USEFUL APPLICATION TIPS

Helpful Tips When Writing Your CV

Your CV (Curriculum Vitae) is your one chance to make an impression and is a crucial part of the job application process. It needs to sell your attributes and reflect your key skills and experience as well as convince the potential employer that they should interview you.

We at Abbey Mortimer Ltd feel that your CV should be no more than a two or three page document with a covering letter which highlights your specific skills and experience. You should summarize your educational background, qualifications, employment and experience reflecting positive attitudes to demonstrate how you meet the requirements of a specific position.

When building your CV a few suggestions are as follows:

Personal Details - Your full name, current address, latest contact telephone numbers, email address and any other personal information you would like to add.

Personal Profile - Brief account as to your personality, your characteristics, your strengths and an idea of your future career ideas.

Skills - You should highlight your specific skills. All qualifications gained which are relevant to the position you are applying for. Include courses completed, all IT skills including the level of your experience and skills.

Education - Your highest qualification should be shown first. List all qualifications & grades along with the subject and name of educational establishment.

Employment History - Layout your CV in reverse order starting with the present making sure you list job title, name of organization, location, dates of employment. Descriptions of your responsibilities and achievements in that position especially those relevant to the position you are applying for.

Hobbies & Leisure Interests - List some of your interests outside the work environment which reflect the sort of person you are.

 
You must make sure that the presentation of your CV is clear and easy to read and also  reflecting a positive and reliable attitude to past working experiences. Grammar and spelling is a must.

INTERVIEW TIPS

Interviews and etiquette:
Preparation:
The better you are prepared the more confident and relaxed you will be at your interview. Make sure you know:

• The exact time (and you should arrive a little early)
• The location and how to get there.
• The interviewer’s name and title.

Some other important points:

• Appearance is very important – dress smartly and appropriately.
• Find out as much as you can about the company beforehand – the Internet can be very useful for this. Good research can impress the interviewer with your seriousness about joining the company.
• Think about questions you would like to ask – most interviewers will give time for this and your questions should be relevant and well thought out.

Questions:

Interviewers want to get to know you, and they will ask you questions, which are designed to reveal your character. They are looking for qualities such as reliability, initiative, confidence, communication, flexibility and independence. You should try to answer questions fully, but make sure you keep to the point. Be honest, and if you don’t have an opinion, say so. It is important to be prepared, but don’t rehearse too much, or your responses will sound insincere. These are some of the things the interview may ask you about:

Yourself:

Often the interviewer will begin by simply asking you to speak about yourself. For them it is a chance to hear you to talk and break the ice, for you it is an opportunity to summarise your qualifications, career and abilities, and emphasise those skills related to the position you are applying for. Keep to points which are relevant do not digress into unnecessary personal details and do not talk for more than four or five minutes.

Your career:

The interviewer may ask you if you are happy with your career so far. You should always give a positive response – they want to know how you view yourself, to gauge your self-esteem and confidence, you can qualify your answer if you feel, for example, that your career is moving too slowly, but most importantly you want to appear as a positive, successful person.

Achievements:

You want to give the interviewer the sense that you are an achiever. Be ready to describe a fairly recent, work-related, identifying the skills it demanded and its benefit to the company.

Strengths and weaknesses:

You should be able to speak about both in a straightforward and honest way, communicating a good level of self-awareness and objectivity to the interviewer.
You should discuss three or four of your strengths, such as technical abilities and personal qualities, and how they could benefit the employer, giving examples.
Speak about a professional and your willingness to change and improve. Avoid trivial personal weaknesses.

Likes and dislikes:

If the interviewer asks you about your personal likes and dislikes, for example in your present job, answer with caution. You do not want to say you dislike a task, which may turn out to be crucial to the job you are applying for or draw attention to weaknesses. Keep to ‘safe’ general topics, such as issues related to the size of your present company.

Reasons for leaving your current job:

You should be prepared with a straightforward and positive response to this question, greater challenges, more responsibility, further experience and a change of environment are all good motivations for leaving, and will make a better impression than negative or financial reasons.

Interviewers may also ask about:

• Your long-term career aspiration.
• Your expectations from a company.
• How your colleagues would describe you.
• Why they should give this job to you rather then anyone else.
• How you feel about working long hours or weekends.
• Whether you prefer working alone or in a team.
• Work-related awards you have received.
• Recent courses or training your have completed.

Final words:

At the end of the interview you should feel confident that you have communicated all the interviewer needs to know about yourself and your abilities, and have asked any questions you have. Ask the interviewer what the next steps – this shows your interest in the positions.

For further information on the services of Abbey Mortimer Ltd please telephone one of our consultants on 01268 777646, alternatively email your CV to recruit@abbeymortimer.com