Make your CV work harder for you

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Finding a job, any job, in today’s employment market is tough. As a job seeker you need to make sure every weapon in your arsenal is honed to deliver the maximum possible value in your job search, and the most crucial weapon at your disposal in your quest for work is undoubtedly your CV.

Your CV is one of the most powerful, personally relevant documents you’ll ever produce. Essentially it should encapsulates who you are, what you’ve done with your life to date, where you’re heading in the future and why a prospective employer would be crazy want to discover more about you. It’s a marketing document designed to sell the best product in the world: you!

Thinking of your CV as a marketing tool can be useful in a variety of ways. Before embarking on any campaign a marketer needs to know what the aim of the campaign is (what they want out of it) and the target market. The better they know that market — its wants, needs and preferences — the better they can tailor their marketing campaign to deliver the result they want. It’s the same thing with your CV — the crucial thing is to know what you want (an invitation to interview), and the more you know about your prospective employer, the easier it will be to tailor your CV to address their specific needs.

So dust off your CV, and look it over with a critical eye — is it really selling the benefits of product you? Put yourself in the shoes of a hiring manager at your ideal employer, look through your CV again… is it hitting the right buttons? Would you choose this CV out of potentially hundreds and invite the candidate for an interview? If not, ask yourself why, pinpoint the problem areas and work on them. It’s worth investing a bit of time and energy into getting your CV right, because it’s a key that can open the door to a new job and, ultimately, a brighter career.

What your CV needs to deliver:

• Focus on benefits: it should highlight what you can bring to an organisation, and back it up with specific examples wherever possible.
• Capture and retain attention: just like any other marketing document, the key to an effective CV is to capture and retain your audience’s attention. Make your CV more than a dry rendition of facts… work to make it engaging. That doesn’t mean waffle on with wordy prose… hiring managers are busy people. Keep it concise and to the point, but make sure it flows seamlessly from beginning to end. Use headings an bullet points effectively to make it easy to pick up compelling points with a quick scan.
• Leave them wanting more: your CV is your first interaction with your prospective employer… ideally the first of many. Yes, it should tell your story quickly, in a compelling and engaging way, but it shouldn’t tell the whole story. A well executed CV should leave the employer wanting to know more about you, and compel them to invite you in for an interview.
• Hint at interview questions you want to answer: while there’s no guarantee your CV will lead to an interview, if it does it’s also likely to be your interviewer’s primary point of reference as prepare to ask you questions. Knowing that gives you an opportunity, before you even walk through the door, to influence the direction your interview is likely to take. Obviously thorough interview preparation is a must, but anything that helps put you in the driving seat is a real boon.

Taking the marketing analogy a bit further, you now have to get your CV out in front of prospective employers. The best marketing material in the world won’t achieve anything unless its seen by the right people. Reaching the right market is fundamental to the success of any marketing campaign, and it’s the same thing with your CV. Luckily, you have more options available today than ever before. As well as applying directly for specific jobs you can also try:

• Direct mail / E-mail: compile a list of employers in the area you’d like to work, then send them your CV and a covering letter introducing yourself and asking about potential opportunities.
• Recruitment Agencies: drop your CV in to local agencies in person if you can, or find out who’s responsible for recruitment in your field and e-mail your CV to them — follow up by telephone for a chat about the services they can offer you.
• Job boards: upload your CV to as many relevant job listing sites as you can. Employers and agencies regularly scan these sites for suitable candidates, and if your skills match, they could contact you!
• Other online tools: the internet has opened up a slew of new ways for job-seekers to get noticed, from profiling your skills and experience on business networking site LinkedIn, to writing your own blog, to using social media sites like Twitter. There are also CV showcase sites like the brand new ShowMyCV.ie, which are all about bringing employers and candidates together.

No matter what industry you’re in, or what level of job your looking for, making your CV work harder for you makes a lot of sense.

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