Redolphin

Tips for an Indestructable CV

2011-07-21T13:13:00.004+01:00

Jobsite finds out how to write a professional CV that wins you an interview.

You’ve found the ideal job vacancy. Now you need the ‘how to’ guide to write your professional CV. Most people are aware of the standard professional CV build: employment history, qualifications, contact details – but which key ingredients impress employers and win a place on their interview shortlist?

“Before you start to write your professional CV, write down your ten greatest achievements,” says Peter Appleby, Managing Director of Appleby Associates. “This should help you get in the right mindset, which is a marketing mindset. Your achievements demonstrate your proven abilities and what you have to offer. You’re a product being sold to a company, and the goal of your professional CV is to communicate what you can do for them. By considering your achievements first, you won’t fall into the trap of describing your skills without offering evidence to substantiate them.”

Many jobseekers know the basics of how to write a CV, but they don’t build a professional CV that’s a real killer. Linking key skills and abilities with real-life achievements when you write your CV, such as awards or work successes, is a sure-fire way to impress, according to the employers we spoke to. “It’s important that everything you say about yourself on your CV is supported by concrete evidence,” says Harry Freedman, Chief Executive of Career Energy. “So when you describe your key skills and abilities, make sure you back up these claims. Your professional CV is the only thing potential employers will know about you before they meet you in person, so it has to be convincing and sell you strongly.” And how not to write a CV? One of the things employers tell us they hate the most is CV jargon, which loosely means describing yourself as ‘a highly dedicated worker, with excellent attention to detail’ without giving any real life examples of how you’ve already demonstrated these abilities. Always make sure you back up your claims with hard evidence.

Tailor your professional CV to fit your employer. You should never send an ‘identikit’ version to multiple employers by email. Recruiters really object to being spammed by cut and paste CVs. Instead, find out as much as you can about what your recruiters want from your professional CV beforehand. Employers can be very subjective in their preferences, even if they don’t realise it. For example, Noel Marshall of recruitment agency Finance Professionals, categorically states that a personal summary including hobbies and interests gives recruiters a flavour of your personality. Whilst headhunter Andrew Baber of Planning for People believes unequivocally that personal summaries are ‘white noise’ which no-one ever reads.

Almost every employer we spoke to emphasised the need to keep a professional CV as short as possible: no more than two pages long, with plenty of white space and a good font size. A ‘stuffed’ looking CV was rated as very unappealing by employers and a warning sign that the potential employee can’t prioritise. Your goal is to communicate clearly and quickly that you’re right for the job, and this means keeping text to a minimum. “Your professional CV is a document that must be inviting to read,” says Freedman, “which means making it very easy on the eye. There should be lots of white space and you should only write what’s really necessary.” Most employment vacancies are oversubscribed, so you won’t be thanked for adding to a recruiter’s workload by sending pages and pages of CV material for them to wade through.

Essential items are clear, accurate contact details (including your email address) at the top of each page of your professional CV, details of previous employment and your qualifications. According to ‘Why You? CV Messages to Win Jobs’ author, John Lees, who carried out detailed surveys of employers, for each of your previous jobs you should write a brief overview of your position, and then a separate paragraph listing the key skills demonstrated during your employment.

Lees also notes that the majority of recruiters prefer employment histories starting with the most recent first and appearing before a candidate’s qualifications. According to Lees, only a third of employers were interested in GCSE and A Level grades, and professional CVs that begin with school qualifications, or other irrelevant qualifications, were cited as very unappealing.

Good presentation is very important. “You should use plain, white A4 paper and a standard font such as Times New Roman or Arial,” says Appleby. “Absolutely no, shall we say, ‘artistic’ fonts.” Also proof read, double-check and triple-check for errors. Before you dismiss this as an obvious point you would be amazed how many ‘professional’ CVs employers receive with typos and spelling mistakes. According to a nationwide survey of recruitment professionals carried out by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, 47% said that out of all the professional CVs they received, over half (50%) contained grammatical errors, with the worst offenders in the 21-25 year-old age group. For a recruiter with a mountain of professional CVs to work through, even one little error is a welcome reason to file an application in the pile marked ‘dustbin’.

Stand out from the crowd. If your research indicates your recruiter may favour a creative approach, don’t be afraid to be different. With three hundred black and white two-page CVs to get through, a cleverly creative approach can brighten an employer’s day. Examples which have made it through the door include a standard, professional CV coupled with a doll of the potential employee marketed as a super-hero with their employable qualities written on the box. Whilst one creative applicant seeking work with an events company put together an ‘invitation’ to employ her, complete with party poppers and streamers.

