Write a CV recruiters and HR will love
You have a few seconds to make an impression. A Recruiter or HR Officer sometimes receive hundreds of CVs per day. If your CV is missing information, presented poorly or difficult to read, you are relegated immediately. So, write a CV they will sit up straight for. SUBJECT LINE Before we get on to writing a good CV, remember the subject line is also important. Make your subject the heading of the advert you are applying for, your name and surname and the date, this makes searching easier for us consultants. It also gets us to click on your CV COVER PAGE OR INTRO A cover page or intro in the body of the mail is important and this should include salary expectations, notice period and why you are suited to this vacancy. PERSONAL DETAILS Make sure your personal details at the top of the CV are correct. We often find a good candidate, but there are no or old contact details. CVs are stored in files or extracted from mails by systems, make sure your number is on the CV attachment, not just on the mail. ACHIEVEMENTS AND QUALIFICATIONS When you write a cv list all academic achievements, courses, qualifications and computer packages you have worked on. USE KEYWORDS Recruiters often use search methods that use key words to search, if your CV exclude these key words, you are not found. INTERESTS, HOBBIES ETC. List interests, hobbies and sports CURRENT AND PAST EMPLOYMENT List each position you worked at, the company name, your title at the company, your starting and finishing date, a detailed job description (remember key words) and your reason for leaving. REFERENCES Include references when you write a cv. These references need to include your direct report. MISSING AREAS Do not omit jobs from your CV. Recruiters and HR officers do pick up these omitted jobs in our verification checks. We don’t mind gaps, so long as there’s a sufficient explanation. PICTURE Include a pic on your CV if you can, just a head shot. People remember a face easier than a name. No cat pics, no holding a beer, no wedding pics, just a ID style pic. ID NUMBER Include your ID number, passport number or work permit number CONTENT – Make sure there are no spelling or grammar mistakes – Use a simple and easy to read font, on a blank background – Also use a simple format, word or PDF. Fancy formats can be painful when you receive bulk CVs. Company applicant tracking systems peruse your resume for information and convert it to pure text as the most immediate viewing format – Avoid mixing up first and third person or present tense and past tense. – We see some real shocking email addresses and they give us an instant negative perception of a candidate. Try to stick to using your name with an email address. START AND FINISH DATES You must ensure that when you list your jobs that you have accurate start and finish dates, usually stipulating the month and year will be sufficient. A CV without this information will be rejected because the recruiter will simply think you are trying to hide something LEAVE OUT REAL PERSONAL DETAILS You’re not pitching for a date, so a recruiter does not need to know your age, height, weight, religious or political affiliations, marital status or sexual orientation ENSURE YOUR RECORDS ARE TRUE More and more businesses are now carrying out extensive background checks prior to taking somebody on board. Nearly everybody embellishes their achievements in jobs on their CV, but stretching the truth could land you in hot water. We have seen many candidates trip themselves up. KEEP IT SHORT AND SIMPLE Put yourself in the shoes of the recruiter. They want a nice punchy CV that quickly gives them all the info they need. They don’t want to plough through long paragraphs, nor will they probably have the patience to do so. KEEP CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER Another classic faux pas is when candidates put their CV in the wrong chronological order. You should always list your most recent employment and latest achievements first within that position. NO QUOTES PLEASE We have even come across CVs where people kick off with a Winston Churchill or Shakespearian quote. A guaranteed way to quickly get your CV binned. CREATE THE HOOK A snappy introduction should mention which industries you have excelled in and what skills you would bring to your new role. Don’t waste this chance to impress by just rolling out some meaningless soundbites. And always take the time to make the introduction bespoke to the role that you are applying to.
