A
CV plays a critical role in your search for career opportunities. A well
prepared CV can get you an opportunity to attend an interview. Prospective job
seekers need to note that a good CV alone is not enough to get you a job. You will
need to perform well in other stages of the selection process especially in the
interview and in some cases psychometric assessments.
Your
CV gives a prospective employer the first opportunity to look at your profile.
It summarizes of your profile (personal details, education and
experience). The first thing you need to
decide on is the length of your CV. Prospective job applicants have the
mistaken belief that a very long CV is what employers are looking for. The
whole purpose of your CV is to get you an interview. The rest you can explain
in the interview. We recommend a CV of not more than there pages for very
senior people. For less experienced individual a one page CV will even do.
The
first thing to put on your CV is your personal details. While employers are not
supposed to decide suitability of a candidate on the strength of personal
details such as age, gender etc. It’s never the less important to have this
information. A CV missing this kind of information is as bad a CV that does not
show the name of the candidate. Employers normally will treat an omission of
this critical personal information as lack of attention to detail. I normally
get questions related to whether the CV must have a cover page or not. The
issue of a cover page is an issue of personal preference. However if you decide
to have a cover page do not over decorate the cover page. CVs with cover pages
over decorated put off prospective employers. A CV decorated like a birthday
party or kitchen party invitation cards can be viewed a lack of seriousness on
the part of the applicant.
When
putting educational qualifications always start with the highest qualification
you hold. Recent graduates it’s important to indicate grades of each subject
taken under each program you studied. At entry level employers tend to use
qualifications a lot when selecting candidates. Employers prefer candidates
with good grades that is why it is important to indicate this on your CV. Don’t
forget to put the overall degree or Diploma class. Sometimes we get people
submitting CVs that do not show the institution that awarded them their
qualifications. It’s critical to have this information on your CV. Also
indicate the period the qualification was attained. All this information helps
employers decide on whether to call you for an interview or not. More
experienced candidates need only to indicate their qualifications, degree
class, awarding institution, and the period the qualification was attained. For
more experienced people it’s not important to start listing the subjects
undertaken under each degree or diploma program.
When
putting your experience start with your most recent or your current
employment. Prospective employers would
like to know what you have covered or accomplished with each of the employers
in summary. Please do not copy what is written on job descriptions as it is too
generic. You must show things that you have done under each job you have
occupied. It’s important to highlight major achievements under each of the jobs
you occupied in your career.
How
do you deal with gaps when you where not formally employed? The honest truth is
that there is a general negative perception especially of people who left
formal employment who now want to get back into formal employment. That
perception will take a lot time to go away. Employers are worried genuinely so
by what these candidates where doing their long period of “self imposed
layoff”. We are all aware of how difficult it was in the past 6 years to be in
formal employment and be able to survive without doing something of your won in
addition to formal employment. My advice
to those prospective candidates who find themselves in this situation is to
tell the truth. Indicate the period you were self employed and briefly explain
what type of business you were into. The longer the time you were out of formal
employment the longer it will take for employers to start accepting you. The
bottom line with regards to experience is that you should not leave unexplained
gaps in your experience record.
Some
candidates prefer to explain why they had to leave their employment to join a
new employer. It is better to omit the
explanations in your CV and leave this to the time when you are called for an
interview. Those doing interviews normally will ask you to explain why you left
employment.
When
preparing your CV it’s important to check the font you are using to prepare
your CV. The CV must be readable. Your
CV headline must be in upper case and the rest of the headings must be in title
case. Never write the whole CV in upper case. A number of people struggle to
read long documents written in upper case. If the employer is serious they will
not call you for an interview if your whole CV is written in upper case.
Is
it important to put your picture on your CV? I see a lot of people putting
their passport size photos on their CVs. While how you look is not a factor in
selecting people for jobs an unattractive photo can put off the person looking
at your CV. I would advise you to leave the photo out for that particular
reason. Some of the photos we see are like those photos you find on the police
wanted list.
Are
the companies you have worked for critical in a search for employment?. This is
one factor that prospective candidates take for granted. You must choose whom
you work for carefully. There some employer brands bad brands in the market to
such an extent that some employers will through your CV in the bin. Employers brands publicly know for corruption
and bad publicity are not good for your CV.
You must aim to have on your CV some of the top brands. Being a top
employer brand is not an issue of the size of the organisation but an issue of
reputation especially on how employees are treated. Organisations that struggle
to pay staff and are often in the press for the wrong reasons are dangerous
brands to put on your CV.
What
about issues of salaries when you are called for an interview? Some people are
so desperate for a job that they would take anything. Whatever you ask as
salary must be in line with what you are capable of contributing. No serious
employer will pay you a market related salary when you have not yet contributed
a single cent. Go into an organisation
with the aim to create value for the employer so that you can be recognized. Some of the salaries prospective candidates ask for are not found
in this market and even in the region.
One
sure way of not getting a job is the lack of computer skills. If you are
unemployed or you are employed and you do not know how to use a computer and
the most commons computer packages go to school right away. You will not get a
job without those skills unless you are looking for manual work somewhere on
the road construction projects. If you want to be in an office you must know
how to use the internet, email, PowerPoint, excel and word. If you have these
skills you also broaden your job search methods as most the employment agencies
now have online job databases where you would need to register.
If
you want to learn more about how to prepare a winning CV please go to our
facebook page by searching for “Industrial Psychology Consultants” and become a
fan of the page. We have a video on how to prepare a winning CV. Our next
video will be on how to pass an
interview. If you are not on facebook you can upload your CV on our website: www.ipcconsultants.com . If you would
like to receive daily job updates on email send me an email on mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com with the
caption “subscribe to job alerts”.
Memory Nguwi is the Managing Consultant of
Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources
consulting firm. Phone 481946-48/481950/2900276/2900966 or cell number 0772 356
361 or email: mnguwi@ipcconsultants.com or
visit our website at www.ipcconsultants.com
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