not only does this point out items that you need to address and learn in the future, but It also gives you confidence in the sheer volume and amount of stuff. you have piled through in your life. I’ve been doing this nonsense for 25 years now and it really has been a busy couple of decades.
Filtering the hundreds of points of view and ideas on writing a CV, a few stood out
- Keep it to 2 pages, no one is going to read a 10 page CV.
- Companies are not going to read more than a couple of paragraphs before making an initial decision.
- Agents, HR and job sites are going to mangle it anyway, so keep the format simple.
- Don’t just edit it in place, copy and type it up in a new file, it helps to shake out the useless bits.