The 7 Steps to Writing an Interview-Winning CV

The 7 Steps to Writing an Interview-Winning CV Your CV is your number one marketing tool when it comes to landing job interviews, so you need to  ensure that it stands out from the crowd and catches the eye of the employers you are most interested in. The key to creating a top notch CV is knowing exactly how to structure your CV and how to best market your skills and experience in a way that will get employers attention. If youre unsure about what to include in your CV,  StandOut CV have created this handy infographic showing how to write an interview-  winning CV in just seven simple steps. 1) Research your target employers: Before you start writing your CV, you should find out exactly  what your target employers want to see on applicants’ CVs. Search for relevant jobs online, make a  list of the most popular requirements and link them to your own skills and knowledge. Including keywords will also help your application to beat application tracking systems, as unfortunately a lot of CVs dont actually get seen by a human if they dont make it through the initial digital  screening process. 2) Format and structure are crucial: A busy CV can be off putting and confusing! You need to ensure that recruiters and employers can  navigate your CV easily and pick out the key information that they need. Divide your CV sections  clearly with bold headings, use a simple font and break up text for ease of reading. Try to restrict it to a page or two, as the recruiters decision to progress your application will be based on the key information, not your  life story! 3) Make a big impression with your profile: The profile that you include at the beginning of your CV is crucial as i  is the very first thing an employer will  read and it could even be the deciding factor for recruiters when they are rushed for time and scanning through dozens of CVs.  Make sure  that it is packed with in-demand skills and knowledge, but show some personality too, so you dont sound like a cliche! Try to keep it short and sharp to  draw readers in and encourage them to read your CV in full. 4) Structure your role descriptions properly: Job titles dont always reveal much about what your previous roles entailed. In order to demonstrate the value that you can bring  to a new potential employer, you must use your role descriptions to showcase what you’ve  achieved for past employers. Start with an overall summary, then describe your responsibilities  in bullet points and try to add some key achievements to prove your input. 5) Adapt your education: The amount of information that you need to give about your education really depends on the stage in your career you are at. List your education at the bottom of your CV and adapt the amount of  detail depending on your experience level. Less experienced candidates should include lots of  education information, whereas more experienced candidates can use a short summary. 6) Keep interests relevant: Interests are an optional section so only include interest that can add  value to your job applications in terms of showing a bit of personality or demonstrating your true interest in the industry. Culture fit is a big factor that is considered when making a new hire, so some recruiters and employers may take a look at your interests to gage what kind of person you are and how they feel you would fit in at their organisation. 7) Triple check your CV: Mistakes in your CV can seriously damage your job hunting chances, so  make sure you thoroughly proof read your CV before sending it out to employers. Spelling and grammar errors can look sloppy, so its best to get a second opinion from a family member or friend ahead of sending it off.

Writing Your Federal Resume on Facebook

Writing Your Federal Resume on FacebookWriting your federal resume - August 22 Morning on Eventbrite - Now that's a lovely invitation. As the start of the summer holiday season comes to a close, we have already met many people that I have known since my graduation from university that now reside in the State of New York. Some of these people are:Even though the summertime brings about a change in the temperature of the country, there are nothing but positive change in how each and every one lives. People want to enjoy the fun ways in which they live life. This is evident from the fact that many people are turning to social networking sites such as Facebook to express their feelings and thoughts about what they are feeling or thinking.Facebook is the latest social network that has been constantly growing in terms of popularity. Through the use of this popular social networking site, individuals are able to share their feelings and thoughts with those who are close to them.Although the re are hundreds of other social networking sites that allow individuals to express their feelings and thoughts, there is a special feature of Facebook that allows those who want to share their ideas and feelings to be able to do so with those who they know. Since so many people log into Facebook and social networking sites, they find that it is easy to keep in touch with others on a more personal level than what they can with other networking sites.Now then, since Facebook has been proven to be an effective tool for keeping in touch with others, it is very likely that most, if not all, individuals who log into Facebook have something to say about what they are feeling or thinking about what is going on in the world. Therefore, by logging into Facebook, you are effectively inviting the opportunity to let those who are close to you know what you are feeling or thinking about what is going on in the world. By doing so, your online status update will have been read and it may have even reached someone that you did not expect to have access to your status updates.Therefore, although you are inviting others to see your status updates, you should also be careful to be sure that you are not committing a sin when posting a status update on Facebook. Because of the privacy that Facebook allows, you are allowed to post what you want, whenever you want to post it. You are not required to post anything when you log into Facebook, and you are even allowed to delete any of your posts at any time.In fact, the process of posting a status update on Facebook is one that allows individuals to express their feelings and thoughts on almost any subject matter that they feel that they can put their finger on in a good way. Therefore, even though you may not think that you are required to post a status update on Facebook, you should not forget that you are being invited to do so and you should take advantage of the opportunity to let others know what you are feeling and thinking about what is going on in the world.Writing your federal resume is easier than you may think. All you need to do is log into Eventbrite and you will be able to share your thoughts with friends and family on the latest happenings in the world.

