Sean Smith to Launch free Cv Distribution tool

Gareth Thomas ex-Boyfriend Sean Smith in major Jobs Launch

Sean Smith, former Boyfriend to Gareth Thomas is the brains behind CvBud which has been developed by BamsBoard (UK) in partnership with Inteli Graphics and is due to launch later this month.

The first fully automated CV distribution service of its kind in the UK, CvBud provides individuals seeking new jobs, looking to further their careers or seeking jobs in specific locales to submit their CV to a free search service that uses an extensive validated database of suitable recruitment consultants to match their requirements to their needs such as type of work, locale and skill sets.

CvBud not only saves time for candidates, eliminating hours and hours of filling out forms, but using their innovative system gets their CV’s in front of literally hundreds of suitable recruitment agencies within minutes matching the required criteria. What is even more astounding is that it is completely free to use.

CvBud provides the very best in job searching and matching software, providing candidates with information of each recruitment agency to which their CV has been submitted, thus allowing follow ups and keeping a detailed record of their employment search.

Every time a candidate is registered with CvBud their basic details are also tweeted with a link to their CV providing real time information for recruiters and potential employers.

As well as the ideal tool for job searchers, CvBud offers recruitment agencies an increased candidate flow, which in an ever increasing aggressive market will help increase recruiters' bottom line. With more and more recruitment agencies going out of business due to candidate shortage CvBud should be considered an essential recruitment tool to attract new candidates and more importantly successfully fill vacancies. Recruiters are able to log into CvBud and specify the types of CVs they require and will receive them within minutes of a matching submittal.

Other BamsBoard products include the highly successful JobBud.co.uk which within six months of launch has already established itself as the biggest and most successful Job Board for jobs in Wales. Built on the backbone of Social Media, a worldwide trend that is here to stay, JobBud provides employers and recruitment agencies with free unlimited jobs advertising as well as access to the innovative Interview4 platform, enabling interviews to be conducted via live video feed with record functionality thus eliminating costly overheads, travel and time consumed using conventional face to face meetings. JobBud has already over 200,000 social media followers.

As well as an expansion program seeing JobBud and CvBud break into Europe in August and International markets by 2013; BamsBoard (UK) together with partner Inteli Graphics are currently working on several more innovative and cutting edge recruitment applications and free job search tools specifically designed to improve the lives of both jobseekers and recruitment consultants.

The man behind these innovative products, Sean Smith is regarded as one of the UK's leading recruiters, specialising in publicly funded legal recruitment. Sean only works on an exclusive basis  and is retained by several of the UK’s biggest firms of solicitors such as Duncan Lewis.

Sean Smith is an ex-boyfriend of former Welsh rugby captain Gareth Thomas. Sean finished the couples two year relationship earlier this year. Smith, 42 also terminated Big Brother Contestant Thomas's directorship from Sean Smith & Associates on the same day. Sean is no stranger to the limelight. Sean, who has always been open about his colourful past hit tabloid headlines again three months ago when it was revealed that 5 years ago, he was wrongly imprisoned in a South African Jail for 19 months where he suffered rape and torture. He fled South Africa having been freed on bail, allegedly with the aid of the British Government. Sean Smith ended his relationship with Gareth Thomas (LOCOG Olympics Ambassador) in February 2012. With over a quarter of a million Twitter followers, Sean Smith recently revealed he had signed a book deal to write his biography.

As a business advisor to BamsBoard (UK) Ltd, Sean Smith understands the business of recruitment and the importance and influence of Social Media; bringing them together is a natural transition not only giving job seekers the very best chance of securing their ideal position but also throwing a life line to small recruitment agencies that without access to these free tools could see their doors permanently closing.

Top Stories

10 Career Change Myths

If you dream about having a different career, but don't act on that dream, you may be operating under the assumption of a career myth. In this article, I expose 10 myths, sayings you've heard before that simply are not true. Let's explore them.

Career Myth #1: You can't make a living doing something you really, truly love

This is the grand-daddy of career myths, the belief that you can't have a "practical" career doing something that you were passionate about. It has to be one or the other.

This myth is rooted in fear. Fear that we have to sacrifice our happiness to make a living. Don't buy the myth that you can't earn a living by doing what you love.

When I first started coaching, I heard from plenty of people that it would be very difficult to make a living doing this work. I just decided to find coaches who were successful, and to learn from them (simple, eh?).

If you find yourself buying into this myth, consider this question - As you look back on your life, what will you regret more? Following your passion or following your fears?

Career Myth #2: It's a tough job market/economy

Even when the newspapers and other news sources say that unemployment numbers remain steady, that job growth is at a standstill, or that we're experiencing slow economic recovery, not to mention downsizing and outsourcing, don't believe it.

It's a myth because it doesn't reflect the whole story, the fact that that it's a different job market today. It's a changing economy. How we transition from job-to-job is different. Recruiting practices have shifted. So the job market has changed, but that doesn't necessarily make it tougher. What makes it tougher is that we've been slower to change. We've held on to old practices and old behaviors. That's not to say that old ways still don't work, but they're just not as effective.

