CV Write

Professional, high impact CV writing that generates interviews.

Monthly Archives: March 2010

Applying for Jobs

We have had a number of CVs sent in for review recently where we were able to say that they were actually pretty good CVs and not much needed doing to them.

The potential clients responded by asking “why aren’t I getting interviews then?”.

A good question, and once we  looked at what jobs they were applying for the answer was pretty obvious.

They were patently unsuited to the job, lacking the right skills and experience.

If you are not a close match to a job advert – don’t apply. It is a waste of time and energy and only leaves you feeling frustrated.

Answering Machines & Messages

If you are in the job market it is important that you make it as easy as possible for a recruiter or employer to contact you.

So make sure that you have:

1. An answering machine on your home number – you can use the free service from your phone provider such as 1571 from BT.

2. That your mobile has the answering machine set up.

If possible you should personalise any greeting with your name because the recruiter needs to be sure that they have left a message for the right person!

Identity Theft from CV Information

We have been asked by a number of clients about the risk of using on-line services in relation to identity theft.

The main issue that seems to concern people is that they are potentially putting a lot of private information into the public domain and how this can be used against them. In relation to your CV there is not a great deal to be worried about, provided you keep it to the same level of information that can be found on the electoral roll, namely:

Name - full name, though middle names are not essential.

Address - including postcode. The postcode is used by many of the on-line databases as a search reference point, so it is essential to put it on your CV.

Date of Birth – don’t try to hide your age, it’s generally counter-productive.

Don’t put your National Insurance number on there (we see this a lot from South Africans who have emigrated to the UK) or your mothers maiden name, or the name of your pet!

Another one to seriously avoid is putting your place of birth on your CV as this is frequently used as a security question by companies on the ‘phone and on-line.