by Lis McGuire | Jun 10, 2014 | CV tips, Job transition advice, News
A job search can be a stressful scenario and, as with many stressful scenarios, it has the power to bring out the worst in each and every one of us. As a job seeker under pressure, you are faced with decisions that could make or break your future. If you take one path, then you are likely to end up at a certain destination; follow the other fork in the road and you will almost certainly end up at another. With your future hanging in the balance, emotions can run high and your capacity to remain considered and honour your true virtues may be compromised.
This week we have decided to consider the seven deadly sins of job hunting. Are you guilty of any of these vices in the context of your job search?
Greed
Remember, money is not everything. When looking for a new job, don’t just be tempted by the salary. Make sure it is the role itself that appeals and one that you feel, in your heart, that you could take on and enjoy. It’s been known that people have gone for well-paid jobs and found that the role doesn’t fit with their aspirations or skill set, or that they’ve bitten off more than they can chew.
“Greed is not a financial issue. It’s a heart issue.” ~ Andy Stanley
Gluttony
Don’t be lured into making your job applications too fat! Remember, a two-page CV is the ideal maximum. Don’t be excessive and cram every single bit of experience into your CV. Indulge your inner gourmet and keep it selective but informative. This also applies to job application forms. Make sure you answer the questions and keep to the point.
“Gluttony is a great fault; but we do not necessarily dislike a glutton. We only dislike a glutton when he becomes a gourmet…” ~ GK Chesterton
Lust
There is no point in coveting and applying for every single job you see in the hopes that one application will pay off. Make sure you only apply for the roles you really desire and are seriously considering, ensuring that your CV is targeted to these roles.
“Curiosity is the lust of the mind.” ~ Thomas Hobbes
Envy
As the saying goes “the grass is always greener”. You may see your friend in a seemingly dream role, benefiting from exciting projects, a fantastic salary and generous bonus. It can be tempting to compare yourself to them and find your own job lacking. Have a good long think about what you love or don’t love about your current role before you think about leaving. Consider the pros and cons of staying on before convincing yourself that a different job would fulfil your desires.
“He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.” ~ Socrates
Sloth
Don’t be lazy with your job hunt, don’t expect jobs to come to you. Some people are lucky enough to be head-hunted for a job that represents a great match with their skills, experience and career dreams, but most of us have to work hard at finding a new position. Therefore, it is important to keep checking relevant websites, check in with your recruitment agent regularly, keep your LinkedIn profile up to date and research target companies or industries in preparation for that all-important interview.
“We excuse our sloth under the pretext of difficulty.” ~ Quintilian
Wrath
Don’t make the mistake of ‘jacking in your job’ because someone or something has angered you. It can be self-destructive to throw away a good role, which could potentially lead to something bigger in the future, because you couldn’t stand the company politics, or a colleague got on your nerves, or because you’ve been passed over for a promotion. When you make your decision to leave a job, it should be a measured choice rather than one made in a flash of anger.
“Men often make up in wrath what they want in reason.” ~ William R. Alger
Pride
Pride is considered to be the original and most serious of the deadly sins, and can be the downfall of many a jobseeker. Don’t be too proud to ask for help with your CV, especially if it’s not getting you any interviews. It is worth having a friend to look it over or, even better, asking a professional CV writer to deliver a free CV review. Also, don’t be reticent in asking for help from your network, whether it be for job ideas, CV tips or even interview tips.
“In general, pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes.” ~ John Ruskin
If you can honestly say that you are innocent of these vices, then you truly are a job search angel. If not, chin up, you’re only human after all!
by Lis McGuire | May 27, 2014 | CV tips, Infographics, News
Are you guilty of these 10 CV crimes? Some of the mistakes we see on CVs are just heinous. They come up so frequently that we have been inspired to publish this infographic outlining the most atrocious CV offences.
A jury of recruiters will inevitably judge your employability and potential on the basis of your CV, so why not examine the 10 exhibits below to establish if your CV would hold up in court? Are you guilty as charged? If so, consider this a caution and revisit your CV to show the recruiter it would be criminal not to hire you. If you need any help, our professional CV writing service would be considered a ‘steal’.
Please feel free to use this infographic on your own website or blog using the embed code below.
by Lis McGuire | May 20, 2014 | CV tips, News
Scrutinising your CV before the recruiter does is a great way to court a positive result and improve your chances of securing that much-coveted interview. By analysing and judging your CV’s content with a critical eye, you should be inspired to identify and pursue some areas of improvement. It is well worth taking the time and making the effort to complete a thorough review of your CV to ensure that it presents you at your best.
