by Lis McGuire | Jan 19, 2015 | Graduate CV tips, News
An internship is a much-coveted, experience-gathering, employability-boosting, and CV-enhancing work placement which can hold equal appeal for participants and recruiters alike.
They come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from a few weeks to a year or more, with some paid and some unpaid. Regardless of format and remuneration, one thing is for sure: internships are hot currency in today’s graduate job market.
Read our 15 top internship tips on how to make the most of this experience and optimise the impact it has on your professional development and future career.
#1 Show up, physically and mentally.
Dressed well, on time, with a smile, and a trunk full of work ethic. As an intern, you must be ready and prepared to learn.
#2 Be prepared to take baby steps.
Accept that you WILL be asked to do tasks that you feel overqualified for and realise that, in doing them, you will gain a valuable insight into what makes your placement company tick, from the ground up. Carry out these tasks well and with a smile and, before you know it, you will be asked to perform tasks which have a little more meat on their bones.
#3 Stop, collaborate and listen.
Channel Spongebob and soak up everything you can. Open your ears and try to hear what is really going on all around you. You may not see the value in what you hear immediately, but there will indubitably be some golden nuggets to pick up which you can mull over and learn from.
#4 Read up.
Complement your real time insight gained on the job with research into the company’s vision, mission, press releases, collaborations, industry challenges etc. This will give you a better handle on what is going on and enable you to understand day-to-day office life in a wider context.
#5 Ask.
If you are unsure on a system, process, or task then ask those around you for practical advice. Pick an appropriate time (i.e. not an hour before a client presentation or when a proposal is due to fly out the door) and ask for the information you need. This demonstrates willingness to learn and can appeal to and flatter the ‘inner expert’ in the person you consult.
#6 Be proactive.
Step up and show willingness to assist before being asked to help.
#7 Take advantage of what is on offer.
I don’t mean empty the office fridge or take advantage of your work colleagues’ kindness, just make the absolute most of the learning opportunity you have been given.
#8 Reach out but don’t kiss ass.
Don’t assume the person you need to impress is at the top. Impress at all levels, connect with colleagues, and build a network. If it feels right, you could invite your new contacts to connect with you on LinkedIn.
#9 Only compete with yourself.
Internships should be considered as a personal learning experience, not a competition or continuous battle for one-upmanship with fellow interns. Remember that we are all on our own journey, so rather than trying to compete with your peers, compete with yourself. Ask yourself what YOU could do better, how YOU can be getting more out of the opportunity, and go for it.
#10 Be yourself.
You are the only you and whilst you are there to learn, realise the value of what you personally can bring to your own experience and those around you. Whether it’s a positive mental attitude, bags of energy, or an ability to see problems differently, bring it to your internship and make it work for you and the team.
#11 Take your passion and make it happen.
Your internship might be hard work at times, but remember why you are doing it, keep your end goal in mind, and see it through. Envisage your bright and beautiful future. It is waiting for you.
#12 Give something back.
Consider making your internship more of a two-way street by meeting with the company’s social media or marketing team. Offer to guest blog on your internship experience for the company website, feature as an interviewee in the company newsletter, or tweet on the progress of your internship. This can be good PR for your placement company and boost your chances of getting your name known and remembered for the right reasons.
#13 Don’t burn out.
As an intern, you should be prepared to work hard, but remember that work should ultimately be something you enjoy. It’s not worth winning at any cost.
#14 Show gratitude.
Whilst you are there, show you are thankful for the opportunity by making the most of it. When your internship has finished, say thank you to those who hired you and those who helped you. Manners cost nothing.
#15 Take time to reflect.
How you present your internship on your CV is as important as how you perform during the internship. Every few days, take some time to reflect and recap on what you have learned and how you have contributed, then note it down to build your CV.
Giraffe CVs help would-be interns to secure a coveted internship by delivering compelling, interview-winning CVs. We also help those with an internship under their belts to present it on their CV for maximum effect.
by Lis McGuire | Jan 13, 2015 | Career change tips, Job search advice, Job transition advice, News
When you CTRL ALT DEL your computer, it’s usually because something just isn’t working and you need to shut down the offending task so that you can get back to business as usual.