So I challenge you to just believe that it's a perfect job market for you to find work. I've had my college students try this, just for a week, and, more times than not, several of them find job leads or make important connections during the week.

Career Myth #3: Changing careers is risky

What's riskier than leaving what you know to pursue the unknown? Changing careers means leaving behind a piece of your identity - your "I'm a lawyer" response to the "what-do-you-do?" question. It might mean admitting to yourself that you made a mistake with an initial career choice. Or it might mean acknowledging that you're unsure of what's next. And smart people always know what's next, right?

Nope. Successful career changers often don't have a plan. In Working Identity: How Successful Career Changers Turn Fantasy into Reality by Herminia Ibarra, she provided evidence that waiting until you have a plan is actually riskier than just doing and experimenting.

Nothing, absolutely nothing, is riskier than not changing careers if you're longing to do so. Here's why: The longing won't go away. It will always be there, under the surface, waiting for you to do something about it.

Career Myth #4: Always have a back-up plan

Sometimes having a back-up plan is the smart and prudent course of action. Back-up plans are so grown-up and responsible. But what happens when you're standing with one foot in and one foot out? In my experience, we usually close the door and retreat. We are reluctant to commit to ourselves, and we end up denying ourselves the satisfaction of playing full-out, getting dirty and sweaty. We end up with feelings of regret and the nagging "What if?" question.

Back-up plans diffuse our energy. Diffused energy equals diffused results. Give all that you've got to your dream/passion/risk and you've got a better chance of being successful.

Career Myth #5: There's a perfect job out there for everyone

How long have you been searching for yours? You just know, deep inside, that there's an ideal job that's perfect for you out there. It matches your personality, skills, and interests to a tee. And it pays well. If only you could figure it out. If only you knew what it was.

Is there a perfect job out there for you? No. And here's the good news - there are more jobs than you can imagine that would be "perfect" for you. Chances are you've even come very, very close to a few of those perfect jobs already. So what happened? And how do you recognise one of these so-called "perfect jobs"?

Ever see the perfect gift for someone, but it was months till his or her birthday? Then when you go to find the item later, you can't. Another lost opportunity and you, once again, berate yourself for not buying it when you first saw it.

So maybe you've run into a perfect job in the past, but because of the timing, you passed by the opportunity. Or maybe you were so focused on something else, that you missed an obvious clue. Instead of dwelling on the past, which you can't change, vow to keep your eyes open and to look beyond the obvious.

Career Myth #6: Asking "What's the best thing for me to do?" is the right question

This is one of the most common questions asked when considering a career change or a career move. It seems like a logical analysis - weigh the pros and cons and evaluate the balance.

Do not ask yourself this question!! It rarely leads you to the answers you're seeking. It will lead you to feeling overwhelmed with options (sound familiar?), or feeling like you have to choose what's practical over what seems to be impractical.

The question that will lead you to answers is simple (but not easy!!) It is "What do I really want to do?" This is a very different question than "what's best?"

Career Myth #7: If you don't like your job, you're probably in the wrong career

Cause and effect, right? One way to tell if you're in the right career is whether or not you like your job. If you're dissatisfied with your job, it's probably a sign that you need to re-examine your whole career choice. This is frequently what I hear from new clients who have decided to work with a career coach. They know something isn't right because they don't like their jobs. Their natural assumption is that their dissatisfaction is a symptom of a larger underlying issue - their career choice.

This is an example of false logic. Not liking your job might be telling you you're in the wrong job. It doesn't necessarily mean you're in the wrong career. It doesn't even mean you're in the wrong job. You could just be working for the wrong person or the wrong company. It takes a skillful approach to discern the source of discontent, and I think it's very hard to do it on your own

Career Myth #8: Everyone needs a mission statement

Do you know what your mission is? Mission statements are supposed to guide us, keep us on track, and help us move forward. But what if you don't have one? Does that mean you're destined to never fulfill your potential career-wise?

A client who was a successful professional contacted me because she was at a career crossroads. She felt that if only she could find her mission in life, she would know which career path to take.

She had a clear goal for coaching - find her mission! Instead, the most amazing thing happened. She decided that she didn't need a mission. She chose to trust that she was already fulfilling her mission statement, even though she didn't know what it was. After the client shifted her focus from finding her mission to living her life, an amazing opportunity came her way and she pursued it.

Here's a little tip: If your mission statement is elusive, stop chasing it. Be still and let it find you. And in the meantime, keep living your life and see what happens.

Career Myth #9: Expect a career epiphany

When you see a link to "Find Your Dream Job," do you immediately click on it to see what's there? Do you look at every "Top Ten Career" list out there to see if anything catches your interest? Do you know your MBTI type? If you do, you might be falling prey to the career epiphany myth.

