Have you thought about what you’re going to do after university? How you’re going to find the right job?
A bit scary, isn’t it?
Luckily, a recent B&E lecture gave us at least some of the answers and might help us put some of those stressful thoughts to bed.
Here’s what we covered in the lecture…
Firstly, we heard that a good curriculum vitae (CV) are at the forefront of any job application. It’s the primary tool employers use to evaluate your suitability for a role.
So it’s vital that you get the design, content, and covering letter of a CV right in order to stand out from the crowd and be the one they select.
Stick to Standard Formats for Your CV
Although there is no completely standard design format for a CV, it needs to feel familiar to the reader so they don’t get lost or confused.
Feel free to apply a little creativity to make your CV eye-catching and different, but you must make sure that it’s easily readable. And make sure you get your spelling and grammar right too!
Make Your CV Content Concise and Focused
In a CV you only have 2 pages to get all the key aspects of your suitability for a job over to a potential employer.
That’s not a lot of space!
So be concise and relevant. No need to include when you learned how to ride your bike or conquered your childhood fear of spiders. Unless it’s relevant to the job you’re applying for, you’re simply wasting space.
Keep your CV straight to the point and highlight your job skills. It’s also vital that you include your module marks from your course, especially if you are applying for an academic post.
Target Your Perfect Job With a Great Covering Letter
In my opinion, this was the most important aspect of the lecture and a defining part of any job application.
A cover letter is an additional cover sheet used to tailor your application to your dream job.
It allows you to show off your knowledge of their company and any extra reading you have done on them to put your application in a positive light before they have even read your CV.
Recent research has shown that recruiters often look at a CV for just a few seconds before deciding whether to put a candidate forward for a job. Your covering letter is your chance to make sure your CV gets read more thoroughly and gets put forward.
So make sure you do your research for your preferred employers. It can make all the difference
Your Next Step
The information in the lecture certainly helped to reduce my stress levels and will allow me to be more confident when applying for job posts with a tailored and emphatic new look on my CVs.
I have also found out the need for module marks which, as seen here, has already added to my CV content. From this it has made my CV writing more consice as the level of space I have left has drastically reduced.
It also made me reconsider readable text fonts and formatting issues that may have once plagued my mind when writing to employers. Sometimes Times New Roman is the best font to use as it doesnt distract the reader from the content.
And hopefully, this article has helped you to de-stress a little about CVs too!
For more useful information the Prospectus website is full of tips and ideas about CVs and covering letters.
But don’t forget that your CV is simply the ticket to the next step of the process. You still need to get through the dreaded interview!
You can read more here about interview skills from the next B&E lecture.