Do you ever wish you could CTRL ALT DEL your career? You’re not alone. Sometimes we hit a point where we feel frozen – the human equivalent of ‘Not responding’ – or a particular aspect of our job stops running smoothly. If your career is suddenly at a standstill or you want to find a direction that’s a better fit, then it’s time to press CTRL ALT DEL and reboot your professional operating system.
Reboot or reset
If you’ve ever called a PC helpline or spoken to someone techy about your computer problems, the first question they’ll ask is ‘Have you rebooted your PC?’ It’s amazing how many idiosyncrasies and niggling problems can be sorted out just by switching a computer off and then turning it back on again.
In many ways, we humans are the same. We get overloaded with information and data, processing everything until we feel overwhelmed. Sometimes, we need to switch off and reset too.
Before you begin your job search, it’s important to take a step back. Book some time off work if you can, switch off from the stress of projects and deadlines for a while. Then, away from the hustle and bustle of the office, earmark some time to think about your current job.
How do you feel about it when you’ve had some downtime? Are there aspects of your job that you could change or improve without needing to leave? Is there someone at work that you can talk to about how you feel? Do you have a sinking heart feeling about going back to work or does it still make you feel challenged and excited once you’ve had the opportunity to reboot?
Identify the problem
If you’re reading this article, the chances are that you feel the time has come to move on to pastures new. Before you start your job search, it’s important to identify what isn’t working for you in your current role, as well as what’s working well, because that will help to define the deal breakers when applying for any future position.
What do you like about your current job and what gets you down? What are you looking for in your next job? Do you want a similar role, more responsibility, or do you want to move into a different role or industry, capitalising on your transferable skills?
By assessing what works for you and what doesn’t – a bit like running a scan to pinpoint the problems – you can come up with a plan of action for your job search.
Defrag your CV
Your next step is to dig out your CV. When was the last time you refreshed it? Does it include your latest skills, experience, and achievements?
As well as updating the information included in your CV, it’s also important to check it over for flabby bits that need trimming. Are there sections that would flow more smoothly if they were pulled together? Is there duplicate information? Are you wasting valuable space with unnecessary information such as ‘References available on request’ or too much detail about irrelevant hobbies? Now is the time to make sure all your information is in the right place.
Although you can create a generic CV as a starting point, it’s important to adapt it to complement the job for which you’re applying. Reflect the language used in the job description and show how you fulfil the essential and desirable attributes of the ideal candidate.
Upgrade
Is there anything blocking you from the next step in your career? Perhaps not having a particular skillset or a lack of experience in a specific area is making you feel like there’s a firewall preventing you from accessing your dream job?
If so, now might be the time for an upgrade. Is there training you can take to improve your management skills? Would working with a mentor help you tackle the challenges of a leadership role? Do you need to learn new computer skills or get more hands-on experience?
If you don’t have the time or resources to upgrade, don’t panic! There may be a workaround. You can still be a successful applicant by demonstrating how you’ve been able to learn a similar computer program quickly, or that you have the transferable skills that will enable you to succeed in your new role. You can use your CV to show how you’ve risen to challenges in the past, or how you’ve grabbed every opportunity to learn and grow in your career.
Call an expert
Sometimes pressing CTRL ALT DEL is just the start and even after a reboot, refresh, or defrag, you need to call in a professional.
Having an expert review your CV may make all the difference to getting your career and job search unfrozen and back on track. A professional CV writer will be able to look at your career history objectively, highlighting your achievements and reframing skills you take for granted so that they leap off the page to prospective employers.
A professional eye can be a great time saver too. Instead of you spending hours trying to make your CV work, an expert CV writer knows what works and what doesn’t and can give your CV that all-important refresh in half the time.
If you think your CV would benefit from an expert eye, why not try our free CV review service for starters?
by Lis McGuire | Jan 5, 2015 | Job search advice, Job transition advice, News
This week, I’m pleased to introduce a guest blog by Ashleigh Harman at Portfolio Payroll, a recruitment agency who specialise in recruiting qualified professionals into the payroll industry.
