The Workthing+ blog

Issue 21 - Please can I have some feedback on my CV?

Q.   

Please can I have some feedback on my CV?

R.P., London

Hot Sectors: February 2010

So far, 2010 is proving to be a far more stable year for hiring than 2009. Employers are more optimistic about the strength of the economy, and are therefore willing to invest more on recruitment.

Whatever your sector of interest, February has shown a consistent demand for managers and executives. After all, good companies are always on the look out for top talent.

Below is February’s Management Moves report, provided by Alert Data:

Issue 20 - Should I tell future employers that I was fired?

Q.   

I was asked to leave my last job – should I tell future employers that I was fired?

S.O., Exeter

A helping hand for youth

Jim Knight MP, Employment Minister, describes how new support from the Government gives school leavers and graduates looking for work a reason to be positive about their future.

Want to know more about how to get on the career ladder? Sign up for a free online workshop from Workthing+.

The last few months have shown some positive signs of recovery in the job market but there’s a long way to go. The recent joint report by KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation found that permanent jobs grew at their fastest rate since July 2007, and some graduate employers like Santander have announced they are actually expanding their graduate schemes this year to create even more graduate jobs.

Issue 19 - What should I do on my gap year that will give me an edge on my CV?

Q.   

I’m feeling the pressure to do something ‘worthy’ during my gap year, like volunteering on a conservation project. There are so many to choose from though; which one will give me the edge on my CV?

D.N., London

Jobseeker Question: What’s the perfect CV?

Guide Question 1: Why have you put a CV together?


A lot of time and effort is spent by many people seeking jobs putting together ‘the perfect CV’. We believe that a generalised CV is not much use. What people who are not familiar with the process of finding a job tend to do is sweat over their CV – with a photograph, or without? one page or ten? which font? – and send it to a wide range of intermediaries. These might be job finding agencies, headhunters, or websites. These store it, or perhaps post it on the web, and nothing much happens next.

The time to use a CV is when you are clear about your target job.

Guide Question 2: Who are you trying to influence with your CV?

Once you are clear about who you are trying to influence, you can tailor your CV to that person, and that position, in order to show yourself in the best light. You know what they are looking for, so will highlight the specific experience you have that will appeal to them. That’s another reason the generalised CV is not much use: except perhaps as a source document to adapt when you know your target.

Just one thing

"When I’ve done all sorts of work in my career, how do I best present myself to potential employers?"


You cannot afford to focus on more than one specific area of opportunity. Most of us have a range of things we like to do, and are good at, and – often – have done. Sadly, that does not help in terms of finding a job. If you go to market with an unfocussed offer – look at me, I can do a whole range of work! – you are unlikely to succeed in your job search.

The alternative is to find the one possible position that you will be ideally suited to. You have to work at exploring your capabilities, your connections and networks, and – using your creativity – design the ideal position for you. We know that this is the essential first step in securing your next career move.

How Workthing+ can help you

Since the Workthing+ blog started, we’ve attracted many different people at many different stages of life, ranging from new graduates, to people with many years’ experience, to career changers.

All our visitors have one thing in common: they are serious about their career and invested in what they need to do to stay ahead of the jobseeking game.

With so many people involved in our active online community, and with the launch of some major changes to our site (such as the introduction of free trial accounts), I thought I’d take this opportunity to recap who we are, and what we do.

Issue 18 - Is your job application getting rejected or ignored?

By far, the most frustrating element of looking for a job is lack of replies to applications.

Another close contender is automated rejections. I’m sure you’ve received one of those messages thanking you for your application, but informing you that your application was unsuccessful (and signed by a generic corporate title).

Any reply you get, you can use to your advantage….even if it’s a rejection.

My favourite candidates

Even though my favourite candidates are all different, the one thing they have in common is that they understand that we have to make each other look good to be successful. They get the role they want, and I get a happy client who pays my bill. This mutual back-scratching process is often misunderstood by candidates, so I thought I‘d give you a few hints on how to work with your recruiter:

Do your research

I will not work with candidates who can’t be bothered to prepare for interviews; it’s arrogant and pointless. I once nearly lost a client because a senior candidate, who I had briefed in the same way as three others, claimed to know nothing about the role when she arrived. Remember, I am rejecting other applications in favour of yours, so if you don’t have time to look at the website, then let me know – I might be able to help. If your cat has died or your boiler has burst then we can postpone. Far better that than going into the interview underprepared.

Issue 17 - Why are psychometric tests used in interviews?

Q.   

I recently attended an interview where I had to complete a psychometric test after the final interview. The interviewer then told me that my results did not fit their ideal corporate profile. Why are they judging me on these test results rather than how well I did at interview?

P.D., Redcar

Developing your Inner Leader: Accessing the 'Big Six'

They say that our former managers or leaders either serve as a lesson or a warning for us when we become a manager for the first time. I would say the two biggest gripes about managers are poor listening and communication skills. Agree?

