Category Archives: Seasons Greetings

On the 6th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

On the 6th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

…6 Geese A-laying! Good for a hearty breakfast I am sure, but today we bring you: On the 6th day of Christmas The CV Righter said to me 6 Key achievements, 5 Golden Rules, 4 Calling Cards, 3 Networks, 2 Referees and a killer CV!

 

The all important key achievements in your CV, the clue is in the naming here – KEY, meaning only highlighted ones. Not everything you have ever done and ACHIEVEMENTS meaning noteworthy pieces of work, not necessarily delivering projects on time and to budget as this is expected when you are a project manager. However it is OK to talk about projects which have faced significant challenges and if you are not a delivery person so have stepped up to the plate and delivered above and beyond the call of duty then talk about it.

I have written an article which addresses stating key achievements on your CV here.

Would you like an example achievement?? Of course you would – here:

  • Identifying the need for a programme management framework within a large blue chip company – on agreement, tasked with defining the associated processes and controls, recruiting a team in cross functionally to embrace and embed new method, ensuring full training administered. Resulting in a 20% improvement in project delivery across the organisation.

Only you can sing your praises, so please stop being so British about things and actually tell the hiring manager just how good you are!

On the 1st day of Christmas The CV Righter gave to me a Killer CV

On the 2nd day of Christmas The CV Righter said to me Two Referees

On the 3rd day of Christmas The CV Righter gave to me Three Networks

On the 4th day of Christmas The CV Righter said to me 4 calling cards 

On the 5th day of Christmas The CV Righter gave to me 5 golden rules

On the 6th day of Christmas The CV Righter said to me 6 Key achievements

On the 3rd day of Christmas my true love gave to me….

On the 3rd day of Christmas my true love gave to me….

….. 3 French Hens! Or for our theme: On the 3rd day of Christmas The CV Righter gave to me Three Networks, Two Referees and a Killer CV!

Today we’ll cover the three main networks available for free to everyone; LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitterall three of these online social networking sites have plus and minus points. But when you are looking to identify and secure a new job, the plus points outweigh the negatives. You can manage your privacy on all of these networks and I actively encourage you to do so – you could even set up specific accounts for job hunting, clearly your LinkedIn account only needs to be as is and you should look to continue maintaining it and your contacts once you secure a new role as it important when using such a business networking site that you do not pester your contacts when you need a job and then drop off the radar until the next time you need assistance.

Your Twitter account can be used to join in discussions and follow job tweets and also is a good way to start making contact with specific recruiters (as the phone seems to be an impossible barrier at times). Facebook business pages seem to be growing by the day and so are the recruitment adverts, an easy way to integrate your usual Facebook activities is by having job updates in your news feed.

Relevant articles can be found here:

 

On the 1st day of Christmas The CV Righter gave to me a Killer CV

On the 2nd day of Christmas The CV Righter said to me Two Referees

On the 3rd day of Christmas The CV Righter gave to me Three Networks

On the 2nd day of Christmas my true love gave to me….

On the 2nd day of Christmas my true love gave to me….

 ….Two Turtle Doves! Following on our 12 days of Christmas theme with a twist, we decided to go for:

On the second day of Christmas The CV Righter said to me two referees and a killer CV!

Not all employers ask for references when offering a new role but a good deal do; therefore it is important to make sure you have the contact details of 2 referees to hand. Don’t put these details in your CV for a number of reasons:

  1. You do not want your referees being contacted until you are ready, if one or more of your referees in a current employer – then you really do not want them being contacted until you have decided to take a role (and have handed in your notice).
  2. As you send your CV into a number of agencies and direct employers you will unfortunately come across some recruiters who will use the contact details to make contact (often using your name) and try to gain a lead for recruitment. Not what you want put yourself in your referee’s shoes – being hounded by sales people using your name is not going to go down well.
  3. Save precious space on your CV – use the space on your CV more effectively, there is enough room for another bullet point in a remit or an achievement instead of someone’s contact details.
  4. Data protection – yes, that is right – we need to be more conscious of giving out other peoples details!

I have previously covered  references in CVs here.

On the 1st day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

On the 1st day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

A Partridge in a Pear Tree – or so tradition would have it but this year we are going with a twist to the 12 days of Christmas and looking back at some of the articles covered over the past year. So, on the first day of Christmas The CV Righter gave to me… a killer CV.

We have talked through the various elements of what makes a fantastic CV and would like to revisit some of those blog pieces here:

  • Profile – what it should say about you!
  • Achievements – how many to include and what they should say.
  • CV Length – just how long should your CV be?
  • Hobbies – why should you state hobbies in your CV (or not).

Working hard to ensure you have a CV that not only makes you proud but tips the interest of the hiring managers is essential. Can you honestly say you have a CV which meets the high expectations of HR to make a shortlist?