Portfolio Payroll have put together some tips on how to build a successful job seeking campaign around your CV, in order to help you land your dream role.
Building a successful job seeking campaign
It is important to approach your job seeking efforts in the same way you would a marketing campaign for a brand. Here you should think of yourself as the product and your CV is the vital document explaining the qualities and benefits of the product or service. Like any marketing campaign, content which is influenced by the product should then be created and used to leverage existing contacts as well as attract new ones.
Follow the below tips to building a job seeking campaign that allows you to portray your personal brand using stand-out content.
How important is my digital persona?
A survey by ExecuNet recently revealed that over 77% of recruiters use search engines to research candidates. Whilst this can seem daunting it actually provides job seekers with a perfect opportunity to tell potential employers a little more about themselves.
Whilst you are putting efforts into building a positive and professional online profile, it is vital to ensure that existing online content baring your name is appropriate to be seen by prospective employers. Ensure that you have set the appropriate social profiles to private and any content including blog posts, pictures and videos that may not be appropriate have been removed.
Creating an online profile
Creating an online profile does not have to be difficult; you could start by creating a simple website that enhances the information on your CV. Let recruiters and potential employers find out more about you as an employee by providing references and examples of your work alongside details of your qualifications and past experience.
Although job advertisements highlight the required skills and experience a role requires, employers are also looking for a personality that is the right fit for their company.
Starting a blog is a brilliant way to give your online profile a personal voice. Getting your blog started on a dedicated blogging platform can be a simple half an hour task. Professional bloggers recommend writing and sharing at least one high quality post a week, choosing topics and news stories specific to your industry. Blogging allows you to take an active role in commenting on the industry thus proving your knowledge of working practises and your dedication to your career.
Approaching employers
When you have your heart set on working for a particular company, applying for a vacancy can be incredibly nerve wracking. However, by taking a few simple steps, you can ensure that particular employers already know your name.
Build a working knowledge of the way different companies operate – this will help you formulate an appropriate approach for contacting individual businesses when looking for an available position.
Send a hard copy of your CV to the company you wish to work for – include a cover letter explaining what it is you admire about their company and why you wish to work for them. Remember, companies enjoy flattery as much as people do.
Follow the company on social media- this will allow you to keep up to date with what they are doing.
Occasionally like, comment or share their posts – this will help your name to be remembered around the office, so when you make your application to a vacancy they can see that you already have an active interest in the company.
Utilising social media
LinkedIn should by now play a vital role in your job seeking campaign. This tool is used prolifically by recruiters and is a popular option for employers looking to find out more about candidates. To ensure you are fully utilising your LinkedIn profile follow the below steps.
Fill in all vital information in your profile, this is a perfect opportunity to expand on the information on your CV.
Upload examples of your work to complement your experience and prove your skills.
Ask past employers and people that you have worked with to leave recommendations and endorsements on your profile.
The importance of building a professional profile
Creating an engaging and informative CV will always be the most important part of any job seeking campaign, as it is not only a standard format across industries but it is but is also the best way for you to quickly communicate your skills and experience. However, with such high competition for job vacancies, building a professional public profile online has become an increasingly important component to the job hunt.
Building a profile and feeding it into your job seeking campaign will not only demonstrate to prospective employers that you are capable of completing a range of the tasks detailed on your CV, but it will also provide the employer with a better understanding of your personality and how you would fit into and benefit their business.
Ashleigh Harman is a Digital Content Writer for Portfolio Payroll, a recruitment agency who specialise in recruiting qualified professionals into the payroll industry.
by Lis McGuire | Oct 28, 2014 | CV tips, Graduate CV tips, News
In a blog about unusual CVs earlier this year, we looked at some of the more ‘off the wall’ formats people have used to bring attention to their CV and stand out from their fellow jobseekers. Generally speaking though, a highly designed, stylistic CV could be a big gamble that doesn’t pay off. The ‘classic’ CV is still in vogue with the majority of recruiters.
