Tag Archives: job applications

Careers Advice, CV Tips, CV Writing, Friday Snippet, Graduates, Transferable Skills

Graduates- what you can be doing now for the future!

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Following on from our guest blog on Wednesday which addresses managing your workload at Uni – today I wanted to delve into some areas university students will find useful once you have graduated, as securing that all important first role is more difficult than you think.

When I was at Uni, I was promised that once I graduated with a good degree that I could practically walk into any job – in fact they also fed me with other unrealistic expectations such as large salary levels for starting out and going straight into middle management etc. Having spoken to a number of recent graduates and students recently it would seem that the same expectation levels are still being set by the universities – I can see from their perspective that they need to “sell” the places but it is also unfair to set people up for a big disappointment. Taking positive steps forward I would like to address some things you could be doing now to enhance your chances of securing your first role post graduation:

  1. Take on a part time role – this can be done during holiday times but also as easily done during term time too, I seem to remember a great deal of courses only actually requiring you in the classroom for a few hours a week. Therefore you could structure your timetable to complete your Uni work in the day time and take an evening / weekend / late afternoon job – not only will you enhance your student loan for the all important socials, you will be gaining work experience which you can later rely on for references and to put on your CV. Even jobs you don’t think will be any use to secure a professional role usually are, think about customer facing, time management, cash handling, problem solving, dealing with complaints / conflicts – all good stuff to demonstrate to your potential boss that you haven’t just fallen out of bed and into their office hoping for a professional job.
  2. Voluntary work – Ask your tutors if they know any organisations or have any contacts who would be willing to let you volunteer your services to, ideally you will then gain some experience specific to the role you wish to pursue when you graduate and you may make an impression which could lead on to being offered a contract post-uni.
  3. Use your contacts – ask your parents to put the feelers out within their offices and with their friends to see if they can secure you some work experience they always say; “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”

It is important to start working on your CV now – start adding pieces of information as it comes to you or as you experience it and ask your tutors to review it for you, make sure you ask for honest feedback and listen to those who can help you most.

A bit of fun, Careers Advice, Halloween, News, No

Scary times when looking for a job?

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It’s Halloween – a time for pumpkins, ghosts & ghouls, witches and skeletons to make an appearance. Keeping to the All Hallows theme I see some striking resemblances to the various elements of looking for a job.

  • Pumpkins – we all like an expertly carved pumpkin displayed in the window with a candle shining bright for all to see. Think about your CV and if you were to display it on the likes of job websites etc. is what you have on display scary or intriguing? If it is intriguing enough to take a closer look then you are on the right tracks, if it is garish and scary you may just frighten off potential employers.
  • Skeletons – do you have skeletons in your closet? If you are applying for security cleared jobs or even roles which may take a dim view on your past – are you prepared to have your background interrogated or are you setting yourself up to fail? Think about the roles you are applying for and make choices based on what will work for you – do your homework.
  • Ghosts – often translucent, and to the trained eye your CV is the same – make sure you back up your statements in your CV to ensure you are not being overlooked. Also ghosts often appear and disappear like a number of pieces of information on CVs, don’t swap around information too much as you may scare off a recruiter who will do a comparison of different versions of your CV and will have their suspicion raised.
  • Witches – often seen huddling around a cauldron deciding on ingredients (applications) going into the spell which will win over their prey (hiring managers).
  • Spiders – or web crawlers work over your CV in databases and on job boards as they search for keywords to index you for searches by employers. Make sure you are using terminology common to your profession but don’t just list a load of keywords – contextualise them in the remits for the roles. The spiders do still work just as effectively.
  • Trick or treat – knocking on the doors of the prosperous (employers) for treats (jobs), not a great deal of effort goes into direct applications / speculative approaches to businesses but it is still the leading route to success.
  • Bobbing for apples – similar to applying for jobs, leaning into a big barrel and trying your best to catch an apple in your teeth; in competition with several others but who will get it first?
  • Zombies – make sure you are alert and articulate when speaking with HR / recruiters especially when it is you calling them to ask how your application is coming along / has it been received or you have questions.
  • Werewolves – Always treat everyone you meet as you would expect to be greeted, don’t change from human to grumpy wolf when speaking to receptionists / secretaries. Not only is it rude and disrespectful, you don’t actually know who you are speaking with – they may be the MD just picking up the phone or sat in reception!!
  • Cobwebs – clear out the cobwebs from your CV; refreshing and updating your CV periodically is excellent practice.
  • Lightening – don’t wait to apply for a role, get to work immediately on tweaking your CV and submit it ASAP. Job shortlists can often be met within a few hours of a job advert being posted online.

