CV Writing – Year 13 Stand out from the crowd Mrs Michelle Wilson Mrs Hannah Fehr Careers Team

Aims & Objectives  Understand the purpose and content of a CV  Undertake recruitment/selection exercise identifying factors that make a good CV  Appreciate the importance of evidencing skills from a job descriptions  Raise awareness of your existing employability skills  Acknowledge facilitating words/ phrases employer like to see within an application  Enhance your chances of being selected for an interview

What is a CV  A CV is a marketing document in which you are marketing something: yourself! You need to "sell" your skills, abilities, qualifications and experience to employers

When to use a CV  When an employer asks for applications to be received in this format  When an employer simply states "apply to..." without specifying the format  When making speculative applications (when writing to an employer who has not advertised a vacancy but who you hope my have one)

 Personal Details  Personal Profile ?  Employment History / Work Experience  Education & Training  Hobbies/Interests  References  Tasks  Achievements  Responsibilities  Skills Structure & Content

Lets take a look at some advice!!!!

Tips  Grab the attention of the employer  Demonstrate you have the skills for the job and provide examples  Easy to read/ Good Format  Keep it brief & concise  Write in the third person  Tailor each CV to the job

Group Activity  Develop articulating/ communicating your employability skills  Provide Examples of what could be included within YOUR CV  So....review the statements and feedback a favoured example for the group

 “I just flip burgers at football matches”  Hardworking individual at ease with busy working environments, fully competent in adhering to food & hygiene and health and safety procedures. Offering excellence in customer service and potential to increase food orders by over 15% per quarter. Stay Positive & Upsell

 Conscientious, responsible and highly organised individual, who always strives to achieve the highest standard possible, with excellent IT & communication skills (verbal and written) offering great attention to detail and the ability to relate to wide range of people (Receptionist for local newspaper)  Friendly and enthusiastic individual who is always eager to learn, works proficiently in a team and supporting others. Offering excellent mentoring skills coupled with the ability to manage difficult situations with patience and maturity. Seeking to work in a people centred organisation  (Social Care ) Personal Profiles - Examples

Automatic Rejections  Spelling mistakes or typos 61%  Copied large amounts of wording from the job posting 41%  Inappropriate address 35%  don’t include a list of skills 30%  More than two pages long 22%  Printed on decorative paper 20%  Detail more tasks than results for previous positions 16%  Including a photo 13%  Large blocks of text with little white space 13%

Action Words Activity Examined Promoted Trained Discovered Budgeted Sold Recommended Assessed Monitored

Action Words for your Application FOrm PlannedDevisedAchieved Developed LiaisedLiaised (spell it right!) Evaluated SupervisedCo-ordinatedManaged AdministeredControlledSelected CreatedInstructedNegotiated DesignedResearchedAnalysed DiscoveredRecommendedTested DiagnosedBudgetedMonitored EvaluatedExaminedAssessed PromotedSoldAdvised SelectedTrainedTaught ExplainedPresentedConducted DistributedOrganisedSolved RepresentedPersuadedCalculated CompletedArrangedResponsible for

Activity Who Would you Invite for Interview?  Review job description  Review CV’s identifying  Skills /Qualities/Education/Training  Assistant Accountant  Plasterer

 Know what the job involves  Be prepared to describe how you meet the requirements and what you have achieved. Provide examples of qualities and skills being asked for  DO NOT COPY JOB DESCRIPTION  Research the organisation  Prioritise your information – what is most important, catch the attention / Change the order of information to suite your advantage Most Importantly

 A historical document that stays the same once you’ve written it  A way of cramming as much information about you as possible  Acceptable without a covering letter A CV is Not

 First Impressions  Focus  Match  Provide the Proof Summary

   Harlington Careers Team: positive interview success rate – Find us in Room SF7 Sources of Help