That’s not to say your CV doesn’t need a little pizzazz. When we talk about the ‘classic’ CV, we mean dressed to impress.
When was the last time you looked at your CV with fresh eyes? Is it looking a little tired and thrown together? Does it need a little ‘zhoosh’ to make it flow and draw the recruiter’s gaze to all the right places?
Yes? Then try these seven simple CV formatting hacks.
#1 Let your headings make a statement
Headings are a fantastic tool for signposting the content of your CV for the reader, creating obvious focal points, whether someone’s scanning the text or reading it in detail. To help your headings grab attention, format them in a clear and confident way that sets the structure for your CV.
We’d recommend doing this by having your headers in capitals and underlining them with a line that runs across the entire width of the page. Leave a line space or border below the underline to give your heading room to make a statement.
#2 Your font style matters
Style is everything when it comes to picking the right font for your CV. Although there’s no definitive font to use, it’s important to pick an easy-to-read font that looks good in print and on screen. In an article for Business News Daily in October 2013, a selection of recruiters narrowed down the top seven recommended fonts for CV writing: Arial, Calibri, Century Old Style, Garamond, Georgia, Times New Roman, or Trebuchet MS.
In most cases, a sans serif (‘without fancy’) font is a good bet because it displays well on screen and in print, whereas more stylised serif fonts like Times New Roman and Century Old Style are perhaps suited to CVs targeted at more ‘traditional’ fields.
#3 Use consistent spacing
Our eyes look for uniformity and consistency, especially when we’re reading a document like a CV. Inconsistent line spacing can jar the reader and stick out like a sore thumb, drawing attention for the wrong reasons. And if the line spacing of your CV is all over the place, it can raise a red flag about your attention to detail – not ideal for a job application.
Try to ensure that you use consistent spacing throughout your CV. We tend to use 6pt before and 6pt after. If you’re writing your CV in Microsoft Word, look for the ‘Page layout’ options where you can set the desired spacing for your document.
#4 Leave enough white space
Like a fine wine, a good CV needs space to breathe. Although you may want to cram in every last detail about your career and interests to date, it’s often the case that less is more when it comes to getting your CV seen.
Recruiters are generally time poor and faced with the enormous challenge of finding the best prospects when sifting through CVs, even if they are assisted by Applicant Tracking Software. By leaving sufficient white space, breaks between different sections and bullet points to highlight your key skills, you’re giving the recruiter the space they need to read what you’re saying and between the lines.
#5 Stay out of the margins
If you’re running short of room on your CV, you may be tempted to decrease the margins at each edge of the page to eke out every last millimetre of space. But stop… step away from ‘Page layout>Margins’ option before you do anything hasty. Having narrow, squeezed borders around your CV can make it look squashed and chaotic, whereas ‘normal’ margins of 2.54cm create a sense of calm and order that recruiters will love.
#6 Consider putting keywords in bold and using bullet points to highlight your experience
At Giraffe CVs, we certainly favour using bullet points to pull out your relevant experience and help recruiters scan the highlights of your career to date. You might also consider emphasising keywords in bold, which is another way the formatting of your CV can help the reader skim read, while still paying attention to all the most relevant points.
#7 Check it looks good on and off screen
Finally, remember to print your CV off and check it looks good on and off screen. Be alert to spacing inconsistencies, incorrect formatting, typos, margin size, and check whether there’s enough white space – these aspects are all generally easier to see in print.
How does your CV look now? Have you been committing some serious formatting faux pas or is your CV good to go? If you need help presenting your CV or getting the content right for your next job application, we’re always happy to help.
by Lis McGuire | Oct 20, 2014 | LinkedIn tips, News, Uncategorized
With Halloween fast approaching, I got to thinking about things that scare me in relation to the job search. Although there are, in fact, quite a few areas that inspire an Edvard Munch style scream, I quickly settled on LinkedIn profile pictures. Choosing an image of yourself to represent your professional offering on LinkedIn is an important choice, but the resulting pictures can often be the stuff of nightmares!