Wishing you all a Happy, Safe and Joyful All Hallows Eve – remember a good costume to intrigue and attract others to talk to you is the best way to gain success but keep it real, no one likes to take off a mask to reveal something even more scary underneath!!

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We had some fun in the office carving our own pumpkins (see below) – this has become a bit of a tradition as I was challenged to create a themed one last year which yielded a donation to a local children’s hospice and even though we did not have a bet on this year, a donation was made again to the hospice – thanks Steve!!

 

CV Tips, CV Writing, Friday Snippet, Project Management, Project management CV, project management resume

5 things NOT to do when writing your CV – Friday snippet

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Keeping it fresh, today I want to talk about 5 key areas you should consider and look to avoid when writing your CV.

  1. Assume that everyone will know what it is like working at your current / previous places of employment – huge and easy mistake to make, every company is different and even departments in larger businesses work differently to each other. Simply declaring a job title and a couple of bullet points stating something like; “planning” and “reporting” is a futile exercise – planning what? Using what kind of planning tools? Complex pieces of work or straight forward? How big is the project and the team… See, it just doesn’t tell the CV reviewer anything they need to know.
  2. Terminology, we’ve all done it – working in certain environments we adopt a different language and a plethora of acronyms. Make sure you translate these into English for your CV – no reviewer will spend hours trying to decipher the code so make sure it is readable by all.
  3. Using past tense – keep the document positive and in the present. It may sound crazy to say that our employment history should be past tense but try changing your CV on just one role (i.e. managed to managing, reported to reporting etc.) and read it out – you’ll notice how positive and active it reads in comparison to the rest of the CV. Now apply it to all of the CV and see just how changing the tense can really make a difference to your resume.
  4. Copy and paste your job description – your CV is a personal document about you, taking your JD and placing it in your remit you are selling yourself short, by all means use it as a starting point but make sure you add the reality of what each competency actually means in your role.
  5. Just throw something together – it doesn’t work. Spend time researching online about what employers expect to see in a CV; then start by structuring and performing a skills audit. Really work hard to make sure the CV is selling you in the best light, check the basics such as spelling and grammar as a minimum. You only get one chance at making a first impression.

For further insights into CV writing tips and examples of profiles, career history bullets etc. look through my previous blogs – just click on the keywords: CV writing / CV tips.

CV Tips, CV Writing, Job Applications, Project management CV, project management recruitment

Creating the money shot – CV tips

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Everyone will tell you that setting up and running your own business is hard work – and it is, to a point. Well it’s busy and no one day is the same – like project management, but the main driver behind starting your own business has to be something you enjoy not just the money. Personally I love creating CVs for people – taking what is sometimes a list or a lengthy essay and changing it into a document which is clear and concise and most importantly; one which will attract the interest of hiring managers and recruiters.

I was asked yesterday, how can I make each CV so right for each individual and yet also make it attractive for roles – simple I responded, I find peoples USP (Unique Selling Point) and ensure I add a balance of “doing” skills and experience. Once you have worked with a number of hiring managers and really got to understand from their perspective what they expect to see in a CV the fog lifts and you instinctively know what a CV needs to look like. Of course you do need to be able to articulate yourself clearly and use professional language; and in The CV Righters’ case you also need to have a good understanding of project management and its terminology (which can be like a second language). Once you have this knowledge and these skills under your belt then all you need is passion and patience.

Understanding the perspective from the candidate also comes into play – I was working with a Project Management consultant last week who was petrified of losing content from his rather long CV. When I pointed out that we can condense the experience and still cover all bases of his career by structuring his CV in a particular way, he relaxed. Trying to secure interviews is a frustrating and scary process especially for those who are currently out of work. Little to no feedback from hiring managers and recruiters for your applications really doesn’t help. How do you know you are doing things wrong if no one actually tells you?

Speaking with another client last week who had harvested no success from agencies from her applications – she said she’d asked recruiters for feedback and the best she had managed to gain was that she needed to add more about what she’s done to her CV. The rather unhelpful recruiter also said; having had a discussion about what the candidate had actually done that she would be a great applicant to put forward to clients’ but her CV needed changing. Being a fairly recent graduate, with little experience of writing a professional CV she walked away from the conversation not much wiser.

Writing an effective CV does not come naturally to all – I started this service because I want to make a difference to those who are good, strong, candidates that could easily win the interview if they could just get through the door in the first place. Creating really meaty CVs to enable people to get noticed for the right reasons and secure interviews is what I do. I insist on taking a collaborative approach to creating the CV which means the CV never loses your mark, time is taken to really understand you and how you work.