Resume, Job Help, & Job/Career Advice

Pimpernel Smith said:
Everyone I know in that situation is already aligned with their next employer. I suggest you do the same. You don't have to start working for them, but you can be ready at the allotted date and time.
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I would if someone wanted to employ me. The headhunter who placed me at my last job referred me to any headhunter that places interim executives on Friday. Who signs up to be an interim executive?
 
Fwiffo said:
I would if someone wanted to employ me. The headhunter who placed me at my last job referred me to any headhunter that places interim executives on Friday. Who signs up to be an interim executive?
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Find a different head hunter. Go on linked in. Get out there and press the flesh. You gotta get out there and sell that ass on the street!
 
Rambo said:
Find a different head hunter. Go on linked in. Get out there and press the flesh. You gotta get out there and sell that ass on the street!
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Christian Bale Oooo GIF
 
Rambo said:
Find a different head hunter. Go on linked in. Get out there and press the flesh. You gotta get out there and sell that ass on the street!
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I've been on LinkedIn since ages ago. It was how I found my two jobs in the 2010s. Random headhunters approaching me on private messages.

I did get other offers myself which I turned down but ultimately went with the two that knocked on my door.

Press the flesh doesn't really work here when no one is hosting events. Although there is a CxO Toronto event that I am invited to. Dinner and drinks. But by mid December I am going to be Cinderella's version of a pumpkin when I show up. Besides, what do I do there? Hey I'm Fwiffo, are you CxO too? Can I get your job?
 
Fwiffo said:
I've been on LinkedIn since ages ago. It was how I found my two jobs in the 2010s. Random headhunters approaching me on private messages.
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The problem is, many of the business scams are set-up by tracing organisational hierarchies and relationships on Linkedin.
 
What a week that was...I needed to renew a certificate for a client and had to do a week's course, but now online.

I made the mistake of thinking I can still cover all my duties at work. Don't make that mistake folks! Every five minutes getting put into ''Break Out'' groups tasked with coming up with various solutions and I was with a load of youngsters who didn't have a clue, so I had to take the point man position. One time, a young hungry graduate wanted to take the lead desperately, so I just let him rip and it was a load of shite. And then we both had to present it, but I just ignored what was written down and went the way we should have gone first go.

I was all fired up for the exam - which is very unlike me - but didn't factor in the proctoring software. Which I couldn't get working, so I went through three computers one at work, two at home, IT people couldn't help. Then eventually having extended the time window for the exam I got it working and turns out I needed to click on which screen to share which I hadn't been doing. By then all the fire had gone out and I couldn't get the drive and in the end I was running out of time in the exam, I finished 4 minutes before the end. Should have had 20 minutes at least.

With exams I'm that guy who just passes, or just fails having to do a resit which I just about pass. No 80% or 90%'s for me. And this time will be no different, but it should have been.
 
Pimpernel Smith said:
What a week that was...I needed to renew a certificate for a client and had to do a week's course, but now online.

I made the mistake of thinking I can still cover all my duties at work. Don't make that mistake folks! Every five minutes getting put into ''Break Out'' groups tasked with coming up with various solutions and I was with a load of youngsters who didn't have a clue, so I had to take the point man position. One time, a young hungry graduate wanted to take the lead desperately, so I just let him rip and it was a load of shite. And then we both had to present it, but I just ignored what was written down and went the way we should have gone first go.

I was all fired up for the exam - which is very unlike me - but didn't factor in the proctoring software. Which I couldn't get working, so I went through three computers one at work, two at home, IT people couldn't help. Then eventually having extended the time window for the exam I got it working and turns out I needed to click on which screen to share which I hadn't been doing. By then all the fire had gone out and I couldn't get the drive and in the end I was running out of time in the exam, I finished 4 minutes before the end. Should have had 20 minutes at least.

