What do I look for?

[SuperFerret]

Thanks James, I will keep going and hopefully something good will come up!

Cindy, that's a great idea! I'd not even thought of that, I'll have a look into that this weekend. I do tend to learn better by actually getting stuck into something as opposed to being taught as such so that is definitely worth some serious research. I think bias must still be lurking in some places but hopefully few and far between so I'll keep trying my luck. Thank you!

I've got lots of notes now to help me tonight (and over the weekend) while I search, reinvigorated after feeling a bit like I've been wasting my time. I may even have this open on my second monitor while I do some rejigging of the CV and cover letters so all the great advice is to hand

 

[JamesW]

Go for it. If you ever need advice let me know. My missus is a HR manager and has years of experience with this sort of stuff.

Fingers crossed for you.

 

[shg]

I think having a well-written resume is essential. I was briefly out of work in 2003, and the company I left sent me to a class which was pretty much useless but for the resume suggestions.

Briefly, after your contact info, write a two- or three- sentence "essence of ferret" summary; perhaps for you, something like "IT professional with strong skills in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, and Access), emphasizing the conversion of data into useful information. Growing knowledge of SQL and related technologies. Excellent oral and written communications skills."

Under each company, describe their business, your job title and description, and then your accomplishments, each starting with an action word and perfect parallel construction.

That Company, Inc., Dallas, TX 1993–2003
Provider of software tools used in visual simulation for creating terrain databases and building image generation applications.
Vice President of Professional Services<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
Managed business area responsible for one third of company revenue with one fifth of employees.
¨ Proposed, won, negotiated, and managed over $30M in new business
¨ Cultivated and won stepping-stone programs to self-fund development of full-featured image generator for fast-jet and helicopter flight simulation and complex large-area databases
¨ Grew professional services team profitably from four to 19 employees
¨ Initiated and led major thrust to take over production of Air Force databases by promoting open database designs suitable for republishing for multiple weapons system simulations
¨ Maintained technical expertise throughout tenure; developed algorithms for dynamic distortion correction, infrared sensor simulation, star field simulation, ballistic extrapolation, and other components of the product design

The point is to get peoples' attention quickly.

I don't believe you should ever overstate your capabilities, but should tune your resume for every recipient to highlight the skills most relevant to their needs.

Finally, have someone ELSE read your resume closely for typos. (Or maybe just put Option Explicit at the top )

 

[PaddyD]

"...but I'm not entirely sure what sort of job titles/keywords I should be typing into the various sites"

I'm currently trying "Executive remuneration for middle-management hours". No luck yet.

 

[Akashwani]

Hi,

How much do you want to earn?

How about "Supply Chain"....

http://www.right4staff.com/Supply-Chain-job-11787/
http://www.ujob.co.uk/job/site-logistics-and-planning-manager.htm?utm_source=careerjet
http://www.supplychainrecruit.com/jobs/supply-chain-manager-121472.htm

With my limited understanding of "Supply Chain" it seems that a good all round IT skill base along with some "special" IT skills in MRP, ERP, SAP, Data Analysis means you can earn a pretty good salary in the UK. If you have "relevant Supply Chain" experience, the above skills and a desire to work in 90c then the middle east is the place to look, 2-3 times more than pay in the UK and of course TAX FREE

Happy job hunting and don't forget to put on your cv that you are looking to develop new skills to aid your personal development, that always seems positive I think.

Ak

 

[SuperFerret]

Some excellent advice guys thanks.

I've spent my weekend applying for jobs with fine tuned CV's for each application, looked for some new more IT specific job sites, found a couple of local websites where you can set up your details and skill set and offer yourself out for voluteer work, AND managed to get all the housework done as well!

I've been on a role!

shg, I wish putting Option Explicit would work but sadly I just have to rely on my other half!

Akashwani, I think Supply Chain is way out my league at the moment...I'm not entirely sure what MRP, ERP, SAP are lol

 

[JamesW]

Akashwani, I think Supply Chain is way out my league at the moment...I'm not entirely sure what MRP, ERP, SAP are lol

Supply Chain is not always all about ERP systems. A basic supply chain has the following 'functions' (based on the tobacco company where I work):

Serve: Serving the customer; placing orders etc.
Buy: Buying materials for production.
Make: Making the product.
Move: Moving the product to the customer/3rd party warehouses.

Within these 4 main functions you have lots of other support functions that are business value added that the customer doesn't care about, like quality control (The customer just wants the product and expects it to be good), reporting (The customer doesn't care how much money you make, or how many orders you place) and other things like that.

On top of these main 4, you also have other support roles like IT support, SAP support, facilities and business analysts.

You will be surprised how many companies use the supply chain model - It is an excellent area to get into.

 

[Akashwani]

Hi,

I totally agree with you James.

SuperFerret, there are many parts to supply chain, you would be surprised how relevant and valuable your IT skills would be to a Planning/Supply Chain Department. You shouldn't discount any area of employment, just because it is unfamiliar, you will be very surprised at how easily your current skills can be adapted. I know people earning £30,000 - £40,000+ that don't even know what ctrl C does let alone VBA

Ak

 

[SuperFerret]

Supply Chain is not always all about ERP systems. A basic supply chain has the following 'functions' (based on the tobacco company where I work):

Serve: Serving the customer; placing orders etc.
Buy: Buying materials for production.
Make: Making the product.
Move: Moving the product to the customer/3rd party warehouses.

Ah that makes sense, I think I may have been involved in some of that then. Thanks James for explaining. I used to work at a place that printed POS for large retailers, we used to get the orders, buy all the materials (PVC, card, inks etc), print and make up the POS and ship it out to the customer.
I may have to look into that further, I ignored a few Supply Chain positions that popped up in my search so I may revisit them to see if it'd be worth applying

 

[SuperFerret]

I know people earning £30,000 - £40,000+ that don't even know what ctrl C does let alone VBA

I hear that! I get called up by all levels of management here to assist in serious Excel problems when it's normally a simple thing like a barcode not displaying fully (usually "It's doing a scary thing with +'s in it?!), or some simple conditional formatting or data validation.

I'll definitely keep looking and with all the great advice I've been given I'm hopeful I'll soon have a post similar to MrKows with a 'I got a new job! Yay!' in there