WHY THE BOOLEAN SEARCH IS THE BOMB
What is Boolean Search? No, its not a weird, indie-style of searching the internet. Its, in fact, a brilliant and quite simple way of searching for possible candidates. By using a combination of a few main words (more on this later) and keywords, you can be assured of accurate results. What are these main words? · AND · OR · NOT Add to that these elements: · () · “” And, you have a powerful search method. So, in practice, you choose the keywords, such as receptionist, DTP Operator, Car Salesman, and add in one or more of these main words and symbols, and there you go. One can use these as often as you like and in various combos. This will save you a ton of time by literally filtering the results for you. Why AND? Say we take these two groups – RECRUITMENT / HR. We want to find people that have both of these words in their profile, and so using the Boolean string we type in: RECRUITMENT AND HR The system will now search for people who include the word “recruitment” and the word “HR” in their profile. This means we want to find candidates who are in the Venn diagram cross over, i.e. candidates who have both those keywords in their profile. By using the word AND in our search along with other keywords, we narrow our search, so we effectively will elimanite options that don’t suit our search criteria. Why OR? Sometimes a potential candidate may use words that are similar, such as RECRUITMENT / RECRUITING. Very similar but now by creating the Boolean string: RECRUITMENT OR RECRUITING the system will search for all people who have either of these words in their profile or even if they have used the words in a row in their profile. We are still looking for candidates who fall into the Venn Diagram cross over section, but with a different angle. By using OR we are now broadening our search, in stead of narrowing it. Why NOT? In order to eliminate a keyword, we would type in the Boolean string: RECRUITMENT NOT HR This way, the system will not look for HR. In effective, a candidate may have both words in their profile, but by using NOT in the search phrase, we eliminate that candidate, as we only want those with just RECRUITMENT in their profile. These are candidates who fall into the right wing side of the Venn Diagram. We are removing non-essential results and thereby narrow our search again. Why () Brackets? Computers are smart but we have to give them the correct instructions or the results will be warped and inaccurate. By using parentheses, we are then telling the computer what problem we want solved. Brackets play a big role here. Brackets give priority to a certain word or phrase. Example: We are to search for candidates that have the following words in their profile – TALENT – HR – RECRUITMENT But, I want to narrow it down further to or the computer will not know which of those words is the important one. We would type our search out like this: (talent OR hr) AND recruitment or talent OR (hr AND recruitment) thereby putting the emphasis on the words in brackets. Why “” Quotation Marks? Say you are searching for a particular vocation, but it consists of two words, example: Recruitment Specialist. Typing just: RECRUITMENT SPECIALIST will render a search that will have separateed the words, wasting your time. But, by putting the two words like this: “RECRUITMENT SPECIALIST” you have narrowed your search down, and now the system will search for those two words always together. Other examples would be: “INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY” or “ESTATE AGENT”. MORE EXAMPLES “HR Director” and (health or hospital) “Graphic Designer” and (DTP or cartoonist) Give the Boolean Search a try – it truly does work!
What to do when you and your partner are struggling with your careers
It would be so much easier if you both weren’t in the same boat. Partners often tag off each other. When the going is good with one, often it isn’t so good with each the other. But, then you can rely on your partner, whether its financial, stress-related, or personal. But, if you are both struggling with your careers, what can you do? TEAMWORK You may have different jobs completely, but working together, looking out for the other, can be very beneficial. Remember, it’s in both your best interests that you both succeed. When you out there looking for work, keep an eye out for something that would suit them too. If you have a great idea to solve a problem, share it. RESPECT THAT YOU HAVE DIFFERENT METHODS We all do things differently, and if you think you can paint their world with your brush, no matter how right you think you are, respect that they do it differently. From the way they word an email to the way they approach a problem, hear them out, listen, watch, and maybe you will learn something new. ASK FOR HELP While you are individuals, if you find that your way isn’t working, or your career issues are affecting your relationship, ask or help. It may be from a good friend, or it may be from a professional, like a life coach or psychiatrist. LISTEN Simple enough, but we often want to give advice. Some of us just want a willing ear. Find out what your partner wants and do that. If they just want to vent, sit there, show interest, and listen. You don’t need to solve everything. If they do ask for your advice or help, then give your opinion. If you cannot help, then tell them so. They may need a professional. When you are both struggling with your careers, just take a moment out to understand the others predicament and that it is totally separate from yours.
Are you in a dead-end job?
Do you need some motivation to get out of that dead-end job? Look no further, we have some right here for you … motivation that is … Staying in a job you hate can be bad for your health Stats show that those that keep on plodding day to day in a job that they don’t like, often get sick more often, have long-term health issues, and sometimes end up depressed. Now, that is enough to help you get your butt off that seat and move on! Waiting can make it just much harder to find a job It’s an obvious one, but the longer you hold out, the harder it will be to find a job. Employers want to know why you stayed there for so long in that dead-end job – while it’s not good to job hop, staying in a job that leads you nowhere, doesn’t look good on a CV. There are many avenues to help you find that right job Today, there are a vast array of platforms that you can take to applying for jobs. Online websites, apps, LinkedIn is a great one, and you don’t even have to get up for any of this … until the interview that is. Procrastination is not a value The world wants go-getters and the only person holding you back is YOU! Starting the process just takes one click, one phone call, one movement in the right direction. Once you start that ball rolling, the rest will follow. Don’t be that guy or gal that moans constantly about their dead-end job but does nothing about it. Your location, your travel arrangements, your expenses, your partner, your age, etc. etc. They all don’t mean a thing – there are ways to work it out. But, you have to take that first step. Speak to a friend who seems with it and a mover and shaker. Get advice from columns. Apply with a recruitment agency. Take an hour out of each day to surf the net for jobs that would suit your experience, your qualifications and culture.