You Can Be A Stay at Home Mom Have A Career Doing These Things

You Can Be A Stay at Home Mom Have A Career Doing These Things Women are all different and who’s to say what works for one will work for another. Some women have the desire to stay at home and raise children, while others are very career driven. The idea that is often adopted is that you can only do one or the other. This logic is flawed and couldn’t be farther from the truth in today’s society. Thanks to technology, a woman can do anything that she wants with her life. Perhaps there is a time for a career and there is a time to raise children, and they might exist in separate seasons of life, but when the world is moving so fast, cost of living is up, and women want to do more with their lives than stay at home with their babies or chase a dream job, the need for the two desires to coexist becomes very important. If you’re a woman looking to stay at home with your children as well as have a career, here are the things you should be doing: Save Your Money Young It’s a good idea to save up your money no matter who you are. You never know what will happen in life and when you might need to dig into your savings, but it’s especially important if you want to stay at home with your children and have a career as well. If you’re going to start a homebased business, you’ll have to have money to pull from. You can go and acquire loans and funding all you want, but it’s much easier on you if you have the money in the bank in the first place to fall back on when things get hard or you need an immediate well to pull from to start your dream business. Do Online Schooling When you have a family and no way to get to a university to study your craft, it can be easy to throw in the towel and ditch the dream all together. You don’t have to do this, though. Online schooling is the perfect way for you to have the best of both worlds. With online school you have to flexibility of making your own schedule and doing your work when you’re available. It will be hard, but finishing a degree online is the perfect avenue for you. Once you complete schooling at your pace, you have the choice of doing anything you want. Thanks to technology, you can operate a business from the comfort of your own home. You can get paid to answer medical questions in an online format, you can build costumes and sell them over internet retailers, you can join an MLM company and sell your product exclusively from your home. As long as you put in the work, you can do it all. So what will it be? Images: Mom at Home  U.S. Army   supermom  beverlyislike

