MARKET YOURSELF

CV PREPARATION

Your CV is the first thing that employers and agencies will see. Their decision about whether to call you for interview/discussion will be based almost entirely on what they see on this document. As well as being honest and factual, it's vitally important that your CV is a true reflection of what you have to offer your next employer i.e. what you can do for them.

When writing the CV it is important that you remember that you are not writing it for yourself, you are writing it for the reader.

Having said all that, lets look at the specifics of writing your CV. There are two key areas that need to be addressed when designing your CV - Content & Structure and Style.

STYLE

In today's world it has become the norm to send your CV via a variety of channels to either agencies or employers:

• WEB BASED PORTALS
• BY POST
• BY FAX
• EMAILED CV's

Whichever method is appropriate the style of the CV must reflect you but must also be clear and concise. Here are some do's and don'ts:

DO

• Use a clear font consistently, flowery or stylised print can be difficult to read especially when you are faxing or e-mailing the CV
• Use white space around the main headings to draw attention to key parts of the CV e.g. a particularly strong educational background or Companies and job titles that are relevant to the job you are applying for
• Check the CV for spelling and grammar mistakes - it's amazing how many CV's look great but have one or two spelling mistakes, it ruins the effect
• Use bullet points - overly long or wordy CV's contain too much narrative and are more difficult to read
• If you are posting the CV, then a printed document looks much more effective than a photocopied version. In addition good quality paper will give a better impression
• Be consistent in how you organise information

DON'T

• Be tempted to use tables/complex graphics in the CV (this includes photographs) - these can be difficult for some types of software to read
• Try and squeeze 20 years of experience into 2 pages - make the CV relevant to your level of experience and skills. If you are a college/university graduate a 1 - 1.5 page CV is appropriate. If you are very experienced then 2 - 3 pages are acceptable

CONTENT AND STRUCTURE

Below are some ideas on the content and structure of the CV:

PERSONAL DETAILS

Should contain all biographical information - name, address, date of birth, e-mail and all telephone numbers that are appropriate i.e. mobile, direct line at work, home.

ACHIEVEMENTS

These can be bullet pointed and should be relevant to the job that you are applying for, or if it's a speculative CV, should contain achievements that are particularly impressive. Achievements should be specific and measurable i.e. where you have improved or made changes you should be able to quantify the improvement achieved. Don't be tempted to use generic meaningless statements like 'works well as part of a team'

EG.

• In 2002 managed the integration of two businesses, replacing two existing computer systems and successfully implemented a new supply chain management system which improved customer deliveries by 40%.
• Achieved ISO accreditation within 4 months.
• Increased raw material stock accuracy to from 69% to 100%.

The achievements should be at the start of the CV where they can be viewed immediately, this is your opportunity to really sell your experience to the employer.

EDUCATION & QUALIFICATIONS

List your achievements here in reverse chronological order with dates that you achieved each of your qualifications and the awarding institution. If you are a recent university/college graduate you may wish to list your individual '0' Grades and 'H' Grades but if you have been out of education for some time then this is not so important.

EG.
1984 - 1988 Strathclyde University, Glasgow
BSc (Hons) 2.1 Business Studies

If you have any professional qualifications you should also include them in this section but leave details of other one day or week long courses you have attended to the back of the CV.

EMPLOYMENT/WORK EXPERIENCE

Should include ALL employment experiences you have had, this is the part of the CV that the majority of employers will be most interested in (apart from graduate roles where education is the main requirement).

Make sure that there are no gaps in the dates of employment and all periods of employment are included no matter how short or irrelevant you believe this was. Include the dates that you worked for the employer and your job title(s) with associated dates. It is also useful to include a small explanation of your employers business as many potential employers will have no knowledge about your current and previous employers.

Explain exactly what your responsibilities were and the type of work that you were involved in:

EG.
January 1999 - Present : ABC Company
ABC Company are a privately owned manufacturer of mobile telephones that are shipped worldwide. The organisation has a turnover of £60M per annum and employs 500 people across 2 sites in Glasgow and Luton.

September 2000 - Present : Production Manager, Glasgow
Main responsibilities :

• Management of a team of 60 operatives via 3 direct reports.
• Budgetary control for the Glasgow manufacturing facility covering manpower, facilities, training, and consumables, total budgetary responsibility £1M.
• Managing the schedules to meet customer demands, controlling a throughput of 2,000 telephones per week

January 1999 - September 2000 : Production Supervisor, Luton
Main responsibilities :

• One of 3 supervisors on site responsible for managing the nightshift operations, covering assets worth £20M with 20 operators reporting.
• Managing training, development and succession planning
• Responsible for ensuring the health and safety needs of the workforce were met

For your early career it is acceptable to merely provide dates, company and job title - this cuts down on irrelevant/dated information that is probably no longer a reflection of your skills and experience :

EG.
Early Career
1982 - 1986 123 Company Ltd, Livingston Production Supervisor
1980 - 1982 XYZ Company, Edinburgh Production Engineer

This gives the interviewer a talking point and a clear view of your complete career history.
Where you can, make the responsibilities measurable and always include specifics about budgets you controlled, number of staff or project timescales that you met.

