Most people rely too heavily on jobsites, which means they end up competing with dozens (sometimes hundreds) of other applicants.
This cribsheet shows you a smarter approach, so you can position yourself earlier, become more visible, and improve your chances of getting selected.
Inside, you’ll learn how to:
Position yourself more clearly with your CV and LinkedIn profile
Increase your visibility so recruiters and hiring managers find you
Use a smarter strategy to secure more interviews and offers
“It’s very much changed my perspective, and I’ve completely changed my approach when applying for roles. It’s quick to read, practical, and something I’ll definitely keep referring back to.”
“Contains a goldmine of information for anyone starting out in their contracting journey, and equally for seasoned contracting professionals. I particularly loved the steps on navigating conversations with recruitment agencies.”
“As an experienced contractor, I wasn’t sure how much new insight I would gain, but I was pleasantly surprised. Whether you’re new to contracting or have years of experience, there’s something in here for everyone.”
“The Cribsheet provides clear and easily actionable advice on working effectively with recruiters, applying in a way that helps you stand out, and making the most of your LinkedIn profile and CV to boost visibility.”
“The Strategy Cribsheet was invaluable. It helped me optimise my strategy for targeting roles in this market, providing timeless information that will remain relevant in the future.”
“David’s Strategy Cribsheet is packed with practical, no-nonsense advice. His tips on connecting with recruiters, avoiding job site pitfalls, and handling cold calls made a real difference for me.”
Stop relying on the Apply button
If your main job search strategy is searching jobsites and hitting “Apply”, you’re entering the most competitive part of the process.
By then, recruiters may already be speaking to candidates in their network, checking LinkedIn, or reviewing CVs from people who contacted them directly.
The Strategy Cribsheet shows you how to approach your search differently - by improving your positioning, becoming more visible, and engaging with recruiters in a smarter, more proactive way.
So you’re not just waiting to be picked - you’re giving yourself a better chance of being found, considered, and put forward for more roles.
Introducing Strategic Self-Marketing...
The Strategy Cribsheet is built around a simple principle - your CV, LinkedIn profile, and role search strategy should all work together.
Your CV positions you
Your LinkedIn profile validates you
Your strategy gets you seen
When those three things are aligned, recruiters can quickly understand what you do, see why you’re relevant, and feel more confident putting you forward.
This is what I call Strategic Self-Marketing.
If one part is weak, the whole approach becomes unstable.
A strong CV helps, but it won’t fix poor visibility.
A good LinkedIn profile helps, but it won’t compensate for a weak strategy.
And applying more often won’t solve the problem if your positioning is unclear.
The aim is to get all three working together.
What's Inside...
Getting your CV ready
Improving your LinkedIn profile
Understanding how recruiters assess candidates
Building your recruiter network
Using LinkedIn strategically
Increasing your chances of being found before roles hit jobsites
Why the apply button should be your last resort
How to contact recruiters directly
How to follow up effectively
What to say on calls (and what not to say)
How to discuss rates or salaries
How to deal with ghosting, objections & more
Who is the Strategy Cribsheet for?
This is for you if you’re looking for a clearer, more strategic way to secure your next role - whether you’re new to contracting, experienced in the market, or also considering permanent opportunities.
You’re applying for roles but not getting enough responses
You’re relying too heavily on jobsites and want a smarter approach
You want recruiters to understand your value more quickly
You want to improve your CV, LinkedIn profile, and overall strategy
You want to handle recruiter conversations with more confidence
You’re looking for contract roles or permanent roles
You want a practical resource to revisit when needed
Why I created the Strategy Cribsheet
I’ve been in the industry for more than 35 years, and have been contracting for 28 years...
Over that time, I’ve learned that the people who get selected are not always the people who apply the most - they’re often the people who position themselves clearly, appear earlier in the process, and handle recruiter conversations effectively.
I created the Strategy Cribsheet to help you approach your search with more clarity, confidence, and control.
The Strategy Cribsheet gives you a practical, step-by-step approach to positioning yourself, increasing your visibility, applying more strategically, and handling recruiter conversations more effectively.
Instant access. Read it at your own pace. Use it whenever you’re looking for your next role.
Full Testimonials
David's cribsheet is a great resource for those looking to go contracting, and probably for those contracting already. It's full of useful tips from sites to use through to different ways to apply for roles. I would definitely recommend this as a read to all current and future contractors.
I bought the guides "Top10 CV Mistakes" and "Strategy Cribsheet," and I found the information in them to be quite enlightening. There were several moments of realization, as the advice given was practical and relatable to many situations I've experienced while looking for a contract role. Additionally, I've made adjustments to my CV, addressing simple but impactful errors.
The Strategy Cribsheet is a time saving, clear and concise guidance on how to interact effectively. Moreover, it offers strategic advice on negotiating rates, whether inside or outside of IR35. This document is a must-have tool for efficient and successful contracting.
Dave’s Strategy Cribsheet has a wealth of useful information, especially for those new to the contracting market. It has practical advice that will guide you on how to handle recruiters and provide you with various options on how to search and apply for your next contract. I have no hesitation recommending this document to others.
Great pointers gleaned from years of experiences with agencies and recruiters. Most useful.
The Strategy Cribsheet was invaluable. It helped me optimize my strategy for targeting roles in this market, providing timeless information that will remain relevant in the future.
As an experienced contractor, I wasn’t sure how much new insight I would gain from this, but I was pleasantly surprised! This guide offers practical, no-nonsense advice on navigating the contract market, and I picked up some golden nuggets, especially around handling recruitment agencies more effectively. The strategies for building relationships with recruiters, negotiating rates, and positioning yourself in the market were particularly valuable.
