Whether you’re trying to secure a new job, new consulting project or contract work, there are two chief ways you differentiate yourself from competitors. You do it by:
a) The results you deliver and
b) The unique way in which you deliver those results (your style, approach, attitude, values, etc)
Here’s a conversation and some lively banter between me and a friend, a professional resume/CV writer.
We were chatting about my (yawn) not so favourite subject – cover letters:
Sital: “Job seekers who spend tonnes of time and effort on cover letters are simply wasting their time.“
Sarah: “I completely disagree. The cover letter is a vital tool to help candidates get a consistent message out there and leverage their personal brand.”
Sital: “Yeh yeh, stop trying to blind me with your fancy marketing language Sarah!
When people come and see me perform in comedy improvisation shows they often say “Wow, I can’t believe you get on stage and perform without a script – that looks so scary!”
Yes it’s scary, but it’s also exciting. And once you’ve had lots of goes, there is less fear and more excitement. It’s like anything in life, the more you do it, the easier it gets and the faster you improve.
Which is why “Being average and having lots of goes…” is one of the basic rules new improvisers are taught.
Why? Because anything we learn and master is achieved by:
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(Cross Posted On The Career Hub Blog)
Earlier this week I wrote a guest article for the EFinancial Careers site on how to create CVs / resumes that stands out in a tough job market.
On the back of this, I had the following question and answer exchange in the comments box with one of the readers:
Question
“Sital,
Why even worry about the more traditional versions of a resume?
Is LinkedIn not the new ‘resume’?
John”
Below is a guest article I’ve had published on the efinancial Careers job site today.
Never has a good CV been more important. If you’ve lost your job recently, you will probably need to re-brand yourself to get back into the job market, as an exact vacancy similar to the one you’ve left is unlikely to exist elsewhere.
Your personal sales brochure
Your CV, or résumé, is the vehicle through which you market yourself and gain interviews – it is your sales brochure. In a tight job market, you need more than a good CV. You need a great CV.
There are some fundamental guidelines you need to follow to make sure your CV does its job:
• It needs to be a suitable length. In the UK/Europe, aim to have a two-page CV/résumé, with three pages at the very most. In the US and Canada, the aim should be one page (two at the most).
• Ensure that the CV is free from any spelling or grammatical errors. This may sound very basic but is critical.
• Keep it simple – no fancy borders or colours. If you’re sending hard copies, use simple black ink on good-quality white or cream paper.
• Use bullet points with short sentences instead of long sentences and paragraphs. Your CV should be easy to read and to extract information from.
Your CV or resume is the vehicle through which you market yourself – it is your sales brochure that enables you to get an interview.
The interview is where you really sell yourself – the role of the CV is to secure an interview, not to get you a job.
It goes without say, that you require a good CV / resume to get an interview. But in a tight job market you need more than a good CV. You need a great CV.
So if you have recently been made redundant or are simply looking to change jobs, take a look below and ask yoursef if you have a “Good CV / resume” or a “Great CV / resume”
A Good CV / Resume
There are some fundamental guidelines you need to follow to make sure your CV does its job:
As a relatively new blogger, I’m still learning the ropes as it were. The technology is fairly straight forward, but trying to get from point A (a scrambled idea or insite) to point B (a succinct and polished blog post), can be a challenge at times.
It’s not that I haven’t the ideas – there are plenty of those - in fact I have far more content than currently published.
The thing that stops me in my tracks is trying to be ‘perfect.’ Tweaking and adjusting articles. Not posting an article because I already posted one this morning and ’should’ really wait until tomorrow or even playing the ‘when-then’ game – when xyz thing happens, I will post this idea.
I sometimes play these silly games in my head instead of just finishing the blog post when I get an idea and publishing it so that it will be of value and benefit to readers straight away.
But I am starting to change.
Here is a question I recently responded to on the ”Answers” section of the efinancialcareers.com website. It may be a useful read if you are feeling ’pigeon holed’ in a particular job or career:
The Question:
“I have 5 years experience as a Relationship Manager (RM) in Corporate and Private Banking – but the role is not for me and I don’t enjoy it at all.
I am trying to move into other fields but there is not one bit of interest from employers despite having an MBA. I only get offers as an RM.
It’s been 6months of searching, am I pigeon holed?”
My Answer:
Last weekend I went to a barbeque in North London and met up with a number of my oldest friends.
As is often the case with many social events I go to, I got into a conversation with a friend about his plans to change jobs (occupational hazard or opportunity, depending on how you view it).
He was telling me about his plans when I heard those magic words:
“Oh, I just need to re-do my CV (resume) next weekend and then I will start looking properly”
At which point, I stopped him and said: “Yes, but you’ve been saying that for months!”
Which was true, he had been talking about it for almost a year I think. He knew it too and acknowledged it with a smile.
To be fair to him, he is no different to many people in his situation.
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