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How far to tailor a CV - ITIL/Service Mgt

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    How far to tailor a CV - ITIL/Service Mgt

    Morning all

    Yes I have used search and this doesn't seem to be answered, so hear goes.

    I've been working in service ops/service mgt roles for a long time now and have built up a lot of experience of the operational processes such as incident, problem, change etc. However that has been in perm roles, where I have been responsible for all of the above as a team/application manager and have never been in a role titled Incident Manager or Change Manager etc.

    When it comes to tailoring a CV, for say a role that is pure incident management, should I strip anything that isn't about incident management from the CV (in which case my last role with the bank at 6 years long is going to be very thin). Or should I just strip out anything not directly related to the role as advertised, so for example team/people management, service transition, service improvement work and so on, or leave it all in.

    What are peoples views, is the wider experience a distraction or a benefit when it comes to securing roles ? I obviously don't want to mislead anyone by saying that I've specialized in x or y for the last 8 years, but at the same time I want to hi-light the fact that I have good experience.

    #2
    Have a master cv with everything in it.

    Then tailor the CV to the contract for which you're applying.

    Generally, agents will only be interested in the last 3 years of your work, so you need to push that. But you can still put down other specialisms in your previous roles.
    "I can put any old tat in my sig, put quotes around it and attribute to someone of whom I've heard, to make it sound true."
    - Voltaire/Benjamin Franklin/Anne Frank...

    Comment


      #3
      Hmmmm. This question of tailoring a cv comes up from time to time.

      Im not convinced it works TBH. If you put your cv (or 'profile as jobswerve now call it!) on the recognised jobboards, agencies will download it to update their database. If you upload a 'tailored' cv in these circumstances, it becomes the de facto 'standard cv they'll use. So, you run the risk of your 'tailored' cv not catching the eye.

      If you spot a job on the boards then, imo, the agents have nearly always got the candidates they want to submit for the vacancy so your tailored cv is a wasted effort.

      If you work in a niche market and are fortunate to go 'direct,' then I can see te benefit of the tailored cv. But in reality, how many contractors are in this position?
      I couldn't give two fornicators! Yes, really!

      Comment


        #4
        I personally think you have to be careful in the OP's situation. I tailor my CV to show the skills I used in previous gigs that are relevant to the one I am going for by putting them at the top of the list. I DO NOT try and make myself look like something I am not.

        The problem is the OP has generic SD skills and the client is looking for particular ones. That is going to put you at a real disadvantage as there will be many guys who specialise in incident management etc.. You are just a generalist that has done a bit of what the client wants.

        I would personally not strip out everything that isn't incident management. That isn't giving the client a clear view of what you can do and if they get a sniff you are trying to blind side them they will just throw your CV away. Highlight the relevant skills yes but don't pretend to be an incident manager if you are not.

        Every SD role I have been for I have been interviewed by red badge guys so they are well aware of the scope of SD. No need to try and kid them, they will know what an SDM does and they will know if those skills can be transfered in to the role they want or not. If you look like a specialist incident managent and during you grilling they find you are not you will fail. If you are honest with them and set correct expecations you have a chance...

        Just my thoughts anyway.
        'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

        Comment


          #5
          As above I have a Master CV now, but in the past I had a Release Manager & Change Manager CV, Config Build and Deploy CV, pretty much had all the same information on it, just somethings had a prominence over the others.

          You should always tailor every CV to a role, as no role ask for the exact same things as the last
          Originally posted by Stevie Wonder Boy
          I can't see any way to do it can you please advise?

          I want my account deleted and all of my information removed, I want to invoke my right to be forgotten.

          Comment


            #6
            Just as an aside, have you actually got good experience? Service Management is a wide-ranging area and a lot more than a collection of processes (although clearly without knowing the processes you will struggle to put it all together). Primarily it's about business management, which you don't necessarily gain from the componenet activities, and people management to make things happen.

            So be clear about what you are trying to acheive, and then what you have done to justify your ability to deliver it. If it's a process role, then mentioning the exposure to the other discplines will help. If' it's a pukka SM role (Service Manager, SDM, Service Architect and the like) then you're going to have to be good at all of them.

            But as others have said, the bottom line is that your CV has to match the keywords written oion the agency muppet's list, or it's going nowhere, and it has to impress the real agent with a (bit of a) brain when it's passed over as a possible. Which means, sadly, we have to reshape the CV for every role.
            Blog? What blog...?

            Comment


              #7
              I'd suggest a very short summary at the top identifying main skill of SDM/incident management with 2-3 'supporting' skills of eg. service introduction, OAT test management, CSIP etc, (or the 'setting you usually work in whether it's steady state BAU for NHS or recipient of major transformation programme deliveries for insurance sector) and then make sure your first page job titles are all aligned to this, especially your current one. Even if your official title is something different but is essentially incident management, then put this as the title, and if you want to be scrupulously honest, then in the description say "Under the in-house title of Customer Technical Incident Service Management blah..." but which everyone else knows is Incident management.

              Where you role was broader, then do a hybrid title of eg:

              Incident & Service Ops Manager or Incident Manager & Operations Lead

              Comment


                #8
                Thanks for all the advice.

                I think NorthernLad has hot the nail on the head, in that over the past 8 years or so I have been in 2 roles (both perm) and although I was responsible for incident, problem, change etc within my area of responsibility (and in my last role designed and implemented the processes) I was/am a generalist with a wider remit. However over these years I have gained a lot of experience managing major incidents, running CABs and so on, however I have not been in a role which focussed purely on a single process.

                Just to answer Malvolio's point, I am certainly not a 'boot camp' trained individual. As well as the operational processes I have run service/SLA reviews with user reps, managed 12 direct reports and then 4 team leaders as well as matrix managed members of other technical teams, fed into service design from an applications mgt perspective, managed service improvement projects, managed risk registers, chaired capacity reviews, been responsible for DR planning and testing as well as business continuity planning for the service teams and generally been responsible for the end to end delivery of services. I actually took ITIL v1 foundation back in 1999 !

                I'll continue to tailor my CV in that I will ensure the relevant skills are at the top of the list and probably remove some detail around the ones that aren't relevant, but still leave them in.
                Last edited by AndyGB; 12 February 2013, 13:08.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by AndyGB View Post
                  Just to answer Malvolio's point, I am certainly not a 'boot camp' trained individual. As well as the operational processes I have run service/SLA reviews with user reps, managed 12 direct reports and then 4 team leaders as well as matrix managed members of other technical teams, fed into service design from an applications mgt perspective, managed service improvement projects, managed risk registers, chaired capacity reviews, been responsible for DR planning and testing as well as business continuity planning for the service teams and generally been responsible for the end to end delivery of services. I actually took ITIL v1 foundation back in 1999 !
                  Beat you by four years.... Then add in 15 years technical service management and datacentre management preceded by the more traditional coding roles.

                  Seriously, I was only being provocative and certainly not meaning to belittle your experience, but only hoping to make the point that CV has to match the very detailed requirements of someone who hasn't got the faintest idea what you're talking about, and who has quite often been replaced by a word search function. And only you can decide what's relevant for any given job application.
                  Blog? What blog...?

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Nah nah na nah nah

                    I was a damn fine network techie up till that point. But there isn't much demand for Novell 3.11 running over token ring today !

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