I know IABU but permit me a whinge?

[FeliciaJollygoodfellow]

I'm bored with my job. I've applied for three roles within my company - first one was perfect but actually the advert shouldn't have been up. Second I knew they had a candidate in line but thought my CV would wow them. Third one was decent.

Obviously haven't even been offered an interview for any of them. I'm so annoyed. It would be a brilliant step up, extra money which we really need, plus I'm just so BORED!

I've also got my CV up on LinkedIn and various recruitment sites and not a dicky bird.

I'm guessing my CV is actually shit and I should get it reviewed by a recruitment consultant. But I don't really want to move companies.

Ugh. Sorry to be self indulgent. Just annoyed. Again. Back to the drawing board.

CPD!!

Have you done any recent training - you need to ensure your skills are up to date and relevant.

Have you any experience for the posts? Start seeking extra responsibilities and skills.

job hunting is awful and it's always the unlikely ones that somehow work out. If you're not getting hits on linkedin, you might want to send your CV to a few recruitment agencies to find out what they think and whether you could do some training that would make it more appealing.

What's CPD?

I do project management (albeit without any official training ) but I have experience in the aspects of each role I have applied for. Definitely not overreaching.

I'm in a position where I am not earning enough to pay myself through a course and my company don't/can't/won't support me through it.

I have to admit here to a healthy dose of jealousy as there are people on the graduate scheme ten years younger than me who have been funded through £5k courses and I can't get £500 out of em. I've worked here for nearly nine years.

Continued professional development

and you can't find the £500? Project management is usually the kind of thing where you can easily recoup that in a payrise from getting a better job. They don't sound like much of a company, I agree, if the goodwill's not there then you're right to be looking around. it's not much of an ask.

sorry i'm dopey, you say you can't afford to pay for it. What kind of project management are you doing that wouldn't recoup a £500 investment? That's a pretty small outlay for training. IT project management usually pays pretty well.

You'd think so wouldn't you?

I work for a major high street bank. You tell me why it's such a big ask!

Projects I've worked on have had a skew towards implementing new operations from small scale ~five people taking on a new role, right up to setting up a department of over 100. Have been involved in other more technical things but those are the main thing. That coupled with my nil professional qualifications means roles available to me outside of this company are paid no better than this one. Internally, I should be in a really good position. I've had some great successes this year and have some fab stakeholder feedback (official as well as not so official) but the recruitment process doesn't actually look at that

I could potentially scrape together £500 for scrum master for e.g., just not sure if that will be too relevant? I run the risk of paying for it and it having no impact in this company or moving on and it meaning I've got no practical experience so start right at the bottom of the ladder. I might be overthinking that bit, it's been a while since I looked into the training aspect.

I'm assuming from the ScrumMaster comment you're in IT? If you're willing to PM me your CV I can have a look at it. I'm a PM for a software vendor so maybe I can give you some hints?

I'd get my CV out to a recruiter of project managers/change managers and then follow up and ask them what'd make your CV more attractive training wise/what they could look for, for you. They see a lot of similar CVs and I've had good pointers from them. You can sometimes get contract jobs for junior project management that pay ok as they're contracting but not sure if you're willing to take that sort of risk. I sympathise, i'm similar, 16 years doing IT and not an IT qualification to my name, at some point that's going to be a problem. A lot of people get to the point where they need to invest in their skills after a long time in the same job to move on. The experience you've got's the ideal start.

Can you speak to the recruiting managers of each of the 3 positions and get feedback. Did they even see your cv or was it screened out?

In a large company a friend who applied for a position was screened out by HR. He talked to the recruiting manager and said he was very disappointed to not get an interview and could he have feedback. The manager hadnt even seen his cv. He got an interview and subsequently got the job.
I also was rejected repeatedly for other positions when at a previous company and asked for feedback for one (for a couple of positions i could see why someone else got the job). Turned out they wanted to give me it but my manager had blocked it saying they needed me in my existing team. It gave me the push I needed to leave.

Oh and forget the recent graduates, they are on a different scheme to you. It might be unfair but don't compare. Use your own merits to justify why you deserve the training you want.

I hear you. I've had similar experiences this year. I always make sure I am giving more than others on my grade have more CPD, invest in my development but to no avail. It's horrid.

Mrs - I'm not in IT but there are lots of IT jobs available. Scrum also seems to be a cheaper qualification than most so I was thinking a change in tack might be good. I haven't looked much further than surface level tho if I'm honest. Thanks for the kind offer but not sure if it's worth your time based on all that!

Red - that's my next job, and one I'll tackle this week. I've redone my CV for each job, just so I can focus on the most relevant project to the job I'm applying for - it's so dull though.

Newmum - two of the three jobs the CVs weren't looked at; one was screened out (the one where they had a person in mind) and the other forwarded to hiring manager who didn't review it. I did express disappointment that the advert had been left active as the role was perfect for me and would she mind providing feedback - none was forthcoming. The most recent one the CV was reviewed by the hiring manager and today came back with a thanks but no thanks. I will ask for feedback on that one though.

I know I shouldn't compare but it's so hard. I try not to voice that though as it is definitely sour grapes!

When was your last appraisal? It sounds as though you need to have a proper discussion about potential career pathways within the organisation and to make your employer see you as a candidate for development.

I'd try and get into IT change mgmt and IT proj mgmt because it sounds as though you've got operational change management and project management experience and it's a logical move with not too expensive qualifications and quite a few jobs. I agree with the advice to have an honest chat with your manager, it's lame they won't fund £500 training for an employee that's been there 9 years. Send your CV to mrs, it can't hurt if she's happy to have a look!

Can you have a nosy on LinkedIn at the colleagues who were given roles 2 and 3? Could maybe give you an idea of the types of qualifications your employer values?

I know its tough to fund the courses by yourself. But I'd say that in project management they are worth having because, as RedPaint mentioned, you soon earn back the outlay if it leads to a better job and in general the jobs are quite well paid.

FWIW did the Agile PM + PRINCE 2 courses which I think helped me to get some interviews.

Best of luck!

Thanks all feeling slightly better!

I might go on an adding spree on LinkedIn - two out of the three haven't started in the new role yet so I don't know who they are. Could find out with some digging.