This week’s blog looks at practical ways to refine and improve your CV’s content, focused around two very simple questions: So what? Says who? These two little questions can be applied to every section of your CV and can make a big impact. Here’s how to use them to ensure your CV does you justice:
Question 1 – So what?
Asking ‘So what?’ about every line of your CV is a great way to critique potentially staid content. This small and simple question makes you consider the true results of your actions, helping you to refine your CV content to make it more powerful.
Your CV is likely to contain any number of woolly generalisations, all CVs tend to. By asking ‘so what?’ and answering your own question, you can inform the recruiter about how your actions make a difference, taking them from a 2D status to a 3D statement.
When reading each line of your CV, ask:
So what?
What was the actual result and impact of this action?
What specific benefit did I deliver by doing this?
How did my action impact in a local and in a wider context?
Then use your answers to reword and upgrade your CV content. By being more specific about your experience, skills and achievements you can improve your presentation of your offering, making it clear to recruiters why they should interview and hire you.
Quantify your achievement wherever possible. By including a tangible measurement (size of budget, cost savings made, performance against set sales targets, or even awards), you can help the recruiter to get a better handle of what your actions and results were.
The ultra-cool BBC Dimensions site illustrates the power of quantifying events to communicate a point. The site enables users to take important places, historical events and things, and overlay them onto a zoomable map of their own locality. When considering something remote like the size of the moon, it can be hard to visualise how large it actually is. By describing it in terms we are more familiar with, we gain a better understanding of its features.
Question 2 – Says who?
As part of your personal marketing toolkit, your CV, by its very nature, will represent your own personal take on your experience, skills and achievements. Asking ‘Says who?’ is a good litmus test, giving you the chance to sanity check and validate your own opinions before the recruiter does.
When reading each line of your CV, ask:
Says who?
Is there someone who would corroborate my statement?
Would their opinion of me be of interest to the recruiter?
How can I evidence their opinion to the recruiter?
If others in your peer group wouldn’t necessarily back up a statement on your CV, then reconsider how authentic it is and whether you should include it. If others would be willing to recommend you for the skills and experience you are promoting, then consider how to convey this to the recruiter.
You can reword and upgrade your CV content to reflect the opinions of your network. For example, rather than stating:
‘Delivered a tangible increase in sales turnover’
You could write:
‘Achieved a commendation from the CEO for driving a 50% increase in sales turnover within six months’
Whilst references don’t really belong on a CV, a way around this is to reference your LinkedIn url for recruiters to follow and find out more. Using LinkedIn recommendations and endorsements are a great way to convey what others think of you. This kind of social proof is massive and represents an easy and transparent way to evidence that you are who you say you are, and that you do know what you say you know. You can:
Request and showcase LinkedIn recommendations from peers at all levels to build and enhance your reputation. Don’t be shy, go ahead and ask people in your network who can give positive feedback on your work. Having great recommendations on your profile will boost your credibility and will make the recruiter consider your profile in a more favourable light.
Enhance your LinkedIn profile with projects, tagging other involved parties and adding interactive media files to engage recruiters. These projects could be referenced and hyperlinked to your LinkedIn on your CV, so that the recruiter can easily click through to find out more. Project examples can add real depth to a CV, so it is worth giving your CV writer some shining examples, or at least directing them to the right places so they can find out the key facts.
Manage your LinkedIn endorsements to ensure they reflect your skills and experience in the best light for the job. This great blog from BLG Business Solutions on how to manage LinkedIn endorsements explains how.
Are you ready to ask yourself ‘So what?’ and ‘Says who?’? Take the time, before the recruiter does, and stay one step ahead of the game.
by Lis McGuire | May 12, 2014 | CV tips, Job transition advice, News
The interview went like a dream. So well, in fact, that you wait with excited anticipation, planning your acceptance speech and mentally spending the salary that comes with the role. Although you wouldn’t necessarily want to admit it out loud, you are pretty certain the job is in the bag. You nailed the interview, after all. You have the right experience, the necessary qualifications and you really feel like you connected with the interviewer(s). They even gave you that special secret squirrel look; the one that inferred it was a done deal.
Then you get the call or email you’ve been waiting for. Your heart is racing, pounding in your chest, your anticipation reaches full crescendo and then you hear or read the news – you didn’t get the job. Wait, what? Someone else just pipped you to the post.