Whether you’re new to contracting or have years of experience, there’s something in here for everyone. Definitely worth a read!
David’s Strategy Cribsheet is packed with practical, no-nonsense advice. His tips on connecting with recruiters, avoiding job site pitfalls, and handling cold calls made a real difference for me. Well worth a read!
The Strategy Cribsheet is very helpful giving examples of how to communicate with recruiters and clients also great tips for your CV. This is the most important part so great to get expert advice and have a reference to return to whenever I need some tips or direction.
Dave's cribsheet was handy to review, to check current processes against, to check that nothing was being forgotten.
David's Strategy Cribsheet is a fantastic resource that I believe would be invaluable to anyone navigating the contracting job application process. It is packed with insightful guidance, practical tools, and expert advice to help candidates from start to finish. This thorough cribsheet covers everything - from spotting the right job advert and crafting initial communications with recruiters to tailoring your CV for maximum impact and preparing effectively for interviews. It even includes ready-to-use templates and many useful tips that make the entire journey smoother and more successful. Whether you're just starting your job search or refining your approach, this cribsheet offers actionable strategies that can make a real difference. I highly recommend taking a look!
I recently purchased David's Strategy Cribsheet as I was finding it difficult to stand out in a highly competitive and challenging market. As someone new to contracting, I’ve found David’s guidance incredibly valuable. The Cribsheet provides clear and easily actionable advice on working effectively with recruiters, navigating IR35, applying for contracts in a way that helps you stand out and making the most of your LinkedIn profile and CV to boost visibility. I’d highly recommend David's Contracting Cribsheet and all the other resources he provides (Facebook and LinkedIn groups especially) to anyone looking to break into the contracting world and succeed!
The Strategy Cribsheet is a brilliant guideline for contractors. This has all the information in one place to ensure we do not skip any steps in the new contract role hunt. This is not available anywhere in the market. You will get information in bits and pieces but not all together. It has many tips, links for job hunting, tagging list, free and paid services offered by Dave to polish your CV, LinkedIn, many do's and don'ts etc. for you. Definitely worth the value. I would highly recommend this to contractors - new and old.
I found the Strategy Cribsheet quite useful. It offers good strategies and practical ways to tackle the challenges we’re facing in the current contracting market. A solid resource even for those who’ve been in the game a while. Thanks Dave.
I've bought the "Strategy Cribsheet" and the "Video Course" which outlines the basics when it comes to starting life as an IT Contractor. I will be forever grateful for having both resources at my disposal whilst making the transition from permanent to contract-based work. It helped to provide clarity at a time when I was taking a leap into the unknown, which was anxiety inducing to say the least. Thankfully, I have discovered my power - I successfully landed my first role and achieved a great deal of success whilst serving that client. I've also been able to enhance the sense of freedom I get from my work thanks to Dave's sage advice. Using the services of the IT Contracting Academy is a must for all contractors - aspiring or otherwise!
As part of my preparation for contracting, I found the cribsheet to be incredibly useful. I especially appreciated the sections on communicating with agencies and discussing and managing rates. I can see myself reading and re-reading it while I ramp up my contracting business. Recommended.
The cribsheet from the IT Contracting Academy is such a handy resource. It breaks down the key things you need to know to be more productive. I found it super useful to have everything in one place, it’s very much changed my perspective, and I’ve completely changed my approach when applying for roles. It’s quick to read, practical, and something I’ll definitely keep referring back to.
The Cribsheet is a mine of information - I'm still working through it as my hunt for a new role progresses and will keep doing so as there is always something new in there (and reminders of a few of the old things too).
The tools and tips David provided when looking for contracts were invaluable. Specifically around updating my Linkedin and structured outreach for roles. I also found David extremely knowledgeable around the IT industry in general. I highly recommend his services.
I downloaded the Strategy Cribsheet and found that it contained lots of useful information for new contractors and also as an aide memoir to use each time a role ends and the search for a new one begins. It also has links to the various videos that Dave has posted to the Facebook group. A helpful insight Dave, thank you!
Dave’s Strategy Cribsheet was very helpful and one of the most useful areas I found was how to deal with recruitment agencies in a respectful way but to ensure you get the most out of what they are asking - especially around when they ask the question of what your previous rate or salary was. Thanks Dave.
Dave’s Strategy Cribsheet contains a goldmine of information for anyone starting out in their contracting journey, and equally for seasoned contracting professionals. The document provides in-depth, easy to follow steps to get your ducks in a row before searching and applying for roles. I particularly loved the steps on navigating conversations with recruitment agencies, which I’ve found difficult in the past. I’m more informed on things I need to be thinking about and how to deal with common scenarios. Thanks very much Dave!
Frequently Asked Questions
About The Author
Dave Gerrish is a seasoned IT contractor with over 28 years of hands-on experience, having worked extensively across the UK & Europe, as well as contracting internationally in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Australia.
Over that time, he’s delivered for major blue-chip organisations including The Post Office, Barclays, the London Stock Exchange, Hewlett Packard, Fidelity, Bupa, Cazenove, the Australian Stock Exchange, and others.
Dave is the founder of the award-winning IT Contracting Academy, supporting thousands of IT professionals across Facebook and LinkedIn communities - from experienced contractors to aspiring contractors and permanent IT professionals.
Members receive practical guidance, honest market insight, and access to the latest live roles as part of the wider support Dave offers the IT community.
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