Perhaps most importantly, get a second opinion. “It’s a good idea to get a professional to look over your CV once it’s finished,” says Nick Rous, a career coach for Learn Direct. “Career coaches at Learn Direct can check your CV for free and make sure it’s correctly structured and includes the right amount of detail. A professional CV is not about cutting corners, get advice and take the time to do it properly.”

-Jobsite- www.jobsite.co.uk

Or if not why not try out the services provided by www.cvtemplate.co.uk where you can create an effective CV that wins interviews in a matter of minutes. When you get that job you have been eyeing for a hot minute don't forget Redolphin told you.

The Next Apprentice: Could Be You

2011-07-15T09:53:00.017+01:00

Have you ever taken the time out to watch 'The Apprentice' however daunting it may sound, it's actually quite the source for entertainment, as well as a huge learning curb for viewers as well as the contestants. Lord Sugar takes on 16 hopefuls in a bid to find a business partner in whom he can invest a £250,000 prize into the winning contestants business, the winner will then be able to choose what type of business they wish to set up and will have the backing and mentoring of Lord Sugar, with each taking a 50/50 stake in the company.

Each week the contestants are divided into two teams, with one selected nominated Project Manager. The teams will go head-to-head in a series of tasks selected by Lord Sugar that will see their business skills tested to the maximum.

The two teams will then compete against each other under the watchful eye of Karren Brady and Nick Hewer, who will report their findings back to Lord Sugar.

After completing the task both teams will return to the boardroom to find out which team has won. Winning the task is usually dependent on gaining the most profit.

The winning team will be rewarded with a treat while the losing team’s Project Manager will select two other team members to accompany them back into the boardroom, where one of them will be fired.

The three candidates will then put their case to Lord Sugar who will then decide who will be fired and leave the competition for good.

Check out official 'Apprentice' site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/apprentice/

You never know you could be the next Apprentice, let us know of any business ideas that you may have. Would you be willing to go into business with Lord Sugar?

Also with just days to go before Lord Sugar announces his new business partner
in The Apprentice, comedian and frustrated fan Dara O Briain shares his theories on how to become a winning candidate. Using evidence from Series 7, Dara analyses the common mistakes candidates make, as well as the clever tactics that keep them in the running.
Catch it today at 22:35 on BBC One.

8 Messages We Loved From Oprah's Final Show

2011-07-12T11:45:00.001+01:00

Oprahs Final Show

After 25 years on daytime television, it’s mind-boggling to think that Oprah has spent 4,561 days of her life on the Oprah Winfrey Show stage, chronicling the lives of thousands of guests, from the every day person to superstar celebrity. She’s battled issues such as substance, drug, domestic and child abuse. She’s given her viewers exclusive interviews and changed lives all over the world, not only through her own story of growing up in the backwoods of Mississippi but also through the trials and triumphs of strangers and familiar popular icons.

She used her final hour to deliver a message that was powerful, inspiring and displayed true leadership. Here are eight notable Oprah quotes of inspiration on love, self-confidence, living life to the fullest, being responsible for your own decisions, humility, and much more:

On Learning What Love Is
“I am truly amazed that I, who started out in rural Mississippi in 1954 when the vision for a black girl was limited to being either a maid or a teacher in a segregated school, could end up here. It is no coincidence that a lonely little girl who felt not a lot of love, even though my parents and grandparents did the best they could, it is no coincidence that I grew up to feel the genuine kindness, affection, trust and validation from millions of you all over the world. From you whose names I will never know, I learned what love is. You and this show have been the great love of my life.”

On Being Worthy
“…We often block our own blessings because we don’t feel inherently good enough or smart enough or pretty enough or worthy enough. You’re worthy because you are born and because you are here. Your being here, your being alive makes worthiness your birthright. You alone are enough.”

On Embracing Life
Start embracing the life that is calling you and use your life to serve the world.”

On Being Responsibly for Your Life
“Nobody but you is responsible for your life. It doesn’t matter what your mama did; it doesn’t matter what your daddy didn’t do. You are responsible for your life. … You are responsible for the energy that you create for yourself, and you’re responsible for the energy that you bring to others.’Please take responsibility for the energy you bring into this space.’”