It is vital to your success as a leader that you are able to tap into the motivations and aspirations of others. The ‘push’ mentality is losing its grip as we go against people who tell us what we should do. The ‘pull’ philosophy of identifying what people genuinely want, and tapping into their intrinsic motivations and aspirations, is what the ‘enviable workplaces’ of today and tomorrow are wising up to.

Passion, Inspiration, Charisma, Energy, Focus and Drive are the favourites to appear in discussions about the characteristics for successful leadership. I call them the ‘Big Six’, as they always seem to get a mention. Of course, these are all very subjective and inconstant measures – but are recognisable across cultures, sectors and industries.

Issue 16 - Why your cover letter is more important than your CV

A reader recently wrote in asking me whether or not it’s necessary to include a cover letter if you have a personal statement on your CV. After all, don’t they do the same thing?

Your personal statement is all about you, whereas your cover letter is all about your employer. Giving your CV without a cover letter is like saying you only care about your needs rather than the employer’s. It’s application etiquette, so make sure you comply.

HR departments and line managers like cover letters; they want to see written in black and white why you want to work in that particular role for their company. If you don’t say what they want to hear, then you won’t get a box ticked.

FREE CV template

Hi everyone,

In response to the feedback we had during our workshop, here is an example of a bad CV made good:

           

View the old version      View the new version

Tell us what you think...leave your comments below.

Want to take advantage of a FREE trial account to Workthing+? Click here to find out more.


Nicola Forde
Head of Member Services, Workthing+

FREE sample cover letter

Thanks to everyone for participating in today's online career workshop.

As promised, here's your FREE sample cover letter, telling you exactly how to structure this important document.

We had a fantastic response today, with lots of you asking questions. If you didn't get a chance to have your question read out, why not post it to a network of peers and experts in the Workthing+ Community?

Want to take advantage of a FREE trial account to Workthing+? Click here to find out more.

As mentioned, you can also get a FREE CV review from The Fuller CV. Simply click here to find out more.

Hot sectors: January 2010

January can be a really exciting time if you’re looking for a job. Not only do you have the motivation to put that ‘new year; new start’ mentality into action, you also have access to more jobs, due to a greater number of employers looking to hire.

The New Year is also a time when people leave their jobs in search of new opportunities. Consequently, there’s been a lot of activity across a range of sectors in management and executive circles.

January’s Management Moves report indicates that many sectors are experiencing a steady ratio of appointments to departures:

You can find a job on Twitter

People tend to look at me with disbelief when I tell them that if it weren’t for Twitter and more specifically, the advent of social media, I wouldn’t have my current job.

I began accessing Twitter through an iPhone application, which located users who were in close proximity to you and showed you their tweets. This was important because it allowed me to connect with people in my area and discuss relevant topics.

Fast-forward a year and a half later to mid-June, and I was in full swing of my first internship and had started to wonder how I was going to obtain full employment when I graduated in December.

I knew that I was interested in recruiting, so I started researching how to break into the field. I remembered that one of the people I followed had something in her profile about being a recruiter and having to deal with all things workforce-related. What better way to get answers than asking a recruiter!

Register for our next FREE online career workshop on CVs

Your CV is the first thing a prospective employer sees and is vital in positioning you as the perfect candidate. But where do you start and what is the recruiter really looking for? 

To find out, don’t miss our next online career workshop and hear from our expert about how to: 

• Create an interview-winning CV;
• Write a cover letter that helps you stand out;
• Customise your CV for every application.

The workshop is from 1pm next Wednesday. Don't forget to submit your question to our panel when you register.

Issue 15 - Top 20 alternative career websites

Getting sick and tired of fruitless visits to the same old ‘career advice’ websites and jobsites? Confused by the glut of information that comes up when you perform a Google search? I don’t blame you.

There’s so much rubbish out there that even the most qualified career expert is finding it difficult to know where to look on the web.

Luckily for you, I’ve done all the research for you.

Waffle-free CV #wfcv competition winner Rizwan Imtiazi

MBA; 14 years in Procurement: reduced opex by 27% & vendorbase by 40%; 9 years’ management; 4 years’ consultancy: FTSE 250 clients #wfcv

Rizwan Imtiazi

Why I entered the competition

"I am constantly updating, honing and improving my CV with each experience I have during my job search, and with each new tip or piece of advice I pick up. So when I saw the competition preamble about waffle-free CVs, I was compelled to examine my own and see how I could minimise unnecessary information. I needed to reduce the word content of my formal CV as it had started to creep well on to the third page.
 
"The problem is of course that we always try to make the CV a story of our professional lives. We want to include everything in it so that we don't miss out on a potential opportunity because we excluded something. So, I considered the competition as a way to practise reducing irrelevant information from my CV."