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CV Curriculum Vitae- The different formats

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

CV Curriculum Vitae: Introduction

Your CV is a highly important tool in your job application success and more often than not it is the main deciding factor as to whether you get an Interview or not. So it is important that you crate the best impression possible, which means having to select the right format of CV/ resume to best highlight your skills!

CV Curriculum Vitae: The Types of CV Curriculum Vitae/ resume

Chronological
Functional
Targeted
Universal

CV Curriculum Vitae: The Chronological CV Curriculum Vitae/ resume

This is still a very popular template for people to write their CV with, however this format is now dated and quite basic. It is now believed that CV’s should be targeted with a career statement and maybe a skills index. This CV format usually just lists personal details, education, and work history (most recent job first). This may not be the best CV for your situation, for example if you have just graduated from college you may not possess a list of job specific specialised training, work history, or professional experience.

CV Curriculum Vitae: The functional CV Curriculum Vitae/ resume

This focuses on your career functions i.e. an expansion on your skills performed. This format is often used for individuals that are seeking a position in a different field. This CV type can also be good for those who are tradesmen or technical employees, employed on various short term contracts.

CV Curriculum Vitae: Targeted CV Curriculum Vitae/ resume

This focuses on the vacancy that you desire within a company. Again this CV type is good for those who are trades or technical employees employed on various short term contracts or if you have been employed in various fields.

CV Curriculum Vitae: Universal CV Curriculum Vitae/ resume

This can be a hybrid of all of the above. Personally this is my favourite format for a CV Curriculum Vitae/ resume. This should consist of a targeted career aim (specific to the role applied for), a list of skills relevant to the role applied, qualifications & any relevant professional qualifications/ certifications and everything that a chronological CV includes.

For further advice on how to create effective CV’s and for help with every aspect of your job search take a look at our website: Land That Job

 

 

Learn the secrets to land the job you desire: www.land-that-job.com

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Resume Writing Services - Bettering Your Chances Of Getting The Interview Call!

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

It is seen that job hunters often get frustrated when they find no end to the constant emailing or mailing of their resumes with no positive response. Even when they get the interview calls they are very few in numbers. This failure leads them to believe that they don’t have the required qualifications or skill or education for the job positions they have applied for. Thus they get discouraged and settle for the job which is well below their expectation or qualification.

It has been found that the lack of interview calls is not related of you being not qualified or having less skill set or having a lower education level, it is very often todo with your resume. So the resume writing service can be helpful to prepare a very powerful resume which will have details and substance so that it gets noticed by the prospective employers. But what is this Resume writing service all about? Actually resume writing service is a professional service that works with an individual to get the resume in shape so that it gets noticed by the employer. It highlights the skill, achievements of the individual and attracts the employer’s attention to your capability as a prospective candidate for that position.

There are two types of resume writing service models available but quite often they are merged into one model having several options. The resume writing service professionals requires your information to be submitted online or they will seek it when they meet you personally. If you working with the resume writing professional personally it allows you to work closely with you but at the same time limits your geographical reach. In that sense online option allows the candidate to choose from a world wide option to finish the resume.

When you opt for the resume writing service there are several things that should be kept in mind. The foremost thing is the professionalism level the service conveys which is important to many people. The resumes writing should fulfill the following criteria: It should have a professional website, it should answer all the queries in a timely manner, and also should have sample resumes on display which ahs been developed by them. The testimonial can also be seen but it is a remote possibility that the web page of the resume e writing service will have negative testimonials. So once should be careful in this regard. Also do look at the amount they are charging for the services and do proper research before agreeing to the service.

Usually the resume service professional will ask for your current resume to start with and will also want additional information when they go through your resume. It is vital that you only chose those resume writing service professional that have experience in resume writing in your field of expertise.

Abhishek is a Career Counselor and he has got some great Career Planning Secrets up his sleeves! Download his FREE 71 Pages Ebook, “Career Planning Made Easy!” from his website http://www.Career-Guru.com/769/index.htm . Only limited Free Copies available.

