CV Workshop – 2/11/17

Reflection: 

This worksop was incredibly helpful as we got to look at a range of examples, some that worked better than others. It gave us the chance to have something to aim for, and give us ideas and inspiration when making our own. Whether we want it to be creative and personalised or simple and clean. It gave us a clear understanding of the do’s and do not’s, what to include and what not to include, which otherwise we may get a lot more rejections, taking us on a slower learning curve. It made us think carefully about what we want to say with our CV, we are representing ourselves to potential employer. Before I wouldn’t have thought of adapting my CV depending on the job, but it is no obvious that it is important to do so, different jobs will have different wants. It was helpful to see examples were they needed improvement as we could see what did and didn’t work.

workshop notes:

  • Regard everything as a promotional tool
  • Introduce yourself to guest speakers – or just a conversation
  • If met, they may feel disposed to look at it, you have to make the right approach
  • Keep contacts warm
  • Find out who you are sending it to
  • Find out who the person is that would read your CV , it wouldn’t be the head person/main person, more like an assistant.
  • Ring them to ask!
  • Keep up to date with your area of interest, so you know what they want
  • Put more recent work at the top of your CV
  • Possibly put any more recent projects
  • Education at the bottom
  • Don’t use negative terms – e.g don’t put ‘Volunteer for Martin Parr’ put ‘ Assisting Martin Parr’ and put what you did, or if the project got an award
  • Put referees on request
  • Max 2 side A4
  • Put in skills and abilities – Technical could be a different heading
  • Aptitude to learn and listen
  • Don’t put anything on there that isn’t relevant
  • Don’t put ‘CV’ on it
  • Don’t put your address
  • CHECK SPELLING
  • Possibly use keywords, if your CV is searched
  • Layout errors
  • Needs to be transferable across different media
  • Don’t use the same words over and over
  • Active words
  • Send a cover letter – an email can/is be a cover letter
    • Keen, capable, professional
  • Have a footer on email – Link website, number, Instagram etc – Make it hyperlinked
  • Linktin?

Slides:

Purpose of a CV:

  • It is a selling tool to get you an interview
  • Summarises your skills/abilities/interests
  • It is evidence of design/layout/attention to detail
  • It shows an understanding of the target audience
  • It creates a professional and creative first impression

Preparation:

  • Target audience – Job search, industry contacts, networking
  • Job specific or speculative
  • Contact the company if you have limited information about what they are looking for
  • What to include or exclude
  • What type of CV would be best/most appropriate

What to include?

  • Contact details – clear and prominent, maybe top right corner? (not address though)
  • Profile – Short summary to grab the attention of the reader
  • Qualifications – reverse order
  • Employment/experience – paid work, placements, volunteering, freelance, commissions
  • Skills –  be specific and provide evidence
  • Additional information – courses, interests, exhibitions, awards – only if relevant

Some example of skills and abilities:

  • Interpersonal
  • Communication
  • Leading and managing
  • Developing and coaching
  • Planning and organising
  • Time management
  • Learning and development
  • Thinking
  • Problem solving and decision making
  • Researching and analysing
  • Budgeting
  • Customer service
  • Change management
  • Technical and IT

What to not include:

  • ‘Curriculum Vitae’
  • Home adderss
  • A photograph of yourself
  • Irrelevant information
  • Noise

What should it look like:

  • Succinct and clear – 30 seconds
  • Strongest information at the top
  • Relevant/appropriate to the job/organisation
  • Presentation/quality is key – marketing yourself
  • Branding
  • Triple check for spelling, consistency, layout errors
  • Other considerations – email, print, online, keywords

Making contact:

  • If speculative, send to a named person
  • Consider the format – email or letter
  • Covering letter – keen, capable and professional
  • Include enough information to engage the reader but don’t just repeat your CV
  • Additional information – printed samples, showreels, websites, online portfolios, blogs, social media
  • Follow up your letter/email
  • Remember to review and refresh information