Career Advice Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Redundancy support’

Firstly some key considerations ……………

Q/ What is the purpose of a CV?

This seems like a simple and obvious question but amazing how many people of all levels and at all stages of their careers fail to grasp this!

A/ To get you to an interview. Forget anything else, as this is your primary objective

Q/ How long has your CV got to create the right impact with a recruiter or potential employer to get on the yes pile?

A/ A trained eye will take around 20 seconds to scan your CV. You therefore need to create an immediate impact and show initiative; otherwise they might not read past the first half page!

Key tips for ‘Killer CV’s’

1) Focus with the end in mind to get you on the ‘yes’ pile for the interview i.e. try to see things through the eyes of the reader/’buyer’. Make it easy and interesting for them to read your CV

2) Presentation is key. The aim is 2 pages of quality information. Use the space wisely with plenty of white space for ease of reading and bullet points to keep it short and specific, avoiding cluttered text

3) Start with a profile and bring your CV to life by bringing out your personality, work ethic and career objective, as (apart from your covering letter or email) this is your one chance to really sell yourself and create a positive impression

4) Write the CV in the 3rd person (not I) e.g. self motivated rather than I am self motivated

5) Focus on what you have achieved and contributed rather than what you have done. This is what employers want and shows initiative

6) Think carefully about your specific career achievements. Highlight achievements that you have gained recognition for, also aspects of importance to you that may have gone unnoticed

7) Flesh out your key skills, attributes and experience; relate these to your job roles or as a separate heading to stand out

If you have had a long career, concentrate on the last 10-15 years. Most employers aren’t too bothered about what happened before this

9) Highlight relevant work related training, qualifications and memberships of professional bodies

10) Highlight anything else that will put you in good light or shows that you have developed or demonstrated skills outside of the workplace e.g. voluntary work, outside interests and projects

11) It is not essential to highlight interests, however it is always useful to show that you have a life outside of work and it maybe that one of your interest could be a talking point at the interview especially if unusual or beneficial e.g. you like to keep fit

To find out more about CV’s and job search strategies visit our Career & Personal Development website

Finding a job, especially the ‘right’ job for you, can be almost a full time occupation, particularly in a difficult employment market. So how to you get yourself ahead of the pack to stand a greater chance of success?

The following tips should put you in good stead:

1/ Treat your job search as a campaign – Be clear about your purpose and focused

2/ Develop a targeted plan as you would with any project and build in review dates

3/ Utilise all 4 key job search methods:

Applying to advertised vacancies – Online, via trade journals, newspapers (national, regional, local)

Utilising Recruitment Agencies – Either specialist agencies for your chosen sector or national or local agencies in your high street

Direct Speculative Applications – Targeted applications to companies or organisations who are not currently advertising vacancies (or vacancies that are not of interest to you) that particularly appeal to you based on what they do, their ethos or location.

To stand any chance of success your applications should always be personalised to the Manager in charge of the department or function that is of interest to you. Dear Sir/Madam or speculative applications to unnamed people in HR are highly likely to end up in the bin!

In a downturn, good personalised, targeted applications have a much greater chance of success of getting you to an interview, as employers will be looking to save money on recruitment costs and especially recruitment agency fees.

Personal & Social Networking – This is often the most successful route to market, especially in a downturn, when employers are reluctant to pay agency fees and may even have ‘bounties’ in place to entice staff to introduce friends and known contacts, which could still save them significant money against hefty employment agency fees.

4/ Awareness of you as a product – what you have to offer a potential employer, your value added, USP’s (unique selling points), skills, attributes, attitude, knowledge, experience

5.  Awareness of what you want from a job/employer – your career values and needs

6.  Develop a winning CV and job application approach

7.  Look for the right job that matches your values and skills

8.  Show initiative, research, personalise your applications

9.  Persistence pays – don’t give up

10. Review your strategy as you would with any project plan as no point in firing blanks!

If you want to know more about how to be successful with your job search campaign visit our Career & Personal Development website