Helllllllllllllllllllllllppppppppppppp

[yodiyokun]

I followed a friends advice on adjusting my cv to Uk format...and I actually put in my would be contact no in UK.

Just yesterday I replied to some adds..now my sister has received a few calls on my behalf and im still in nigeria.
Though I intend to call the agents back today...but my EC isnt ready yet..i have an interview this coming friday...
What do I tell the agents... Should I just tell them i wont be available till 1st week in november (thats when i intend travelling) but wont they black list my CV or something...or think i am unserious?????
I really need ur advice guys ...
Thanks a lot

[Smit]

Relax mate,

Your CV won't be blacklisted, all you need to do is to state in your CV or covering letter is that you will be available for interviews from November onwards.

S

[Ashwin2005]

Interesting point. Is there any concept like blacklisting CVs in UK?

When we submit our resumes electronically, the recruiters get our details. Assuming that our resume is not matching to the job we applied for, would they delete the CV from the database?

Months ago, before the approval of my HSMP, I applied for several positions (requesting for company's sposnsorship for the work permit). Obviously I did not get much response. Few called me up and asked if I possessed work permit. When I said no, they didn't bother to arrange for interview.

I am now going to apply afresh with my eligibility to work in UK (HSMP). Now what happens to my old resumes? Would the recruiters still have them in their database with my CV marked as "Does not have Work permit"?

Can any one -who is already employed in UK- throw some light on the recruitment process in UK?

yodiyokun, are you from IT?

[try-one]

Hi,
My personal experience in a specific area of IT is that recruiters have a short memory span...they are focused on the current needs and tend to delete cv's from their inbox. Recruitment companies are small in most cases and they don't have a big complex database....also the timeframes for recruitment are very short, so, if your CV hasn't been placed in a few weeks, they most likely will delete it. Corporate employers are similar, they have websites that you could use to feed your CV, but they purge the database frequently...

[Ashwin2005]

Try-One,

Thanks for your reply.

In IT field, how do they normally conduct interviews in UK? Telephonic interviews as in US? Or do they insist on personal interviews?

What is the typical recruitment process?

[Marie B]

I have worked in Human Resources for a number of multi-national companies in the UK and the process has tended to work in the same way for all. The process I have witnessed is as follows:

- A job is first advertised internally, if no one suitable comes forward then it is advertised externally. Large companies don't always use agencies, in fact, a lot of companies prefer to do all their own recruitment.

- The job will be advertised in a specific paper such as The Guardian and will ask for a CV or will ask for the person interested to call/email a dedicated line/email address to leave their contact address so an application form can be sent out. Some agencies will forward CV's to companies advertising a vacancy, these will often be left out as the company does not wish to pay the agency fees. Besides they are paying for the advertising and have an in-house HR department so prefer to do the recruitment thenselves. Only when very few applications are received would a company turn to an agency.

- CV's/Application forms are received at the company and are kept only for that specific job for which they have been submitted (unless they are exceptionally good and could fill an alternative vacancy - very rare). If large amounts of cv's/application forms are received they will be narrowed down firstly by spelling/grammar and presentation. A lot of companies like to send application forms so they can ask specific questions but also so they can see your handwriting - make sure it is legible!

- The best CV's with no spelling/grammar mistakes are then narrowed down by the Managers from the department in which the vacancy exists, so IT, Marketing, Finance, etc. These people obviously have a much better technical knowledge of what is required.

- Depending on how many people they wish to meet, and what the job requirements are, they will arrange interviews or a recruitment day. A lot of companies hold recruitment days. Here 10-20 applicants attend together and are given tasks to complete and are interviewed by various members of staff. You will often be asked to complete psychometric tests and aptitude tests to see if you are the 'right' sort of person for the job. If you are successful at the recruitment day you will probably be asked to attend a second interview at a later date.

- If there are less people to come in for an interview then you may just attend for an hour long interview although this will often be held by a panel of interviewers (3-4 people average). The company may also still ask you to complete psychometric/aptitude tests.

- I have never worked for a company which has interviewed over the phone except for an intial brief question session to gauge whether you have the minimum requirements necessary.

- Speculative CV's often just go straight in the bin, if they are held onto they will be filed and never refered to again.

