Help required from anyone involved in recruitment / careers advice?

Question

I would really appreciate some help or advice from anyone involved with recruitment as I'm almost at my wits end with regards to finding work.

Over the course of the last year, I must have applied to (and I'm honestly not exaggerating) around 250 different jobs. The only work I've actually been able to obtain has been temporary, three month employment which is of little use as clearly the idea is to gain permanent employment somewhere.

A very (brief) background of myself;

A Levels in maths, applied maths, physics and psychology. Currently completing my degree in mathematics via part time distance learning.
Have always worked, even throughout school and college.
I'm well presented, articulate and well spoken.
I even used to have a small business making and selling computers before I went to University.
Here's my CV (http://www.geocities.com/craig_hll/cv_updated_12_09_2006.pdf)

I believe (just about after so much rejection) that I'm very employable, and yet over the ...

... over the course of the last year I've been turned down for jobs in the following;

Data entry
Junior web developer
Office junior
Trainee laboratory technician
Endless admin jobs
Computer helpdesk
Data analysis
Trainee accountant

this is just to name a few.

If anyone could give me any advice about where I may be going wrong, I would appreciate it ever so much as it's really starting to knock my confidence now, all these rejections from jobs I know I could with relative ease.

Cheers.

By the way, on the link to my CV, removed the final ")" otherwise it wont work, my mistake.

Answer 1

Hey Craig,

A few pointers:
1). Get your resume down to 1 page! You can do this by;
**a: List your High School as name and diploma. Unless you went to a private preparatory school, the employer won't give a rats butt if you had P.E. or French (your not fluent, right?)
**b: Assoc.College, list Worcester - date - major - degree
**c: Upper College, list U of Sussex - date - major - still attending
**d: Don't list jobs that you have held for less than 30 days (1 week? Craig, what can you learn in 1 week that is of value)

2). Get your resume unified! Make the positions flow from 1 to another. You have customer contact at 3 places! Highlight that!
3). Develop different resumes! Your backgrounds are so varied. Make one resume that highlights your computer/math skills.
Make one resume that highlights your Customer Service skills.
Make one resume that highlights your Bar/Pizza skills.
By having different versions of the same resume, when you see a job that you like - you can send the appropriate resume.
4). Have you done volunteer work, coached, been in scouting? List these things! They make up your character and they ARE jobs!

I was going to add some things, but I think that once you get your resume down to 1 page send me a message to review and give you any more feedback.

Look up resumes on yahoo or monster to see what a resume should look like. Once you see what your resume looks like through monster or yahoo, it will help you in your layout. Or another idea, submit your information to the monster resume builder, and then view it. You will see what I am talking about.

Good luck,

Let me know if I can be of further assistance!

James in San Diego

Answer 2

Hi there, I'm an IT manager.

You have to remember one thing; to a recruitment consultant you are nothing but a walking commission cheque.

On average if I'm in the market I apply to about 200 jobs and get about 5 interviews. That's just the way the IT market is.

A recruitment consultant will be your best friend up until the point you cease to be useful (ie you CV gets rejected etc)

my Advice would be go through your CV, put your skills at the top your average Consultant isn't to bright they match keywords that's all they do so make sure at the top you have

Windows P, 2000, 2003 Server
Active Directory
Exchange
Office 2000, xp 2003
Exchange
etc etc

They need to see buzzwords to register in their tiny brains

and also Apply to EVERYTHING even if you don't match just apply anyway get your CV out there

I would be glad to help further let me know

Answer 3

I used to be a freelance recruitment consultant and found a lot of the reasons people were rejected were poor CV, poor interview techniques and incorrect amount of experience (too much can be just as bad as too little in some cases)

Were your rejections after interview or on application?

I could not get to your CV link....if you want to e-mail it to me I'm, happy to give you a few pointers. It is essential to tailor you CV for each job you apply for, when going on interviews learn as much as you can about the company and come across confident but willing to learn and always have a few questions to ask.

Best wishes.

Answer 4

I think you are very employable too, maybe you need to aim a bit higher, stop under estimating yourself. Go to your local careers office, they will help you re jig your CV so it looks more appealing. Don't get down about it though, been there and done that, am now in a job I adore. It will come in time, keep the faith!

Answer 5

something in "field sales" may be solid. You wouldnt be caught in an place of work, you would be attending appointments with consumers who've already confirmed an activity interior the product. merchandising contract telephones will nevertheless require chilly-calling, while field sales, its unlikely too. additionally, sources company, there is amazingly solid money in this, and the possibility for value may be spectacular! terrific of success!

Answer 6

Sounds like they think you are over qualified get a nice suit and aim higher.

Answer 7

good