How to be CV Savvy - from Agenda Resource Management

Getting a CV up to scratch is an important part of job hunting. Not only is it the first hurdle of the process, it is also the key factor in attracting an employer’s attention. So, what should it contain?

Despite what many career websites say, there is no ’perfect’ template. Different sectors may require a different emphasis on a different aspect of the content. It is all dependent on the particular role you’re applying for. For example, a practical role would require an emphasis on career history but a candidate applying for an academic role would highlight their gained qualifications.
However, experts suggest all candidates should follow these basic rules when creating a CV:

1.       Type it up

Employers will expect you to word process your CV. This is a much neater way of presenting your work and generally looks a lot more professional.

2.       Keep it short

Preferably no more than two sides of A4. Your CV should be clear and concise, stressing both achievements and strengths.

3.        The basic format for a CV includes:

·         ­ Personal details: including name, address, phone number, and email address. If you have a relevant online blog, don’t forget to add the URL. You no longer need to include your date of birth, owing to age discrimination rules.

·         ­ Career history: record your most recent job first. Include dates and temporary or voluntary jobs if and where appropriate.

·         ­ A personal profile which sells you and your qualities, tailored towards the job you are applying for. You should also include a covering letter.

·         ­ Achievements from previous jobs that are relevant and which highlight your strengths.

·         ­ Qualifications and training from previous jobs, with the most recent first.

·         ­ Interests if they are relevant and especially if the skills or teamwork concerned are relevant for the job.

·         ­ Any extra information, such as reasons for a career change or reasons for gaps in career history, such as caring duties or long term travels.

·         References: ideally two or more and including a recent employer.

Make sure that you keep font and formatting basic. Fancy font and tables can hinder your CV by taking the attention away from your achievements and qualifications.

4.         How do you avoid making mistakes on your CV?

Most employers will agree that poor spelling is one of the quickest and sure-fire ways of getting rejected from a role. It may seem unfair, particularly if you are a bad speller, but these costly mistakes can be avoided.

Why not ask a friend or relative who is a competent speller, to check over your work for you? This way, you can be sure that you haven’t made any mistakes and you will feel a little more confident once you’ve hit ‘send’. At Agenda, we offer a free CV review service, so why not ask an expert to cast an eye over your CV. Check out our website for a free CV review: http://www.agendalifesciences.com/cv-review

5.        How do you adjust your CV to suit  that particular role?

According to career buffs, you should search the internet for inspiration. Find adverts for similar roles and work your CV around them. This doesn’t mean that you should do a ‘copy and paste job’ because the likelihood is; the employers have seen this kind of thing before and binned CVs because of it. Just doing your research is always going to stand you in good stead - be it for your CV, your interview and your general knowledge.

For advice about roles within life sciences and animal research, contact Agenda Resource Management on 08456 44 55 45, or email us at jobs@agenda-rm.co.uk.

How to best prepare for your future career!

Mark Yates (left), Careers Coordinator

Now that half of the academic year has passed, it’s a good time to reflect on what you are learning, how this will help with your future career, and what will make you stand out from the crowd.  There are several things to take into consideration...

How could you use your knowledge and skills relating to your course?

You will have picked up a lot of knowledge and skills on your course that you may want to use in a future career. If you haven’t started already, it’s probably a good time to start building links with possible employers that you might consider working for in the future. Find out about any work experience or internships that will be available in the coming summer, and ensure you swap contact details.

It’s not just about knowing facts and figures, but about your transferable skills and motivation too!

Employers tend to recruit staff that are motivated and keen to learn. They are also looking out for key transferable skills; communication, team work, problem solving and showing initiative, alongside some commercial awareness – how can your current studies and experience demonstrate these? If you need help with identifying what skills you have, ask!

Do you want to use your course in a related career?

Having now had some experience of studying the course, do you want to use it to find a directly related career? Or is it just a stepping stone to go in a different direction? If you want to talk this through, you can make an appointment with the careers department who will be happy to help: careers@writtle.ac.uk

Are you planning on studying another course after your current course?

Have you enjoyed studying? Are there parts of the course that you would like to develop more in-depth knowledge about? After your current studies there are several progression options for you to consider. You could look at another college course, a degree course or even postgraduate study!  All the skills and knowledge you have gained will help you in the next level of study.

What work experience or commercial awareness have you developed?

Regardless of the qualification you are studying, employers really like to see that you’ve got some relevant work experience – so now would be a great time to start looking for a work placement for the summer break. It will be a good chance to put into practise what you’ve learnt at College, and also give you something else that employers really value – commercial awareness. What’s commercial awareness? It’s about understanding how businesses work, and how your role in the organisation will help it run as best as possible.  By gaining some experience you can also start to build up your awareness of labour market information, i.e. what opportunities are out there that you might be interested in, and how to access them!

Next steps…..

After some thinking about your course and how you might want to use it in the future, now comes the ‘planning’ part, regardless of whether you have a definite goal in mind or not. Make sure your CV and social media profiles are up to date and professional looking. If you would like support and guidance in writing a CV, developing your social media profiles or you would like to discuss work experience options and/or further study options, please email the Careers department on careers@writtle.ac.uk. It’s never too early to start planning, and never too late to actually do something about your future – it’s just a case of developing the ‘career planning’ skills to make the most of your opportunities. 

 

Written by Mark Yates