On Everyone Having a Calling
We are all called. Everybody has a calling, and your real job in life is to figure out what that is and get about the business of doing it. It lights you up and it lets you know that you are exactly where you’re supposed to be, doing exactly what you’re supposed to be doing. I want for all of you [...] to live from the heart of yourself. You have to make a living; I understand that. But you also have to know what sparks the light in you so that you, in your own way, can illuminate the world.”

On Never Feeling Superior to Anyone
I learned from the guests on this show, no need to feel superior to anybody. Because whether it’s heroin addiction or gambling addiction or shopping addiction or food addiction, work addiction, the root is all the same. The show has taught me there is a common thread that runs through all of our pain and all of our suffering, and that is unworthiness. Not feeling worthy enough to own the life you were created for. Even people who believe they deserve to be happy and have nice things often don’t feel worthy once they have them.

On Listening to God
“The only time I’ve ever made mistakes is when I didn’t listen. So what I know is, God is love and God is life, and your life is always speaking to you. First in whispers. … It’s subtle, those whispers. And if you don’t pay attention to the whispers, it gets louder and louder. What I’ve gleaned from this show: Whispers are always messages, and if you don’t hear the message, the message turns into a problem. And if you don’t handle the problem, the problem turns into a crisis. And if you don’t handle the crisis, disaster. Your life is speaking to you. What is it saying?”

On Being Rejected
“When we went national, I remember at the time, Roger King told me that one station manager said that he’d rather put a potato in a chair in his market than have a big black girl with a funny name. And in spite of that, from Memphis to Macon, from Pittsburgh to Pensacola, from New York to New Orleans, you all let me in."

Beyonce Tells us to Take Charge

2011-07-12T11:34:00.004+01:00

International Pop Star MS Beyonce Knowles talks about splitting up with her manager father Matthew Knowles. In a recent documentary aired in time for the release of her latest album '4' Beyonce talks about the courage and strength it took to take her Destiny in her own hands after being managed by her father from the beginning of her career since her 'Destinys Child' days, she states:

I’ve been managed by my father for a long time and a real change meant separating from him. It was scary but it empowered me and I wasn’t going to let fear stop me. It was very risky for me to step out on my own. Being a young woman I want to set the example that it’s possible for us to own our own businesses and own our own record labels. Sometimes we don’t reach for the stars, sometimes we are satisfied with what people tell us that we’re suppose to be satisfied with and I’m just not going for it.

What's hindering you from taking that leap in life? Stop procastinating and a make a move now, yes we've all heard it before ''You can be what you want to be'' But can you really? Yes you can! All you need to do is apply yourself, Beyonce did not get to the level she is at right now, without the work ethic that she puts behind it. You can be that person to exceed expectations, do the unusual and exceed your own expectations.

Oprah's Last show: Host on 25-Year run

2011-07-12T11:08:00.004+01:00

Here's a little bit of inspiration from a woman whose seen and conquered. Oprah Winfrey has single-handedly opened doors for many new comers when it comes to daytime talk shors, branding, and international media, while contributing to the inspiration behind peoples drive for success from all walks of life.

In this clip Oprah sits down for her exit intervies, and reflects on the fact that she intially wanted to be on 'Good Morning America', who she wished she had interviewed during her career and why her show, and why her show connected so well with people:

If this does not inspire you to reach heights that you have never ever thought were reachable, then you are limiting yourself, exceed your own expectations. Do better than better BE THE BEST.

2010-09-01T15:28:00.001+01:00

Have you been affected by the recession?

Maybe you lost your job or your home

Rest assured that all is not lost, no situation is permanent.

We can help if you share your experiences with us....

WHAT IS YOUR DREAM JOB?

2010-05-10T14:43:00.001+01:00

If you had a Dream Job what would it be?
Maybe your already working in your dream Job.... Tell us about it.

INTERVIEW FROM HELL!!!! What is the worst interview you’ve ever been on? Did you get the job? Share your experiences with us.....

2010-03-29T11:56:00.001+01:00

Many of us have had at least one bad interview in our lifetime. What is yours? What made it so bad? Despite that did you get the job in the end? Here at Redolphin we care about our candidates and always want to know which area's that we can help you to get the job that you deserve.

So tell us all about it, we can help

Welcome to our Blog

2010-03-18T12:12:00.001Z

Welcome to the Blog of Redolphin.com