The Mock Turtle

It’s a long time since I did my cv Shoe, but something I’ve found helpful in the past is to start with a bullet list of skills, ideally matching what’s in the job spec before listing my history below. That might be an easier way of tailoring your cv, and you could build up a pick and mix of bullet points to swap in according to the application. Apologies if this is egg sucking territory!

Yes, definitely stick all those keywords in there as Pov says.

One of the girls in work suggested having a 'buzz words' section before my job history and skills too so you are all saying the same things which is good! I do have a key skills part first but it's not in bullet point form, more short sentences, so maybe making it a bit more punchy at the start is the way to go. It would also make it much quicker and easier to swap out just that first section and tailor it to each job.

Thank you all for your suggestions. I feel like I require hand-holding for stuff like this.

I'm another Southsider who would never drive to the West end. It's incredibly awkward.

Good luck Shoe. I found that applying for jobs and tailoring CVs was pretty much a full time job. It's very disheartening applying over and over and hearing nothing back. I usually get to know a few recruiters and badger them monthly to update them that I'm still looking and ask what they have coming up. Are you doing that?

That’s exactly what I did, Shoe as similar to you my experience is very broad so I had effectively a bullet point summary section at the top that I tailored to role.

Good luck!

Heebie, I'm glad you wouldn't drive either. I am now just hoping that the weather doesn't get really bad and put paid to the trains!

I am doing that, Heebs, I actually just finished sending off a catch up / progress email to the girl I've been speaking to at Reed. It's so time consuming, I totally get what you mean about it being a full time job, I'm struggling to find the time when I'm busy in the office too.

I am going to have a go at changing my CV up, MacS has had a look at it and given me some good ideas so I think combining them along with an easily tailored summary section at the top might be the way to go, I certainly hope so!

So, I had my chat yesterday and I'm not sure what to make of it. I had been told it would be with the newly appointed CEO but this other woman who runs fundraising came too. I really liked the CEO, he seemed approachable, enthusiastic and was keen to tell me all about what their longterm aims are but I really wasn't sure what the deal was with the other woman. She started by talking about how many millions she had raised elsewhere and how she knew all about Major Gift fundraising and then started grilling me on my CV. She then went on about how this job would be 'one of the best paid fundraising roles in Scotland' and how they were sure loads of great people would be applying. I was a bit taken aback- they had asked to see me, I hadn't begged for an interview, and I have lots of faults but being an entitled arrogant twat who thinks they are owed a job just by turning up, isn't one of them. She was also dismissive of 'London fundraising' and said that it was very different from Scotland. It may be, but seeing as by her own admission, she has never fundraised outside of Scotland, how would she know? She made a point of asking me if I had fundraised in Scotland (you can clearly see from my CV that all my roles have been down south) and made a face when I said I hadn't.

I think either she just decided I was some southern Johnny-come-lately who thought they were great (I'm not and I don't) and needed taking down a peg or she was trying to show off in front of her new boss. Maybe both. Anyway, it left me with a bit of a sour taste in my mouth and I'm not sure whether I could work with her, which is a shame. I would be at the same level as her, so she wouldn't be more senior than me, but I would need to work closely with her and I truly don't know at this stage in my career (and life) if I can be bothered.

I am due to speak to the agency today and will find a way to say a watered down version of the above.

I wouldn't water it down at all! The agency need to know that kind of bad behaviour is going on so they can brief others. But yes, she sounds like a pain to work with and I would question whether it's worth doing so.

It's hard as I don't know how much is just my perception of how awkward she was- and as I say, I didn't even expect her to be there- and whether I was reading too much into it. The more I think about it though, the more I just think, no can't be arsed with the hassle. I also think they will have very, very high expectations of this person, like raising millions within 12 months type of expectations and I have been down that particularly booby-trapped ridden road before and am not keen to repeat the experience.

Still no call from the agency. Maybe they are getting similar feedback on me from the charity

I texted my consultant. She's in Geneva and will call me tomorrow. I did ask her in my text message if she knew Chippy would be there and she said she didn't with several exclamation marks.

She's totally aware of how difficult Chippy is then!

Isn't she just? Some very telling punctuation there.

What a pain, MacS, she sound like a nightmare.

I had a call from another agency yesterday afternoon (one who have had a few interesting roles advertised which I have applied for) asking me to go in and see them after work as they had a position which they thought I would be very suitable for.

I went and spoke with the recruiter and the company sounds good, the job sounds similar to what I do now (although a bit more involved and with more responsibility) and it does seem like it could be a genuinely good fit for me, it's also the same distance as my current place from the train station so nice and convinient.

The money is a couple of grand less than I am currently on but from feedback I've had so far, I think I might be aiming at the very top end of the salary scale for what I do so keeping my salary the same could be tricky. My CV has been sent off to the woman at the company who is currently filling the role but looking to move on and apparently they will interview next week. Obviously, now I am shitting myself that I won't be able to do it. I am going to need to hypnotise myself before the interview like I did with my driving test.

Chippy sounds awful and very, very threatened by you. My hackles rose at your comment about high expectations too, it sounds as though the best paid job in fundraising in Scotland could be a poisoned chalice.

Good luck, Shoe!

Chippy sounds like a nightmare. It will be interesting to see what the consultant says, Mrs D.

Oh good luck, that sounds great Shoe.

Yes, I'm looking forward to the chat with the recruiter though I know most consultants won't slag off the client

I agree with Squirrel.

Good luck, Shoe! And you never know, they might match your current salary - a couple of grand is probably less crucial to them.

Good luck Shoe! I hope it has the extra responsibilities and things.

TLDR and snipped for identifying, but yay, new job, very excited.

Well done, Daire! That’s huge.

When do you start?