CV's AND TIPS

JOB HUNTING IN BOURNEMOUTH

The CV is one of the most important things in all types of recruitment, regardless of whether it's one vacancy or a number of vacancies the employer or agency is looking to fill, the decision on whether or not to interview you will be based on the content and presentation of your CV.

Hints for successful CV writing

Firstly
A CV is your first and possibly only chance of securing an interview. It is therefore vitally important that it works for you and not against you. Use it to draw attention to your strengths, achievements and technical know-how.

Start with your current employment and work backwards, remembering to include the name and town of your employer, start and end dates, your job title and a brief description, plus your accomplishments. If you are looking for your first job, list any RELEVANT work experience first, paid or unpaid.

Don't Lie!
Lying on your CV is a waste of your time and that of your prospective employer. Adding six months to your time in a job can seem like a good idea, but if you are caught out you will have lost the job for sure. But don't sell yourself short. If you think the three summers you spent working for a charity in France show your knowledge of the country and its culture - then say so.

Skills
You must list all software packages, hardware platforms, operating systems, programming languages, databases, utilities etc, that you are currently familiar with. Don't list packages that you haven't used for years, because if you are asked about them at interview you will look foolish.

Give equal attention to achievements while at University - but not if you have been in the job market for more than two years. Captain of the debating team, student union rep, set designer for the university play all show you to be enthusiastic, a self-starter and full of initiative.

Layout
Don't feel you need to keep your CV to one page. If it's three pages then fine, as long as the content and layout is appropriate. If your a client has to work hard to read your CV, they will quickly lose interest. Two pages is optimum.

Typos and grammatical errors mean your CV goes straight in the bin. No employer will want to hire someone who can't be bothered to check their own work. Don't rely on the spell check to pick up any mistakes, read it over thoroughly.

A fresh eye is useful to spot mistakes or offer suggestions, so ask someone else to proof read it for you. Once you've read your CV three or four times, it's difficult to stand back and look at it objectively. Never try and finish your CV in one sitting, always go back to it after a couple of days.

If a candidate cannot check their CV for basic errors, then they will be viewed as lazy and are likely to be ruled out of the job hunt - even if they have the right qualifications. Remember - as in everything else - it is all about presentation.

References
Check with referees before you use their names. There's nothing worse than using someone who has either moved on or holds a grudge against you. The best people to use for references are your current employer or a professor or teacher at your college/university - someone who knows how you react in a working environment.

Job hunting is a very competitive process and everyone wants to present themselves in the best light. This can only be done by getting the basics right, after that, it's all down to the quality of your application - and a bit of good luck.

CV Dos and don'ts

Top 5 Dos:
• Do - List your strongest attributes towards the top of your CV
• Do - If sending by e-mail, ensure the attachment opens.
• Do - Ensure all words are spelled correctly
• Do - Remember to include a fully updated list of referees
• Do - Ask a friend or colleague to proof read for errors.

Top 5 Don'ts
• Don't - write a mini thesis - a CV should ideally be two pages
• Don't - include your current employer as a referee if they don't know you are job hunting
• Don't - claim to be able to perform tasks you can't do.
• Don't - fold or crease your CV to cram it into a small envelope. Use an A4 envelope, presentation is everything.
• Don't - forget to do a spell check

Covering Letter
It's a good idea to include a covering letter with your CV / application. If you've seen a particular vacancy that you would like to apply for write a covering letter briefly outlining why you feel your skills fit the requirements of the vacancy. Often due to the high level of recruitment they do, a large company or a recruitment agency may add a vacancy reference to all their vacancies, if this is the case make sure you include the relevant vacancy reference with your job application.

INTERVIEWS

First impressions count!!!!!
In today's jobs market where unemployment throughout the UK is low, particularly in the Bournemouth area, you need to make sure you stand out from the crowd.

Research shows that over half of the impact we make when meeting people,particularly on first impressions, is based on our non-verbal communication. So your personal appearance is paramount!!!!

Over a third of this impact is based on our voice quality or the way we deliver our message, which leaves just 7% for the actual content or words. This means we must be more focused than ever on making sure that our image and delivery mechanisms don't get in the way of the real messages we want to get across. Of course, there must be some balance between these three elements - it's no good having a great voice if you're talking rubbish, or having a great voice if you look sloppy.

In a time-limited business world, we often have to use our intuition to make decisions and a significant percentage of this is based on vital first impressions.

Everything you do is important - your dress, grooming, body talk, facial expressions, voice and so on, as this is the part people tend to judge you on.

These attributes are displayed several times a day with every telephone conversation, email, meeting or presentation - even internally as you go about your day-to-day job.

Also your grooming gives clues to others about your inner values, standards and attention to detail and quality. So make sure your teeth, hair, nails, clothes and for women, make-up, reflect your values and standards and don't give out conflicting signals.

Interview Do's
• Wear your best suit (or if you don't have one your best trousers/skirt, shirt and / or tie)
• Make sure your hair is clean and tidy (and tied back if long)
• Wear minimal jewellery (Watch, small earrings and 1 ring)
• Take out any facial jewellery
• Clean and polish your Shoes
• Have a firm hand shake
• Have lots of eye contact

Interview Don'ts
• Wear too much Perfume/ Aftershave
• Have a cigarette and before going straight in to the interview
• Chew gum
• Speak with slang words
• Swear
• Fiddle or fidget (if you do this when your nervous, then hold one hand in the other)
• Slouch when sitting down
• Bad mouth you current employer

And most of all be positive!!!
With all of this taken into consideration, you should have a great interview.

Good Luck!