Free technical CV template

One of the most frequent requests I get from contractors I manage, and candidates in all fields is:  "is my CV ok?"

Here is a blended template I have put together from my experience and talks with clients and candidates alike.  See how you go and let me know what you think!

Cheers

Technical format CV

List your strengths by placing emphasis on your skills, experience and abilities at the top, and following that a chronological list of experience, as in this sample CV.

Technical format resumes are best for candidates who have technical job roles, if you are changing careers / industries, candidates returning to the workforce or graduates with limited work experience.  

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Name Lastname
Address:	Suburb State Postcode
Mobile phone:	Mobile Number

Email address:                               Personal email address

Job title sought

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nullam gravida felis in nibh porta scelerisque. Pellentesque eu ante a nibh vehicula scelerisque. Phasellus nec dolor sit amet turpis mattis lacinia

Skill

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nullam gravida felis in nibh porta scelerisque. Pellentesque eu ante a nibh vehicula scelerisque. Phasellus nec dolor sit amet turpis mattis lacinia.

Skill
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nullam gravida felis in nibh porta scelerisque. Pellentesque eu ante a nibh vehicula scelerisque. Phasellus nec dolor sit amet turpis mattis lacinia. Praesent tellus mi, dignissim quis euismod non, condimentum a libero. Phasellus mollis massa ac est fringilla iaculis. Integer a lorem a diam cursus imperdiet ut sit amet lorem..

Skill

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nullam gravida felis in nibh porta scelerisque. Pellentesque eu ante a nibh vehicula scelerisque.

Employment History

Date:	Month year - present
Company:	Company Name
Title:	Job Title
Duties / Details:	Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nullam gravida felis in nibh porta scelerisque. Pellentesque eu ante a nibh vehicula scelerisque. Phasellus nec dolor sit amet turpis mattis lacinia. Praesent tellus mi, dignissim quis euismod non, condimentum a libero.
Date:	Month year – month year
Company:	Company Name
Title:	Job Title
Duties / Details:	Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nullam gravida felis in nibh porta scelerisque. Pellentesque eu ante a nibh vehicula scelerisque. Phasellus nec dolor sit amet turpis mattis lacinia. Praesent tellus mi, dignissim quis euismod non, condimentum a libero.

Education

Institution, Qualification attained, year graduated

Referees

Available on request

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Presentation do's and don'ts

Do:

·         Use a standard, easily read and professional font – use the same font throughout.

·         Proof-read spelling and grammar, use spellcheck and ask a friend to read through it 

·         Include links to your publicly available professional profiles such as Linkedin or Google+

Don't:

·         Use non-standard fonts or lines of italic / underlined or bold fonts.

·         Use pictures / photos or images.

·         Save and submit as PDF by default

What is Headhunting?

Have you often been told by recruitment consultants that they are 'headhunting' for a particular role?  In fact on Linkedin you will find that about 1 out of 2 recruiters will mention Headhunting on their profile... as a skill or something that they regularly do

The free online dictionary says:

1. The custom of cutting off and preserving the heads of enemies as trophies. ( As much as what I believe I would like to do this sometimes, I don't mean this one)

2. Slang The process of attempting to remove influence and power from enemies, especially political enemies. (Don't get too excited - this sounds more interesting than it is)

3. Informal

a. The business of recruiting personnel, especially executive personnel, as for a corporation. ( I mean this one - but only the middle part)

b. The act or an instance of such recruiting. (Nah that's not it either)

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/headhunting

When you're interviewing a candidate and you ask why they left their job in a previous employer; and you get this answer 'I was headhunted'.  Please let them know that unless they changed careers and went from CEO to software developer ( it is possible) this recruiting process did not happen to them.

Our job as recruiters is often partly an education role and many recruiters believe that headhunting is the process of identifying a candidate, and then approaching them.  This process is actually called sourcing (or, just doing our jobs right?)  There are many interchangeable synonyms used in the industry for sourcing, but headhunting is not one of them.

Headhunting is the process of gaining a recquisition from a client to identify, approach and negotiate exit contracts with C-level executives in order for them to join your client.  It's often a more complicated public relations nightmare than it sounds.  To be involved in even just one of these arrangements in your recruitment career will create utter admiration and respect for the professionals who undertake this as their main source of business.  It is a lengthy process that takes many months and is always an exclusively retained service by the client.

So whilst it's great to see that recruiters with less than 6 months experience in the industry know the following terminology like 'headhunting' 'extensive experience' and 'executive recruitment' they do not understand what these words really mean and are not furthering our cause to be regarded as professionals. 

Next time you hear this expression being used loosely, please take the young person by the ear and tell them how important it is in a people industry - to listen and act professionally

Thats my rant for the day - what's your view?

Where to start differential sourcing for top talent in 2012

Hi guys, welcome to 2012! Now back at the wheel I have a few observations about how candidate sourcing will be this year and a little more energy to express my thoughts.

I have heard it said that if 2011 was the year of social recruiting, then 2012 is the year of mobile recruiting. I do agree but to clarify - we will still be working in offices' recruiters! NOT at the beach contrary to what candidates may think! It would be great if there was a one-size-fits-all solution to our sourcing woes but good recruiting is still a mix of new and old technology, extrovert and introverted behaviour.  Candidates will be hanging out a little more in the online world and so it may be marginally easier to reach them or understand them, but essentially us resourcers are going to have to get quicker at how we approach these candidates online; and we will need to be more intelligent about it. 
Every recruitment firm has access to a LinkedIn account of sorts, as do corporate inhouse recruiters. LinkedIn is starting to feel like a bunfight - you know what I mean, approach a candidate just to find out they have been approached many many times and they are just about to sign their offer letter for a new role... 
It doesnt take much forethought, or even analytics to reach out and engage these passive candidates sitting there with all their employment history conveniently formatted into a CV style layout commonly accepted by managers everywhere as a great 'networking' tool.  (Seriously I would like see a statistic of how many people actually network on LinkedIn other than to find new jobs or further their job prospects through career recognition)

We know it.  They know it. They are there to be found!

So back to where to start sourcing for the best talent around? I think the key success factors are;

Do's

1. Use your area of interest, learn about it and contribute to specific communities - get this - without expecting anything back
2. Establish what online hangouts the candidates in your specialised area commonly use and join them.
3. Blog in your specialisation area (very few recruiters do this)
4. Have a message and stand for it(I only recruit for companies who care about ____?)
5. Fully invest in the sites and platforms you choose, invest in them everyday
6. Choose a site where you aim to only find candidates for pipeline roles NOT active roles.  This will push you to develop hot lists and farm passive talent pools so you will know long before other recruiters when these candidates are looking

Don'ts

1. Don't forget your brand and please don't ignore applicants to adverts
2. Don't rely on one site or a single medium to reach out to passive candidates
3. Don't do what everyone else is doing! Follow your own path
4. Don't think LinkedIn or Facebook are going anywhere.  They are still your best bets at finding candidates for active roles

This kind of sourcing and recruitment requires a long term outlook and high effort.  It pays off, not immediately in sales but it will in compliments.  You can develop yourself as a subject matter expert and build your profile in the industry.  Over time it will result in job satisfaction, commission satisfaction and your boss will love you.  Well, hopefully your boss will love you...

Blue skies!