2. Your personal statement should be no more than 60-80 words. It needs to be unique to you and your experience. Always tailor it to the role you are going for and do not use a list of stock phrases eg “ looking for a new challenge”.  Include something impactful that will differentiate you from others at your level e.g a salesperson – exceeded target by 130%

3. If you are a Senior level  jobseeker leave your education at the end of your CV

4. If you have completed a thesis / dissertation, add the title of the thesis. It maybe really relevant to the organisations current challenges

5. Always include your grade (2:1 etc) and if you won any awards in college

6. Work Experience. Always remember it’s your 2 most recent jobs that are likely to get you your next job, so provide the most amount of detail on these roles

7. Put yourself in the position of the person reading your CV. Always include a background to your organisation ( not a web address ), size, nature of the business, products, turnover, who you reported into and how many your managed. This sets the scene for the person reviewing the CV . You should be able to include everything above in roughly 3 lines.

8. Divide each position you’ve held into responsibilities and achievements. Always provide what you did and not what your organisation did. Always make yourself unique – what did you do that is above and beyond every other person / jobseeker working in your field. At a Senior level your CV should only be achievement based.

9. Remember that many in-house and agency recruiters search their extensive databases using the  “word search” technique, similar to how we search on google.  If the keywords aren’t on the CV, it will not be found! Some recruitment systems do not recognise tables and boxes which will destroy your CV format. Recruiters do not have the time to fix your CV!

10. Include at least 7-8 bullet points outlining your responsibilities and at least 3 achievements or projects that you worked on

11. Always outline the “results” of your actions. Quantify how your actions were of benefit to the businss eg. Introduced a which resulted in a 10% cost saving for the business

12. Do not go into too much detail on roles you were involved in 10 years ago

13. Ideally keep your CV to 2 pages or 3 pages maximum

14 Interests and hobbies – always remember the role that you are applying to. Keep your interests brief . How relevent are the transferable skills gained through your interests and hobbies. For example, if you play chess, the skills acquired would suit the role of trader

15 Referees – always make them “available on request”. It’s really important that your referee has the heads up in advance of anyone calling them for a reference.

Mairead Griffin, Career Coach @ http://www.careerementors.ie 

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Some key areas I would consider are;

-  What has been the nature of the businesses you have worked in? How many employees in the organisation, what dept was you based in, where did you sit on the team, who did you report to. Covering these areas in the initial 2-3 lines sets the scene for the reader and puts your role in context.

- Do you still have your original job description? This can help when constructing your CV

- Take a look at similar job specs on the main recruitment websites. Use these to help you construct your CV. What are employers looking for and how can you tailor your content to make it as enticing as possible to potential employers

- Do you still have your performance reviews? These reviews will help you recall your achievements

- What are your main responsibilities and what are your secondary responsibilties. Aim to get at least 10 bullet points of max 2 lines each. If you’re still in employment, take note of what you actually do on a day to day basis.

- What are the keywords you need on your CV to ensure it appears on recruitment consultancy databases.e.g a recruiter maybe looking for a sales executive in carlow. The keywords they will input into their system is likely to be “sales executive carlow”. They could also search against ‘ sales representative, salesperson, sales agent’ and carlow, laois, offaly. If recruitment databases are not maintained properly by recruiters which can be the case, this is one of the most common ways for them to search. Therefore if you are looking to relocate, where are you going to get the county on your CV e.g this could be your secondary school

- What have been your key achievements – both recent and past

- How would you describe yourself in 3 words. Use this for your personal statement

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- What key projects have you been involved in and what has been your role? Can these be added as achievements

- What courses have you completed and what grades did you achieve? Were you 3rd out of 100 – put your grades in perspective

- Where is your experience lacking and how can you overcome it as an obstacle on your CV

Mairead Griffin, Career Coach & Outplacement Specialist, Career Mentors

http://www.careermentors.ie

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Transferable Skills are skills that potentially transfer to any career regardless of where they were first learned or developed. An understanding and awareness of these skills will help you to tailor your CV and deliver at interivew, irrespective of what sport you play either competitively or for pleasure.

Common transferable skills from sport include;

- Ability to perform under pressure
- Meeting deadlines / challenges
- Dedication and perseverence
- Self motivation
- Teamwork
- Ability to set and acheive goals
- Problem Solving
- Loyalty
- Interpersonal skills

If you have held the role of captain, the skills you have acquired are critical to a supervisory or leadership role. These include the ability to get people to work as a team, an ability to motivate people  and maximising individual performance as part of a team.. 

Interpersonal Skills – In sport you mix and engage with all sorts of personalities both before, during and after competition

Communication – Critical to work effectively as part of a team

Ability to handle pressure – Have you ever performed in front of large crowds or has a team been heavily reliant on your performance for success

Self motivation / Initiative – Do you consistently commit to your team and go above and beyond expectations through practice and training?