The deliverer of your bad news may or may not extend traditional platitudes…
…such a high calibre of candidates….
….really difficult decision…
…so close between the final two…
…when it came down to it, the successful applicant was….
What? Was what? Better qualified, more experienced, more charismatic, more driven, more confident, a closer cultural fit? Whatever the successful applicant had more of, it can make you feel like you are lacking in that department.
The truth is that when someone else takes or is given something that you feel is rightfully yours, it is easy to get bogged down in fruitless comparisons or open the doors on an extended pity party. It really is disappointing and hard to see beyond your feelings right at that moment. Saying that, rejection can be a fantastic learning experience. So what can you take away from the experience when you didn’t get the job?
I thought it would be appropriate to outline a quick-to-adopt six-step action plan for this exact scenario to move you from a state of dejection to a state of empowerment:
1. Seek feedback
Though hiring managers may not wish to be drawn on the exact reasons for their decision, this feedback is gold dust to you as a candidate and you will be richer for knowing, so do ask. You may find the hiring manager is more forthcoming if you ask verbally rather than in writing. If you are using a recruitment agent, they can do it on your behalf – the hiring manager may be less prone to sugarcoat their answers when going through an intermediary. If it was me, I would want to know whether the successful candidate offered something I couldn’t in terms of skills, experience or qualifications – if so, I could then evaluate whether it would be worth my while to try to acquire the missing element for future opportunities.
2. Incubate your already warm contacts
Keep things warm and friendly by sending a thank you note, connecting on LinkedIn and indicating interest in future opportunities. Don’t burn bridges by feeling or acting bitter and sulky; be gracious and ready for any other openings that may arise.
3. Reassess what you have learnt
Life is all an experience and from every situation, good or bad, there will be something you can take away. By going through the application and interview process, you will have gained an insight which you can now draw upon and leverage to your advantage in your job search. This could be in relation to contacts you have made, company or industry insight, interview experience or greater clarity on the kind of roles that will or won’t work out for you.
4. Recognise and build your own resilience
Not getting your dream job can leave you feeling rejected, dejected and frustrated. This is normal but you don’t have to accept those feelings. The ability to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start again is one of the most valuable skills you can ever learn and, what’s more, you never really stop learning how to do it. Let’s face it, you won’t be the right fit for every role or company, but putting yourself out there is to be admired. Find the reward in every scenario – in this situation, it will be what you learn about yourself and how you use the lesson going forward.
5. Don’t adopt a ‘spray and pray’ approach on the rebound
When you’ve been rejected for your dream job, it can be tempting to ‘show them’ by firing your CV off in response to all and sundry opportunities. One of them should pay off; isn’t it just a numbers game after all? I don’t think so. This approach can waste your time and effort and waste other people’s time and effort. You’d be better to narrow down what it is you really want and focus your energy and attention on that one application, rather than 10, 20 or 30 others that are not so relevant. To quote Claire Mitchell, The Female Entrepreneur Coach: “Where you place your attention is where the magic happens.”
6. Don’t look back in anger
The world is still your oyster – an exciting and more appropriate opportunity may well be just around the corner. Look forward, not back and make sure you are open and ready to embrace it.
by Lis McGuire | Apr 1, 2014 | CV tips, News
You don’t have to be the Naked CV Writer or a Domestic CV Goddess to cook up a tasty interview-winning CV, here’s a foolproof recipe to feed one or more talent-hungry recruiters.
We are often asked about the ingredients for our interview-winning CVs and thought this tasty recipe would be an ideal way to share our perfect ingredients and tried-and-tested method for CV success.
Take your ingredients, mix them together and… Voila! You’re ready to serve up a finely balanced and effective CV!
Please feel free to use this infographic on your own website or blog using the embed code below.
by Lis McGuire | Mar 28, 2014 | Career change tips, Cover letter tips, CV tips, Job transition advice, News
This morning I received a little tweet from @GuardianCareers that resulted in a huge smile:
Guardian Careers tweet about Giraffe CVs
Giraffe CVs have been recommended by Guardian Careers as one of their top 10 experts on Twitter to help you get ahead with your career. Having searched for advisors who are ‘leading the careers conversation and who dish out top advice’, Guardian Careers named Giraffe CVs along with nine other careers experts who made the grade. Read the full article here.
We are truly delighted to be featured on the Guardian website. What a fantastic start to the weekend!
