There are some things we spend too little time on. Things that have a great bearing on our lives. Buying a house, for instance. The average time spent looking around what’s probably the most important purchase of your life is about 17 minutes. That almost inconsequential amount of time can make such a profound difference to your future that all the experts shout that more time should be invested in making sure you’re doing the right thing.

Those experts shout until they’re blue in the face. The advice only gets through to a few people. Those people can, therefore, spend a little more time and use it to their advantage.

I say the same thing is true for writing a CV.

It’s woeful how little time we spend on such a potentially life altering document. Okay, so a CV is never the sole basis for employing someone and some companies don’t even accept CVs, only their own applications. But there are so many advantages to a good CV that it’s madness to ignore its importance. You see, a CV is your entry to an interview in many cases and the chance to give a positive first impression. And if a company won’t accept CVs, at least you have your positive qualities, work and education dates, awards, and key skills written down (up to date!) and ready to transfer to the format the application requires. Then all you need to do really is complete a personal statement. I aim to write about these at a later date.

I’m not going to explain HOW to write a CV, because there is a multitude of books, websites, blogs, forums, advice centres, yadda yadda yadda, that can do that. There are some tips on getting the basics right below, however.

Anyway, what I want to shout until I’m blue in the face is:

“Write your CV while you don’t need it!”

…or at least make a convincing start.

Since 17 minutes isn’t a long time (unless you’re waiting for the bloody kettle to boil…sorry!), why not spend about 15-20 minutes A WEEK during TERM TIME ONLY and see how much you can get written in the same time it takes to listen to 3 or 4 songs on your MP3 player? Not even while you’re on holidays and semester breaks. Just when you’re at uni itself.

Using short bursts of time to achieve a goal is not a new concept. Just look HERE and HERE. So your CV is one important document that deserves a flash of energy over about 30 weeks. Just 15 minutes a week would give you an amazing 7 and a half hours on developing your CV. That’s like one whole working day for a lot of people, so you should have a pretty solid standing by that time.

Of course, there’s no reason to do it this way if you’d rather get it out of the way. If you do, even better! But don’t rush it. Maybe one hour a day over a week would be just as good…

The point is that ignoring your CV is tantamount to ignoring your future and hoping for the best, even though you’re not putting your best in. As I said in Wednesday’s post, if you don’t put your points across, or even if you do a poor job of it, your skills and experiences will count for nothing.

All CVs are different and depend on a lot of factors, but they all should feature:

• your personal details (name, address, etc.)
• dates of education and the grades you achieved
• any work experience and prior employment
• key skills

There are many other possible entries on a CV (such as awards, memberships, personal statement/motto, professional qualifications, etc.), but I won’t go further into those as you’re more likely to have a better idea when you’re trying to give your CV a more purposeful or targetted focus. For now, it’s more important to get the basics organised as carefully as possible.

And here are 7 tips on getting those basics right:

1. Make it punchy, with hard hitting sentences and short explanations. An essay on each job is not required here.
2. Get your CV to fit about 2 pages – This is old advice and given out often, but it doesn’t stop people sending off CVs with 4 or 5 pages. There’s no need for it. If you really must, make it 3 pages, but I’m sure you’ve got it in you to rework it into less (yet make it even harder hitting…).
3. Space your CV out – Present the CV so there is plenty of margin space and room to write around your text. You never know when employers want to write notes so they can remember the positive information you’re communicating to them!
4. Set out bold headings so people know where they are looking and what to expect.
5. Don’t be lazy about mistakes – A CV is one of the worst possible places to make mistakes. It still happens quite often. Check, check again, check with someone else, then check again. Then check again!
6. Make it concise, yet relevant – Never forget this document needs to be punchy. Nevertheless, you still need to give relevant examples. It’s not good enough to say you are trustworthy and a teamworker, explain why and how you managed it.
7. Think ’employer’, think ‘recruiter’ – Look at your CV. Would you give yourself a job? Do you think it would be hard to find a better CV than yours? Does the CV feel personal? Do you believe in the CV as much as you believe in yourself? Would you be happy to show this to someone and say ‘this is me in a nutshell’? If not, keep trying until you do.

Monday’s and Wednesday’s posts gave tips on forming a career plan and understanding your abilities, skills and experiences. With that in mind, you will hopefully see what kind of detail would look good to a prospective employer.

