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Create a Winning CV & Covering Letter
Transcript of Create a Winning CV & Covering Letter
Create a Winning CV
& Covering Letter
How long does a recruiter
spend looking at your CV?
A –
1 minute
Source - http://cdn.theladders.net/static/images/basicSite/pdfs/TheLadders-EyeTracking-StudyC2.pdf
B –
30 seconds
C –
6 seconds
By the end of the session participants will be better able to:
1• Analyse example CVs in terms of content and
structure
2• Identify employer requirements and explain how
these impact on CV and covering letter content
3• Recognise the key factors that make an effectiveCV and covering letter
What makes a good CV?
• What should be included?
• What shouldn’t?
Components of a good CV
Introduce yourself to the person next to you and imagine
you are on a recruitment panel and a CV has landed on
your desk. Discuss:
• What do you want to see on this CV?
• What don’t you want to see on this CV?
(3-4 mins)
What makes a good CV?
Components of a good CV
• Not one perfect model
• Targeted to the specific job/role or career area
• Highlights relevant skills you have to offer
• One or two full pages
• Clear and concise layout – in sections
• Informative, but concise – use ‘action words’
• Accurate in content, spelling and grammar
• Don’t lie – but don’t undersell your achievements
What makes a good CV?
Recruiters are like…
Putting together a CV
Individually, look through the circulated copy of Tom
Jones’ CV. Then, in pairs, discuss the below:
1. What is effective or works well?
2. What doesn’t work well or shouldn’t be on the CV at
all?
(5 mins – bear in mind this is potentially 50 times longer
than an employer could spend on a CV!)
Exercise 1: Reviewing a CV
Putting together a CV
As before, review the new copy of Tom Jones’ CV.
Take time to consider each section of the CV in your pairs.
After 5 minutes, we will then discuss each section as a
group.
Exercise 2: Reviewing CV #2
Common Structure of a CV
• Personal Details
• Education
• Work Experience
• Skills
• Achievements
• Interests
Putting together a CV:
Personal Details
Personal details should be at the top of your CV, with your
name in larger/bold font and acting as title.
Include:
• Name, Address, Phone, Email (appropriate)
• Possibly a LinkedIn profile, webpage, Github
Don’t include:
• Relationship Status, Date of Birth, Photo …
• Lines and lines and lines of information
• Novelty fonts and lots of colour
Putting together a CV:
Education
• Most recent institution first (i.e. Imperial)
• But – don’t just write ‘Degree at Imperial’:
• Summarise academic attainment:
o Key modules
o Expected degree classification (or end of year result)
o Some projects undertaken, long-term lab work or
coursework (you can highlight skills here, too)
• Generally, as a student, include schooling back to
GCSE (or equivalent) – though this can be succinct
Putting together a CV:
Work Experience
• Again, reverse chronological order
• Set out each role with dates, employer and title
• Don’t just list tasks undertaken
• Use bullet points with action words to highlight
relevant skills and outcomes from each role –
which can be transferred and applied to future roles
• Could split this section if a range of experience
• e.g. ‘Relevant Experience’, ‘Engineering Experience’,
‘Voluntary Experience’, ‘Leadership Experience’…
Putting together a CV:
Skills
Generally, a skills section contains:
• IT/Computing – software, programming languages etc.
• Languages (indicate a level of competency)
• For some roles, you might wish to include a summary
of laboratory skills/techniques
• Driving licence
Be concise!
Putting together a CV:
Achievements
This sort of section is where you could mention:
• Academic awards and certificates
• Sporting or musical achievements
• Positions of responsibility (good to include dates)
• Other achievements outside of academia and work
Avoid just listing lots of titles of awards – often better to list
less and provide context, for example:
• Dean’s List 2015 (awarded to top 5% students)
• J.W. Smith Scholar 2013 (for highly commended Chemistry project)
Putting together a CV:
Interests
Employers often like to see a section on interests, to
show you have wider scope than just focusing on
studying.
However, don’t just list a load of things you like! Try to add a
little for each interest. For example:
• Are you on a team, or play a sport regularly?
• If you’ve travelled, did this involve organising itineraries?
• Do you blog about an interest, read widely on the subject or
contribute to online communities?
CVs and Job Descriptions
• How to match your skills to the skills an
employer is looking for.
What skills should you make sure you are highlighting
on your CV if you were applying for this role?
(3 mins, discuss in pairs)
Part of the role description for an Engineering (R&D)
Summer Internship at Mondelez –
1) Find the skills the employer wants
Job description: reviewed
• How can you show you have these skills in your
CV?
Think about how you can evidence the skills sought:
The employer wants… My evidence
Project management 2nd year group project when…
Organisation Planning and running events as
social secretary of IC Basketball
Attention to detail Inputting data and lab results…
Written communication Emailing members of society for…
Verbal communication Liaising with customers at…
Presentation skills Presenting poster to…
Team work Team of 5 on group project
2) Provide evidence for skills
Examples from Tom Jones’ CV:
• Project management:‘Entrepreneurship project in a team of 6 – created a new
product that was commercially viable using applied Physics and
developed a business plan…’ in Imperial research project
• Written communication:‘Wrote and presented written reports to senior management
team’ during BAE Systems Internship
• Interpersonal skills:‘Liaised with suppliers about the ordering of goods’ in sales role
3) Get this into your CV!
4) Get this into your cover letter!
Key paragraphs:
• Why you are writing
• Why the company
• Why you
• Why the role
• Closing paragraph: brief summary and thank
for the opportunity
Have a read through the example being circulated!
Where you should talk
about your relevant
skills, knowledge and
suitability for the role.
Key points from example
Last summer I worked at BAE Systems on different projects in multi-disciplinary teams varying from five to ten people on all stages of the design process.
Teamwork
I was also responsible for my own project that analysed data on operator response times and I used my programming skills to create an analytical tool, which increased the efficiency of one process by 15%
Analytical &
Programming
Skills
This placement stimulated my interest in consultancy, where I would be enabling organisations to operate more effectively through enhancing and developing the applications of technology.
Why this job
More key points from example
I volunteered to coach a novice boat crew where I was able to lead and motivate them to win a number of races.
Leadership
I was interested to read on your website that Hi Tec
Limited has developed innovative data handling
systems to increase significantly the response time for
information demands from key customers…
Why this company
My strong communication and technical skills
combined with my great interest in consultancy
provide evidence to support my application for this
role. My CV provides further information on my
background and I would welcome the opportunity to
discuss my application further.
Summary of
suitability
1. What is the purpose of the CV?
Your marketing document
Provides a summary of your education, experience & achievements
Helps you get an interview
2. How is it used in the recruitment/selection process?
Recruiters will often have a checklist of their requirements and will
be looking for these on your CV
3. What makes a good CV?
No more than 2 pages
Clear and concise layout
Tailored to the role
Uses action verbs to provide evidence of how you meet employer
requirements
CVs: a summary
1. What is the purpose of the cover letter?
A one-page document formatted as a letter that highlights why you
are interested in a specific company and the job role advertised.
2. How is it used in the recruitment/selection process?
Recruiters will often use a covering letter (or similar
question/statement) to judge your motivation for applying to their
company and the advertised role.
3. What makes a good cover letter?
Correct and clear formatting; in most cases one page in length
Key paragraphs on:
Why you?
Why the company?
Why the role?
Cover letters: a summary
Good Luck!
Barnaby Mollett & Jessica Noon
Placement & Internship Advisers