The why and what of CV writing & techniques for writing each section of a standard CV A step by step guide

Transcription

1 CV Handout 2 The why and what of CV writing & techniques for writing each section of a standard CV A step by step guide

2 1.The Groundwork to CV writing Why send a CV? The function of a CV is: Information: to inform an employer of your strengths, experiences etc Marketing: To market those skills to help you stand out from other applicants. To get an interview. What to take into account now we know what a CV is for: To make sure your CV is as strong as it can be, read the rest of the page below: before you start writing your CV and come back while you are writing your CV and after you have finished An employer can get many CVs in response to a vacancy, sometimes hundreds. They may not take out a lot of time to read your CV and may even use software to make a first selection on who to look into further. Assume an employer may not read past the first page. Their reading time may be seconds, rather than minutes: your CV must be quick to read and easy to read: Don t write too much text; you can explain more during the interview. They need to be able to take out the key points within 30 or so seconds. The layout needs to be clear and what they expect, so they don t have to use valuable seconds to make sense of what is where Because of the number of CVs they get, an employer is looking to whittle down the number for shortlisting as quickly and efficiently as possible. Therefore, they may be looking for fault and shortcomings. Don t leave an employer to assume; assumptions about you are very likely to be negative and a reason not to give you an interview No spelling mistakes! Explain gaps in a positive way. An employer always puts out a vacancy because they have a gap, or a problem, which needs to be solved. Present yourself in a way that shows you are the solution to their problem, rather than explaining what you can get out of a job. Personality: an employer is looking for someone who has a personality that fits in with the job and the organisation. 2

3 Present yourself in a positive and strong way; don t overdo it, but at the same time don t underdo it either! Most people can do more than they think they can! can talk to the public when needed won t cut it! Say something like: confident talking to the public instead. Skills: an employer is looking for someone who is confident in using their skills. Explore what skills you need for any given job you apply for & list the ones you have. Look confident on your CV by using power words such as very, excellent etc again able to use the telephone is most likely not going to get you an interview. Instead, confident using the telephone may increase your chances. Don't use any negative words but try and phrase 'negatives' in a positive way if you can, or consider leaving them out if you can. Don't repeat anything but if you have to or would like to say something twice, try putting it in a different way. Make your CV easy to read and try to get rid of any hurdles, however small, for the employer to make sense of your CV and what you have to offer. Think advertisement, poster for a concert or film, etc 1. Employer can see the important points within 20 to 30 seconds maximum 2. Clear and well-organised layout. 3. Promoting your personality and skills 4. Don t overdo it!! 2. Adapting your CV to take into account recruitment software After some careful research I have also discovered that it would be advisable to: Ensure that the software recognises the relevant sections as such: do not underline your headers or text or put them in italics. call your work experience section by that name and not to be to creative using a different title. don't start your work experience with dates but rather start individual experiences with the name of the company or job title do not include tables in your CV. These are sometimes used to help line things up properly. It's best to use the tab key instead. don't put your name in the header. This is not a problem if read by a human, and it's a handy way to ensure your name is on page 2, but software may not recognise this as part of the CV. It's best not to send your CV in any other format than MS word. If you are using Open Office it's best to save it as a word document and to check how it looks looking the free MS Word reader you can download from their website. Equally, don't send your CV as a.pdf document. 3

4 Follow instructions for how to fill in your application form or send your CV to the letter. Your application may not be read at all if you don't. For using key words: use a variety of key words (see above) if abbreviations and acronyms are used as the norm in your profession, then use them in your CV/application as well, but also try and incorporate what they mean full out as well to cover all angles. The same may apply for some qualifications. make sure your CV reads well to humans. Use key words wisely and don't cram them in at the cost of readability. This will in many cases work against you. follow the job title format used in the vacancy and job description and in general, don't be too creative with job titles. I would advise making them as generic as possible to avoid them not being picked up in a search. Layout and finishing: don't use a fancy layout or tables (as mentioned above) and keep your layout simple and straightforward. Ideally don't use columns either. print one sided and do not staple your CV. use a laser printer or print to the highest quality possible. don't use fancy type faces, but use Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, etc.. instead. 10 to 12 should be enough for text, size 14 for headers. remove hyperlinks. linked to this, don't use word art or shadowed text. make sure there is maximum contrast by printing black text on white paper ideally don't fold your CV 3. Laying out your CV What is the structure of a CV Maximum two pages Fill the two pages, don t leave half a page blank Font size 10 to 12; headers and your name could be up to size 14 Ideally use a type face like: Arial, Times New Roman, Verdana, Helvetica,... Use clear headings and sections A standard CV has different sections, some of which an employer will expect. 1. Your name: has to be on both pages of your CV as you will be sending them on two separate sheets, unstapled. 2. Your contact details: address, telephone number, mobile number, . The more you put on, the easier it is for an employer to contact you to give you an interview! Make sure the address is not blue and underlined (right click and select Remove Hyperlink ) 4