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Avoiding Cv Writing Disaster - Statistically Proven Curriculum Vitae Slips

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to get inside the mindset of HR departments and employers and know exactly what they’re looking for in an applicant’s Curriculum Vitae and interview? It’s always difficult to know how a given employer will react to specific elements of your CV - is it a positive thing to be in demand, undertaking interviews at many companies, or does it suggest you’re disloyal to your potential new boss? Is being in a job a long time a sign of loyalty or stagnation, and is looking to move on quickly from company to company a sign of ambition or simply job hopping? Well, of course the response varies from person to person but a few surveys on the subject give some indication of general trends of opinion from surveyed employers on topics from lies on a CV or covering letter to the pedantry of human resources departments.

The first point of interest from these statistics is that 86% of interviewers surveyed are sceptical of Curriculum Vitaes and applications forms, and believe that there are at best exaggerations and at worst downright lies. The same survey indicates that just over a third of CVs are 100% factually accurate. Overlooking the dishonesty inherent in the whole process for a moment here, it seems it’s right for the employers to be sceptical - and as such there is a real advantage in being honest and up front when CV writing and in your interview: Convince your interviewer that you are the honest type and that there are no lies on your CV or covering letter, and you’re in the honest attractive minority - that bit more likely to receive a job offer at the end of the interview process.

On a related note, having reliable and complimentary references is essential. 59% of those surveyed mentioned having to withdraw job offers to successful applicants on the basis of poor references - to be so close, only to fail on a poor reference either means exaggerated Curriculum Vitae, or a poor choice of referee. By being truthful (though bold) with your CV writing, and ensuring your references are prepared to give solid endorsement, you can not only ensure that you avoid the heartbreak of a withdrawn job offer, but also guarantee you’re a superb backup candidate should this fate befall your competitor! According to the survey, 85% of interviewers contact at least one reference to ensure they’ve got the right person for the job - this is one corner that should not be cut!

Here’s a fact likely to perturb the thousands of youngsters graduating the University system each year - only 8% of interviewers believe that academic qualifications give any indication to a candidate’s job suitability. Obviously doctors, scientists and academics will need a good University degree, but it appears the best CV writing strategy is to concentrate on the attitude, skills and knowledge, rather than to rely on your academic qualifications. With such little credence seemingly given to ‘book smarts’ it appears insane for anyone to lie on a CV and forge qualifications - but people do! It’s a foolish risk to take, especially when you consider that two thirds of interviewers check up on professional qualifications, and well over half check up on academic accreditation claimed!

Finally, when it comes to posting your application through, here’s some eyebrow raising stats about the nature of HR departments from the Royal Mail: 83% of them will reject incomplete or inaccurately addressed CVs and covering letters out of hand, 55% of them gave significant favour to those addressed to a named person and over 60% found applicants including a photo resulted in lowering their opinion of the person applying. Apparently a little more care and research in the distributions of applications along with a little less vanity will go a long way to impressing human resource managers with your curriculum vitae and covering letter!

Gail Kenny is the managing director of Puregenie, a recruitment agency specialising in UK travel & tourism jobs. The site caters exclusively to talented individuals with skills and experience to succeed in the online environment.

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The Best Cv Format?

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

Which is best CV Format or Layout? In short, the format preferred by the vast majority of employers and decision makers is one that is

1. Targeted, 2. Has reverse chronology and 3. Achievement Based (if appropriate). 

A CV layout that covers these prerequisites is what we can call the “Universal CV format”. This format can also include career functions and more skills.  Here is a outline list of the suggested layout with CV formats online. The Layout can change according to the writer’s career history and education.

1. Contact details - name, address, telephone number (a mobile or cell number is OK).

2. Personal profile and / or Career Statement i.e. a Personal Profile with and Objective Statement, (keep it factual, no hype)

3. Key Skills Index.

4. Educational details.

5. Career History (Professional Experience), reverse chronological. This should include your level of responsibility and bullet pointed achievements.