With exams I'm that guy who just passes, or just fails having to do a resit which I just about pass. No 80% or 90%'s for me. And this time will be no different, but it should have been.
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That sounds like my management course that the 20,000 people managers in my firm took. I wish I was the Sri Lankan bloke who kept saying my Internet connection is bad so I can't do video nor see much in Webex. To be fair to him it was afternoon CET and morning ET so God knows what time it was for him.
 
Thanks to the exemplary work and collaboration of [Group 1] and [Group 2] with the support of the outgoing CxO, we have officially closed the safety net phase for [Group 1] in Canada as of 27th January 2022.

The [Group 1] business unit in Canada was in safety net to ensure all knowledge and points of contact was successfully transferred. Taking this into consideration, the formal support of the CxO will no longer be required but he remains available to support when asked upon.
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The end....and everyone lived happily ever after.
 
Fwiffo said:
It's clearly written by someone who doesn't natively speak English. I tend to think German rather than French.
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I tend to not notice that, as I deal with the full gamut of different versions of English. There is a recognized Dutch version or style of English. I understand, but our American office couldn't make sense of a report we sent last week. They wanted some sentences changed and it was insignificant. But I just agreed.
 
Just got my long awaited, much delayed and expedited exam result and certificate which turns out to be a QMS/Lead Auditor ISO 13485:2016 - Medical Devices. A field I have no experience in, certainly not auditing and never taken a course or exam in my life.

I've gone from paranoia, to thoughts of incompetence, now I reckon they've been hacked and lost everything are trying to piece it all together.

Still, anyone on the forum want me to audit some medical equipment for your organisation?
 
If you have a choice I would ask for something where you can notarize (rubber stamp) things for a fee. Get a good side business going.
 
Fwiffo said:
If you have a choice I would ask for something where you can notarize (rubber stamp) things for a fee. Get a good side business going.
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Sounds like a good plan, but being a good boy, I've informed them of the error.

Rubber stamping, and it does go on, it's too risky in my sector. Too many bespoke requirements, that are often missed.
 
I'm resigning from this CxO professional group. I was, moreover, part of their governing council - whatever that was because I never got a chance to find out with coronavirus. I keep getting invited and/or volunteered to speak but I can't really fake it anymore especially since we're meeting up for a mid year conference next month.
 
Applying for a role reporting to an EVP where the EVP was an open vacancy I passed on last year.

At least I got past gate one.
 
I got through 4 interviews plus a headhunter screen and got declined. Last interview was just weird with people asking where I lived, and how I coped with being quarantined in the pandemic.

And half the 3 digit number of people under the role are unionized of which I have zero experience to deal with.
 
Fwiffo said:
I got through 4 interviews plus a headhunter screen and got declined. Last interview was just weird with people asking where I lived, and how I coped with being quarantined in the pandemic.

And half the 3 digit number of people under the role are unionized of which I have zero experience to deal with.
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4 interviews is overkill. If you get locked into a process involving layers of HR people and tick boxes, it'll be a rat race, a survival game of luck and no indication of your ability, talent or professional capabilities. For me it's very simple, if the CV can be verified and the technical qualifications are legit and fit, it's worth a roll of the dice. Interviews are not a good measure, I keep them brief, I'm doubly friendly and create ease and rapport and let the credentials and track record do the talking. I also factor in some individuals are not good in interviews.

In any case, you've likely had a narrow escape there. Worked in one unionized environment and it was hell. Never forget the head union convenor's name: Russell Gray, a lowly uneducated storeman, but through being head convenor for the Transport and General Workers Union had his own office and secretary and caused mayhem. Him and his ilk where behind the intimidation and threats to the school kids of the middle management of BP in Grangemouth in the 2000's. Utter lowlife scum.
 
Pimpernel Smith said:
4 interviews is overkill. If you get locked into a process involving layers of HR people and tick boxes, it'll be a rat race, a survival game of luck and no indication of your ability, talent or professional capabilities. For me it's very simple, if the CV can be verified and the technical qualifications are legit and fit, it's worth a roll of the dice. Interviews are not a good measure, I keep them brief, I'm doubly friendly and create ease and rapport and let the credentials and track record do the talking. I also factor in some individuals are not good in interviews.