The Dos and Donts Of The Office Christmas Party

The Dos and Don’ts Of The Office Christmas Party As party season approaches and Hollywood dons its reindeer antlers, one film tops the list of this year’s festive flicks. Set in an office planning a Christmas party, the inventively-named ‘Office Christmas Party’ catalogues the increasing trials and tribulations of a company shindig. For those of us stuck in an office until December 23rd, the trailer may well conjure images of past trauma. Dancing on desks? Kissing colleagues? Flashing everyone in HR? Surveys show that a startling number of people embarrass themselves in the December work bash  â€" and live with the humiliation for years to come. Here are the dos and don’ts that will get you through the next two months. DO go According to a survey by Love Energy Savings, over a quarter of us think that the best thing about parties is the opportunity to socialise with co-workers. And making the effort is a good thing; having friends at work can mean a spike in productivity, contentment and overall job satisfaction. If you don’t turn up at the office party, you look like you’re not a team player and don’t think your colleagues are worth your time. Nobody likes being shunned socially, least of all those you work with every day. So make the effort and stick around for at least an hour. Who knows? You might even enjoy it. DO dress appropriately You showed your boss what at the Christmas party? Remember: the office fling is still a work event. If you wouldn’t wear it in front of your mother, don’t wear it here. It’s girls who are in the most danger here; low necklines, leotards and cat-suits have no place in your office’s hallowed halls. Dress for comfort, in clothes that are socially acceptable by all standards. You are a classy, professional woman and, though that doesn’t mean boring, it does mean dressing like your boss is watching. Which she/he is. DO go into work the next day We dont care how bad your hangover is. Everyone knows why youre not in and, when theyve made the effort to turn up themselves, theyre a perfect position to judge you for not doing so your boss included. DO deal with any fallout promptly â€" but keep things in perspective If you’ve done something awful at an office party, you must apologise. Ostrich syndrome won’t cut it here; if you told Ruth in accounts that she’s weak for taking maternity leave, you’re in deep water. Approach the relevant individual â€" perhaps offering a gift â€" accept responsibility for your actions, then move on. If your gaffe was genuinely awful and might affect your position at the company, pen a letter and deliver it in person to your boss. Offer concrete actions and materials to compensate for your misdeed. This shows that you care, know what you did wrong and are willing to work hard to make up the distance. On the other hand, remember to keep things in perspective. Nobody pays as much attention to your missteps as you do; if your main offence was a slightly sharp remark or a tumble on the dance floor, you’re probably okay. Context is king: if your company has a relaxed culture and everyone else was drunk too, you will enjoy more leeway than those at a fancy Magic Circle mixer. DON’T gossip â€" or give anyone else a reason to! Alcohol lowers our inhibitions across the board and, while it might make for a great midnight dance routine, it certainly does you no favours in watching your tongue. Telling Mark from marketing that Annie from accounts snogged your boss in the stationery cupboard may seem like important information at the time. However, at best it’ll earn you a reputation as a gossip â€" at worst, it’ll get back to your boss, and you can say goodbye to that extra holiday. Save your sordid tales for the weekend â€" or at least a time when you’re not stuck in a small room with everyone involved.   DON’T drink too much According to CIPD, more than 40% of workers have got drunk at a Christmas party. Interestingly, men are more likely to over-indulge than women, clocking in at 45% compared to  35%. While ‘getting lashed’ might seem tempting, remember that inebriation renders you more socially vulnerable and likely to commit gaffes. Furthermore, drunken behaviour could compromise your standing in the company. An Opinion Matters poll for Drinkaware shows that one in four of office workers regret actions from past office parties. The main offender is kissing â€" or attempting to kiss â€" a colleague, with criticisms and drunken aggression coming in behind. Of those polled, many received warnings for their behaviour from superiors. Alcoholic events are an HR nightmare. As Robin Kallor of Ford Harrison LLP points out: “No good comes from a lot of alcohol at work-sponsored events. It sounds fun, but we all have to go to work the next day, and what happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas. Ever.” So watch your step; that extra shot may not be worth it after all. Inspiring Interns is a  graduate recruitment  agency  specialising in internships  and the many graduate jobs London has to offer. Image credits. Main.  Party.   Drinking.  

Create a Professional Resume Cover Page

Create a Professional Resume Cover PageWriting a resume cover page is a special part of the job search, and if you get it wrong you can really hurt your chances of getting a new job. It is critical that you write a good cover page that will get your potential employer to notice you. Below are some of the things you should be looking for when creating your resume cover page.The first thing you need to do when creating a resume cover page is to make sure you create it according to a standard format. You need to follow certain guidelines in order to keep it looking professional. For example, don't use any kind of special formatting, such as bold or italics. This will only make it look sloppy and amateurish.The next thing you need to look for when writing a resume cover page is to make sure your page is easy to read. Most resumes will have a few key information on the cover page, such as the name of the company, the job position, and the length of time you have been employed with the com pany. However, if you want to stand out from the crowd, you need to keep your information concise and easy to read. If you have plenty of words on your resume cover page, make sure it is very short and to the point. Never use too much information at a time, as it will only frustrate the reader.Another important aspect of writing a resume cover page is to make sure your information is accurate. Anytime you hire someone to write something for you, make sure you read their resume cover page to see how accurate their information is. If they use terms or sayings that don't make sense, you want to be sure to check it out for yourself. You don't want to pay someone to write something like this for you, so get a second opinion if necessary.Another aspect you need to pay attention to when writing a resume cover page is to make sure you don't overuse your contact information. If you want to be as professional as possible, you need to make sure you use your correct name and give the appropriat e phone number, email address, and so on. If you have any other contact information that is not correct, be sure to remove it before you submit your resume.You also need to remember that there are certain colors that will be better used on your cover page than others. For example, bright or bold colors will be better used on your cover page than the light blue that is used for the cover of your resume. Be careful to keep the colors used on your cover page from distracting the reader. Again, if you are going to add other information to your cover page, be sure to keep the colors used appropriate and in line with the rest of your resume.Finally, make sure that you don't rush through your resume cover page. Be sure to take your time and create a page that is professional and that is appealing to the reader. Many times, if you don't take your time, your resume cover page could easily go unnoticed.By following these tips, you will be able to create a professional looking resume cover pag e. You don't want to leave anything to chance and make it look amateurish. Creating a good resume cover page is a skill that you can master and by paying attention to the above information, you will be able to create a professional looking resume cover page.