6. Achievements - bullet point under the companies they relate to.

7. Personal Details – hobbies, interests, marital status, year of birth, driving license.

This Universal CV Format has the added advantage of focusing attention at an early stage on your most recent experience which, in the vast majority of cases, will also be the most relevant.

The Hybrid CV format has the added advantage of also communicating career functions or more skills and abilities for targeting purposes.

Other CV formats include; Straight Chronological? Reversed Chronological? Functional?  Targeted?  Basic? Performance?  Comprehensive?  International?

Here’s a brief outline of their advantages and disadvantages.

Most readers will initially only give your CV only a quick glance. A straight chronological CV format dispels ‘most recent and relevant experience first’ argument – you need to grab their attention straight away. With both chronological formats (straight or reverse) has the inherent disadvantage of highlighting gaps between jobs, frequent changes of employer (although this can be a good thing) and changes in career direction. With a functional CV. Experience and achievements can be categorized under functional headings such ‘Management’, ‘Technical’ ‘Sales’, Training’ etc., rather than being listed under employer. Career history is then summarized in reverse chronology, towards the later part of the CV.  Unfortunately, whichever way you make your CV, you will always find someone who likes it written differently including CV Consultants, and recruiters and employers.

The Universal CV is a format that pleases as many people as possible as much of the time as possible. 

Mike Kelley
http://www.cv-service.org

Mike Kelley has written many articles on various topics including CV Writing and this time writing article on The Best CV format. For more details about CV format please visit: http://www.cv-service.org

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Resume Writing Solutions for your Challenging Career History

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

Do you have a completely unblemished work history? Was writing your resume a breeze because you are perfectly qualified with a model career and educational background?

Or, do you find yourself struggling to prepare your resume…struggling because of some glitch or problem in your background that you don’t know quite how to overcome in your resume?

* Maybe you are too old…or too young…

* Maybe you have an obvious gap in your work history…

* Maybe you have changed employers too many times…

* Maybe you are a new graduate with little-to-no relevant experience…

* Maybe you are an executive who needs to explain what appears to be a demotion…

* Maybe you are returning to the workforce after taking some time off…

* Maybe you are trying to change careers and your past experience doesn’t relate…

Don’t feel alone! It is the extraordinarily rare job searcher who doesn’t struggle with how to deal with some problem on their resume.

As a professional resume writer I have worked with thousands and thousands of clients, and while every single one of those clients is unique, they all have one thing in common: they have a problem that they need me to solve for them. How do I do it? Very honestly, each individual client often requires a solution that is as unique as he or she is. But, prior to starting and new resume writing project for a client, there are six steps that I carefully think through. As you work on developing or refining your own resume — as you try to come up with ways to transform YOUR troubled work history into a job-winning resume — it may be helpful for you to work through the same six steps.

Step #1 - Know your goal

What is your current career goal? What profession? What industry? What professional level? Knowing your objective and your goals for a job search is the foundation of not just your resume, but of your entire job search. Unless you know where you are going, you will have no idea what the focus of your resume must be and you won’t even have a clue how to begin writing it. Don’t expect a busy employer to figure it out for you. Your resume must have a precise focus and it must convey that focus in five seconds or less. If it doesn’t, it will be discarded. It is that simple.

Step #2 - Know your audience

Now that you know your goal, you are in a position to begin thinking about the recipients of your resume. What are the expectations and requirements of a candidate for the job you are targeting? What are the problems that a person in your ideal position is likely to be faced with? Remember (speaking of problems) that the person doing the hiring has problems that they are hoping their new-hire will solve. What are those problems? Do they need to increase sales? Reduce costs? Increase productivity? Improve efficiency? If you clearly identify the problems of your target audience, you can construct an entire resume focused on how you are the ideal candidate to solve them. Do that effectively and whatever issue you are dealing with in your troubled work history will suddenly become a non-issue.

An employee is an investment, and if you can create a resume that proves you will produce a better RETURN on that investment than the next guy (even the one with the squeaky clean work history), doors will swing open to you.

