A well-written and carefully prepared CV will land you the interview, not the job. Before sending it to a potential interviewer or a recruitment consultant, go through your CV and make it irresistible.
Here are 7 steps which can help you with that:
1. Your resume is a marketing tool, not a chronology of your life. You should be very selective when choosing the content for your CV and use a personal branding mindset. If you are in doubt about your skills, experience, or hobbies ask “Will this make me more marketable for this position if I include it?”
2. The purpose of the resume is to get you an interview. The job search is a two-part process. The first one is to market yourself through your CV. The second is to sell yourself in person at the interview and get the job.
3. Begin with your best tangible skills. Most recruiters will spend ten to twenty seconds on a resume before making a decision Yes or No. The critical information must be included in the first one-third of the first page.
4. Customize your CV for each job position. 30 years ago you could prepare one resume and use it for all job openings. This is not the case anymore. Your future employer wants to see the specific ways in which you meet a particular job specification. You should customize your work experience, and accomplishments and include relevant education or training.
5. Start your CV with “summary of qualifications” instead of “job objective”. The summary of qualifications is a short review of your background and a few short bulleted accomplishments.
6. Consolidate your CV into one to two pages. Even clients with many years of experience can include all relevant information in two pages. This is a standard with all jobs except academia, government positions, and scientific or research positions.
7. Keep in mind that some countries have different formats of CV: for example, the UK CV is different from the rest of Europe. Do your research beforehand and ask an employment adviser, which format is the most common in your host country
Your resume is your brand. Think of yourself as a product and ask yourself why an employer should choose you and not another candidate. What do you have to offer?
Source: “Career Coaching: An Insider’s Guide by Marcia Bench
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Currently, she is enjoying a laptop lifestyle while travelling across Europe.
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