Not getting many responses to applications, no interviews, any tips?

[scooterscot]

Try broadening your search beyond the UK, and into the EU. UK is in rut at the moment. Jokers in the UK call me up advertising rates I'd have got 15 years ago. Contact companies directly, many can be found on places like indeed.

Jobsuche | Ein Klick. Alle Jobs. Indeed
Jobsuche | Ein Klick. Alle Jobs. Indeed
Cerco Lavoro | una ricerca. tutti i lavori. Indeed
Jobsuche | Ein Klick. Alle Jobs. Indeed

[eek]

You are a test manager (lot of them around) with no experience in the past 14 months. To be utterly blunt you really are going to struggle to find anything as everyone else applying for the job / contract is going to have recent experience.

I don't know what to recommend except trying to find a mate who is in a position to help you out. In a market where supply is far greater than demand you really don't have much chance of getting past the agency gatekeepers who have probably spent 12 of the last 18 months trying to escape their crappy telesales job only to discover that being a recruitment consultant is little better...

[BlasterBates]

You're aiming too high. Your previous company may have fast tracked you but most companies would much prefer an experienced guy. Most companies will have test teams with guys older than you who won't want to work for a younger less experienced manager.

I would go down a level, you'll have no problem getting a job as a tester which is where you should be going and don't be surprised when you go into another company that you don't end up on the fast track, that is usually down to luck rather than ability, i.e. they need a manager and you're sitting there already in the team.

Sometimes you'll fit in and do well and other times you'll just be another member of the team. If you want to be universally accepted as a test manager you need more experience.

[TheFaQQer]

I'm now back in the UK and looking for work within the test management. At the moment I'm using sites like indeed.co.uk to look for both contract (preferred) or perm positions. It seems like every job posting has an agent behind it.

Are you using the same CV for permanent and contract positions? With five years experience and a long gap, you shouldn't be really - they require different skills, so you need to make sure you are pitching correctly.

As others have said - a lack of recent experience is going to hurt you when there are plenty of other people out there who can offer that. Either drop down a level (as has been suggested) and get something recent on the CV, or whack it up a level and explain that you earned so much money in the past you didn't need to work...

Taking a wild guess at how old you are (I'd say around 32?), you need to get something quickly, or this is only going to be the beginning of your struggles.

[BolshieBastard]

So this is the first time I'm looking for work since finishing university 7 years ago.

As a short summary came top of my year in BSc & MSc then joined a large company on a fast track scheme. Rose up through the ranks very quickly and began to specialise in test management. I've run testing on some really big deliverables across all the test phases and have (what I consider to be) a lot of experience. My projects always went well & have reflected this on my CV.

I left the UK to travel SE Asia for 18 months and returned in November 2014, this is something I always wanted to do however life got in the way. It was a case of now or never!

I'm now back in the UK and looking for work within the test management. At the moment I'm using sites like indeed.co.uk to look for both contract (preferred) or perm positions. It seems like every job posting has an agent behind it.

Looking at Evernote I've applied for 60 jobs, had 4 calls from agents, 2 promises to put a 'profile' forward, and nothing else.

Is this normal? I'd say 20 applications were in November, I stopped over Xmas, and re-started looking 2 weeks ago submitting another 40.

Any perspective appreciated, this job hunting is new to me.

There will be lots of reasons, state of the market, big gap on cv, cheaper TM's on the market, picky clients or limited geographical area.

Its always been a numbers game. Regularly adjust your cv, try and upload it to the more contract market job sites such as jobserve, jobsite, cw jobs etc at least 3 times a week. You may want to consider lowering your rate expectations even though your cv may suggest you could charge top rate. When you apply for roles, always try and follow that up within 15 minutes by phoning the agent. This isnt always possible because a lot now do not give a contact number.

[joeg]

Thanks for all the responses, some useful information in there that I've acted on already.

What I've started doing today is calling agents (where I can) just starting off by asking if the position is still open. While they are on the phone I've already got an email with my CV prepped to send over if they want to talk it through with me. Seems to be working OK at the moment.

I've also spent most of the morning updating my CV. Someone rightly pointed out it must be one of the reasons, I thought it was good but then I would think that . A lot of guys my age left around the same time as me and secured work very quickly. I've been updating my CV to be more in line with theirs, hey if it worked for them then maybe it will work for me! Less focus on the clients I worked into and more demonstrated xxx by doing yyyy. Ran a team of xxx, promoted to aaa v.quickly.

It's looking a bit more permie than contractor so in the process of creating secondary CVs with focus on different areas of test to be sent depending on the job spec.

Some people here are saying aim low, others aim high, so I'll just do both and see what happens. These agents seem to be a barrier to the employers and some are obviously just fishing for work from your contacts, or looking send their guys over for roles your CV has been put forward to. With this in mind I'm going to mainly go direct to employers for the next week or two.

In terms of working abroad this is something I'd welcome, if I was offered a job in Asia, America (I hold dual citizenship), or somewhere interesting in Europe I'd be on the next flight. I've started looking based on some of the links scooterscot posted!

As for my trip there was very little beach bumming, more sightseeing, adventure touring, volunteering, and learning (all on my CV) ...

[fullyautomatix]

What is "fast track" ?
Do they operate on someone's brain and install some software so he gains experience of 20 years in 5 years ?

[joeg]

What is "fast track" ?
Do they operate on someone's brain and install some software so he gains experience of 20 years in 5 years ?

Sort of, but it involves a stick, I'll leave you to figure out what happens to said stick

[eek]

What is "fast track" ?
Do they operate on someone's brain and install some software so he gains experience of 20 years in 5 years ?

I've always taken fast track into management to mean:-

Someone up high likes him but he's blooming dangerous around systems so promote him out of harm asap....

[fullyautomatix]

I've always taken fast track into management to mean:-

Someone up high likes him but he's blooming dangerous around systems so promote him out of harm asap....

I have always taken it to mean, someone at leadership level has taken a fancy and is shagging him/her after work and is promoting him/her every 6 months to ensure future supply of said shags.