Check, check, checkedy, check, check!

Yes I made up the word 'checkedy' but so what, you should see some of the howlers I've encountered in my time. One of the best would be an applicant applying to a mechanical engineering role who misspelled mechanical!

You really can never check your document too many times, well you can actually, if you do it too many times you'll probably overlook some errors so it's best to get at least one other person, better two, to have a look over it as well. They don't have to understand it, just look for grammatical and spelling errors, you've no idea how off putting it is to a recruiter when a candidate clearly hasn't been bothered to take the time to make sure all is right, it's likely to mean your document ends up in the B file (bin) so don't take the chance and checkedy check check!

Have a look at these links for some facepalm worthy mistakes.

http://www.totaljobs.com/careers-advice/cvs-and-applications/funny-cv-mistakes-bloopers

http://www.responsewebrecruitment.co.uk/blog/100-funniest-things-weve-read-in-a-cv/

This is my favorite, an infographic from @socialtalent

http://www.socialtalent.co/blog/funny-cv-mistakes

It's all in the presentation

Have you got a CV, do you underline your titles, do you use different fonts, have you used italics, what about font sizes, have you varied them, do you use boarders, how about random bullet lists, are you using colours..........?

WELL STOP!

Presentation is very important when writing a CV and here's the one reason why;

IT'S THE FIRST THING AN EMPLOYER SEES

Before they've even read one word on your CV, if you've got different fonts, boarders, italics and (heaven forbid) colours all over the place, you're not making a very good first impression.

Its always best to keep it simple so here are my top tips;

1- Choose a font and stick with it. You can change a font size or bold it out for titles, you don't ever need more than one font.

2- Choose a style and stick with it. By this I mean decide how you want to present the whole CV and use that throughout, for example, if you want to bold and underline all your titles you need to do that for every single one not just the main titles.

3- Ditch the boarders. I've always been baffled as to why people do this, you don't need to put your CV in boxed sections, it doesn't look neater, it looks juvenille.

4- Ditch the colours. See above but instead of juvenille, think infantile!!

5- If using bullets in your role descriptions then use bullets for all roles not just one or two, where you don't have enough info to include a bullet list that's fine but if that's the style you want to use, use it throughout.

6- Make sure spacing is consistent. Paragraphs spacing should always be the same throughout the document.

I could go on but that's all for now, if you're stuck, get in touch for a free consultation to see how we could help.

8 seconds!

Had a very interesting meeting today about the future of CV Uk Writer Ltd, gave me lots to think about, one of the bigger talking points was the 8 second rule. 

When a hiring manager looks at your Cv, they will take about 8 seconds to make up their minds as to whether you are in or out based on what they read (or scan in reality). 

Think about it, you may be looking to prove yourself in your first job or you may have 30 years experience, regardless, 8 seconds isn't great if you're trying to get your foot in the door, I mean what can you legitimately do well in 8 seconds......

Down a small glass of water

Scratch your itchy nose

Put on a pair of socks

Turn your car on and put your seatbelt on

Sing the opening line of your favourite song

You can see that 8 seconds isn't a long time to change the world, I'm being glib but my point is that not much can be done in 8 seconds that is significant so when someone is reading your cv for the first time, if all you've got is 8 seconds, you'd better make sure it's the very best it can be! 

So how can you do that? Obviously you could leave it to the experts (us) but some tweaks you can make; 

*Make sure your formatting is clear and regular

*Keep to one font, no italics

*Keep your education short and bulleted (you don't need to list all of your cse's from 1972) 

*Keep your personal statement clear, concise and no more than 4 lines MAX

*Make your latest job title clear

*Get your current job highlights at the top of the list, make sure you put your greatest responsibilities and achievements right at the top of your current job history, that's the one hiring mangers will be interested in so make sure you're blowing your own trumpet.

Personal statements can be tricky to write (it's a whole other post) but drafting a few versions can help you pin point what you want to say, steer clear of repetition and of using too many adjectives. 

8 seconds is not long, don't be fooled into thinking the job you're applying to doesn't fall into this bracket, the likelihood is that it will, competition is still high as I'm always saying so make your 8 seconds count and ensure your CV headlines pop!

Further reading:

Citing original study: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/recipe-perfect-resume-revealed/story?id=23782664

Updated article;

http://www.careerealism.com/resume-glance-pass/

Older article which talks about a 6 second rule!! http://lifehacker.com/5901056/recruiters-only-look-at-your-resume-for-an-average-of-six-seconds-and-this-is-what-they-see

International Women's Day 2016

So international women's day is over for another year, did you mark it in any way? Did your place of work? I have to say it's only in recent years have I actually known it existed, with no place of business I've ever worked marking it bar one, once! It was in fact started way back in the days of suffrage. It's made headlines in more recent years though and this year was no exception.

