CAREER GUIDE

Constructing your CV:

Your CV (Latin for curriculum vitae), or alternately, resume, is the one single tool which can make or break your case in your professional career search at the earliest stage. It may sound daunting, but much of your professional career can depend on the one instrument which employers use to objectively screen you when evaluating your abilities- your CV.

 How to start building your CV

SELF-ASSESSMENT
In order to put together an effective resume, it is important to know your abilities, what skills you have developed, what values are important to you in a career, and what you can offer to an employer. The first step in preparing your resume is to think about yourself, your experiences and your accomplishments. Ask yourself the following questions:
What skills have I developed?
What are my strengths?
What have I accomplished?
Why should someone hire me?

You may find it difficult at first to identify skills, until you think more deeply about your academic, social, work, and volunteer experiences. Students develop various skills in addition to those acquired through their major coursework. It is probably safe to assume many students develop organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills as a result of  meeting  deadlines and communicating  their ideas to a variety of people. As you review your experiences in this way you may soon discover additional skills.

When you have given sufficient thought to self-assessment, ask family and friends to assess your skills. Check their perceptions against your own and make any necessary adjustments in your personal career profile.

After analyzing your skills, accomplishments, strengths, and value to employers, you will discover the writing of your resume to be a much easier task.

 Is your CV a “yes”, “no”, or a “maybe”?
The manager recruiting for the position you’ve applied for will be faced with an enormous pile of CVs, which they will put into 3 piles; “yes” – interview, “no” – reject, and “maybe” – come back to later if the “yes” pile fails to deliver.
For your CV to be put into the “yes” pile it must very clearly state the skills you have to offer.

Your resume has only a few seconds to impress - or to end up in the trash. So, the skills must be immediately apparent.  A strong resume needs a solid foundation, and no amount of trickery can mask poor organization. Start with these basics.

• Put the technical skills in bold. Simple, but immensely effective.
• Use bullet points to draw the reader’s eye to the important area of     your CV.
• Put the most relevant experience first.

The most effective way to demonstrate technical skills is to provide a breakdown of the projects you’ve worked on. Remember that a project should comprise the following pieces of information:

• Title
• Timescales
• Number of staff involved
• Technology used
• Your role
• What you actually did

There are two common types of resume: 

- Chronological - (jobs listed by time period)
- Skills-based - (jobs listed by type of work.)

 Following is an overview of information to include on each type of resume:

1.  Heading: List your contact information at the top of the resume. Include your full name, mailing address, phone number and e-mail address. If you have a personal Web site, include the URL only if the site shows off your skills or applies to your career goals.

2.  Objective: The objectives section gives recruiters an immediate sense of who you are and what you're looking for, without forcing them to wade through the entire resume. If you decide to include an objective, stress what you'll add to the company, not what you're looking to take away.

Here's an example of an effective job objective: Objective: To obtain an entry-level account management position in financial services utilizing my strong analytical and interpersonal skills.

3.  Employment Experience:  List your experience chronologically, with your most recent job first. If your latest experience wasn't the most impressive, arrange your list by importance. Include the company name, location, your title and dates of employment. Also, give a brief description of your accomplishments.

Your resume should be customized to reflect the skills and experience desired for each particular job.  If you do not have a lot of paid work experience, you may list volunteer and internship work. Use specific examples and numbers whenever possible.

4.  Education:  List most recent degree first, including type of degree, name and location of school, and dates. You may also want to add your GPA (if 2.8 or higher). 
 
5.  Skills:  Today's workers are more tech-savvy than ever, so make sure you mention your technical and computer skills. List programming languages, software programs and operating systems you've used as well as certifications you have. Don't forget "soft skills" like foreign languages and public speaking. Always include memberships in professional organizations, because it shows you're serious about your career. Mentioning your interests is optional. Listing activities and hobbies can portray you as a well- rounded person, but it can raise eyebrows, too. Be careful what you list. (You should probably keep your passion for professional wrestling to yourself.)

7.  Awards and Affiliations:  Include any honors you have received, or positions you have held in community organizations

8. References: These strengthen your CV.  

Finishing Touches:

• Create several versions of your resume, each tailored to the type of    position you're applying for. Writing multiple resumes can be time-   consuming, but it's a small price to pay for the job you want.
• If you're applying for a specific job, research the position and    company. Pay attention to the job requirements, and highlight your    qualifications as they reflect the hiring company's needs.
• Be concise. Stick to one page. Make sure every word is meaningful.
• Choose fonts that are easy-to-read, clean and consistent. Don't use    non-traditional or overly creative fonts.
• Read, edit and re-read your resume to make sure it's well written, clear    and typo-free. Do it again. Then, ask your friends and family to do the    same.
• If you use an online resume, consider saving a text (".txt") version that    will look good on any computer. Send your resume as an attached file    and also paste the text into the body of the e-mail just to be safe.    Online resumes should also include plenty of keywords, since they may    be searched.
• With some self-evaluation, careful organization and savvy choice of    words, your resume will rise to the top of the pile on any recruiter's    desktop.