Step #3 - Know your competition

Who is your competition in the job market? What qualifications might they have that you don’t have? Do you have qualifications that your competition doesn’t have? For most situations, I’m not referring to specific individuals. Obviously you wouldn’t want to violate the privacy of any specific person competing for the same type of job. But, there is definite value in trying to define your competition in generalities. What types of qualifications does the typical candidate have for the job you are targeting?

Very clearly defining your competition is a crucial part of step #4…

Step #4 - Clearly identify the problem(s)

Okay. Now that you know where you are going, know what your audience is seeking, and know what your competition brings to the table, you are ready to fully define the problem or problems that your resume must overcome.

Some of those problems might be obvious. Work-history gaps, concerns about age discrimination, and multiple job changes are among the most common. But, having worked your way through the prior three steps, you may have identified others. Are there key qualifications you are lacking? Educational requirements that you don’t quite meet? Ways that your experience doesn’t quite stand up to your competition? Whatever those problems might be, make sure you define them. In the next step, we will begin to solve them.

Step #5 - Be willing to throw the rules out the window and think outside the box

Now, take everything you have ever read or learned about resume writing and forget it. Well, maybe not everything, but at this point you definitely do need to begin thinking creatively and strategically.

Remember that a resume is essentially an advertisement - a marketing piece - a personal sales pitch. Resumes are NOT autobiographies! They are personal marketing documents meant to sell you as the ideal candidate for a particular position. Everything about the content, the structure, and the design of your resume should be strategically and selectively included, excluded, highlighted, or de-emphasized.

Always be absolutely and meticulously honest, but be willing to think outside the box and present your background in a format and structure that will be most flattering to you in relation to the career goal you are targeting.

Do you want to be one of a kind? Or do you want to be one of many? Your resume is meant to make you stand out and shine. You will NOT achieve this by following some rigid template and structure that doesn’t have the flexibility to showcase your unique qualifications.

Step #6 - Reframe, reposition, reformat, and redesign

It is really all about how you frame and position your experience, your achievements, your educational background, and any other qualifications. Once you get to this step, you are ready to put pen to paper (or fingers to the keyboard) and begin writing your resume. Take what you know about the expectations and the desires of your target audience, combine this with your understanding of the competition and the problems you defined in Step #4, and start writing your resume.

Perhaps you are making a career change into a completely new profession. While it is often not immediately obvious to the recipient of your resume, much of your experience is usually transferable. How can you “reframe” your past experience to selectively emphasize the transferable skills and de-emphasize those that will no longer be relevant?

Is there a qualification you are lacking for the position you are targeting? It is very common for a person to have developed a particular qualification in a non-traditional way, from some other seemingly unrelated experience. How can you “reposition” that experience to illustrate the qualification in question?

Maybe you are returning to a career path that you veered away from ten years ago. Your recent experience is not as relevant as your past experience. What opportunities do you have to “reformat” your resume to bring the older skills to the forefront?

Or maybe you have a couple of big gaps in your work history. Can you think of a way to “redesign” your resume to take the visual emphasis off of the chronology/dates of your experience and place it instead on your achievements and results?

So, what problems does your resume need to solve? What challenges are you dealing with that you must face to turn your less-than-perfect work history into an effective resume? As you get started, remember, it is words on a piece of paper. It is easy to edit and move things around. Don’t be afraid to experiment (just do it BEFORE you use it in the job market!).

If you aren’t sure what the best solution is, create several versions and ask your friends and family for feedback before choosing the one you use in your search. And, if you get stuck, that is what professional resume writers are here for! We can often provide solutions that you would never have thought of on your own.

