Harvey Cheadle

Hello to my network 👋 To all my DevOps, Cloud & Mobile Engineers... when was the last time you reviewed your CV? CVs get you through the door and into an interview, they represent you before a hiring manager knows who you really are as a person. I don't believe that CVs are the only thing that hiring managers should be taking into consideration however, they are the initial point of contact and are therefore, super important to get right. Tech role CVs are different to most as hiring managers are very focused on Tech stack and certifications BUT they still have to feature all the important information in a concise and informative way. I believe the best layout of your CV should be 1. Your full tech stack (as this is what hiring managers want to be able to see straight away) 2. Your key skills listed in a concise way and based on your relevant recent projects. 3. Your relevant certifications. 4. Your work experience 5 . Your education. 6. A short summary of your interests. (Gives a bit of your personality). I am always happy to review peoples CVs if they are looking for a new job and want some help. Feel free to reach out! #devopsjobs #cloudjobs #mobilejobs #CVreview

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A great day in London for another well organised (TRN) The Recruitment Network event with my fellow colleagues Michelle, Julia, Stephen and Terri. This time the training was on AI and becoming an AI Champion so that we can help Zitko Group employees upskill and make them more efficient at their desks. Dixon Humphreys', Rob Dixon went into great detail regarding AI and here are my takeaways: 👉🏻 The need to train all employees on their AI capability is so important. People may have heard of various AI helpers like ChatGPT, but do they understand why it’s good to use and how to use it properly to get the most out of it? 👉🏻 The importance of Prompt Engineering. Are you asking your chosen AI the right questions to get the best result? 👉🏻 Generative AI vs Retrieval AI and Model building – knowing the difference is key to future work. 👉🏻 Ethical AI use – It’s crucial to ensure we use AI responsibly, maintaining transparency, fairness, and minimizing bias as we integrate it more into our workflows. 😱 Fun AI Fact: There are over 1 million AI tools in Beta stage which can help write text, create video, create image or create song, so there really is something for everyone! Find one that suits your needs and play with it - trial and error is the best form of learning when it comes to AI. The AI evolution is coming, if it isn’t already in process, and it’s so refreshing to see Zitko Group embrace it 🙌 What are your thoughts on the use of AI and what is chosen AI weapon of choice? 👇🏻 📧 oliver@zitko.co.uk Zitko Group US #AIEvolution #AITraining #TRN #AIinBusiness

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Quality over Quantity 🚀 I've noticed a trend recently from our partners on how they are struggling with Engineering recruitment, especially DevOps and Cloud Engineering. This being due to profiles not being relevant to the specifics of the role and high volume of CV's being sent because they have "Buzz words". Recently enough, I was helping one of our new partners look for a Senior Platform Engineer as they had struggled to get the right candidate. They had over 15 profiles sent across and conducted 8 interviews but none were right. After a great call with the Engineering Manager, I sent 3 great Engineers who fit the bill on all fronts. Fast-forward a month down the line and one of our amazing G&T (girls and tech!) members has started her new role 🎉 Top Tips to make sure you hit the mark 🎯 ✅Be an expert in your market ✅Go to events, ask questions ✅Go beyond the Job Spec - speak to Hiring managers and Engineers in the team ✅Find out what went wrong in previous interviews ✅Find out the must haves and the nice to haves. ✅Find out the pain points and what skills could fix this. ✅Know the interview process inside out ✅Leave no stone unturned with interview preps Another example of how G.Digital stands out from the crowd 👀 G.Digital | G&T (girls and tech!)

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To blur, or not to blur? https://lnkd.in/ePUeGAVc This week I’ve enjoyed lots of positive conversations with both clients and candidates, and we’ve also signed up to a new video interview platform (Odro) which we’re making the most of. I record videos, and interview candidates on video, daily, but I’ve never been entirely sure whether to blur my background. I have a dedicated office during the day, but its clearly a multi-purpose room that’s crammed with musical instruments, a TV that doesn’t seem to fit in any other room, a well-stocked cocktail bar, and often a cat or two (the number of cats staring at me inevitably increases as dinnertime approaches). Like many people, the pandemic was my first real experience of doing my job from home. There were many hilarious moments at first, as I learned the hard way that there is nothing more interesting to a cat than a man on my laptop screen with an animated voice and gesturing hands. So shutting the door of my office to little paws became a habit. But even then, I had a very old TV set in the background of my old house that seemed to generate even more interest than the inquisitive cat (I was once asked ‘wow, does that still work?’ three times in a week). And then one candidate I was interviewing remarked that we both had the same vacuum cleaner. I didn’t really know what to do with that- it was a rubbish vacuum cleaner, so I could hardly compliment him on his excellent purchase. Anyway, blurring my background became a habit, alongside shutting the door.  Sadly, this also seemed to shut the metaphorical door to lots of interesting conversations about cats and guitars (and even one brief jam session). Which seems a bit of a shame, as it’s a nice way to build relationships with other cat lovers and guitar enthusiasts.  On the flipside though, I’ve also been in the unenviable position of having to politely ask people I’m interviewing if they could blur their backgrounds. I’m just trying to help. Spoiler: you’re not going to get the job you’re interviewing for, if your living room resembles the aftermath of a hurricane/3 day bender/alien autopsy. So with this in mind, I will continue to blur. But just for the record, I like cats and guitars, and if we should ever end up in a Teams meeting wherein I discover that you have either cats or guitars in your background, I’ll be happy to break the ice.