In any case, you've likely had a narrow escape there. Worked in one unionized environment and it was hell. Never forget the head union convenor's name: Russell Gray, a lowly uneducated storeman, but through being head convenor for the Transport and General Workers Union had his own office and secretary and caused mayhem. Him and his ilk where behind the intimidation and threats to the school kids of the middle management of BP in Grangemouth in the 2000's. Utter lowlife scum.
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The challenge was the whole department was getting replaced top down from the C suite which was 9 months ago. Executive ranks were filled with loyalists from the previous company. I was an outsider. They also acquired one of those innovative skunkworks subsidiaries. Having the union, the new acquisition and wanting to give the organisation a fresh coat of paint was always going to be hard to juggle.

4 isn't that much. The headhunter screened me twice - one with a partner on video and one with just the more junior recruiter.

For my job which evaporated last year I did 6 interviews + a headhunter screen over 3 1/2 months until I saw an offer and then it took a few more weeks of haggling plus notice period before I showed up. It was a mixture of video, telephone, and a board member flew in from Germany and a regional CxO flew in from the US.
 
He'd fit right in with civil service and bureaucrats in southern Europe.
 
I feel like a naval commander who just reported into the remnants of Austria after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian empire. And all my commanding officer could say - yes it's true, there is no water anymore. Unfortunate.
 
Actually I have a better analogy. I'm like the Ukrainian governor of Luhansk or the Ukrainian mayor of Mauripol.
 
Spoke to some head hunter today and she wants to put me up for a lower total compensation, lower title, fewer people, unknown budget (she seems to think it's higher).
 
Grand Potentate said:
Tell her to fuck off
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She didn’t read my CV so she asked her admin to book a video call today. Her admin gives me times that don’t work until I reminded the admin she booked herself at 10. At 10, I waited seven minutes and she rings my mobile and says it needs to be telephone again because her computer is buggered up.

In spite of saying she knows this account for 15 years she passes me on to another headhunter in the same firm who will give me advice on my CV before presentation to the firm. But this will be next week.

She keeps saying the slightly lower compensation will be made up because I don’t need to commute farther. I had a travel stipend so it is net neutral to me except for time but my six children will appreciate it.
 
Fwiffo said:
She didn’t read my CV so she asked her admin to book a video call today. Her admin gives me times that don’t work until I reminded the admin she booked herself at 10. At 10, I waited seven minutes and she rings my mobile and says it needs to be telephone again because her computer is buggered up.

In spite of saying she knows this account for 15 years she passes me on to another headhunter in the same firm who will give me advice on my CV before presentation to the firm. But this will be next week.

She keeps saying the slightly lower compensation will be made up because I don’t need to commute farther. I had a travel stipend so it is net neutral to me except for time but my six children will appreciate it.
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How long does it take to read a CV? Unless it's one of those 25 page beauts, resplendent with different fonts and those bullet type exclamations where they tell you how they reinvigorated the function and department, ka-pow!

The trap you're falling into there, is that they're going to get you to change the CV into their house style/brand, or to what they think the client wants. Stand for none of it: here's my CV, track record, qualifications, what I do, what I offer, if it fits great, if it doesn't, so long suckers!
 
Pimpernel Smith said:
How long does it take to read a CV? Unless it's one of those 25 page beauts, resplendent with different fonts and those bullet type exclamations where they tell you how they reinvigorated the function and department, ka-pow!

The trap you're falling into there, is that they're going to get you to change the CV into their house style/brand, or to what they think the client wants. Stand for none of it: here's my CV, track record, qualifications, what I do, what I offer, if it fits great, if it doesn't, so long suckers!
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I'm a bit more pragmatic. If you want it in Swahili I will do it in Swahili. Whatever gets my foot in the door.