Do you want to use this article in your ezine, website, or other publication? You are welcome to as long as you use the following text with it:

Certified resume writer and personal branding strategist, Michelle Dumas is the director of Distinctive Career Services LLC. Through Distinctive Documents http://www.distinctiveweb.com and her Executive VIP Services http://www.100kcareermarketing.com Michelle has empowered thousands of professionals all across the U.S. and worldwide. Michelle is also the author of 101 Before-and-After Resume Examples http://www.before-and-after-resumes.com

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Cv Writing & Resume Writing - 9 Strong Qualities to Boost your Success By a Staggering 50%

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

CV Writing and Resume Writing is a serious part of starting the Job hunting process. In today’s competitive job market, were every candidate wants a recruiter or employer to give their CV or Resume the attention it deserves, if you want your application to be taken seriously and you want your CV / Resume to be separated from the bulk feel free to consider and include the following 9 qualities in your CV or Resume.


Your chances of securing interviews is likely to increase by up to 50% if you skilfully articulate these points However only include these qualities if you genuinely have them.

Industry Targeted/Job Specific Qualifications or Training -Recruiters and employers absolutely love this, candidate that do not require extra training and already has a catalogue of relevant job specific qualifications always stand out.

Evidence of adding to the bottom line of a company or business - If you can prove this and it is clear in your career track record, you will stand out.

Prove that you have always met and exceeded your job targets - If this is clearly show and outlined, you will be a winner in the job hunting market.

Figures, Figures, Figures! - Have you made money for past employers or companies, have you sold products or services, won contract or tenders, state this clearly on your CV particularly if you are in a sales, marketing, retail, real-estate or similar sectors. Stating Figures explicitly can make you stand out above the rest.

Industry Awards and Prizes for work achievement - Listing these (if you have any), always goes a long way in proving you are different, dedicated and special!

Staff Management Abilities - Skills and expertise related to dealing with people, this includes any experience of training, interviewing, company presentations, coaching, work delegation, appraisals etc. If you have these skills, summarise and list them for maximum results.

International, National or Local exposure - If you are going for a local Job in a particular area, a previous track record of working in that same area always appeals to Employers and Recruiters. Similarly if you have international exposure in a specific job market, for example the building and construction industry, this looks good too, Mention such valuable information and stand out.

Consistence Track history with fewer employers - Stable Job Seekers that have worked in a company for a years, always get their CV or Resume noticed - if this can be said of you (you have stayed in one firm for 6-10 years or similar), then bring this to the for front of your application, Recruiters and Employers favour such candidates.

Accuracy and relevancy to job post advertised - This is critical, if you have all or even some of the above criteria’s, don’t forget to reflect your experience and abilities in line with the post you are pursuing, all these qualities can make you an immediate winner.


However l must admit, from experience l know it takes skills and someone with a recruitment HR background to skilfully assess job seekers expertises and help them put together the ultimate industry CV /Resume to secure interviews. If you fall into this category its worth getting your CV / Resume professionally written by an expert who knows how to help you.


Copyright 2006 Upper Class CV Writing & Resume Writing Ltd.

Upper Class CV Writing & Resume Writing Ltd. - Ola Philip King is a professional CV Writing & Resume Writing Consultant and Recruiter she has helped many job seekers secure their dream post across diverse job sectors through her CV /Resume Writing Services and Recruitment activities. Free Personal advice is available.

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Camouflage Prior Job Irregularities Using a Functional Resume

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

If you have interchanged careers rather intermittently, worked in a unexceptional business, freelanced many years of your work life or are thinking of a substantially different work industry you need to examine an alternate layout for your CV. Do not forget that the CV is an chance to demonstrate your suitability for a likely job and to obtain an interview offer. If a possible employer discovers that you have not been able to settle down long enough with any individual job or that you are significantly shifting your line of work he or she just might obtain the impression that you are unqualified to manage a serious job. Here’s what you can do.

Persons who meet the above precedents ought to frame a functional, as opposed to the more regular chronological CV. A chronological resume attracts thought to your work evolution and experiences on a timeline with the most current work history stated at the top. The pro of subscribing to a functional CV is that the dates of work are played down and attention is shifted in its place to your knowledge. Your knowledge need to be backed by distinct proof and the task of impressing a possible employer may perhaps become somewhat more difficult. There are added weak points as well.