Drive & Determination – As a sportsperson you are driven towards achieving your goal to win

By developing an awareness of these skills you will  understand  how they relate to employer competencies and requirements. This will enable you to sell these skills at application and interview.

Further Links

http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2003/01/8286.htm

http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2005/08/harnesshobbiestoimproveperformance.htm

http://www.olympic.org/Documents/elite_athletes/TRANSFERABLE_SKILLS.pdf

Mairead Griffin, Career Coach, http://www.careermentors.ie

CAREER COACH TO PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES AND THE GAELIC PLAYERS ASSOCIATION

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Tailor the Letter to the Role, Person and Organisation you are targeting. Make this organization feel unique. It shows you’ve done your research.

http://www.careermentors.ie , Career Coaching & Outplacement Services

How can I sell myself on paper??

When drafting a CV it’s important that every sentence starts with a stong, impactful action word. Descriptive verbs at the beginning of a sentence provide additional impact and a stronger impression on potential employers.

Thinking of these action words can be difficult and quite often jobseekers end up with CVs with bullet points that are repetitive and non-impactful

Example
Which looks better?

For my final year in college I surveyed a group of employers to find out their opinions of the job market. This involved interviewing employers both formally and informally. We used a database system and were awarded a 2:1 for the project

OR
Planned and devised a survey of employer’s attitudes to the current jobs market as part of my final year project. Interviewed 40 teachers and assembled, analysed and interpreted data over a period of 2 weeks using a SQL database system. Completed the project 4 weeks ahead of schedule and was awarded a 2:1 Grade

Below are some action words that should help in making your CV more impressive and enticing!!

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Sample Action Words
( Sorry about the long list! IIt’s impossible to do a table of action words on linkedin! )

Uncovered
Created
Generated
Scheduled
Strengthened
Planned
Accomplished
Implemented
Presented
Tracked
Achieved
Processed
Administered
Produced
Launched
Analysed
Increased
Maintained
Utilised
Transferred
Approved
Influenced
Managed
Transformed
Budgeted
Innovated
Proposed
Motivated
Translated
Built
Verified
Installed
Provided
Negotiated
Completed
Purchased
Introduced
Recommended
Organised
Established
Devised
Delivered
Consolidated
Demonstrated
Controlled
Devised
Researched
Spearheaded
Coordinated
Revised
Structured
Expanded
Forecasted
Succeeded
Earned
Founded
Eliminated
Accelerated
Streamlined
Participated
Improved
Reduced
Maintained
Led
Revamped
Accelerated
Enhanced
Forged
Traded
Promoted
Delegated
Invented
Trained
Superseded

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What not to do when it comes to your CV!

- Too long. Keep it to 2 Pages, 3 Pages Maximum

- Too short. If your CV is 1.5 pages, you may not have sold yourself sufficiently

- Font & Font Size. Arial and Times New Roman are the most common fonts used. Keep your CV to one font for headings, and one font for content. Do not use too many different fonts or font sizes

-Pull the bullet points right over to the left hand side of the page. There is little point on having white spaces. This is space that you could be using to sell yourself

-Do not use complicated boxes and shading. Some of the Recruitment Database systems do not recognize them, and can cause your CV to be unreadable

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- Do not use bind your CVs or use exspensive paper. Most CVs are put on a system and filed away, there is little point to this. Nearly all employers have a preference for email applications in any case

- Do not take up space with irrelevant information such as marital status, age, gender etc. It is not necessary to have your date of birth on your CV

- Do not go too far back on your CV. If you are a Senior Level jobseeker, do not go back further than 15 years. Unfortunately age discrimination can happen. You do not want to appear overqualified or too expensive for a role that is of interest

- Make sure you have a professional sounding Personal Email Address

- Do not put a photo on your CV. Again, photos do not comply with many recruitment systems and may not do you any favours!

- Do not waste space by adding useless information about your previous employers. EG address, contact details

- Do not write your CV in the first person. It is informal and unprofessional

- Put your work experience in reverse order with your most recent experience first

- Ensure your contact information is accurate. Always include a mobile and email address.

- Do not include names, addresses and phone numbers of your references

- Always break down Achievements and Responsibilities

- Always include a personal profile

If you need more bespoke advice on your CV contact: Mairead Griffin, Career Coach, Careermentors @ 01-2160880 or mairead@careermentors.ie / http://www.careermentors.ie

This way your application will stand out from the competition,who have just listed off the responsibilities of the role.

If you need CV tips or an expert to totally overhaul your CV – give Career Mentors a call on 01-2160880.