With this in mind, I thought it would be useful to outline 10 scarily bad LinkedIn profile images, and getting in the spirit of the exercise, I decided to demonstrate them. Last week, Caroline and I got together and howled with laughter as I tried out the various poses and she captured the images, hands shaking with mirth rather than fear.
It’s important to get your LinkedIn profile image right, so why not check out these wrong’uns below to assure yourself that your current image doesn’t have any of these frightful features? If it does, there’s time to change it, and that time is now!
So, without further ado, I present my ‘Hammer House of Horrible LinkedIn Profile Pictures’, recreated for you here by yours truly, so you know what not to do.
#1 The one where the image is poor quality
Grainy, blurry, and pixelated images won’t cut the mustard on LinkedIn. Your image needs to be clear, sharp, and high quality so that your network and new connections can tell that this really is you.
My son saw this and pointed out that I look like a character from Minecraft, which had us both in stitches.
#2 The one with bad lighting
Bad lighting is a no-no, it can obscure the clarity of the image, and create a dull and dingy, rather than positive, impression.
#3 The one that’s a selfie
The selfie has truly got into the population’s psyche in 2014, even inspiring the love-it-or-hate-it track ‘but first, let me take a selfie’. Infectious or narcissistic, the selfie doesn’t belong on LinkedIn. Arms extended in full view, mirror pout on display, eyes struggling to focus on the lens, and weird camera angles don’t create the most professional impression.
If you really can’t find someone to take a photo for you, and feel the need to resort to a selfie, then make sure it’s not so obvious.
#4 The one with an inappropriate background
If the background to your LinkedIn profile image is weird or wonderful, it may get more attention than the actual subject, you.
Choose your background carefully to make sure you don’t reveal more than you want to or, indeed, expose personal situations that are best kept off LinkedIn.
#5 The one that’s just inappropriate
Images of you captured in a social, rather than professional, context can stick out like a sore thumb on LinkedIn.
If you’re hot stuff or a party girl, that’s fine, but save those pictures for Facebook (if you really must share them), and remember to turn your privacy settings on! Similarly, images that are too personal can look odd.
Just keep the context in mind, a professional network, and you shouldn’t go far wrong.
#6 The one that makes you look like a moody so-and-so
If you look like a right old grump in your LinkedIn profile, it’s not going to tempt someone to connect with you, or call you for an interview.
Moody might be your resting face, but make an effort, show some teeth, message your brain to add sparkle to your eyes, and look engaged.
#7 The one where we can’t see your face
These images are hard to decipher, the face is somehow obscured by other things – hands, clothing, other people, and so on and so forth.
The point of uploading a LinkedIn profile photo is to help others to recognise you. If they can’t see your face, you’ve missed the point.
#8 The one where you look like a pinhead
These LinkedIn images have far too much space above and around them, the subject is really far away, and you find yourself squinting to see who is pictured.
Don’t be a pinhead, make it easy for your network and new contacts to recognise your face.
#9 The arty-farty one where you look like a poser
Some people’s LinkedIn photos ooze attitude and self-appreciation.
This kind of image comes in many confident forms, but inevitably leaves the viewer thinking “Well, they clearly think a lot of themselves!”
#10 The one that’s a faceless man
The most frightening LinkedIn profile image of all is the faceless man, so scary that those who see him can’t even describe his features. He’s the guy you see when you don’t upload a profile picture.
Don’t unleash him on your network, they’ve seen him before and they aren’t keen to repeat the experience!
Getting it right can be tricky. Although I have given the gruesome snaps above a miss, I still feel that my LinkedIn profile image isn’t quite up to scratch, so I’ve booked myself an appointment with a professional photographer to achieve a better result. I’ll be documenting my experience and learnings in a follow up blog, with key tips on how to achieve the perfect LinkedIn profile image.
by Lis McGuire | Oct 13, 2014 | Job search advice, Job transition advice, News
Back in July, house renovators and sometimes archaeologists, Moltus Investments, unearthed a copy of The Daily Telegraph dated Wednesday 10th August 1960 from a property in which they were working. When they posted the pictures on Facebook, it was the job advertisements that caught my eye. Talk about how life, and the job search, has changed!