I'd love, love, love it if most of my clients had a career epiphany that indicated to them, in crystal-clear terms, their next step. Instead, I see career "unfoldings" or a journey of discovery much more regularly. That is, being willing to not ignore the obvious, the pokes, the prods, and listen carefully to the whisper within. Yep, forget harp music and angels, for most of us, the career epiphany is a quiet whisper.

Career Myth #10: Ignoring your career dissatisfaction will make it go away

Oh, if only this worked in the long run!! Granted, it does work at first. When you find yourself beginning to question your career, you'll find it's rather easy to push the thoughts aside and pretend they aren't there. You know what I'm talking about: the "what ifs" and the list of regrets.

Over time, the random thoughts become nagging thoughts. You spend more and more time daydreaming about options. You build your list of reasons to ignore your growing career dissatisfaction:

• You're too old.
• You don't want to take a pay cut.
• You don't want to go back to school.
• You missed your opportunity 5, 10, 15 years ago.

With clients in this situation, we work on identifying and challenging these fears. Sometimes the fear of change remains, but there becomes a greater commitment to living than to feeling the fear.

Challenge

So now that you know that one or all of these myths have been holding you back, what are you waiting for?

How to Create the Perfect CV

A strong profile or career objective is the first piece of information that a recruiter will look at. Writing a concise profile is essential as it gets the reader to read on further into your CV. The American’s have an expression that encapsulates this quite well. They call this an elevator speech. Simply, tell someone concisely and accurately what you do, what you can offer them and what sort of job role you are looking for and you will have a good profile to start off prior to sending your CV.

Achievements are probably the most under-utilised element in a CV. If you brainstorm your career achievements, the CV that you end up writing will be more interesting and relevant to potential employers. When you think about achievements, focus specifically on those areas where you have delivered tangible benefits for your previous employers. If you can find benefits that are financial, these are among the strongest ones as employers are definitely interested in what you have delivered in financial terms for previous employers and therefore what you may be able to deliver for them.

A section in the CV for key achievements (five to seven bullet points), followed by the same number of bullet points in your most recent job role is a formula that we have found to be successful over some years of writing CVs for a living. Previous job roles warrant between two and five bullet points highlighting what you achieved and delivered in that job role. Other work that you completed some time ago can be summarised in an “Other Work” section. You can use this for job roles in the past that are no longer relevant or that you did for a short amount of time (for example, part time roles to supplement income during study).

Educational and professional qualifications should be separated out into two distinct sections within the CV. Educational qualifications should include the title of the qualification, the accrediting Educational Institute, the dates of study and any pertinent information that may be of additional interest. Examples include: Thesis or dissertations along with relevant course work. Professional qualifications as well as membership of professional bodies should be also included. Professional qualifications must show the name of the accrediting body, the exact name of the qualification and any dates for which the qualification is valid. For example, a first aid certificate has an expiry date and this needs to be shown or omitted of it is out of date.

Computer skills are increasingly important today. To demonstrate your abilities with a particular software program for example, demonstrate exactly how you have used the program and what you have delivered through the use of the software. For example, MS Powerpoint used to create powerful presentations that I personally delivered to communicate complex ideas, gain agreement and change sales and budgetary requirements and forecasts.

Get shortlisted for interview

Most people put their responsibilities into the CV in the work experience section. The simple truth is that employers have a pretty good idea of what your responsibilities and activities are within a role.

The difference between getting shortlisted for interview and having the CV rejected is demonstrating your worth to previous employers. The way you demonstrate your worth is to show what you achieved in that role.

In the current Economic climate, employers are thinking hard about whether or not to actually take someone on or not so you have to show that you can add value to a new employer. A great question to ask yourself is “what benefit did my previous employer gain from my employment with them?”. When you consider the value that you actually delivered, think about the benefit that you delivered for that employer.

The largest and hardest hitting benefits are financial. If you can demonstrate that your employer was better off financially as a direct result of what you did there, a future employer can’t help but be impressed and come to the inevitable conclusion that if you delivered a financial benefit for a previous employer then you can do the same for them.

Examples of achievements that you delivered in previous employments include: increases in sales and margin revenue, increases in numbers of accounts gained plus their sales value, reduction in losses of customers or churn as it is sometimes called. Other areas where you may have delivered financial benefit include the cost area, reduction in costs of goods, transport or warehouse efficiencies and the like are good examples of this.

Don’t overlook the benefits that you may have delivered in cash flow. Reduction in aged debt, increase in the time that suppliers are paid, reduction in the time that customers pay their accounts, reduction in stockholding, reduction in interest paid to the bank are among the benefits that can be included in this section. Improvements in customer service can also be quantified- for example, reduction in credit notes, increase in stock availability, number of on-time deliveries completed, and the reduction in the number of complaints make for demonstrating an exceptional track record.

Simply put, demonstrate the benefit that you delivered for previous employers and you will be well on the way to getting shortlisted for that role. Just don’t tell anyone else about it or you could well be in competition with them for that very same role.

Glenn Hughes writes for CvBud. He runs a successful Curriculum Vitae service and is a professional CV writer

Glenn Hughes is an expert for Jobs in Wales.