Functional resumes are frequently thought of by employers as an effort to screen flaws in the candidate’s work life and plenty of online job websites do not recognize functional resumes. Additionally, almost never use functional resumes for conservative industries such as Banking and Law. So be judicious and confirm that your CV is suitably formulated and convincing and that you actually do require to employ a functional CV. An uncomplicated way to see whether or not an organization accepts functional CVs is to ask the concerned human resources if they have any unique CV layout that they accept. Make this inquiry part of a more broad conversation.

To write down a functional CV you need to show your knowledge immediately after the job objective. Vigilantly scrutinize the advertised job vacancy and ponder the skill expectations. Map out which capabilities are valuable and state them in descending order of consequence. You need to state all your endeavors in a couple of lines right below every skill heading. An illustration of a capabilities heading could be Supply Chain Management. Portray yourself as a sharp and efficacious candidate.

When you have stated your knowledge you still need to list your work history and all the businesses you worked for. For a functional CV place each organization and job post in an individual line with the date to the right if you want to attract a lesser amount of thought to your common job shuffling. Point out training only if it beefs up value to your knowledge or you can mention it along with your education.

If you have a comparatively settled professional history and are swapping jobs you can efficiently use a combination of the functional and chronological CV. This will illustrate to the organization that your career experience has been important and the knowledge you have landed can honestly be used for a new perspective in a new sector and post. Simply make certain it looks effective and is worded suitably.

The overall goal of the functional CV is to focus the reviewer’s attention on your gifts and play down the actuality that you may well have interchanged careers rather commonly or worked in a comparatively less prestigious corporation. Do not make a blunder and screen information by creating significant gaps in your education or career history. And if you do receive that interview appointment you have been waiting for be positive you are suitably prepared to display and corroborate the skills referenced in your CV.

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Look At Me! Some Tips On Cv Writing, Guaranteed To Grab Attention

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

A recent statistic I read stated that employers spend an average of 10-15 seconds on each Curriculum Vitae before making their decision over whether to take the application further. I’m not sure if it’s quite as bleak as that, but for the purposes of someone applying for a job, this is not a bad assumption to make. If you assume that your CV is going to be looked at for 10-15 seconds, you can start making plans to ensure it makes the most of this limited eye-time. In an ideal world, they’ll spend a lot longer staring at your delightful prose, but it really does no harm ensuring your CV is ideal however long they spend looking at it.

It’s important to realize that the Curriculum Vitae stage is not about giving them a good knowledge of who you are - it’s simply about being placed in their “yes” pile, rather than their “no” section. You’ll have plenty of time to prove how personable, friendly and enthusiastic you are at the interview stage. At this point you need to keep it brief, factual and promotional Here’s some advice and CV writing tips to give you the edge:

Keep your CV short, simple and to the point

The most important piece of CV advice I can give is this: keep it brief. If you’re working on having 10 seconds to be seen in, you can’t waste time with verbosity. Get to the point quickly and outline your achievements, past roles and skills clearly. Pass the first test of having the skills, and the rest may be (depending on how much time they devote to this stage) immaterial. The CV should be no more than two pages, and the really important stuff should be on the front page (to ensure even the really lazy HR staff can’t miss it!).

It goes without saying too, that your contact information should be clear, correct and up to date. It’s no good you making it into their ‘yes’ pile if they have no way of contacting you to take the application further.

Outline your key achievements early

At the very start you can make a useful summary of who you are to ensure you get your positives known from the very start. Your main achievements should be backed up with evidence to support them, and a short career history will give them a clue of the kind of experience you can provide. My advice: the CV should show your main selling points right away, so make it stand out at the top.

Tailor it to the job you want

A generic Curriculum Vitae is a great starting point - after all, your skills and experience will always be the same - but to really stand out, a good CV writing tip is to tailor each version for each job. Take a look at the advert and try to match your skills to the ones required. It really is simple, but your CV is not worth the paper it’s written on if you discuss skills relating to sales for an IT job, yet the skills may be transferable - you just have to prove it.

