Jobs and Recruitment

Many people misconceive their resumes as just a piece of paper. Every job applicant, whether he or she is a fresh graduate or a long time-professional, should remember that the resume or CV is a very dynamic piece of paper. It is where you put into writing your qualifications, talents, skills and the much-needed reference that companies can contact to run a background check on you. A well-written CV is extremely vital to land the job as it is your opportunity to send a somewhat first impression of yourself to your prospective employer. At the same time though, it serves as just a request to be interviewed or a calling card to get a callback. While the many strategies that people pass around for impressing someone at a job interview would be very helpful, you must secure yourself of getting to the interview stage in the first place by making sure your resume takes you to that level.

There are, of course, no guarantees that you will get an interview with a well-written resume. Circumstances change all the time, such as the job getting filled before your resume gets in. However, there are pointers that everyone can make use of to help them increase the odds of moving closer to the graduate careers that they have been dreaming of at one of top UK employers.

1. Research - Take significant amount of time to go out and do some research on whatever information you can learn about the company you are applying at. Not only does this allows you to gain knowledge about your prospective employers, but it will also allow you to tailor your resume to fit the job better.

2. Cover Letter – Cover letters are optional, but taking the time to create them certainly sends a very good impression to employers. Lengthy letters are unnecessary. This is the first opportunity for you to make use of your research to let the employers know that you know who they are and what their business is about. Also, it is your initial opportunity to let them know of your interest in working with them, give them a brief introduction about yourself and how you can render service to them.

3. Sending to the Right Person – It might be just a small detail, but be sure you know whom to address your resume to as part of your research. Note: You can usually find the name of the recruiting officer on the job advertisement.

4. Short and Substantial - Prospective employers do not like reading cluttered resumes. Remember that employers receive plenty of resumes for just one job opening. These employers will not waste their time trying to decipher a poorly written resume. They will immediately send it to the junk and move on to the next applicant. Be sure that your resume is clean and easy on the eyes with an appropriate professional layout and font.

5. Grammar and Spelling - Misspelled words and grammatical errors are a major disadavantage. If necessary, make use of a spelling and grammar check tool or have a friend or family proofread it.

6. Talents, Skills and Qualifications – Humility is always good. However, when composing your resume, be sure to write down all the information that would make yourself shine. Highlight your talents, skills and qualifications. Include education, seminars you have attended, certificates you have received and everything that can reveal your specific talents.

7. Read and Proofread – Go over your resume once, twice or even thrice. It would help if you act as an employer while you do this and ask yourself if this applicant should be called in for an interview. Look out for any errors, whether typographical and grammatical, and re-write as necessary.

8. Internet – Job hunting, along with a lot of other things, have been made a little easier by the existence of the Internet. There are dozens of employment opportunities posted by many job search websites. In addition to that, you can now find an online resume builder for UK graduates that you can utilize to create or improve your resume.

Your resume is your chance to introduce yourself to your prospective employer. Make sure it is polished and professional in order to take your application to the next level. It may be just a piece of paper, but it is one that could get you into the graduate career that you have been dreaming to have.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 23rd, 2009 at 10:41 am and is filed under Careers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.