Interim manager job? Search – how?
Posted on 9:14pm, 19th April 2010 • No Comments
You’re thinking about interim manager job search because an interim post is the best way to progress your career at the moment … or perhaps you hope to spend the rest of your working life as an interim manager. Either way, you need to know how to mount an effective interim manager job search. For starters, a good interim manager CV is different from the kind of CV that gets you a permanent job.
As with any manager job search, focus on your prospective “customers” before thinking how to sell your services to them.
What are these “customers” looking for? Basically, someone with the complete toolkit of specialist skills they need (this can include generalist manager skills); sufficient interpersonal skills to win over the permanent staff; and the ability to zoom through complex problems and get the right answers. They only want you for a short project so all they need to know is – can you do their interim manager job? Search your CV for the particular evidence that tells them you can; and don’t annoy your “customers” by telling them anything more.
The CV you need for an interim manager job search is a functional (competency-based) one that describes your career history in terms of specialist skills.
The interim manager job search CV can be longer than 2 pages. Start with a summary profile of achievements emphasising the specialist skills you want to sell. Next, list any assignments that were of an interim management nature (eg in-house “consultancy” roles where you were chosen to do a job outside your normal responsibilities). Give brief details of your earlier career and summarise your career experience under functional headings.
We have Clare’s permission to display her CV (below) in the hope it’ll help others new to interim manager job search in drafting their first interim CVs. You may also want interim agencies’ input to help you draft this CV – if so, talk to the relevant specialist organisations (eg JLC Solutions provides interim and permanent staff to the logistics sector) before making any effort to launch your interim manager job search.
This is Clare’s basic CV for interim manager job search:-
Clare Bottle CMILT, BA Hons, MSc
Address Address Address Address Address Address Address Address
Tel: 00000000 / Mobile: 00000000 / E-mail Address: clare@email.co.uk
Personal Profile
A senior supply-chain professional with a track-record of saving money, controlling business risk and engaging with difficult stakeholders at the highest level.
Delivered results for some of Europe’s most prestigious companies, in third party logistics, petrochemicals, construction and retail.
Inspires success with passion and precision, with practical experience backed up by a Masters degree in logistics and appropriate industry qualifications.
Interim Assignments
HDNL – Interim Programme Manager 2008 to 2009
Marks & Spencer – Interim Category Manager 2008
Kuehne+Nagel – Interim Programme Manager 2007 to 2008
Transport for London – Interim Project Manager 2006 to 2007
Cemex – Interim Project Manager 2005 to 2006
Early Career
Solvay Chemicals – Logistics Manager 2001 to 2005
Tibbett & Britten – Logistics Analyst 1999 to 2001
BurmahCastrol– Supply Chain Executive 1998 to 1999
Exel Logistics – Operations Controller 1997 to 1998
NFC plc (UK-wide) – Graduate Management Trainee 1995 to 1996
Competencies
Programme Management
Launched new home delivery service for Mid-Range parcels, starting on time and exceeding revenue budget by 100%
Deployed a new supply-chain bringing automotive parts from USA to Russia for a new car plant
Developed a successful local government scheme to promote sustainable transport to fleet operators of lorries andvans throughout London
Implemented SAP R/3 for vendors, tariffs and supply-chain transactions
Prince2 qualified
Procurement of Logistics Services
Managed RFI, RFQ, ITT and contract awards for haulage, freight forwarding, warehousing, bulk storage and MHE, making savings of up to £2.4m
Used e-Procurement to purchase fleets of tractor units, saving £200k
Developed original contract and SLA documentation and contract variations
Established compliance validation system for over 2,000 hauliers to control business risk by confirming status of insurances, licences, etc
CIPS trained negotiator
Commercial Strategy & Solution Design
Redesigned national logistics network solution for a global drinks firm in France, based on market research and data analysis using CAST & Paragon
Managed successful entry into new C2C home delivery market within 8 weeks
Identified opportunities for commercial leverage within fragmented inbound supply chain of a major UK retailer, reducing 3PL management fees by 5%
Established commercially attractive incentives to persuade fleet managers to improve road safety, delivering economic, environmental & social sustainability
Stakeholder Management & Change
Drove change-management to rescue an ailing 21m contract, analysing root causes in IT & operations and prioritisingactions to rebuild trust of retail clients
Built international team to plan and communicate new strategies and deliver ground-breaking solution for beveragesupply chain in France
Won lasting support for government scheme from sceptical professionals at Freight Transport Association, VOSA andMetropolitan Police Service
Co-ordinated suppliers of bulk import, packing materials, repackaging operations and delivery services, to resolve conflict and improve service levels
Professional Qualifications and Training
2007 PRINCE2 Foundation Level
2005 CIPS Training in Negotiating Skills
2004 Spearhead Interim Managers Course
2004 CEFIC Workshops: SQAS & Logistics Best Practices
2003 ISO9001:2000 Audit Training
2003 SETNET Science & Engineering Ambassador Training
2000 National CPC
1999 Paragon Training
1998 NEBOSH Certificate in Health & Safety
Good knowledge of all MS Office applications
Education
2008 MSc in Logistics
1993 BA (Hons) 2:1
Professional Interests and Achievements
2008 Founder member of Women in Logistics UK
2008 Pro bono project work in Africa for CILT Zambia
2007 Nominated as an official ambassador for the industry charity Transaid
2007 Interviewed by broadcaster John Humphrys at the FTA Freight Summit
2007 Elected a board director of the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport UK
2005 Winner of the Richard McLeish award for significant career advancement