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CV
Apply your marketing, communication and sales skills to create a powerful winning CV
The word Curriculum Vitae literally means the story of your life, but employers normally do not want to know your whole life history. The objective of a CV is to convince prospective employers that your skills, experience base and track record could add value to their business. This is the basis for deciding whether they should interview you or not. Both content and format are key to conveying the right messages and the right impression:
Your sales document to a prospective employer
Your CV should tell an employer why you are the right candidate. No one can explain your accomplishments as well as you do. Be aware of your skills, capabilities and contributions and communicate them, clearly and truthfully. They are the best indicator of future performance. But don't oversell, this will be counterproductive.
Target each position
If you are applying for a specific position, make your experience and skills read according to the position. Know about the key success factors in the industry/area and highlight your background accordingly.
Lead with achievements
Your accomplishments best demonstrate what you have to offer. Concentrate more on your achievements than your responsibilities. This means listing things you have directly influenced and achieved - such as products launched, sales increases, awards won - don't rewrite your job description. Be prepared to elaborate on these achievements later during the interview.
Take ownership of your experience
Use active verbs and positive language. "Managed a team of 20" is more powerful than "involved in team management". Back everything up with facts. Quote figures whenever possible. Outline budgets handled, and teams managed to make your skills tangible.
Unique selling points and career objectives
Use a profile only if it genuinely adds value by highlighting your own unique selling points. A list of skills means little and will work far better demonstrated further down the CV. Leave career overviews and objectives to your covering letter and make sure they are tailored to the job you are seeking.
Communicate effectively
Effective managers communicate well and your CV should demonstrate these skills.
For most candidates, résumés shouldn't exceed one or two pages in length. Both in terms of content and layout, people should be able to find quickly the information they want.
Most employers prefer work experience to be listed in reverse chronological order. Starting with your most recent job first, provide a well-organized account of your career history, showing a clear progression of advancement whenever possible.
Keep sentences short and punchy. Use straightforward positive language. Begin sentences with verbs: (planned, led, managed...) to make them more powerful.
Ensure that you leave enough white space on each page - do not squeeze things in and make your CV looked cramped.
Check and recheck
Check and recheck your text for typos, bad grammar and spelling mistakes. These errors lead people to conclude that if you make mistakes in something as important as your CV, you're likely to be careless when performing the job. Find someone, such as a friend or your spouse, who's good at proofreading, and ask that person to review your CV.
Email
Sending your résumé by e-mail says you're adept at using office technology. An e-mailed résumé in Word can also easily be circulated to the various hiring managers. Send the résumé as an attachment rather than in the body of the e-mail. One reason is that résumés format poorly when pasted into the body of an email and often times the recipient will save the attachment only. Pay attention: because of e-mail overload and fear of computer viruses, hiring managers don't open attachments unless they are expecting them or unless the sender includes a clear identification in the subject line of the message. Replace bullets with asterisks or simple dashes. Before submitting your documents to a prospective employer, e-mail it to yourself or a friend to see how well it transmits. You can then make adjustments as necessary. Put your name in the filename of your résumé document. For example, use "MeyerFritz CV.doc" instead of "résumé.doc." Recruiters and managers receive numerous résumés each day named "résumé.doc." or "myrésumé.doc."
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