Hey, this is the Daily Overpass! My name is Eric and I make apps!
Now today, I want to talk about how my CV is my safety net.
Alright, so this past weekend my niece asked me to help her write a CV. So she
was applying for her first ever job and the job - one of the job requirements was
she needed a CV or resume to apply to it. She wasn't really sure what to do so
she asked me for help. Now, as a contractor my CV was one of the
most important things in my toolbox. I always kept it up to date and I always
read all the tips and tricks and everything about how to have an
efficient resume or CV. I always kept it up to date. So, I was like, "Yeah,
sure man. I'll help you." Because it was her first CV, you have to get really
creative because there's no job experience, you have to say things like
the fluffy words like, you know, good with people
enthusiastic, hard-working, but there's no - there's no experience to go by.
I can remember my first CV and it was very much the same. I remember saying
cash-handling experience and things like that. And now, it's all .net,
it's like it's all technical stuff. I was showing her some examples of
some bad CVs that I've received in the past and some some of them were really good.
So, we could see I really like this one, as an employer, this was the kind of I
was looking forward, this is one it was really bad, like I had one that where he
listed, where one of the guys and thought to call him out, but he listed all of his
vitals like height, weight, hair color and I was like, "Dude, I'm hiring you as a
developer I'm not sending out a search party for you!" But it was like -
because nobody really knows what to put on a CV. There's a few really good
examples and everything too. All the other contractors I've worked with, we
talked about our CVs all the time and we'll take on jobs just because that
will look really good on the CV. Now, here's the thing though, I have not used
my CV in nearly 8 years. The last time I ever sent it out to any employers or a
contractor, it was 8 years ago. So I don't know how effective it is.
But here's the thing, the last time I updated it was about
four months ago as I have to keep it up to date even though I don't need it anymore.
Because to me now, currently when I'm doing my own stuff with Overpass, my CV
is still my safety net. It's like my - it's like my backup on my computer.
It's something I hope I never have to use, but I'm gonna make sure it's ready
just in case everything falls apart. I know that I wish I could say
that I burned all my ships behind me and I'm never gonna look for a job again.
I'm never gonna have to find another contract, but you never know. You
never know which way the markets gonna go. You never know what's gonna happen so
I do keep that up to date. And I feel that just having that CV in place every
so often just to reconfirm to myself. You know, what I can I could get a
job with this is I'm still marketable in these areas. Marketability
is something as a contractor you're always thinking about.
You take on a job and they say, "Hey, we want you to learn this obscure language."
And you're like, "How marketable is it?" That's the first thing you're thinking.
Is that going to help me get something better later on and things like that. So,
it's something I've always - and it feels silly now, now I say that I update my
CV and I keep it up-to-date. I don't know how effective it is because I haven't
actually sent it to an employer in quite a while. I used to do this, I used
to like even when I was in a contract, sometimes I would apply for jobs just to
test the validity of my CV. Just to send something out to a position
saying I'm interested in this position and here's my CV. Just to
see if we hear back from them. Just to make sure that my skills were still
marketable. Then when they would call me, I'd say I'm sorry I've already got
something else which was kind of a waste of everyone's time, but when you're
dealing with recruitment, with recruiters and stuff like that,
they waste your time all the time. It was - haven't done that in years.
I don't know how efficient it is, but it is something that I still keep in
place. I still - always keep all the boxes checked when you're talking
about the livelihood of yourself and your family. You never know
what's going to happen there, could be some big economic collapse or something
like that and you need to go find that job in everything. So, you need to make
sure that you're ready and and everything like that. So, my question to
you, guys, and some of you, guys, out there, I know you've never worked for somebody
else, you're independent developers and you've always been independent to fellow
independent developers. You don't know what it's like to go into an office and
and wait until six, five or six o'clock at night. You can go home
or to take your lunch hour and think I'd better be back otherwise they're gonna
think I was gone too long, and all that stuff. I really envy you for never -
for being able to do that, but you know, for me I'm always ready to be - I'm always
ready to go back. In the first CV - I would but it was so much fun doing
that first CV, because I remember what it was like. I remember the trying to make
trying and it wass like all marketing. You have no experience,
there's no facts to go by, you're just like I could do this, I could do that.
It's promises and just trying to to show the potential rather than just that.
Rather than what you've actually done in the past. So anyway, let me know what you,
guys, think. Hey, tell me about your first CV. Some of them tell you, guys, may not
have written one so far. A resume and CV are pretty much the same
thing. Let me know what you, guys, what kind of CVs you, guys, have out
there like especially your first CV. Anyway, that is it for today. I'll talk to
you, guys, tomorrow!