Translate
|
|
My CV is formatted for computer project
managers needing freelancers.
Not for German personnel departments (who have different criteria). !
- Personnel departments usually want to select employees
with different criteria, priorities, & timescales.
- Freelancers aim to satisfy immediate specific technical
needs of project managers
- Freelancers & Personnel depts. can often be
competitors to supply manpower to project managers.
Differences In Format inc.:
Explanations Of Why The Differences In Format
(Many German casual acquaintances long ago asserted I
should conform to their norms, a mix of nationalist/
traditionalists habits, some already obsolete, some
inappropriate to the international computer industry,
&/or employment system of freelancers etc. For any that
still haven't figured it out, here's explanations:)
-
List Skills First
Computer project managers appreciate it: they can cut to
the chase quicker : Leaf through CVs faster to find
skills needed.
-
List Projects In Reverse Order
Most pushing their advice to Not do this, were clueless,
not in computer industry, & did not realise how
important latest skills are, & how less important
older experience is by comparison, compared with other
lines of work.
-
Don't list Schools etc
German employees traditionally list schools. & other
ephemera one encounters in the preamble to
forward-chronological CVs). Many who urge this are not
university level, so listing schools & Abitur may
make sense for them. For someone in computer industry,
with multi year degree studies in computing, schools
before are irrelevant.
-
No Mappe
Some suggested the national norm of German Mappe: an
obsolete national tradition that ceased to be appropriate
when people got PCs & personal printers, but a
national habit that hung on for 20+ years beyond, even
when German companies started delaying (& failing) on
the expensive (time & postage) return of expensive
(time & printing) applicant purchased & assembled
generic Mappe, (which sometimes were returned very late,
dog eared etc). Daft advice from long ago when people had
no printers, just a copy shop down the road. Always
better to use own printer for updating versioned,
multiple copies for unlimited multiple parallel
applications.
-
No Exact Dates
eg no exact date of birth [etc], ( A freelancer's CV is
on web for easy access, but criminal identity thieves are
on web too, (as too are people prepared to claim
they were on your training course, with exact dates (I
knew one such rogue & warned him). One might put an
exact date on a printed posted/emailed copy but no real
need for a freelance, & its more trouble to maintain
multiple versions (though do-able automatically eg with
Troff
macros & Makefile variables).
-
Summary: Some Gratuitous `Advice' May Be Better
Ignored
What random non university level permanent employees in
non computer industry functions, who don't work
internationally, may urge as appropriate to satisfy
German oriented permanent employee personnel departments
for a Lebenslauf, ... may not be appropriate for a
freelance who's graduated in computing, works with
international groups on developments, & is recruited
by technical project managers (German or foreign) to
import international developments in English, merging
with German or foreign extra optional local developments,
& export product back to both local German speakers
&/or international English etc first or 2nd language
speaking customers.
|