Avoid samey, empty descriptions of yourself

A favorite CV tip of mine is to not be scared of being unique. Think about it: if you want to stand out, you have to make yourself different than the others. Almost every applicant I’ve ever seen describes themselves as dynamic, creative or enthusiastic in their CV - it all becomes white noise. Stick to the facts, let your achievements do the talking and you should be given opportunity to prove all these personality traits exist at the interview.

Proofread, proofread and proofread again!

If there’s one thing you should take away from this it’s that HR people can be brutal, and it won’t take much for them to cross you off the list. The fact they’re looking to narrow down the candidates as much as possible, so make yourself hard to rule out. One obvious thing that will make your CV a prime candidate for removal from the pile is poor spelling and grammar. If they’re spotting mistakes from a 15 second assessment, then something is seriously wrong! My CV writing tip here is to spell check it, proof read it, and get someone else to take a look - just make sure you don’t seem careless come decision time.

Don’t be Cheap

Cutting corners on a job application is never a good idea, and although this shouldn’t make a difference, we’re all guilty of judging on appearance from time to time - so don’t give them the ammunition. Using cheap paper won’t impress your interviewer much; likewise a shoddy photocopy suggests you’re sending the CV to anyone with a postal address. Spend the little extra on some good quality paper to make sure the rest of your effort doesn’t go to waste.

When it comes to writing a Curriculum Vitae, you really should ensure that everything is perfect. I hope this advice on how to write a CV that stands out is helpful: Don’t cut corners, get to the point quickly and stand out as the star you undoubtedly are, and your applications to interview ratio should dramatically increase.

Gail Kenny is the managing director of Puregenie, an online travel recruitment agency specialising in online travel jobs. The site caters exclusively to talented individuals with skills and experience to succeed in the online environment, and businesses looking to increase their online presence. Although the site is mainly travel focussed, it also displays vacancies in the hospitality and leisure industries.

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Selling yourself by Using the Right Type of Cv

Sunday, April 18th, 2010

There are a variety of acceptable ways to write and structure a CV. Occasionally a potential employer will request that you structure your CV in a specific way when applying for a job, but this is very rare and so nine times out of ten you will have the opportunity to dictate the structure and content of your CV. This is a fantastic opportunity to have, because it gives you the freedom to structure your CV in such a way that you can maximise your strengths, and minimise your weaknesses.

Lots of people will make small tweaks and alterations to a standard CV format to ensure the style works for them. However, you should choose an appropriate standard CV format in the first instance, to ensure that all the necessary information is contained in your CV. There are four main standard CV formats for you to choose from;

- The Chronological CV

- The Functional CV

- The Hybrid CV

- The Structured Interview CV

Choosing the best CV format for you can help ensure you get that all important interview! Let’s start by looking at each format in turn:

The Chronological CV

The Chronological CV is the most commonly used CV format. It contains the following components, in the order stated;

- Personal Details

- Qualifications

- Professional development / training courses

- Employment history including employer, dates of employment, positions held and achievements

The Functional CV

The Functional CV focuses on skills and achievements as oppose to employment history and qualifications. It contains the following components, in the order stated;

- Personal Details

- Qualifications (in brief bullet points)

- Skills, Knowledge, attributes and abilities (approximately 5 skills are identified, with a paragraph on how the skills have been demonstrated in the past)

- Summary of employment history; a very basic list of positions held, employment dates and employer

The Hybrid CV

A combination of the Chronological and Functional CV formats; this is often the recommended format to use. It contains the following components, in the order stated;

- Personal Details

- Qualifications (in brief bullet points)

- Skills, Knowledge, attributes and abilities (1-2 paragraphs on key skills)

- Employment history including employer, dates of employment, positions held and achievements

The Structured Interview CV

In a Structured Interview CV a set of questions are set out, with full answers written in response to these questions. The answers reflect your skills, achievements and abilities. The Structured Interview CV contains the following components, in the order stated;

- Personal Details

- Qualifications (in brief bullet points)

- Training (just listed)

- Skills, Knowledge, attributes and abilities (approximately 5 questions are posed, with a paragraphed response against each; i.e. How does your experience in marketing match our role requirements?)