Where are you on your New Years resolution to find a new job - Sterling Career Concepts

Where are you on your New Year’s resolution to find a new job Where are you on your New Year’s resolution to find a new job? One of the most important things you can do is to take time to plan your career roadmap for 2014. A career plan will help you reach your goals this year whether it’s changing jobs, careers, or simply getting more out of your current job. Not quite there yet? Updated your resume and then stalled? Or worse, didn’t get started yet?  No worries. It may already be March, but it’s also still just March â€" we have nine months to go! Don’t beat yourself up too much It’s estimated that 90% of our daily lives is spent doing routine tasks, but habit can be a bad thing. As the saying goes: “if you keep on doing what you’ve always done, you’re going to keep on getting what you’ve always got.” I’ll break down the steps over the next couple of posts. For now, the first step is taking stock and assessing where you are. To figure out where you’re going, you must first look at where you’ve been. Here are some questions to help you assess where you are: • What are you most proud of this past year â€" personally, and professionally? • What went right this year? • Did you receive any awards or recognition this year? • Did you take on any additional responsibility this year? If so, what? • How did you take initiative in your job this year? • Have you learned any new skills? • Did you earn any certifications or licenses? Record this information â€" be it in a Microsoft Word file on your computer, a note in Evernote, a series of emails you send to yourself (be sure to use email tags so you’re able to find the emails again!), or even a physical notebook. And in the coming year, take time to record your accomplishments as you go through the year instead of waiting until the end of the year. Look at opportunities for improvement in your career. How does your salary stack up against your peers? Is your current position in alignment with your priorities and your core values? Where is change needed? Take note of the following: • Current job title • State Date (month/year) of current job â€" • Current salary (base/bonus) â€" • What I like most about my current job â€" • What I would want to change about my current job In my next post, I’ll help you define your goal and identify what your ideal job looks like. Want some help to get started? Contact us!

How to Channel the Force and Conquer Your Next Video Interview - CareerEnlightenment.com

3. Block out distractions.Whether you’re trying to channel the Force or prepare for a video interview, distractions break your concentration not to mention, that of the interviewer’s. To maintain focus during your video interview, find a location that is quiet and free of any potential distractions, such as voices or a noisy pet in the background.Schedule your video interview for a day and time when you know you’ll face the least amount of interference. What’s more, by planning ahead, you can make the necessary preparations to have a friend watch your chatty chihuahua and put a “do not disturb” sign on your front door.Last, but certainly not least, avoid creating distractions for your interviewer. Busy backgrounds (e.g. messy bedroom) and clothing (e.g. loud stripes) can draw the attention away from you and your responses during the interview.4. Maintain eye contact.Eye contact is the key to a great interview, especially when that interview is via video. Maintaining eye contact with the interviewer conveys a greater sense of confidence in your abilities something every hiring manager looks for in a candidate.It might be tempting to look at the screen during your video interview after all, that’s where your interviewer is but fight the temptation. From the interviewer’s point of view, it will appear as though you’re looking down or away from the computer.Through plenty of practice sessions with friends or family, train yourself to look at the camera when you speak and have them point out when your eyes begin to wander.5. Stand out from the sea of clones.Unfortunately, it takes more than mastering the Jedi mind trick to land a job. You need to convince hiring managers that you are the candidate they’re looking for. But, in a sea of job seekers all boasting the same skills and qualifications, it can be difficult to stand out.To avoid being seen as a candidate clone, use the video interview to supplement your resume not reiterate it. Video interviews should be treated just like a traditional in-person interview, where you’re expected to explain and expand on the points featured on your resume. To further differentiate yourself from the masses, aim to provide answers that are unique to you and your experiences.In a one-way video interview, for instance, it can be easy to fall into giving the “expected” answers, as you have more time to mull over your response. But use this time to your advantage, and find a creative way to approach the question.What are some other ways job seekers can channel their inner Luke Skywalker to conquer their next video interview?