Remember these tips:

• Emphasize your most important responsibilities even if they weren't    your primary duties.
• Use active voice. Strong sentences are those in which a subject    performs an action (active voice) as opposed to an action being    performed on the subject (passive voice). "I planned an event,"    creates a stronger impression than "An event was planned by me."
• Impress employers with cause-effect relationships and tangible results.    Quantify your achievements with percentages and numbers like    "increased enrollment 20 percent" and "supervised three-person staff."
• Use descriptions to highlight your sense of initiative. Paint yourself as a    "go-getter" with strong verbs like "proposed," "launched" and    "managed."

Resume Keywords:
Using "action words" is a guaranteed way to capture the attention of hiring managers by strongly highlighting your past accomplishments. Replace your bland and boring verbs with some of the powerful action words below: 

 Cover Letter

A cover letter is a letter that that you send to accompany your CV when you apply for a job, whether advertised or when you are sending an unsolicited application. Do not over look this tool as it can be a great asset in your job hunt. 

Cover Letter Tips

The objective of the cover letter is to present a brief overview of yourself to the employer. By presenting your personal information in a coherent format, your objective is to convince the employer that your skills are valuable to the employer.

Below are some tips to aid you in preparing a concise cover letter.
» Avoid lengthy letters exceeding 1 page. Most cover letters consist of 3    paragraphs.
» Paragraph 1: Brief self-introduction including a description of your career    objective.
» Paragraph 2: A short description of your education, skills and other relevant    information.
» Paragraph 3: A closing paragraph indicating your salary requirements, contact    address and contact number.
» Ensure that you include your email and fax contact if available.

 CV Writing Do's and Don't's

CV Do's:

• Be explicit when stating facts, employer should have no questions.
• Use bullet points to make your CV more concise and easier to scan.
• Set out the information under clear headings.
• Keep it truthful, concise and jargon-free.
• Keep it simple - when it comes to producing the ideal CV remember    that “Less is More”
• For experienced professionals, job responsibilities should be detailed,    explained in paragraphs if required, but easy to read.
• Use dates consistently when talking about qualifications and    experience. Start with the most recent and work backwards.
• Keep your CV to no longer than 1 – 2 pages if you are just starting    your career, 2 - 3 pages if you are seeking mid-management position    and 3 – 4 pages if you are seeking senior management positions.
• Use a spell check and ask someone to read through it before sending.    Spelling mistakes make you look careless and inaccurate.
• Use present tense for current jobs and past tense for previous, keep it    consistent
• Include your availability (e.g., ‘immediately available’ or ‘4 weeks    notice’)
• Keep it factual – avoid any use of opinions 
• Use a font size that is large enough to read! 
• Make it clear on a covering letter or email which job you are applying    for.

 CV Don't's:

• Repeated use of “I” is hard on the eye – drop it
• It is better not to attach your picture with the CV (for females only).
• Stay away from flowery language, fancy fonts and brightly colored    paper – let the content do the talking
• Don’t use a humorous or inappropriate email address, this may make a    recruiter smile but won’t get you an interview!
• Do not use jargons, acronyms or abbreviations that are not well known    in the sector.
• Don’t include irrelevant facts – a potential employer will not be    interested in how many children and grandchildren you have! 
• Time gaps on your CV give the impression that you have something to    hide. If you have been made redundant, and spent 2 months looking for    a new job, this is fine. If you have taken a career break or gone    traveling – say so! 
• Phrasing which reads negatively has no place on a CV e.g., but,    although, however, despite, nevertheless, etc
• Post or fax CV’s only when absolutely necessary or if you are asked to    do this. Email is now the accepted standard and these tend to be dealt    with first.
• Include your current employer as a referral at your peril! (Unless you    don’t want them to know you are looking elsewhere!)
• Do not include a photograph unless it is a requirement by the company.
• Exaggerating your experience will cause you problems later on.    Interviews are designed to weed out fibbers!

If you speak a foreign language, don’t embellish your level of fluency – GCSE French does not make you a ‘fluent’ speaker.

And finally – DON’T SELL YOURSELF SHORT!

 [Interview Tips]