CV & Salary Rise

HYPERLINK "http://www.businessballs.com" You've arrived at a page of the businessballs free personal and organizational development website. Click here for more free materials, tools, tips, theory guides and a full menu.   curriculum vitae writing and templates how to write a CV - curriculum vitae templates, cv samples and examples curriculum vitae writing tips Keep your curriculum vitae simple. Your curriculum must be concise. Your curriculum vitae must be easy to read. Your curriculum vitae must sell you. And your curriculum vitae must be tailored to what the reader is looking for. These CV and letter principles apply to all career moves - full-time jobs, part-time, internal, external, promotions, new jobs, career changes, internships and work experience placements - wherever an employer or decision-maker is short-listing or interviewing or selecting applicants - the short-listed candidates will invariably be the people who have the best CV's and best covering letters. How you perform at the interview or group selection is of course crucial, but only the people with the best CV's and letters get to that stage. CV writing is like advertising. Your CV must sell you to a prospective employer, and compete against other applicants who are also trying to sell themselves. So the challenge in CV writing is to be more appealing and attractive than the rest. This means that your curriculum vitae must be presented professionally, clearly, and in a way that indicates you are an ideal candidate for the job, ie., you possess the right skills, experience, behaviour, attitude, morality that the employer is seeking. The way you present your CV effectively demonstrates your ability to communicate, and particularly to explain a professional business proposition. Put yourself in the shoes of the employer: write down a description of the person they are looking for. You can now use this as a blue-print for your CV. The better the match the more likely you are to be called for an interview. If you find it difficult to match your own CV description to the requirements of the role, then perhaps the role isn't for you. There's little or no point distorting or falsifying yourself in order to get a job. If you falsify yourself in your CV you'll be unlikely to provide the necessary proof of your claims at interview, and even if you manage to do this and to get the job, then you'll not be able to do the job enjoyably without stress. Obviously lying in a CV is a risky strategy, especially about qualifications, and you should avoid any such temptation. Better to be proud and confident of who you are. Integrity and reputation are more important than qualifications. A CV with a lie is an embarrassment, or even a dismissal, waiting to happen, sometimes years later when you've a lot more to lose. Blow your own trumpet, emphasise your characteristics, your capabilities and achievements - this is all fine - but know where to draw the line. Positive emphasis and strong presentation is good; falsehoods are not. On the point about 'blowing your own trumpet' (presenting yourself within the CV in a very positive light) - many people find this difficult, especially those with strong 'sensing' personalities, who see life in terms of bare facts (make time to see the personality section, and read Jung, Myers Briggs, etc - it will help you understand a lot about yourself). If you are one of these people (in fact many people are) try to get help from someone creative and enthusiastic to assist you in interpreting and writing very positive phrases and descriptions about you for your CV. In your CV it's important to emphasise your attributes in strong, relevant and expressive terms; modesty doesn't work particularly well on any CV. Additionally, there is a widely held school of thought that writing such statements - powerful descriptions about yourself, your personality and your strengths and capabilities - actually helps you to become even more like the person you describe. It's related to NLP, self-talk, self-belief, and positive visualisation: we tend to live up to our claims when we write them down and commit to them. Creating a positive CV for ourselves helps us to grow and to become how we want to be. cv presentation and structure Presentation and sequence of items with your CV are very important, as it is in advertising, and most people get it wrong, which makes it easier for you when you get it right. When you are selling anything you need to get to the key points quickly. The quicker the reader can read and absorb the key points the more likely they are to buy. A well presented and well-structured CV also indicates that you are professional, business-like and well organised. The structure suggested below sells your strengths first and provides personal and career history details last - most people do it the other way round which has less impact. Structuring a CV like this you can immediately stand out from the others and make a much better impression. For all but very senior positions your should aim to fit your CV on one side of standard sheet of business paper. For large corporation director positions two or three sheets are acceptable, but a well-presented single side will always tend to impress and impact more than lots of detail spread over a number of sheets. Always try to use as few words as possible. In CV writing, like advertising, "less is more". This means you need to think carefully about the words you use - make sure each one is working for you - if any aren't, remove them or replace them. Never use two words when one will do. Here is a free CV template in MSWord - single sheet format, UK A4 paper size - into which you can insert your own details - adapt it to suit your purposes. Refer to the CV words and phrases examples below to help you develop and craft your own special CV. Refer also to the writing technique page on this website - it explains about use of fonts (typefaces), colour, headings, capital letters, positioning, etc. A 2004 UK survey by the Royal Mail postal service of HR departments in large organizations in the legal, retail, media and accounting sectors, identified these other CV pointers: · Incompletely or inaccurately addressed CV's and CV cover letters were rejected immediately by 83% of HR departments. · CV's and cover letters addressed to a named person were significantly favoured over those addressed to a generic job title by 55% of HR departments. · And, interestingly, over 60% of HR departments said that the inclusion of a photograph with the CV adversely affected their opinion of the applicant.   