Sheffield businessman slates the unemployed

[tinfoilhat 11]

Of course you can.

 

"My team were given a yield target of £5million which was double the previous year's target. I volunteered to undertake extra training in order to open Company Tax enquiries, something the team had never done before. My team eventually brought in £5.7 million of which my work in this new area brought in an extra £2.7 thus achieving the results which required..blah blah blah"

 

This is a very short summary of the 250 word competency example I recently used and which I then expanded upon at interview. No names, no confidentiality issues, no problems.

 

It's a good cop out though.

 

"Can you explain how we're involved in this multi million pound project"

"No. It's a secret. Take my word for it. "

[Cyclone 10]

It's a good cop out though.

 

"Can you explain how we're involved in this multi million pound project"

"No. It's a secret. Take my word for it. "

 

I've said "no sorry, you'll have to ask me about a previous employer not the current one, official secrets act"... I got the job.

[taxman 12]

I've said "no sorry, you'll have to ask me about a previous employer not the current one, official secrets act"... I got the job.

 

Well it's hardly a secret that someone who works for the Fraud Investigation Service and whose email signature denotes "tobacco team" would be involved in certain activities.

 

They wouldn't have interviewed me for an "investigation officer" role if I couldn't already prove that I could do investigations.

 

Official secrets act my bum. I've never signed it because it doesn't exist, it's just a given that when you take a certain job or role you are automatically deemed to have agreed to confidentiality rules.

 

I can talk about anything I do as long as I don't identify either "customers" or specific technical methods we use.

 

There is a TV programme about what I do on CH4 in 10 minutes time. Most of what we do, our manuals and guidance are un-redacted and online.

Edited August 14, 2017 by taxman

[Cyclone 10]

No, I wasn't suggesting it was.

 

The act certainly does exist, I've signed it several times. I could be prosecuted for talking about work I've done, but it's not difficult to not talk about it.

[tinfoilhat 11]

Well it's hardly a secret that someone who works for the Fraud Investigation Service and whose email signature denotes "tobacco team" would be involved in certain activities.

 

They wouldn't have interviewed me for an "investigation officer" role if I couldn't already prove that I could do investigations.

 

Official secrets act my bum. I've never signed it because it doesn't exist, it's just a given that when you take a certain job or role you are automatically deemed to have agreed to confidentiality rules.

 

I can talk about anything I do as long as I don't identify either "customers" or specific technical methods we use.

 

There is a TV programme about what I do on CH4 in 10 minutes time. Most of what we do, our manuals and guidance are un-redacted and online.

 

That's odd, I had to sign the official secrets act before I started two weeks work experience at moorfoot in 199summatorother!

[apelike 10]

Official secrets act my bum. I've never signed it because it doesn't exist,

 

I does exist and everyone in the UK is bound by it. You only sign it as a recognition that it does exist and that you can be prosecuted under it, and by doing so it makes any prosecution easier. As always ignorance in the law is no defence.

[Love2print 10]

Taxman you best tell that to my Uncle who worked for MI5. He definitely wasn't allowed to tell me what he did.

[DerbyTup 10]

CVs are outdated IMO and many organisations stopped asking for them decades ago. This is a fact.

 

I'm not the one with a problem, so I'm alright Jack. He's the one slagging off the people of Sheffield and insinuating it's a city of lay-abouts. If he has no problems finding staff down south, surely he should just move his business down there?

 

---------- Post added 11-08-2017 at 01:12 ----------

 

"I think, from our experience, that people are a bit more inclined to work the further south you go," he said.

 

I'd be interested to know what organisations are using instead of CV's in your experience?

 

I'm self employed now, but my background is working in large multi-national, multi-billion dollar corporations. These are what we call "blue chip" organisations. All of them use CV's.

 

In most of these organisations, CV's are read by computer these days. They are scanned for certain phrases and keywords. If your CV doesn't contain those keywords it will probably never reach a human being for review.

 

Most senior jobs in such organisations are filled by head-hunting - but even there the first thing they ask is, "send me a copy of your CV".

 

I'd genuinely like to know what you feel the better alternative is to a CV?

 

I do appreciate that perhaps for the type of job this person is advertising a standard application form is often used - some companies request both this and a CV.

 

But at the very least, there is a requirement for a person applying for a job to provide some details about themselves, beyond basic contact details, surely? And that has to include previous work history, skills/experience/knowledge, qualifications. Which is basically what a CV is.

 

---------- Post added 15-08-2017 at 08:02 ----------

 

Taxman you best tell that to my Uncle who worked for MI5. He definitely wasn't allowed to tell me what he did.

 

How did you know he worked for MI5?

Edited August 15, 2017 by DerbyTup

[Love2print 10]

I'd be interested to know what organisations are using instead of CV's in your experience?

 

I'm self employed now, but my background is working in large multi-national, multi-billion dollar corporations. These are what we call "blue chip" organisations. All of them use CV's.

 

In most of these organisations, CV's are read by computer these days. They are scanned for certain phrases and keywords. If your CV doesn't contain those keywords it will probably never reach a human being for review.

 

Most senior jobs in such organisations are filled by head-hunting - but even there the first thing they ask is, "send me a copy of your CV".

