Getting The Right CV Out There For You

Aas our Job Fair at Europe Language Jobs gets closer, I thought it would be useful to give some information on writing a good CV. Some of you might think this information is information you have probably heard over and over again but it is definitely worth mentioning again.

Getting the right CV out there is very important and writing a CV that is professional, straight to the point should tell the HR recruiter all they need to know about you.

A lot of people wonder why they have not been called for an interview even when they believe they have ticked all the boxes the job might require. The answer might be as simple as a badly structured CV.

Your CV is the first chance you get to make a good impression on a potential employer therefore some research and a good effort should be made into writing one.

How much time do you put into writing your CV?

Do you regularly update your CV?

Do you tailor your CV to fit the specific job you are applying for?

Below I have modestly used my CV as an example layout for a good CV. It has opened a lot of doors for me. I hope it serves some of you well. J

In the past, I have used it as a template to apply to different jobs, of course, every time revising the content so it is more suited to the particular job requirements.

I have highlighted a few key things to help you get started and should increase your chances of getting an interview. You should spend some time and effort on the content and presentation. It will make all the difference in obtaining the position you want. You must, therefore, highlight your skills, expertise, and value.

Make sure that you are concise and accurate. Your CV should not, generally, be longer than two pages, so make sure that you tailor it specifically to the job you are applying for and include the skills, qualifications, and experience which are most suited to the job. Below are the basic headlines an employer should find in your CV:

Header: Keep it simple.

• A header should be kept simple with basically only your name and contact details. When I say contact details, I mean, your name, address, telephone number, and email address. You could choose to put your Linkedin Url as these days employees and recruitment agents use that to evaluate a candidate. So my suggestion is to have your LinkedIn profile complete and well structured. Use a professional photo and keep your content up to date.
• Do not use recreational or otherwise unsuitable email addresses for your CV like hotstuff@hotmail.com no HR manager would ever consider looking at your CV in that case, they would bin it immediately.
• Needless to say, neither should you use your work email. If you don’t have another email I recommend you open one immediately. Get an email address with your full name or your first name initials and your last name. One that gives you a more professional look.
• Your address. If you are looking for new opportunities in a different country. I suggest you use a local address, one that belongs to your friend or a family member. Why do you ask? Because employees want to believe that you are accessible for an interview and they don’t have to worry about you flying all the way out.

Career goal: Do not ramble

• In this part of your CV, you aim to let employees know who you are and show them your career goals and aspirations.
• Do not ramble, keep it brief and concise. Your career objective should be broad enough to show that you’re versatile and open to different possibilities, but also clear enough to show that this particular position is something that fits within your long-term goals. This can be done in one sentence but if you make this section too long it is better to break it into different paragraphs and pointers.
• You should tailor your career objectives to fit the position you are applying for. Not to say that you should lie, instead highlight your skills that will make you suitable for the position/field that you are applying for.

Core Competencies

• A core competency results from a specific set of skills or production techniques that convey the added values you possess. What you want to do with this section is a show which skills you have that set you apart. As an architect you would want to highlight your skills of using the latest software/plug-ins; Rhino, Grasshopper, python and in my case also my knowledge of digital fabrication and fabrication machines for model making as not everyone has the knowledge, know-how, and experience. For Marketing, not everyone has video editing experience or coding knowledge, so you might want to highlight that. If you are in retail and have worked a POS system/machine before or done inventory, use that. Those are skills that not everyone coming into retail has had. If you are applying for an administrative position and you are an Excel or QuickBooks expert, mention it. Again, think about those skills and technologies that would be needed for the position, and how you set yourself above the pack by being an expert.
• This is also the place to highlight any technical or professional certifications you may have.
• It is important to use your language of knowledge carefully. If you mention that you are an expert at something, be sure that you are, otherwise, it would be so embarrassing when your expertise is put to the test and you fall short. Otherwise, use the proper term to describe your capabilities. For example, “Working knowledge” basically means intermediate experience, “User/basic understanding of…” if you are a beginner.
• This is how you make your CV search friendly and appeasing.

Education: No need for

• Not to throw you off with the heading “No need for”. I do not mean that you should not fill this out. What I mean is there is “no need for” all the extra details. A simple list of your school(s) and degree(s) in chronological order is all you need. I have simply listed my schools and my degrees and choose to mention my thesis in Emergent territories for the benefit of the Job I was applying to. What is not needed are your grades and the year you graduated. Although I chose to leave the year in my CV, it is not required that you put that as unfortunately in some cases it could cause age discrimination with some HR recruiters.
•  Depending on the field, your grade could be helpful. For more technical professions, it’s something that an employer may like to see, especially if it’s high. My advice, however, is to always leave it off.
• This section can also be tailored, depending on the position. For instance, if you have a degree in pottery and you are applying for a marketing position, you do not need to have that on and could leave that out.