- Many recruitment campaigns result in the company receiving upward of 300 CV's/Application Forms. If you have spelling and grammar mistakes or illegible handwriting it won't matter how many years experience or how many Masters Degrees you have, your application will be the first to go (the HR staff will be doing this initial narrowing down in order to send batches of CV's through to the Managers of the department which has the vacancy - they won't know what your specific qualifications mean).

- A good way to get ahead is to make friends with people working where you want to work and find out what their particular job entails and whether any jobs are being advertised internally. Then you can send in your tailored spec CV to the right person at the right time, you will be the first person on the list for the external interviews.

- The majority of companies will send you a job spec and a person spec with your application form - if not call and ask for one. Then you can tailor your CV accordingly to highlight the fact that you have exactly what the company is looking for.

- HR departments are run by humans, so there are always going to be mistakes. I was involved in one campaign where the people on the 'no' pile were invited in for the recruitment day and the people on the 'yes' pile were told they weren't successful. The people called in turned out to be very good and a number were recruited. The 'yes' pile people missed out. Don't take rejections personally, just keep trying.

- Spelling/Grammar/Presentation - I can't stress this enough - get a friend to check over your CV and make sure there are no mistakes, it paints a very unprofessional picture.

- I have never heard of blacklisting of CV's. HR staff are very busy and really don't have the time to set up or check back to a blacklist.

[Ashwin2005]

Marie B

Thanks very much for your detailed response. I am sure this will be very useful for many candidates who are looking for positions in UK.

Quick questions:

(1) Provided one has the eligibility to work in UK, what are the chances of getting interview calls if applying outside UK but within Europe?
(2) Do they always conduct psychometric tests - even for senior positions?
(3) Are these kinds of tests conducted even for IT professionals?
(4)Can you please provide any web links for sample tests?

[Marie B]

To answer your questions:

1. If you have the skills and experience you will be asked to attend an interview even if you are currently based outside of the UK. Some large multi-nationals will even pay your fare if you are really what they are looking for, though this will depend on the job you are applying for - it would have to be quite a high grade and the company would be intending to impress you in order to secure you.

2. The larger companies do seem to, this is an area that has expanded recently and is considered good HR practice in multi-nationals. Smaller companies don't seem to have the resources to hold the tests or the staff specifically trained in which tests to use and how to evaluate the results.

3. I have never worked at a company solely involved in IT, only large companies with IT departments but believe the answer is probably similar to 2, large multi-nationals and international companies will use these tests for practically all positions, smaller ones won't, although obviously hard skills and experience are more important than these tests. The company will tell you that you will be taking psychometric tests when they invite you for interview, they won't spring them on you unexpectedly.

4. There are loads of free psychometric / aptitude / personality tests on the internet, just type in the above words to any search engine and you'll see! The best advice to remember is that these tests are designed to test whether you are best suited to the job psychologically / emotionally, if you're not you probably wouldn't enjoy the particular demands involved anyway, so just tell the truth in your answers. There is no wrong / right, just different types of people. Only if you have extreme differences from what is 'best suited' would you lose out on a job because of psychometric testing, and then you wouldn't have enjoyed the role anyway.

One good site for general information is Prospects, this is the career guidance website for UK University students / recent graduates;

http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage ... F;$A7$08m$

This page also includes a link to the British Psychological Society, loads of info about psychometric testing.

[Ashwin2005]

Thanks very much Marie B for your detailed reply.

Your guidance is very helpful, I am sure this will also be very useful for all those who are moving to UK on HSMP. Moderators may consider making Marie B's answers as "sticky", for the benefit of the members.

For the benfit of members and me, can you also please provide the following information?

(1) Which are the months companies actively recruit new employees? I heard that during December many officials go on leave, and prefer to recruit after the holiday period. Is this true? If this is true, December may not be a good month for HSMP candidates to move to UK. Which are the best and worst months for job hunting?

(2) Assuming that two candidates have equal skills and experience, is there any difference in salary packages fixed for UK experienced applicant and non-uk experienced applicant? I feel those who have international experience (US, Australia..) may not have their salary package reduced because they do dont have UK experience. Is this right?

[san]

hi yodi, am new to the forum pls can you tell me hw you change your resume to UK format,. tanx