The theme this year was for planet 50:50 by 2030, a focus on gender parity. If you want to read more then do look at the official page http://www.internationalwomensday.com

I wanted to touch on IWD in this blog as the theme is equality, in all areas of life and as I'm a CV writer I will focus on careers.

Having worked in STEM industries my entire career, I have often observed how wide the gender gap is in terms of skill set, engineers are in the majority, men, scientists are in the majority, men, HR, mostly women. So what can be done about that? There's a point to tackling the issue with our peers, to bring sexism and inequality to the fore but international women's day should be used to target our smallest people, not to highlight the difficulties they may face as men and women but to reiterate the point that you can be anything you want to be, science, engineering, even space doesn't have to be for a majority sex. 

And this message should be a theme throughout their school lives, not just a one off. Certainly when I was at school there wasn't much work done on that as a subject, I remember a brief chat with a career guidance counsellor but nothing to light my technical fire, nothing that would make me want to find out more about building a bridge or finding a cure for cancer.

Nothing is wrong with any career but we have to ask ourselves why is society perpetuating the cliche that boys build stuff and girls nurture when both can do....both. More needs to be done to encourage boys and girls into different fields of work and to show that both are equally capable. The male dinosaurs that I've worked with in my time are slowly retiring, those that refuse to hold meetings with women in HR (yes really), those that ask questions about babies, childcare and marriage in interviews (yes really) and more open minded people are coming to the fore, actually holding discussions about encouraging women to retrain and how they can attract women to work in their business. But again, it needs to start earlier, you're not going to magically increase the number of female civil engineers in the marketplace but given time and effort, the girls taking their GCSEs now could well be designing bridges in 10 years time. 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/international-womens-day-2016-what-when-is-it-why-was-it-set-up-a6917341.html

Back to basics

It's been quite a while since my last blog update so I thought I'd get back to basics.
If you've ever worked in recruitment then you'll know that one of the prime times for job searches is the new year (that and the first two weeks of school summer holidays believe it or not), so with that being said, it is a good time to throw some job search tips out there in case you're reading this and you're looking or just thinking about it.

Research - Where will you look, what sites are most relevant, what companies do you want to work for, if you don't have specifics what type of companies will you look at (considering ethics for example). You may not be that fussed but it pays to know where you will be spending your time looking for a job because.....

Organise - If you know where you're looking you'll be able to organise your time and your approach to your particular job search, for example, how long will you spend posting your CV on job boards or applying to roles on a particular board. Do you have the relevant industry publications to hand if that's your approach or what companies are you going to contact direct on what day. Being organised will mean you stay........

Focus - Its very very easy to lose focus when doing anything really and job searching is no different, you might get bored, disheartened, depressed even but making a plan about your approach as above will help halt those feelings. Unless you're lucky or particularly in demand you'll probably need to revise your plan of action, do more research and re-organise your time but that's OK and will help you to stay focused on your ultimate goal which I would assume would be - a new fabulous job!

Finally it is so important that you get your CV together. Obvious I know but people don't give it enough time, it needs effort and attention, what are you trying to say, what do you want to say, what do you want people to think about you? It can all be conveyed through your CV so you need to invest in it. Think of it as a submission to an exam, you want to get it as right as possible and unless you really don't care (in which case why are you reading this), you want to get the highest score as you possibly can and beat your peers.

Job searching isn't anyone's favorite task but if you follow the simple steps above then it can be a little less painful, you can always come talk to us to see how we can help as well of course!

Happy hunting folks, I'll not leave it so long next time!

Lose weight - Fast!

Okay I've not gone crazy and nor am I about to start writing about weight loss. I'm talking about slimming down that CV.

A general rule of thumb says that your CV should be no longer than 2 pages long, this means you need to summarise your experience as best you can but remain interesting and appealing. No mean feat for most but if you've a whole heap of experience then it can be a really tricky task (NB sometimes its ok to push to 3 pages particularly in certain industries where your experience will be technically/scientifically specialist).

So how do you go about reducing all of that information that you're CONVINCED is so important
and every employer MUST know? Hint; they don't.

Layout - make sure the layout of your CV is conducive to keeping it short. If you're short of space then don't have your address listed, have it on one line across the top, the same goes for your education, don't list it vertically, do it horizontally.

Necessary? - Is everything you're including in your education necessary? You really don't need to include all of your GCSEs or O'Levels, you can summarise your A Levels unless they are specific to your role (which if you've a lot of experience they won't be any more). Just remember that an employer wants to look at your experience and your skill, not necessarily your education before you were 18.