Workshop, exhibition, and participation: Time to show off

• This section is where you want to show off. You want to mention any volunteer work you’ve done, any professional organizations you’re a part of,  relevant workshops and seminars you’ve participated in, or even hobbies you might have if you’re younger and don’t quite have those experiences (I do not mean you should mention how you participated in or won a beer drinking challenge). You want to show yourself as not just a skilled candidate but also a well-rounded candidate.
• You will notice I have mentioned in my CV my participation in workshops and also highlighted that I have attended different seminars and exhibitions in China and Italy, thereby also saying I am well-traveled.
• Again, if you haven’t really been involved in organizations, list some personal achievements. Some charity work you have volunteered in or maybe you built a canoe out of a tree. That’s definitely worth mentioning. Perhaps you read 100 books in a year — that’s something unique and interesting that an employer would remember.
• Feel free to use this section as a kind of a wild card. Call it something that will be related to your field that will let you list your achievements. If you don’t have the community involvement as much, call it “Personal.” If you’re applying for a writing job use that section as “Published,” and list publications you’ve been featured in. An architect may call it “Proudest Achievements” and list his or her favorite designs. I choose to call mine Workshops and participations and list those rather than my designs as I will get to show off my designs in my portfolio.  Be creative with it and make it something that stands out.

Transferable skills

• Here I have listed some character traits along with technical expertise. These traits are characters that are obviously traits I possess to be good at what I do. By mentioning that one of my skills is my attention to detail, a skill that I need to be good at for making a working drawing or a model, also proves that these skills can be transferrable and is a skill that is versatile.  In today’s job market, specific skills change so quickly and are so often learned on the job, that I wanted to make sure any potential employer knew about my lasting traits that would make me a great employee. Another skill I mentioned is “effective communication skills” this might perhaps mean more than been able to give presentations but also mean I could be good at sales. Show them that you see these character traits as skills that are equally as important as technical qualifications.

Work Experience and Accomplishments

• This part deserves most of your time. Try to highlight only the most relevant jobs, two or three most relevant experiences. Many people these days, especially of the millennial generation, are switching jobs every 1-3 years, so there is probably more than is worth sharing. Switch these around if particular experiences are more relevant to a certain position you’re applying for. No two CVs you send should be exactly the same!
• Start with your company or organization’s name, then your title, and years worked. This could be specific dates, or it could also just be the length of time at each position.
• Often the hardest part of creating a CV, you want to make sure that your bullet points under each work experience accurately reflect your time and accomplishments there. This can be challenging with limited space, so shoot for 4-5 bullet points per listing. The main point here is that you want specific achievements and responsibilities. It’s not enough that you set up a Facebook page — how many “likes” did it get? Did it lead to sales or generate any revenue? Perhaps you were in retail. How many customers did you serve per day/month? How much revenue did your location produce? Employers, more than ever, want to see that you not only performed an action but saw results from that action. In my CV I decided to list some selected projects I was involved in to showcase my versatility.
• You also want to start each phrase with an action verb. You never want to start phrases with “I” and you want to stay away from using the same verb more than once if you can.

Languages

• Here you want to mention the languages you speak and the level in which you speak it. Example: English Mother tongue, Spanish Advanced, Italian Intermediate, French Basic. If you are also taking classes to improve your language skills mention it there and maybe you could also mention the institute you are enrolled in. 

References

• There is no need to write the details of your referees on your CV. Simply state that they are available on request, but make sure that you know who your referees are and that you have asked their permission to use them.

Finally again the more effort you put into creating a good CV and writing a professional, high-quality CV the more chance you will get to stand out from the rest of the pack.

I hope this has been helpful to some of you and wish you all the best of luck.

Please free to get in touch if you would like to suggest any blog ideas or write on your own articles on our blog a

Also for the upcoming Job fair on the 5th of October go to http://europelanguagejobsfair.com/  to register for the event.

Have a nice weekend, Avershima

Avershima Iyortyer is the blogger for Europe Language Jobs. We always welcome suggestions on topics to research and write about. If you wish to get in touch or write a guest blog, go to our blog site http://www.europelanguagejobs.com/blog/