CV advice, and general Job searching advice

I've worked in a school in Warickshire since April last year, but I'm looking for something closer to home (Leicester).

I really enjoy working here as (from a technical POV) it is a vanilla (2003/2008 servers) XP network, exchange is run inhouse, and we keep most of the work in house (cabling is done by us, web design was done by me, etc).

Am I likely to find similar working conditions, elsewhere?

Leicester Area
Having been checking the sites (LCC, thisisleicestershire, all the school sites) weekly, I've noticed a distinct lack of movement (one job came and went)... when compared to other counties I've had a look at.

Any know of any reason for this? Also how is BSF effecting the IT support jobs in the area, as I've noticed a few schools have moved premises or been closed (Fullhurst?)?

CV
I've just finished updating my CV, but it was my CV from when I went to University. I built a really nice template back then (I hope) for it but it has a non/term time contact details, In the interest of keeping things looking neat I changed these to the same contact details.

Would it be a good idea to rejig it to only be one set of contact details, even if it makes the template slightly odd?

Also I've made a number of recognised improvements to the network (implementing OS software, instead of expensive commericial products, redesigning site etc) is it a good idea to list these (the list is one side of A4)? or just say something like "over my time at Ashlawn I have made a number of key improvements, and would be happy to go into more detail at interview"

The only advice i would give is that don't leave until you have something else confirmed- but you probably knew that already.

Don't forget a CV should be no longer than 2 pages, so try to keep it brief but to the point, and include personal actvities such as going to the gym etc...

There will be an excellent talk from our sponsor Special Agent on just this subject at the May conference. See http://www.eventelephant.com/edugeekconferencemay2009/ for more details ;)

It's exactly 2 pages :)

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Originally Posted by Ric_

There will be an excellent talk from our sponsor Special Agent on just this subject at the May conference. See http://www.eventelephant.com/edugeekconferencemay2009/ for more details ;)

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hmmm I might just go to that... considering I'm up in Lancaster for the Half Term anyway...

Doesn't make sense to have 2 sets of identical contact details; lose one!

Include details of what you've done - there's nothing more annoying than "I've done loads and I'll tell you at interview!" You just won't get an interview because everyone can say that sort of thing; I need to know now, and quickly, what you've done!

Give examples of what you've done (eg "I implemented Zimbra which gives facilities similar to Exchange Server and saved x thousand pounds. Users are able to access their email ...")

When you actually apply for a job, tailor the CV and your letter to match. For example, if you apply to somewhere that mentions open source then you can emphasise what you've done in the area. If you apply to somewhere that makes a thing about their investment in Microsoft products then make sure you mention your skills in that area and play down your commitment to open source (when you get the job you can look at changing the world :-))

Finally, not sure why your signature says "won't spell check" but do make sure that there are no spelling mistakes in the CV or letter. If you don't use a spell check because you're dyslexic and spell checking just garbles what you write then get someone else to check for you.

Good luck!

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Originally Posted by mossj

I've worked in a school in Warickshire since April last year, but I'm looking for something closer to home (Leicester).

I really enjoy working here as (from a technical POV) it is a vanilla (2003/2008 servers) XP network, exchange is run inhouse, and we keep most of the work in house (cabling is done by us, web design was done by me, etc).

Am I likely to find similar working conditions, elsewhere?

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There will be schools with similar setups and some with vastly differing setups... some all in-house, some all linux, some RM, some with a mixture... every school will be slightly different, but that's part of the adventure of changing jobs. The differences are opportunities for you to develop.

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Originally Posted by mossj

Leicester Area
Having been checking the sites (LCC, thisisleicestershire, all the school sites) weekly, I've noticed a distinct lack of movement (one job came and went)... when compared to other counties I've had a look at.

Any know of any reason for this? Also how is BSF effecting the IT support jobs in the area, as I've noticed a few schools have moved premises or been closed (Fullhurst?)?

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I'm out of County, so can't comment on State schools in your area.

However, don't forget the independent sector. Go through your yellow pages/local paper/ISC website and build a list of Favorite independent school websites where you can keep an eye open for jobs coming up.