What immediately grabbed my attention was how many of the job advertisements specify the gender and age of desired applicants. The Lockheed Hydraulic Brake Company invites applications from ‘men aged 28 to 35’ for the role of Employment Officer; Richard Thomas & Baldwins Limited wants to hear from candidates, aged 30 to 45, while the Technical Librarian role with the Plessey Company Limited is specifically open to a ‘lady with considerable technical experience….’ as ‘the post calls for a lady of mature years’.
Interestingly, it was during the 1960s that the winds of change began to blow, focusing on discrimination on the grounds of age and gender, particularly in the workplace. Women were fighting for their reproductive and employment rights; the pill became widely available, enabling them to delay starting a family, and more and more women took up the cause, arguing that jobs targeted at male candidates should be open to them too. The Equal Pay Act was passed in 1970 and the Sex Discrimination Act was passed later in 1975.
What I also notice when reading these 1960s job ads is how vague the descriptions are. Check out the Underwood Business Machines Limited ad as a perfect example: “Men with evidence of will and ability to succeed are invited to apply”. In many cases, the description focuses on the company and its services, rather than the attributes of the ideal candidate.
In most of the advertisements, the selection criteria is exceptionally broad. This is perhaps because many people applied for jobs based on their proximity to home, salary and hours. Back in the 1960s, the concept of ‘a job for life’ was commonplace. If someone was educated and experienced in a particular field, they were unlikely to look at sideways moves into related fields or how they could take their transferable skills into a completely new career.
Newspapers and job hunting before the internet
After seeing these ads, I had a chat with my lovely dad about what he remembers from his early job hunting days. He tells me that job hunters’ first port of call would be the local library to read the daily newspapers. Apparently, people would tear out job descriptions that caught their attention to cut the chances of other job seekers seeing the ad and improve their own chances of getting hired.
Job hunting pre-Internet was all about scouring the newspapers, knocking on doors, enquiring about ‘Help wanted’ signs, and weekly perusal of the local unemployment office listings.
As the digital internet as we know it didn’t become widely used until the mid-1990s, most people over the age of 35 will have found their first job in the local paper, on an index card in a shop window, or through word of mouth recommendations.
Once we found a suitable role in the newspaper, we would send off a postcard for an application form or painstakingly type out our CV and covering letter on good quality paper, possibly back at the public library if we didn’t have a typewriter at home.
These days, the tactics have changed but the strategy hasn’t. Getting hired is still about standing out from the crowd and making a good first impression.
The role of newspapers in today’s job search
Newspapers are still an integral part of the job search process, although, like the rest of us, they’ve had to step up their game because of the internet. Job listings through newspapers now exist in the competitive online job board market but may well still be your first port of call.
Have you looked at the following sites recently?
Guardian Jobs – a great place to look for careers in the Arts, public sector, third sector, education, and for graduate positions
The Telegraph Jobs – as in the 1960s, this is still largely populated by engineering, construction, technology, sales, and executive roles
The Times Jobs – includes roles in Education, Finance, IT, Legal, Marketing, Public Sector, and Secretarial, as well as graduate positions
TES Connect – for educational and teaching jobs
The Independent Jobs – features jobs in the Technology, Finance, and Hospitality, as well as graduate positions and London-based vacancies
For many people, these are a mainstay of their job hunting experience.
If you’re looking for local opportunities, it’s a good idea to head to your local paper’s website where they are likely to have a jobs board. Check out Kent Messenger’s Kent Jobs website or the Nottingham Evening Post jobs page for examples of local newspaper online job ads – there’s bound to be a similar local site in your area; just search for your favourite local newspaper.
No, you can’t tear the job ad out of the paper anymore to stop other library-bound jobseekers from applying too but newspaper job sites do what they can to take the stress out of the application process. Like other job boards, they generally enable you to apply for the job there and then, email it to an interested friend, connect with the company on social media, and even give you some basic CV advice.
Do you use newspaper sites when you’re job hunting? How did you find your first job? If you were old enough to be job hunting pre-internet, do you remember scouring ads in your local paper? I’d love to hear your experiences.