But the format and content got me a job at two international firms so what do I know.
 
Fwiffo said:
I'm a bit more pragmatic. If you want it in Swahili I will do it in Swahili. Whatever gets my foot in the door.

But the format and content got me a job at two international firms so what do I know.
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I've arrived at the stage, where I'm happy being me, free and I won't contort myself to fit in like David Bowie on the cover of the Lodgers LP.

Edit: But, the oil & gas majors, the national ones, Halliburton types and such, have very definitive culture and style, that you're meant to not only fit-in with, but project at all times.
 
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Fwiffo said:
She didn’t read my CV so she asked her admin to book a video call today. Her admin gives me times that don’t work until I reminded the admin she booked herself at 10. At 10, I waited seven minutes and she rings my mobile and says it needs to be telephone again because her computer is buggered up.

In spite of saying she knows this account for 15 years she passes me on to another headhunter in the same firm who will give me advice on my CV before presentation to the firm. But this will be next week.

She keeps saying the slightly lower compensation will be made up because I don’t need to commute farther. I had a travel stipend so it is net neutral to me except for time but my six children will appreciate it.
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they're wasting your time fwiffs. this is a very common tactic now with the headhunters as employers are all trying to get people to take lower compensation rates. tell them either they pony up or they can look elsewhere.
 
I am diligently rewriting my CV. Today I need to do it with a cup of tea and not with alcohol.
 
Pimpernel Smith said:
Top tip, I think it was Hemmingway, or may have been Bukowski: write drunk, revise sober, or write sober, revise drunk.
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I think it dumbed down my CV. They asked for a profile and your top skills. I spent an hour making up all this rubbish gnashing my teeth that I never look at profile summary, singular quotation that sums you up, and top x skills when I do the hiring.
 
Fwiffo said:
I think it dumbed down my CV. They asked for a profile and your top skills. I spent an hour making up all this rubbish gnashing my teeth that I never look at profile summary, singular quotation that sums you up, and top x skills when I do the hiring.
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I'm old school, I just want the credentials, expertise and chronological career to date. Not interested in grandiose statements of past achievements, the less of that the better. You'll get to know all of that in the interview soon enough.
 
Has anyone used this check in generator?

It's basically any ice breaker. I went through it once with this offsite facilitator two weeks ago and now I'm sitting through some inane how to manage people in a hybrid model and it is recommending to use this every X interval.

checkin.daresay.io

Check-in Generator - Hej.Today

Start your meetings off on the right foot with Hej.today a check-in generator created by Daresay
checkin.daresay.io checkin.daresay.io
 
That last internal interview was a joke. He was 15 minutes late because he lost track of time in spite of his admin moving it twice further out on me. That's okay. Beggars can't be choosers.

His internet was poor so he said he would turn off his video. I ended up dressed formally staring at a box with his photograph and myself for the rest of the 15 minutes.

I was pitched the 2 year project that one of my former bosses (the one I don't really get along with) was pushing me to. I have three choices for relocation, MN, IL and VA. The project is for VA. He then describes his offices. I bit my tongue because I knew contesting would eat up more time but his predecessor was one of the people with whom I interviewed to be hired and I was already invited multiple times to the VA and even the old CA office. His admin even remembered me.

When I could finally chime in I wanted to try something new and still fulfill one or more of the three things that are important to me professionally he talked about some roles that could open next year after they absorb another 400 plus people. Or there was a job that is equivalent to managing office space and kit and then he steered me back to the 2 year project. VA isn't that bad. Just do it for 8 months and we'll see where we are at.
 
I find these interesting. It seems some jobs are rated as high stress based more upon expectations and the types of people they attract- rather than a pure rating of how much stress is a part of the job itself. But I might be wrong since I have no experience with most of these.

Work Styles — Stress Tolerance

www.onetonline.org www.onetonline.org
 
Working for some small wealth management firm with 300 employees who was founded and run by a father and his son is the C suite you have to report to. Is that insanity?
 
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