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Originally Posted by mossj

CV
I've just finished updating my CV, but it was my CV from when I went to University. I built a really nice template back then (I hope) for it but it has a non/term time contact details, In the interest of keeping things looking neat I changed these to the same contact details.

Would it be a good idea to rejig it to only be one set of contact details, even if it makes the template slightly odd?

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Rejig your cv template so that it only has one set of contact details and doesn't look odd. You've moved on from Uni now and your cv should reflect this.
Whilst a standard cv is great, in the interests of getting noticed, you should tweak it every time you use it to make the bits that fit the job description best stand out. Don't rely on the same cv for every job.

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Originally Posted by mossj

Also I've made a number of recognised improvements to the network (implementing OS software, instead of expensive commericial products, redesigning site etc) is it a good idea to list these (the list is one side of A4)? or just say something like "over my time at Ashlawn I have made a number of key improvements, and would be happy to go into more detail at interview"

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Always specify the bits that are going to make you look best on your cv - If they're relevant to the job the you're applying for. The employer will ask for more detail at interview if they want it, but if it's not there you may not get asked for interview!

The knack is getting the interesting bits in a compact form so that the employer scans it, thinks that you match the job profile and puts your cv on the interview pile (not the bin)... this is why you should tweak your cv every time.

Another tip is use a website like Neevia - Free conversion to pdf to convert your cv from Word into pdf before sending it out. It looks more professional.

I always out of habit taylor the information slightly, should I include the additional information even though it will bump my cv up to 3 pages? or include it in a seperate document?

Attached a picture of the top of my cv jsut to give you an idea of what it looks like with the term address in, and also to get suggestions of how to rejig it?

I was thinking contact details one side, personal details the other?

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Originally Posted by mossj

I always out of habit taylor the information slightly, should I include the additional information even though it will bump my cv up to 3 pages? or include it in a seperate document?

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Look at the layout of your cv (addresses on one line instead of 'envelope layout' for example)

I'm not sure how long you've been working, but after a while you don't need to list every GCSE and its grade, the phrase "6 GCSEs including Maths and English" will suffice!

Drop the font size (11 point instead of 12!)

Use smaller page margins.

.. and really think hard about how you word things and what you include.

It's amazing how you can get things down to 2 pages when you try hard.

Two pages nar skill is getting it to one page ok lets not start that argument again....

On another note I will respond in bit more details on bsf in Leicestershire and little bit less on Leicester city bsf when get bit more time later.

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Originally Posted by mossj

I was thinking contact details one side, personal details the other?

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You can shorten the personal details - you don't need DoB or gender (no employer needs to know them)

I'd also shorten the stuff about university; don't leave it out (otherwise there's a 2 year gap in your career history and that always looks bad) but you could put something like "Completed 2 years of a BSc degree with high marks but decided ..." which gives the essential info but takes much less space.

On a trivial point, I suspect your nationality is British :-)

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Originally Posted by srochford

On a trivial point, I suspect your nationality is British :-)

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It may well be...

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Originally Posted by russdev

On another note I will respond in bit more details on bsf in Leicestershire and little bit less on Leicester city bsf when get bit more time later.

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I would appreciate it

As an ex computer headhunter, I am quite experienced with CVs - you can send it to me if you like and I will have a look. Make sure it isn't read only though!!

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Originally Posted by witch

As an ex computer headhunter, I am quite experienced with CVs - you can send it to me if you like and I will have a look. Make sure it isn't read only though!!

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Thanks, I'll do that when I get home..

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Originally Posted by russdev

On another note I will respond in bit more details on bsf in Leicestershire and little bit less on Leicester city bsf when get bit more time later.

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Just a friendly poke to opst this if you could.

Sorry my fault forgot about this one...

See these links

http://www.edugeek.net/forums/bsf/26...documents.html
http://www.edugeek.net/forums/bsf/29...stershire.html

Pretty much current situation apart from that Timetbale has gone out the window and some happenings but more on that in about 3 weeks.

Russ