DO

• Tailor the CV to your strengths and to the role that you are applying for
• Have more than 1 version of your CV - if you are speculatively applying to agencies you may wish to include more detail since most agencies now work with recruitment software packages that are text sensitive - this means they will search your CV against suitable vacancies on their database by using a text search. If you are applying specifically for a role you should tailor your CV so that the relevant experience you have is very prominent.
• Ensure that you have your main achievements in the CV

DON'T

• Be tempted to leave periods of employment out of the CV for either brevity purposes or because you believe that it is no longer relevant. Potential employers need to see your career from leaving school onwards although unless very relevant then do keep it brief.
• Use Company specific jargon or acronyms
• Put you achievements on any covering letter of e-mail, these can become detached from the CV and be lost in the process

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Details of training courses attended or any awards achieved during education or your working life e.g. Health & Safety, First Aid. Interests. Keep this short and to the point.

REFEREES

Don't include the addresses of your referees but names, job titles and Companies represented are appropriate. These pages have been developed to help you market yourself effectively, if you would like to give us feedback or advice and hints about what has worked for you then please use the contact us button.

INTERVIEW PREPARATION

The job interview is probably the most important step in obtaining the right role and achieving your aspirations. During the interview you want to perform well and the best way of doing this is to prepare thoroughly for any interview that you have. Before focussing on interview preparation it is probably useful to look at the different types of assessment activities that are commonly used to support recruitment decisions:

• TYPES OF ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
• INTERVIEWS
• BIOGRAPHICAL

Biographical interviews are the most commonly used method of making recruitment decisions in the UK. This is the type of interview where the interviewers will use your CV as a basis for the interview, going through the Companies that you have worked for, experience you have and your educational background.

This may be supplemented by some questions designed to identify some of your core personal skills i.e. communication, team working and these questions may be theoretical in nature.

TYPICAL QUESTIONS

What were your main responsibilities in your role?
What is your management style/technical expertise/knowledge of? etc.
Why do you want to leave your current job?
What kind of salary are you expecting?
What are your strengths/weaknesses?
What are your ambitions?
What would you do in this situation?
Tell me about yourself?
Why do you want this job?
What qualities do you think will be required for this job?
What can you contribute?
Why do you want to work for us?
What do you know about this Company?
What motivates you?

COMPETENCY/BEHAVIOURAL BASED INTERVIEWS

These are becoming increasingly common and are a very good way of determining suitability to perform in a position. These interviews are based on the premise that past behaviour is the best predictor of future behaviour. The interview is focussed around a group of competencies/behaviours that are required for success in the role.

Competencies are generated for the particular role you are being interviewed against and are also used as a backbone for how that role should fit and be performed within an organisation. Often a competency interview can be performed without the need for a CV. Typically the interviewer will have three different questions which are all focussed on eliciting information about the competence. In short the interviewer is looking at your past experience of dealing with a situation.

COMPETENCE: CUSTOMER FOCUS

Can you tell me about a time where you had to meet a demanding timescale for a customer?
What was the situation?
What were the barriers to achievement of this timescale?
What did you do to achieve it?
What was the result?

COMPETENCE: INFLUENCING & PERSUADING

Can you tell me about a time when you had to persuade a group of people to follow your lead?
What was the situation?
What tool did you use to persuade the group?
What was the biggest barrier?
What was the eventual result?

COMPETENCE: DECISION MAKING

On occasion we must make decisions in situations of ambiguity - can you describe a time when you have found yourself in this situation?
How did you decide on the best way forward?
Why did you make the decision?
What were the short and long term impacts of the decision?

TESTS

Increasingly organisations will use a range of testing techniques:

PSYCHOMETRIC TESTS

Organisations will utilise these tests to try to gain an insight into how you might react in certain circumstances. These tests will give an insight into where you may fit into a team. Organisations will use these tests only to support their decision and not to make it for them. In some organisations, the results will then be used to form a basis for training and development activity when you join the organisation.

ABILITY TESTS

These may well be only numeracy or literacy but can also be specialist based i.e. typing tests, programming tests, spatial awareness, etc. The difference between these tests and psychometrics is that you can prepare and practice for most of these and should do this. One very important feature of ability tests is that they can be very tough, if you have difficulty with one or another or both, be aware of how you are perceived. How you react to this difficulty or failure can often be more important than the actual score. It is fine to be pragmatic but also be positive, do not seek emotional support from the tester or interviewer - all is not lost, simply carry on with the rest of the meeting.

ASSESSMENT CENTRES

Increasingly employers will utilise the assessment centre which is likely to involve tests, interviews, a group exercise and a presentation. These days can be enjoyable and you should approach them from the perspective that it is an opportunity to showcase your skills in a variety of different activities.

PREPARATION

The biggest mistake in approaching any recruitment process is not being fully prepared. It is the responsibility of the interviewee to make use of every conceivable means possible to prepare for the interview and to allow ample time to fully prepare. Interviewing is a skill, as with all skills, preparation and practice enhance the quality of the skill. Preparation will make the difference between receiving an offer or not. There is no one 'best' way to prepare. Rather there are important activities that will enhance your performance:

STEP 1 : RESEARCH

Use every possible means to learn all you can about the Company and position. Use the library, Internet, access brochures (ask the Company for these). Also ask the Company for a copy of the job description and person specification.