Get this out of the way now and you can quit worrying when you actually NEED a quality CV.

This article is part of the Pushing Toward Employment Nirvana Series.  The full content links are:

• Part 1: Introduction
• Part 2: Career Goals & Ideas
• Part 3: Your Abilities & Experiences
• Part 4: It’s Never Too Early to Start a CV

Picture this. You’ve graduated, your stint in two societies as treasurer has come to an end, you’ve finished enjoying your elected position in the SU, and the members of your jamming band have gone their separate ways (i.e. back home).

You will have achieved a lot during your time at uni, even if you didn’t do all these things. But when it’s time to sell your skills and abilities to potential employers, it’ll come to nothing if you don’t mention it.

Whatever you’ve been through, you’re probably underestimating yourself. It’s time to start giving yourself some credit!

As I’ve already mentioned, a degree is now just the start. With a greater number of graduates entering the pool for work, there’s a need to stand out based on other experiences too. Don’t be shy!

To guide the way, it is important to do the following:

• Think of key words and key experiences

First, here’s a basic list of experiences that might be relevant to you. I’m sure you can think of more. You may have done some of these, you may be aware of them, or you may be looking to participate in some of these in the future:

Clubs
Societies
Sports
Outside uni activities
SU elections
meetings and presentations
event preparation
dealing with the public
busking
general leisure activities (photography, writing, jogging, rambling, collecting…)
senior student/student ambassador duties
event assistance (car park duties, directions, bouncer on door, etc.)

They can all be used to your advantage in putting your selling points across.

Secondly, here’s just a small number of key words and skills that you can highlight when you mention experiences like those above:

Organisation
Team working ability
Trustworthy,
Determination
Commitment
Approachability
Willingness to participate
Enthusiasm
Leadership
Self-discipline
Presentation
Motivation
Flexibility
Dependability
Honesty
Creative
Practical

There are many more. To get a grasp of the type of words used by employers when looking for employees, scan the job adverts in local newspapers, national newspapers, the internet, specialist journals, and so on. Get a feel for business literature too, if you can. Read promotional literature about a company, such as their report & accounts and their mission statements. Reading on this level will point you in the right direction of what is being looked for.

I mentioned being a society treasurer at the beginning of this post. You can put many key words against having that responsibility. It will be a position requiring trust, organisation, dependability, a head for figures, and some pursuasive skills. Not bad going, especially if you’re referring to skills that are related to an activity you feel enthusiastic about.

I don’t know what experiences you’ve had; only you can do that. Take the time to note down what you have been through and how you have developed. Even the smallest of events could have given a whole new set of skills for you to impress an employer with. But you need to be impressed yourself before you can really hit it out to other people. That’s why it’s okay to look at yourself in more favourable terms for a few minutes than you might usually. Don’t put yourself down or feel as if you could have done better. Acknowledge your strengths and positivities so you can mention them proudly. Speaking up for yourself and highlighting where you can achieve something is different to arrogance. It’s only when you believe you’re the best, totally beyond everyone else, that you become arrogant. Even if you have a unique talent, explain it for what you can bring to a position, not simply for why you’re better than everyone else. Then it’s not arrogant. Pointing out the facts and experiences about you is about positively selling yourself. Remember that.

Be it a general hobby, a major commitment, or even writing a blog like this, there are so many ways to tap into your various achievements as you have developed over time. Even if you think you’re the most boring person around and don’t think you have any qualities worth noting, what you need is a kick up the bum in realising that you ARE able.

And when it gets nearer the time, read up on the companies you are applying for. I mention this now, because it’s amazing how little some candidates research the very places they are looking to impress. Bear this in mind and you’ll remember that a little research can go a long way. It also paves the way to proving that you can work off your own back, you can research a topic effectively, and you are enthusiastic. Also, with these pointers you can work on expressing your key abilities and skills that are mostly relevant to the position you are going to apply for.On Friday, it’s the dreaded CV post. It’s no good waiting to make that ‘killer’ CV. Even a Fresher – maybe not even a month into a new degree – can get started with a punchy document that can get you going right away. I’ll explain more in my final post.

This article is part of the Pushing Toward Employment Nirvana Series.  The full content links are:

• Part 1: Introduction
• Part 2: Career Goals & Ideas
• Part 3: Your Abilities & Experiences
• Part 4: It’s Never Too Early to Start a CV