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⛔ The recruitment system is broken. ⛔ Just had a look at the number of applicants we have received over the last 5 days at Cognify Search... 962!! This week we have submitted over 30 data candidates to our clients. Only one of these candidates have come from our adverts (admittedly we sill have around 1/3 to review).. ⛔ Easy apply is creating too much noise! ⛔ Much of the noise comes from candidates who have very few of the skills required ⛔ Most are not based in the UK ⛔ Many companies only accept candidates who are British Citizen, have ILR or Settled status. ⛔ There is a disconnect between candidates and hiring companies in terms of remote and hybrid working. ⛔ Data is becoming more silo'd, companies are looking for a specialist within a specialist.

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Bit late to it... but better late than never, right? Rundown of Q2 in Team Java & Kotlin incoming ➡➡➡ 💪🏼 122% of our quarterly target 💸 Highest billing UK team at Understanding Recruitment 🏆 We hit our team incentive 📅 23 new client meetings ✅ 1.09 CV : 1 Interview ratio It's no secret that the last 18 months haven't been the smoothest sailing for the tech market, but one thing for certain is that things are moving in the right direction. What have we got in store for Q3? 💥 If you're looking to scale your engineering team this quarter and need some advice or support, feel free to reachout for a chat about how we can alleviate some of the headaches that come with hiring! #quarterlyupdate #hiring #techrecruitment #java #kotlin

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Another post I created today for my thoughts over the weekend! 🚨 The Real Cost of Hiring the Wrong Python or Golang Developer 🚨 👉 Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dvN2BmQz From my experience working with tech companies, I’ve seen how hiring the wrong developer can lead to wasted resources, missed deadlines, and serious product quality issues. When you're working with languages like Python and Golang, the stakes are even higher—especially for fast-growing companies in London and Cambridge. The wrong hire can: - Extend project timelines - Pile on technical debt - Undermine the quality of your product But the right hire? They’ll keep your projects on track, reduce technical debt, and help you scale faster. In my latest blog post, I break down the real cost of making the wrong hiring decision and share my insights on how to avoid these costly mistakes. 👉 Read more here: https://lnkd.in/dvN2BmQz Hiring the right talent is critical—whether you’re building scalable systems with Golang or developing cutting-edge AI with Python, it pays to get it right from the start. #PytoGo #Python #Golang #Hiring #TechRecruitment #BackendDevelopment #AI #MachineLearning #TechHiring #LondonTech #CambridgeTech #SocodeRecruitment

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Getting the best from your Recruiters 🤑   After hearing horror stories of clients going through ups and downs of using agencies to fill their roles, I thought I would share some tips to make sure you get the best out of your recruiters;   👨‍🚀Specialist Areas - Using recruiters who specialise in the areas you are hiring for increases your chances on finding the right profile. They will have a better understanding of the role and a greater network of profiles ready to share. ⏲ Timeslots - Using recruiters is supposed to save you the aggravation of looking for profiles, book in timeslots for Job qualification, CV/ Interview feedback. It saves a lot of time and means you won't be bothered by unneeded phone calls 🕵‍♂️ Market Information - We speak with hundreds of clients and candidates within the same area and hear about all types of different projects. You can receive all this information by asking questions towards your recruiters.   If you are struggling to find the right profiles, or want to hear more about the current market trends, don't hesitate to book in a call 😉   #Recruitment #DevOps #Cloud #SRE

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They just could not get the right talent!!!!! 3 weeks ago, a prospect of ours (not a client) gave us some awesome feedabck I wanted to share. There is a PSL in place but unfortunately they were unable to provide the right candidates. Not because they are bad recruiters, just that hiring in tech sales is a niche skill. Following a few weeks work we have been able to supply 2 unadvertised candidates, more so they came from competition and in one case we had a network that was able to provide an "unofficial view" of what they knew about them. As a result one has gone to offer. Just a snippet of the service we can provide. We work with companies up to $2bn but I would say our sweet spot is tech companies with 50 - 500 seats who hire tech sales professionals. Have a powerful productive week people. And if you are in IT sales, do not be afraid to post your case studies, wins & successes, people need to see your wins. Neo co-owner of www.ice-recruitment.com

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𝐌𝐢𝐝𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 / 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐬 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 🤺 With rules being put in place more contracts are being offered to employed / midlance professionals rather than freelancers. Due to DBA law we are seeing strict requirements for non ZZP workers specifically in Government / Semi-Government opportunities. As a freelancer would you consider this type of employment? #DevOps #Cloud #Recruitment