5 Then the following sections: A) Personal profile B) Key Skills C) Work history D) Education E) (interests) F) references We ll go through each section explaining how you could go about writing it: A. Personal Profile (I am ) This describes you as a person. This is important for an employer to decide whether you as a person fit in with the job and the organisation. Method: 1. Start by making a list of your personality traits, 6 or so should be enough. Think about how a. your previous employer described you if you had one b. your family and friends describe you as a person c. anyone who knows you well would describe you. 2. Group those personality traits according to the number of sentences you are planning to write; this would be two to three sentences. 3. Start a new line at the top with either A or An and list your first group of personality traits horizontally behind that firs word. 4. Link your personality traits on that first line with link words. 5. review what you have written and decide: a. how you can make it look more powerful without exaggerating b. whether there are any words you can get rid of without losing meaning or power in what you have said. 6. repeat this for the other group(s) of personality traits 7. You can then make the key words bold to make them stand out if you like. Tip for writing strong bullet points throughout your CV: Start with the key point you want to use and write this down. If you need to, change it to more formal language Then add something to make it stronger: Qualifier: Good at, Experienced in, Considerable experience in Quantifier: 5 years experience in, by 50% 5

6 B. Key Skills (I can do /knowledge you have) Quick tip: it could be useful to type up your work history first and to draw skills out of all the different tasks you did in any given position. This way, you will have a good list of skills directly related to what you have done. At the same time, don't forget to think carefully about any other skills you have gained in or outside work, in education, in your spare time or volunteering etc... Keep focusing on the job description and what an employer is expecting to see in a good candidate! Not sure whether something is a skill or not? Put the word skill behind it. If it makes sense it s a skill, if it doesn t, then it s probably a personality trait and it belongs in the previous section. For example: communication skills makes sense, confidence skills doesn t, so that belongs elsewhere. Tip: To help you find a list of skills, you could have a look on job profiles or Once you have your list of skills make them look stronger by using the right power words : communication skills could become excellent communication skills. Review your list and make sure the word skills doesn t come up more than once: excellent communication skills could become excellent at communicating with a range of people Bear in mind that: Bullet points are short and to the point! Get rid of any words you can without losing meaning or power. Bullet points on a CV ideally don t exceed one line. C. Employment History (I have done) This section could use a set format although you can be creative in its layout and in deciding what needs to stand out more, according to what may be of most interest to an employer. Please bear in mind the tips in the 'Adapting your CV to take into account recruitment software' section above! 6

7 The standard format is: Company name from to Job title I did this But I also did this This is something I did as well. Usually four or five bullet points is enough, depending on what else you have to offer and what the employer is looking for. If you have more, choose those that are most relevant to the job you are applying for. If you have a long job history, you can select to leave out the bullet points after three or four jobs, depending on how well it works in the layout. As always, re-read what you have written and make your bullet points look really powerful (don t overdo it) by using power words and phrasing them in a strong way. D. Education You could follow the same format as for your work experience, to make it easy to follow for the reader/employer. School/college/university name from to Qualification Qualification Qualification Of course, if you feel you gained really good grades, you could put those on as well. Depending on how much space your work history takes up, how long ago your education was and/or how relevant they are for the job you are applying for, you could shorten this by, for instance, not putting on your GCSE subjects. E. Interests (if you feel that would be useful) The interests section is different from the rest of the CV in that it will probably not be essential for an employer to make a decision. Its main functions are: 7

8 To show you are a fully rounded person Give the employer something to talk about to help you settle down in the interview. Whether they will use it is another matter of course. The rest of the CV is about standing out. The Interests section is almost the opposite. Standing out in this section could well be in a bad way. If you write about interests, such as hunting, or a religion etc and the employer is anti-hunting, or against religion, you may have lost the interview already. So be careful with this section! F. References There are two main ways for writing up your references. 1. you can write up something like 'references available upon request'. Benefits are: you have control over your references and can switch them around without the employer knowing if you have more than two. You can arrange other references and put those forward while using your CV Downsides: the employer has to contact you and may decide not to interview you. 2. you can write up full details including name, address, telephone number and . Benefits are: the employer can contact your referees in a very straightforward way, making it easier for them Downsides: you don't have control over your references they are fixed on your CV once you've sent it If you opt for option 1. above, you can either write something similar to the following: References available upon request. Or References References upon request. Tip: If you decide to use full reference details you can put them in two columns by selecting the text, choose Format, Columns and select the number of columns to use. 8

9 Now: Please review your CV to make sure it s perfect! (see page 1) Check your CV for spelling, layout, lining up of dates etc, same typeface throughout, font size and general presentation. Go through this handout again with your CV and check for any mistakes!! Think advertisement! A final couple of notes on adapting your CV to take the use of recruitment software into account: You could use the following method to compare your CV with the keywords you could expect to come up on an employer's search. 1. Copy and paste your CV to a different file, or print a copy, and make a list of all the key words in it. 2. Look at job descriptions online by looking for vacancies. It doesn't matter where they are as long as they are in line with what you are looking for. You could also add to your list by reading professional magazines, talking to employers or colleagues, etc 3. Do the same exercise with the job descriptions you collated: make a list of all the key words you can find. 4. Compare the list from your CV with the one you have compiled from other sources. 5. Add the key words which are not in your CV in strategic places in your CV. 9