Training - Unless it is really relevant to the role you're applying to, you don't need to include every training course you've ever been on. A prospective employer is unlikely to be interested in your 2011 Fire Marshall training course or your 2008 Word refresher, make sure the courses you're listing are specific to the role. Degree courses are always good to include even if the role is in a different field, you're likely to get questioned if that's the case but it will show you have commitment and dedication to study.

Job specifics - Here's where it gets tricky. You want to make sure you're including everything that's relevant but you don't want to waffle on for multiple paragraphs. So how do you go about it? It's pretty simple really but a LOT of people can't be bothered because it takes effort.

You need to tailor your CV to the role you're applying to.

Make sure you read the job advert and apply it to your CV, don't make it too obvious of course but it doesn't take a genius to read a job ad and find out what they're looking for. Make sure you include any relevant experience, specific matches are good, for example if they're looking for someone with team leadership experience and you have it, put it in (You'd be shocked how many people miss off the most obvious of things), if you don't have that specific experience then see if you have anything that vaguely matches up, if you don't have anything that does then don't waffle on about something that is completely irrelevant, you can try and make up with your lack of experience in one area by shining in another.

Remove any information that doesn't align with what they're after but if you have something outstanding to include then do put it in.

If you feel you just have too much marvellous experience and simply CAN'T slim it down (trust me, you can) then you can start a list, again, horizontal rather than vertical, and you should focus on responsibilities rather than achievements.......

Responsibilities and Achievements - This is a rather old school approach to a CV but if you're struggling for space it can save you, by splitting your experience this way, you can really see the wood for the trees - as can an employer - you will be able to identify the two areas and also identify what information is most relevant to the job you're applying to. You can also create lists this way as described above.

This is a simplified approach of course but it can get you on the right track to removing irrelevant information and making your CV match as closely to the job as possible whilst also showcasing the talented individual you are!

Come and talk to us if you need further guidance. We can help you find the right balance www.cvukwriter.com 

Staying positive

I've seen quite a few articles of late about staying positive in your job search it sort of follows on from my last blog post of remaining positive when you've been made redundant. This post will focus more on some other aspects of remaining stoic and constant when you're job hunting, especially if you're currently unemployed.
These pointers count whether your a graduate who has recently left uni or someone who has been working for many years.

1 - Don't be complacent in your efforts. It really does help to set daily goals, to be proactive and to maintain a positive outlook. Don't just sit and wait for something, if you put the effort in, it will happen, it might not happen as quickly as you want it to but it will happen. The following pointers reiterate this but if you want the best out of something you have to put your best in, it's that simple really. Don't expect miracles to happen, work hard, play hard, learn to dance in the rain and other motivational musings!!

2 - Don't machine gun applications, its obvious and it looks unprofessional. What do I mean by this? When you're searching for a job, say you're on Reed.co.uk and you see a role that looks like it matches some of your skills but not all, so you think - sod it, I'll give it a go - that's fine and sometimes if enough skills align then it could be a good thing, but if you're just hammering out CVs to anything and everything it will be obvious, you probably won't be doing a cover note, you probably won't be tailoring your CV, you probably won't be checking your accuracy in terms of skill match and you probably won't be reading the job specs thoroughly. It will be 100% obvious because of these points that you are just throwing your CV out there and that is highly off putting to a hiring manager or recruiter. Why should they take the time with you if you can't take the time with them?

3 - Remain accurate - follows on from above really. If you're sending out a lot of applications and you're doing it right, make sure your contact is the right one for the right job, your cover note is addressed to the right company, and the job title is the right one. If a candidate can't take the time to check these minor details I can tell you now as a recruiter, it is SO off-putting and is again likely to lead to you ending up in the no pile.

4 - Don't lie!
I was talking to a colleague today about a couple of candidates who had lied to get a foot in the door. Both had got to offer stage before they came clean and now both offers weren't going ahead and the candidate's reputation was in tatters.
Even after all these years in recruitment I'm still baffled as to why people lie when applying to a job. These particular people had lied about their degrees. Each had said they were qualified in an area that they weren't, we understood their desperation to get a permanent job as they'd both been out of work for sometime but we would now never touch them with a barge pole - its that simple, how could we possibly trust them in our business when they've lied before they've even got here?
Lying about anything on your CV is just a straight no. Embellish, maybe, if you can pull the skill off you have embellished but outright lie? No way.

The following links are the recent articles I've seen. Come and have a browse on our Facebook page www.facebook,com/cvukwriterltd

http://www.careerealism.com/happy-job-seekers-habits/

http://www.brazencareerist.com/blog/2015/08/04/feeling-down-5-ways-to-stay-healthy-while-looking-for-a-new-job/

Not quite job related but still relevant - http://tinybuddha.com/blog/how-to-keep-your-spirits-up-even-if-youre-bombarded-with-negativity-all-day/