If you have any contacts within the employer get in contact with them and find out all you can about who will be interviewing you.

If you are working with a recruitment agency, get the best out of them, use their expertise and knowledge of the employer - it is likely that the agency will have met with the people who will be interviewing you and will know intimate details about the Company/role - make sure that you ask relevant questions of your agency. The agency should also be able to tell you what the recruitment process will be and help you with your preparation for each stage.

STEP 2 : SELF-ASSESSMENT

Start off with a "They:Me" exercise. Look at your CV and think about what you will be asked based on the information they have. Look at the job description and person specification and again identify key areas that they will be interested in discussing.

Assess your current skills, talents, abilities, strengths and weaknesses in line with the job specification/person specification for the role. Look for areas of commonality between your own experience and that being sought by the employer. To help you, you can look at your performance appraisals, any feedback from your boss/customers/colleagues, recent accomplishments and successful projects.

QUESTIONS YOU MAY WANT TO ASK YOURSELF

What are my current strengths?
What are my most recent achievements?
What skills have I developed and what training have I received relevant to this role?
What are my work experiences - what is relevant to the role that I am applying for?
What are my personal skills and abilities? ( Think about specific examples of this).
Why would this employer want to hire me?

If it is a competency-based interview, ask for a list of the competencies they will be evaluating and start thinking about the types of questions they will ask.

When you have completed this part of the process, then start to think about how you will answer questions - you don't want to be robotic in your delivery so don't over prepare but have a look at your achievements and decide where these might fit into any questions the employer has.

STEP 3 : PRACTICE

Practice with a friend, colleague or partner and ask for genuine feedback. Prepare a list of questions to ask. Regardless of how many questions you have asked throughout the interview you should always keep a couple in mind for the end of the interview when most experienced interviewers will ask you for your questions. If you do not have any questions then this can smack of disinterest in either the Company or the role. Typical questions that you can ask:

What will be my responsibilities?
How big is the department/organisation ?
Where will I fit into the overall organisational structure?
Who will I report to?
What will be the challenges in the first 6 months of the role?
Who are your customers?
What are the Company ambitions over the next 3 years?
What are the ongoing challenges that the Company face in progressing?
What training do you offer?

Know where the interview is being conducted and what the dress code is - a business suit is always the safest bet.

DURING THE INTERVIEW

Eye contact and body language are as important in the interview as good answers. Look at the interviewer, avoid raising barriers i.e. don't cross your arms; don't place anything on the desk between you and the interviewer. Maintain eye contact and good posture; handshakes should be firm.

Be calm and poised. Be aware of your nervous habits and try to keep them under control. Watch your speech, avoid 'err' and 'ah', or any other potentially distracting voice habits. Pay attention to voice level and speed. Use the interviewer as your touchstone - how are they speaking?

DO'S

• Do sell yourself without bragging
• Do keep control of yourself and the interview
• Do keep things moving; but most of all keep the talk geared to what you can do for the Company
• Do think before you answer. It is quite acceptable to pause before responding in order to organise your thoughts
• Do be a good listener, but if you are asked a question that you don't understand or that is ambiguous, ask for clarification

DON'TS

• Don't give yes or no answers, elaborate briefly on your experience, your skills and background
• Don't use flattery
• Don't criticise anyone i.e. your old boss, company, colleagues, etc
• Don't volunteer any negative information
• Don't ask about salary or benefits unless prompted by the interviewer

If you need any help with interviews or other recruitment activities or if you have a specific question about an interview then please do not hesitate to contact us.

RESIGNATION

This can be a difficult meeting to have with your employer. You will have worked with a company for some time and will feel that they may react emotionally to you resignation, but the important thing is to make sure that if you have decided to move on that you follow this through. It is very easy to become flattered when your current employer attempts to convince you to stay with them rather than take a new job, all sorts of persuasive arguments can be used to make you stay from offering more money to promotion to building your anxiety about starting with a new Company.

The key thing with managing resignation is to remember why you wanted to leave in the first place, very rarely in our experience, do people leave a role because of money or other short term issues, it is more likely to be a career decision and once this decision is made there is usually nothing that your employer can do to change the situation you are in.

Resigning badly can have a detrimental effect but conforming to and following basic etiquette can be positive. Carefully make up your mind about a job offer and ensure that you are committed to leaving before offering the resignation. You should ask yourself whether you would still be viewed as having the same integrity and commitment if you stay.

Give ample notice to the company you are leaving or commit to the notice period stipulated in your contract. Complete any unfinished tasks and make sure that any outstanding work is effectively handed over to someone else - in short be as co-operative as possible.

A resignation letter should give notice of your termination of employment. If you have an exit interview, be positive about your time at the company and thank them for the opportunities and training you have received. Resist the temptation to be negative or critical about the Company or specific individuals. Be constructive and personal about your reasons for leaving.

In addition it is useful to get agreement from your boss to be your referee as most HR departments can give only factual information.