writing cv's with no career history or work experience The tips and examples in this article still apply if you have little or no work experience. Experience is in everything we do - especially in the most important areas such as maturity (grown-up attitudes) and emotional intelligence, communications, creativity, responsibility, determination, integrity, compassion, problem-solving, etc - these are the qualities employers really seek - so if you are leaving school or college or university and putting together your first CV, then look for the relevant transferable learning in your life experience and use these examples within the structure provided on this page. You'll not have a career history, but you can certainly illustrate and prove that you have qualities gained and learned from your life experience, that employers will recognise and want. It is true that many employers need experienced people. Some are firm about this; others can be persuaded to consider an applicant who has special qualities but no experience - it depends on the job and the needs of the employer. There are some employers who will be interested in fresh young people who are keen to learn and who are highly committed, and who can demonstrate that they possess other qualities that perhaps more experienced people do not. This is why you need to write a good letter accompanying your cv that explains clearly and concisely your strengths and values, and relevant life experience, to an employer, and then to send the letter, and follow up with phone calls to as many employers as you can. Be persistent and determined, and you will find in time find an employer who wants someone just like you. Meanwhile take advantage of every opportunity to learn and gain experience in your chosen field: join discussion groups, read journals, attend courses, lectures and exhibitions, study the newspapers and news websites business pages, perhaps work part-time for a school and/or a voluntary organisation or group who need your skills. This will enable you to build useful and relevant experience that will definitely be seen as transferable to employed situations, and it will also demonstrate to employers that you are enthusiastic and willing to invest your own time in making a positive contribution to help others and to help yourself. applying for internships and work experience placements You should approach applying for internships in much the same way as looking for a job. Therefore much of what appears on this page about CV writing and covering letters for full-time jobs and career advancement will be relevant if you are trying to find a placement for work experience or an internship. The tips and ideas on the job interviews section are also relevant to seeking and applying for and successfully gaining internships and work experience placements. It's essential to research prospective internship employers. And plan this well in advance. People who leave things until the last minute reduce their options, and increase the amount of competitive pressures involved. Also, planning and researching early in the process will maximise the chances of identifying and securing the best placements. Employers will be impressed by people who have clearly planned ahead of the rest. Employers will not be impressed by those who've obviously left things late. Be creative about the way you research your employer market sector(s). First decide on the sector(s), and what you want to do. Answer this: Do you define your target sector(s) 'vertically' - according to 'vertical markets', such as retail, solicitors, accountants, charities, healthcare, transport, sports, leisure, etc.; or do you prefer to define your target employers 'horizontally' - according to services and professions that are used across all industries, such as administration, sales, financial, legal, creative, production, quality management, business management, human resources, training and development, etc? Or perhaps a combination of the two, for example, I want to get an internship as a HR person in a charity, or as a production designer in a hi-tech manufacturing company? However you define your target sector, it's important to do so, because this gives you something specific to aim at. Clarity here is extremely valuable. Clear aims have a much greater chance of being met than fuzzy or indeterminate ideas. This is because we can build an action plan around a clear aim. We can't build a plan around a vague idea. The action plan starts with researching your target market or sector, however you define it. Focusing on a defined sector helps because certain economies of scale come into effect: commonalities exist between similar organisations and situations which save our time and enable efficient use of our efforts. We can get into a groove and a mind-set that will work in lots of similar situations. Being vague and having no focus makes it impossible to derive these advantages. Variety might be the spice of life, but it's not helpful in putting together a targeted action plan, where focus, consistency, familiarity, knowledge, expertise and professionalism are the important criteria for success. Research is relatively easy using the internet - but remember the phone as well, especially when you locate a contact who might guide you. Try to identify the focal points where information is gathered and disseminated for your target sector(s). Most vertical industry sectors - and professions - are represented by at least one trade association or professional body or institute. Large sectors will be represented by many different trade associations, bodies and institutes - each of which represents a sub-sector or 'niche' within the main sector. Each representative body will generally have a trade magazine or journal, and also probably a website. These pivotal points will enable you to find out most of what you need to know so as to identify prospective internships (and employers). Use the phone to talk to people in these organisations - editors and secretaries are very knowledgeable and many are very helpful. Try to network and seek referrals from contacts, each time asking politely for help - just be honest and courteous about what you are trying to achieve and many people will be extremely helpful. Accept the fact that you will find yourself barking up the wrong tree on a few occasions - no problem - move onto the next point of contact. Sooner or later you will find what you seek. What you seek of course is of course a good list of potential employers (and relevant contact details) who fit your criteria. Your criteria will extend beyond market sector and job