 

I'd genuinely like to know what you feel the better alternative is to a CV?

 

I do appreciate that perhaps for the type of job this person is advertising a standard application form is often used - some companies request both this and a CV.

 

But at the very least, there is a requirement for a person applying for a job to provide some details about themselves, beyond basic contact details, surely? And that has to include previous work history, skills/experience/knowledge, qualifications. Which is basically what a CV is.

 

---------- Post added 15-08-2017 at 08:02 ----------

 

 

How did you know he worked for MI5?

 

Well I suppose he could have been lying!

 

He could tell me he worked for them but not the specifics of what he did other than, as seems common with this thread, it was IT related.

 

He was very sort after (retired now). He later was head hunted by a company in Australia who said along with the salary a flat would be included. He said that as it was a 6 month contract his wife would be coming and a flat wouldn't be suitable for her. So they offered him a house with a pool instead. He ended up stopping over there for 12 months altogether but by law, something to do with Visa's I believe, he had to leave the country for 3 weeks after 6 months before coming back. They paid for him to go to New Zealand.

 

Hes not the bragging sort btw so I believe him. His wife, my Aunt, went to Cambridge that's where she met him. The both had well paying jobs throughout their careers before retiring.

[DerbyTup 10]

Well I suppose he could have been lying!

 

He could tell me he worked for them but not the specifics of what he did other than, as seems common with this thread, it was IT related.

 

He was very sort after (retired now). He later was head hunted by a company in Australia who said along with the salary a flat would be included. He said that as it was a 6 month contract his wife would be coming and a flat wouldn't be suitable for her. So they offered him a house with a pool instead. He ended up stopping over there for 12 months altogether but by law, something to do with Visa's I believe, he had to leave the country for 3 weeks after 6 months before coming back. They paid for him to go to New Zealand.

 

Hes not the bragging sort btw so I believe him. His wife, my Aunt, went to Cambridge that's where she met him. The both had well paying jobs throughout their careers before retiring.

 

Thanks for the additional info. I was only pulling your leg btw, but it's interesting to read about the lifestyle that goes with it.

 

I've never worked for M15 or any such security services, but I have been fortunate enough to be posted overseas with my work and it's been a fantastic experience. Similar to what you describe in some ways. I used to love coming home from work, stripping off into my swimwear and jumping in the swimming pool with my kids of an evening. It was warm/hot for 6 months of the year where we lived and especially at this time of year, it was great to have a house with a pool. I had 2 years of that before moving back here - I could have done longer but I'm glad now that we didn't.

[Love2print 10]

Thats OK DerbyTup. I could understand why some people think I'm lying though. As it can sound a bit far fetched!

 

It must be nice to have skills that mean you never have to apply for jobs. Every job he had I think he was headhunted for.

 

Living very comfortably in retirement now on the South Coast.

[DerbyTup 10]

Thats OK DerbyTup. I could understand why some people think I'm lying though. As it can sound a bit far fetched!

 

It must be nice to have skills that mean you never have to apply for jobs. Every job he had I think he was headhunted for.

 

Living very comfortably in retirement now on the South Coast.

 

I suppose it depends on your life experiences, it doesn't sound at all far fetched to me. It's pretty standard when you work for big organisations and move up the ladder to be offered these kind of benefits. I mean, I was asked to move to a very poor country where most folks wouldn't want to go. I would gain significant business experience by moving there, and I was keen to get that to help build my career, but also it's a major upheaval to your life, massive!

 

I moved out there with my wife and 2 young pre-school children. We knew by doing this that my wife probably would not be able to work, we would need to pay for private healthcare, nurseries, schools, flights back home, etc. On top of this, although you are still technically "employed" by the UK company, there is no guarantee you will have a job back in the UK should you decide to return at the end of your posting. So, effectively you're cutting yourself loose of a job in the UK and your life here.

 

People don't do that for nothing - so they have to make it worth the employees while to do that, otherwise no one would ever do it.

 

The standard relocation package involved helping you sell your existing home (or paying estate agents fees to manage the property for rental whilst you are away), security briefings (essential), provision of an education consultant (to advise you on where to school the kids, how to leave UK education and join the foreign system and what happens when you come back), removal costs, disturbance allowance, health insurance, personal financial adviser whilst abroad, company car driver abroad, security guards while abroad, rental of house abroad, 3 flights home a year for self and family...etc.

 

Yes, it's possible to live like a King on those packages, especially in poor countries. But people give up a lot and take a lot of risks to do so. The previous incumbent to the job I went out there to do had received death threats. I knew all this before I went but decided it's what I wanted to do and my family came with me willingly.

 

You can get to a certain level where you are known amongst a small network of people, which means that you get to find out about jobs before they ever become advertised or vacant. In fact, most jobs are never advertised at all. That's why it's important to network. As soon as a job is advertised you are competing with hundreds or thousands of others for it. It's far better to find them before they actually come up.

 

Even so, even now...I still have to have some form of a CV to send to people. They might know me really well, but the company has to have some formal information on me. It's not like going through a formal interview as such, because I've got expertise in a certain field which I'm well known for by most companies in that field. But they still always ask for a CV, along with a proposal.

 

That's why I'm so surprised really at the poster who says that "CV's are crap" and his company don't use them.