- Summary of employment history; a very basic list of positions held, employment dates and employer

Which CV format best suits your needs?

First of all you need to take a look at the company that you’re sending your CV to, and decide what type of CV format they are most likely to prefer. Creative companies tend to prefer a skills-based CV format; so the Hybrid CV or the Functional CV formats are likely to be well received. Alternatively, the public sector prefers a traditional, familiar layout, so the Chronological CV is generally preferred. By choosing a CV format that is instantly recognisable and preferred is a good way to score additional points with your potential future employer!

Secondly, you need to think about which CV format type highlights your strengths and minimises your weaknesses. If you are a solid candidate, with a strong academic background, up to date qualifications and a consistent career history, then the Chronological CV or the Hybrid CV will work well for you. If your weakness lies in your academic history or if you have had gaps / inconsistencies in your career history the Functional CV format or the Structured CV format will suit you best as it will minimise these weak areas.

 

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How To Write A Good Cv

Saturday, April 17th, 2010

This article describes how to write a good CV, regarding the philosophy of how to approach creating the CV and tips on what to include and how to communicate it.

A CV is a sales document; it conveys succinctly the information of what you are looking for and why. Why you are qualified for such work and a story as to how you got to this point, covering your previous work experience, education, qualifications and interests.

I believe a CV should be a succinct story backing up a tag line about yourself. Often in interviews the main asked of the candidate is:

“Tell me about yourself”

This answer and the CV to back it up should be made as succinct, clear and relevant as possible to the position sought.

Obviously life is not as clear and simple as this and many of us have a complicated and confusing history in regards to work experience, education and life story, but effort should be made to make this as clear as possible in interview and on the CV. To present only the relevant facts to sell you most effectively for the post in which you are applying.

Profile

The profile should be a short sentence stating clearly:

What work you are looking for
What you have to offer (why you are qualified)

I believe in starting the CV with a profile. This explains to the employer or recruiter what you are looking for and summarises all of the attributes that can be found in detail on the rest of your CV.

The recruiter will know what they are looking for and if your profile states this in summary then you are making their job a lot easier and they are more likely to put you in the “yes” pile, as they quickly check a large volume of CVs.

Remember the recruiter is human too, think how frustrating it is when you look at a website that is not clear and it is hard to find the information you need quickly. Now think of the recruiter who has to look through a large volume of CVs for any advertised positions, if they have to look at a large number and it takes too long for them to find the information they need from your CV they may not take the time to do so.

Work Experience

Work experience should come directly after the profile in reverse chronological order.

The first thing a recruiter or prospective employer will look at is the last job you have had and if you had the relevant experience or achieved something relevant to the job you are applying for in previous roles.

Do them and yourself a favour and put this experience where they can find it easily. I.e. your most recent job at the top and your previous roles below this.

There will always be gaps and times when you worked for a short time, temping, travelling etc. It is your call as to how to include these but remember your story needs to be made as clear as possible, so if you worked somewhere for a short time then make the story relevant as to why or consider omitting some jobs altogether. Maybe include one line with the dates and mention what happened, e.g. temping role, or went travelling between these dates etc. This answers the question quicker than leaving gaps and having to explain them in interview.

Education

Education should be also in reverse chronological order.

Other Qualifications

If you have attended any training courses or have industrial qualifications they should be entered here. Remember this is a sales document – list everything you have done here – sell yourself!

Interests

Qualify your hobbies and interests. Do not mention generic things such as ‘I like to go running’ without qualifying it as to what has been achieved. For example, it would be better to say: “I am part of the Harriers running club” - or “I recently completed the Great North Run”

Good luck!

Steve

http://www.cvphoenix.com

http://www.CVPhoenix.com offers and effective and affordable personalised CV improvement/creation service.

I offer a one to one CV writing service, via email and phone, for an affordable one off upfront payment.

Based on my experience and your needs; your CV will be specifically designed for your goals and market, to get you the job you want. The CV will be effective and “recruitment friendly” to help you get that interview!

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