Your CV is the first crucial point of contact with a prospective employer. If it works, you will qualify for the interview shortlist; if it fails, no matter how perfectly suited your skills or genuine your enthusiasm, you won't get the job.
So, preparing your CV isn't a task to be taken lightly. Neither should it cause you sleepless nights. Look on it as a fantastic opportunity to sing your own praises and present yourself in a way which makes an employer sit up and take notice. A CV is the one and only part of the job-seeking process over which you have total control. There's no pressure: you can take your time fine-tuning and adapting its content and assessing its impact on friends.
Then all you have to do is make sure the contents sells you, your skills and key achievements effectively - and you will have the best possible opportunity of reaching the 'yes' pile. The time and effort you invest in your CV will pay off!
Believe in yourself - and shine at an interview
Everyone approaches a job interview with some degree of apprehension. Nerves are perfectly natural, the trick is not to let them weigh you down. The main thing to remember is that the employer has asked to see you because they think you are capable of doing the job. Their time is precious and they will be hoping, just as fervently as you, that you are the perfect solution to the vacancy.
At the interview, your main aim is to reinforce the excellent impression made by your CV. You do not want to be stuck for words, so it is important to think about what you are going to say, how you are going to say it and how you are going to act, beforehand.
First Impressions
The New Year always brings the “New Year, New Job” resolutions. Although candidates have the motivation to start looking for their next opportunity, I’ve noticed that a high number of candidates are failing at the very first hurdle – the dreaded CV.
I spend a high proportion of my days talking with candidates and discussing their CV’s and they seem to all have the same response – they just don’t know where to start when writing a CV. This is understandable when you aren’t a recruiter and you have been to so many different recruitment agencies who all have their different opinions on how your CV should be and what it needs to say, this would confuse anyone and it confused me when I was job hunting.
Writing your CV is not a task to be taken lightly. Neither should it cause you sleepless nights and stress. It is a fantastic opportunity to start singing your own praises and differentiating yourself from the other candidates. Always take your time when writing your CV you will thank yourself for it later on in the job hunting process.
Good Luck!
Please feel free to send through your questions about CV writing or any other aspects of job hunting to:
admin@leaprecruit.co.uk and I will be happy to help.