function. Geography, organisation size, market position, style and culture might also feature in your ideal profile of an internship organisation. Again, define and describe to yourself what you are seeking - an employer profile - and use your research sources to compile a list of the organisations that meet it. Researching individual organisations on the internet and by telephone, and by requesting details from them (sales brochures, annual reports, etc) helps to build up a feel of the market and or professional sector early on, and this individually focused research is very beneficial later in the process when you begin to tighten your specification and list of prospective employers. This detailed research will directly improve your written approach, and you performance at interview. When approaching organisations for internships or work experience placements, resist the temptation to send out lots of emails. Letters are best. Emails give a far lower rate of response than letters. Letters have to be opened, but emails don't, and many are binned as junk or spam. Follow the principles on this page to write and send the most impressive CV and cover-letters possible. It's not necessary to have had loads of work experience to create a great-looking impressive CV. See the notes above about writing CV's with little or no work experience. See also the tips on business writing and also the techniques for writing introductory sales letters, which all relates to the process you are undertaking. Remember, you are selling yourself. For that matter you should also look at the sales training page too, which contains a lot of useful guidance about identifying what people want and developing a proposition to meet those needs, both of which are central to what you are doing. Telephoning before writing is a good idea. This enables you to qualify the good opportunities and remove the no-hopers. Phone the PA (personal assistant) of the decision-maker, so as to make the introduction, to ask about and qualify the opportunity and process of application and selection, and ask them to look out for your letter. If you are referred to another person or department go with their flow unless you are convinced it's taking you to the wrong place. Carrying out telephone follow-up to the PA's, and your overall persistence after you've sent your letters and CV's, will also greatly improve your success. Also helpful is networking (asking contacts for referrals and suggestions about other opportunities) to find the opportunities that best suit your capabilities and aspirations. Networking among smaller business in the same sector can be very effective and would be a useful tactic for example if you wanted to find a placement in a small firm situated nearby or connected with lots of similar providers. Many owners and directors know each other well and are often quite happy to refer you elsewhere. Just because firms compete with each other does not prevent them from referring this sort of interest between themselves when asked. So ask. Editors of trade journals will often have a good idea of who are the biggest graduate recruiters and who offer most internships within certain sectors. Research can be as easy or difficult as you make it. Try to find the people who know most about what you want to discover and seek their help. When it comes to sending letters and CV's to your selected organisations, writing personalised letters that explain why you'd like to work for the particular practice gives you a significant advantage over other people who send out an obvious mailshot-type letter, oriented to nobody in particular. Emphasise what you can do for the employer and your passion for the field or profession or industry, rather than being seen only to seek what they can do for you. Be flexible on fees and salary rates. Depending on your circumstances and the significance of the opportunity you might even offer to work for minimum wage or for free. It's called 'delaying gratification' or 'investing in your future' and under certain circumstances it's a very effective technique. Good employers will in any event generally pay a fair rate irrespective of what you ask for, and they'll typically be very impressed by people who love their field so much that they are prepared to make personal sacrifices as an investment towards learning and experience. "Everybody's got to have a first [internship] somewhere. My advice is, hey, if you can find any way to afford it, try to work for free somewhere. Do anything to work in your field." (Richard Hieb, astronaut, from from The Internship Bible, 2003 Edition by Mark Oldman and Samer Hamadeh, as referenced by The Princeton Review.) Enthusiasm and passion and commitment go a very long way with high quality employers. The decision-makers you will meet in these organisations usually love their work and their chosen field. They've become successful because of their passion and determination. The best employers want to employ interns who demonstrate this same level of commitment.   curriculum vitae template presentation and style Irrespective of style and design, above all the presentation of your CV needs to be high quality and clear and professional and up-to-date. This means not using poor quality photo-copies. Original prints are best. This applies to letters as well. Photocopies and documents that have obviously been mass-produced imply that the sender is throwing lots of mud at the wall and hoping some will stick. This makes the recipient or interviewer feel like you don't care much where you end up, and that you don't have a particular reason for wanting to join their organisation, which is the opposite impression that you need to be making. Poor quality photocopies reflect on your own quality. Scruffy unprofessional documents will be interpreted as a sign that the sender is scruffy and unprofessional. Old CV's that are dated several months ago, or a photocopied letter with a blank space in which the sender writes the date in biro, will suggest that you are not up-to-date nor well-organised, and also that you've been looking for a job (obviously without success) for some while. On the other hand, pristine professional-looking documents on good quality paper stock (100 gsm minimum ideally) will signify that you are professional, and also that you can be trusted to communicate appropriately and professionally when and if you end up working for the organisation concerned. CV's and letters with current dates, that are purpose-written (tailored) for the recipient, will suggest that you are recently available, selective, focused, and also that you have lo