Just a general heads up
Discussion
Started this in another thread but really it needs a more general airing.
I've been unemployed for quite some time and really wasn't getting anywhere, I was sent on a "voluntary" course for 6 weeks on CV writing and how to job search on the internet [
] how to create an E mail address and had my CV doctored and adapted to the current local job market [yeah right].
This pointedly failed, as, after applying for 84 engineering jobs in one particular month and receiving only 2 Email knock backs obviously something was wrong.
It was only when a really helpful lady from Hays took time, some 20 odd minutes, on a Friday afternoon to dissect my CV on the phone that in fact I realised that the experts had screwed it up. Subtlety but enough to knacker it. I had to put back in the service stuff they had dismissed......
So fast forwards a couple of months and things have changed immensely, job offers and more interviews to go, all because of a random 20 minute phone call.
Scary Huh!
all the best
Mo.
I've been unemployed for quite some time and really wasn't getting anywhere, I was sent on a "voluntary" course for 6 weeks on CV writing and how to job search on the internet [
] how to create an E mail address and had my CV doctored and adapted to the current local job market [yeah right].This pointedly failed, as, after applying for 84 engineering jobs in one particular month and receiving only 2 Email knock backs obviously something was wrong.
It was only when a really helpful lady from Hays took time, some 20 odd minutes, on a Friday afternoon to dissect my CV on the phone that in fact I realised that the experts had screwed it up. Subtlety but enough to knacker it. I had to put back in the service stuff they had dismissed......
So fast forwards a couple of months and things have changed immensely, job offers and more interviews to go, all because of a random 20 minute phone call.
Scary Huh!
all the best
Mo.
CVs are an emotive issue at the best of times, but to lose confidence in well meaning advice I am sure is not good. But you've come out the other end, albeit more slowly than you would have hoped, better for it.
So many people misunderstand what a CV is for and how it should be constructed. It is really quite simple, but complex at the same time. Simple in that it needs to be what the prospective employer is looking for, but complex in being able to concisely and with impact distill the essence and the potential of the individual to whom it is representing.
CVs are not a simple (and worse still, templated) 'this is what I have done' (for my previous employer/s); but are a more complex 'this is what I am capable of' (for you, my next employer). To do this properly, anyone supporting the constructing of a CV needs to have a deep understanding of the individual, including their strengths and weaknesses and their values and standards, and needs to draw out, through reflection, the impact an individual has made. My experience is that this can take up to 2 hours discussion from a poor start (i.e. a weak CV), to a minimum of 90 minutes from a good start point. Constructing the CV can then take a further 2/3 hours through, usually, 2 or 3 drafts. The result should then be a high quality, high impact CV able to best represent you in the, increasingly difficult, job market.
So many people misunderstand what a CV is for and how it should be constructed. It is really quite simple, but complex at the same time. Simple in that it needs to be what the prospective employer is looking for, but complex in being able to concisely and with impact distill the essence and the potential of the individual to whom it is representing.
CVs are not a simple (and worse still, templated) 'this is what I have done' (for my previous employer/s); but are a more complex 'this is what I am capable of' (for you, my next employer). To do this properly, anyone supporting the constructing of a CV needs to have a deep understanding of the individual, including their strengths and weaknesses and their values and standards, and needs to draw out, through reflection, the impact an individual has made. My experience is that this can take up to 2 hours discussion from a poor start (i.e. a weak CV), to a minimum of 90 minutes from a good start point. Constructing the CV can then take a further 2/3 hours through, usually, 2 or 3 drafts. The result should then be a high quality, high impact CV able to best represent you in the, increasingly difficult, job market.
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