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“Can you disrupt embedded recruitment?” This was a question I was asked last night by a well known Global TA leader… I think my instant answer was no…. But we’re 15 hours on from that… so the answer is closer to probably. The reason organisations like agencies is the pay on success model. The reason organisations dislike embedded (despite being cheaper) is the risk that no hires are made (this has never happened) so the solution is to share that risk isn’t it? But you tell me - what makes you say no to embedded and yes to agency? #inhouseisbest #embeddedislowercost

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Meet Alex, a highly skilled IT professional who had been struggling to land a job despite his impressive resume and technical expertise. He often found himself nervous and unprepared during interviews, leading to missed opportunities. Feeling frustrated, Alex turned to Direct Talent for help. We suggested a series of mock interviews to help Alex build confidence and refine his responses. During these sessions, we simulated real interview scenarios, asked common and challenging questions, and provided constructive feedback. At first, Alex was hesitant, but he quickly saw the benefits. We noticed he had a habit of giving overly technical answers without connecting them to practical outcomes. We worked with him to use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure his answers and make them more compelling. After several sessions, Alex's confidence grew. He became more articulate and started to connect his technical skills with real-world applications. His answers were now clear, concise, and impactful. Armed with his newfound skills, Alex went into his next interview feeling prepared and confident. He was able to effectively communicate his experiences and showcase his problem-solving abilities. The interviewer was impressed with his polished responses and practical examples. A week later, Alex received a job offer from the company. They specifically mentioned his strong interview performance and ability to clearly explain his technical expertise. Alex's story highlights how mock interview sessions can be a game changer. By practicing and refining your interview skills, you can turn nerves into confidence and missed opportunities into job offers. So, take the time to prepare with mock interviews and see the difference it can make!

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Thought I would start off the week by sharing the below article to provide some insights into navigating the current job market for those of you who are actively looking for a new role in the technology industry 🧑‍💻 Let me know your thoughts or reach out if you would like further advise on your CV or finding your next dream tech job! 😁 #TechJobs #Hiring #TechTalent #CareerDevelopment #Tech

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Feeling Ghosted by Recruiters? ‍👻 Don't let your applications disappear into the void... Our blog post unlocks the secrets to standing out and landing your dream job in the competitive UK market. Learn how to craft a compelling application, showcase your value proposition, and build a strong network amongst a number of great tips... Click the link below to level up your job search: https://bit.ly/4f0HeTR

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Elixir & Erlang Hiring Managers!! I’m looking to speak with clients with live roles that require on-site presence, how is your hiring coming along?? Drop me a message if you have some free time #elixir #erlang

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Do you need to have SDR experience to be a successful SDR? In my opinion, no. If hiring managers are just looking for existing SDR’s then a lot of talent is being missed. Call centre jobs, door-to-door sales…recruitment 😅 There are many roles out there that build resilience, grit and get people used to being told no… or worse, which is vital. Don’t get me wrong, hiring someone with SDR experience would be ideal and make them very likely to succeed. But, you might be hiring someone who wants to progress quicker than you like. If they’ve been an SDR for a year already, will they want to start from scratch and do another 12 months? They may be a bit more expensive and might even need as much training as someone with no SDR experience if they’re used to doing things a different way! There’s a lot of talent out there, don’t fish from a small pool 🎣 #recruitment #sdr #creativenatives

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The 3 R's of Recruitment REACH | RECRUIT | RETAIN Today I'll go over how to REACH you ideal candidates in 3 steps Step 1 - Understand WHY you are recruiting. Is it because a staff member left? Is it because you are expanding? Is it because you have a new product / servive? Is is that you need to free up some of your time to concentrate on other tasks? Step 2 - WHO are you going to recruit? Is it someone with experience? Is it someone you can train? Is it someone part time or full time? What budget do you have? Step Three - HOW are we going to source these candidates? Through an agency? Through your own network? Advertise on job boards and social media ? Once you have answered all these questions throughly you will start to develop a picture of who your ideal candidate is and where they hang out. By answering them in as much detail as possible you will be able to talk directly to them when you start to RECRUIT - which we will go over tomorrow If you want 2 FREE benchmark candidates drop me a message and we will source them in just 24 hours!

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Happy Tuesday everyone, Anyone seen the Amazon advert where the employee is working in the warehouse but then he sees a sign about Software Development Training. Upto 8k is available to employees to retrain.. Bravo Amazon - there are so many employees working in departments that want to work in another. Call centre staff who want to be analysts, customer service into BAs etc. But yet they often have to leave their company to persue their dreams. Or pay for retraining via an external provider.. Companies - if you have multiple departments, teams, locations etc. Please make sure everyone can access roles that would normally be closed to them, and create career pathways to enable it to happen. Internal mobility is great for retention, creating innovation, and enhancing social mobility. You many have superstars of the future in another team. Mapping out and analysing future talent is one of the areas we look at when going through talent architecture with clients. If you need help or want to explore more reach out to us at KDR Talent Solutions Or DM me and we can go through it. #talentarchitecture #hiring #data #internalmobilty #retraining #careers

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