Professional CV & best job site

[Marmite]

I am in the process of changing my career after 25 years at one business doing a variety of different roles. 
 

I have a basic CV that lists my roles and achievements but when applying for jobs I don’t seem to be getting interview opportunities 

 

Has anyone ever used a professional CV writer who can also help with a cover letter? 
 

Also for those who have applied to jobs recently, which job site have you had the best response from? LinkedIn looks like you have to sign up to premium to be in with chance and indeed just seems a waste of time, I never get any acknowledgement from job applications 

Edited 10 July by Marmite

[Benguin]

A lot of companies, not all, use software to read CV’s for certain buzzwords to sift through and shortlist. You’re not getting selected for interview probably due to your CV missing necessary buzzwords.

 

I wouldn’t personally go down the professional cv writing route as I think you need to tailor your CV to the company you’re applying for. I paste a job description into chatgpt and ask it to identify 5 key buzzwords to incorporate in my CV.

 

When I was job hunting I definitely got a lot more interview invites doing this than when I did the previous time. 
 

 

[ian__marshall]

Hi there, firstly whatever you do I'd strongly encourage you against using a professional CV writer. It's really not necessary and will likely be counter productive. They'll charge you a small fortune and you'll end up with a generic copy and paste rehash of a template. 

 

Think carefully about what a CV actually is and the impact on the reader. As much as it's there to demonstrate your competences to the reader it's also insight into who you are as a person. It's a effectively a sales document separating you from the crowd. It needs to have personality and it certainly won't have that if someone who you've never met writes it. 

 

There's loads of useful books available along with free information on the Internet. I'll admit that writing a CV is an art which you need to perfect, but having worked in recruitment early in my career what I can tell you is the vast majority of people don't know how to write a CV properly, so when you get it right you'll stand out like a sore thumb. 

[Tommy G]

@JonnyBoy @Greg2608

[Nalis]

I was in a similar boat to you a few years ago so this is just my advice from my experience. Might not work for you but anyway.....

 

I had in mind 2 or 3 different types of role I wanted to get into so I could focus my applications around those specifically, are you similar or is it more broad for you?

 

If you've had loads of different roles within your current job, use that to your advantage and you can put utilise any of that experience in a CV. If there aspects of some you loved and are linked to the roles you are applying for  stick quite a few bullet points about specifics of that, how you added value to the role and don't put in some of the bullet points that don't add value or that are irrelevant. Same for LinkedIn and put that you are open to work, but the one where it's only to recruiters, ie, not the green circle. You'd be surprised at the random contact - some relevant, some not.

 

Have a master CV with loads of points of achievements. This will help massively for the rest of this post.

 

Use that as a base to reduce it down to 2 pages for specific roles and job description - if 2 pages is industry standard for the industry you are in.

 

You might want to tailor again to ensure points cover what the employer is looking for if you don't have it down already. If there are some points you don't have experience in, that's fine but change the order of bullet points so the key ones for that role are higher.

 

Have a brief paragraph 'profile summary' at the top and tailor it for each role, just a 3-4 liner to cover overall experience linked with that role.

 

I know all this sounds like work but it's worth it in the long run.

 

Don't know where you are based but if you arent from North America, ignore the CV advise from US websites unless you are in sales, US CVs are very OTT.

 

Final point - I'm repeating - to tailor your CV submission to the job spec, ie, what the employer is actually looking for. Sounds obvious but people tend to forget that.

 

Good luck!

Edited 10 July by Nalis

[ian__marshall]

Here is a structure for a good CV. Remember the purpose is just to get you in front of someone. Couple of bits of advise; don't include any photos, dont state age or DOB, use a legible font (Arial, Times New Roman) and size, and keep to no more than 2 pages. 

 

Here's a example:

 

Name (bold) 

Adddress

Telephone number, email address

(centred ^^^) 

 

(Header - bold, left align)

Personal statement:

Short one paragraph summary of you, your experience, and career goals/ambitions. Try to avoid writing in 1st person, but also don't reference yourself in the 3rd person via your name. E.g. Highly driven (insert your key trait here, e.g. drive, motivation, creativity, compassion, etc.) individual with over x amount of experience in a, b, c over y years. Aptitude for d, e, and f, with a history of delivering g, h, I, with aspirations of becoming z. 

 

(Header - bold, left align)

Key achievements:

* Bullet point all key achievements/successes.

 

Each should be no more than 1 line. These are things that demonstrate your value to the recruiter, e.g. Sales successes, efficiency metrics that have saved an employer money (process/system that you introduced), extraordinary achievement such as winning an award, any unique highly sort after academic achievements. *Avoid the inclusion of responsibilities unless they are unique, linked to success and give you a distinct advantage)*

 

(Header - bold, left align)

Career History:

List your previous roles. 

Job title

Employer name, dates of employment 

Bullet points responsibilities 

 

(Header - bold, left align)

Education:

Start with any work qualifications first then academic 

Include: Course title and grade

Institution 

Dates

 

*if listing GCSEs assuming you have grades of C or above in the three core modules, simply state 'x GCSEs including grade C or above in English, Maths, and Science' 

 

(Header - bold, left align)

Personal Interests:

Write in 1st person

Short paragraph about you, hobbies interests, sports/instruments played, etc. Keep it personable but professional and use it as a window into who you are. 

 

(Header - bold, left align)

Personal Details:

Drivers licence details, I.e. Full UK, no points

Rights to work in UK if applicable 

Any industry specific registrations you may hold

*Do not include age or DOB*

 

(Header - bold, left align)

References:

State 'Available on request'. 

 

 

 

[SpacedX]

Some excellent points on here and several things to echo. You absolutely must tailor your CV/application to every role using the vacancy description and the job description/personal specification if provided. There was some awful advice on here a few months ago concerning NHS vacancies and stating that all you need to do is satisfy the criteria listed in the latter to guarantee an interview. Ensure that you heed both, and research the organisation/business. The role description on the advertised vacancy is not enough and can frequently be scant in the information provided. 

 

As mentioned, organisations increasingly employ ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) to take the headache out of shortlisting so it is essential that you embed their competencies, technical skills, desired experience, key terminology and values into your CV and covering letter/statement. Depending on the level of sophistication of these systems they can be frustrated by overly complicated formats, so avoid tables, differing fonts, text boxes, columns etc - you really can find some dreadful templates online. 

 

And speaking of which, CVs will differ internationally. I don't necessarily concur with the post suggesting that US CVs are "very OTT"...North American résumés/combination CVs are actually quite austere and designed to be succinct - usually one page. They can however employ elaborate formats and multiple columns and boxes (perhaps that's what being referred to, in which case I do agree). In the UK, as I'm sure you are aware, organisations use reverse chronological CVs - your most recent employment first. Here is a suggested sequence for the structure:

 

Personal Profile. - Keep it brief, with a statement of objective.

Key Skills (if a competency based CV). In STEM sectors or for more technical roles perhaps 'Technical Skills' or 'Practical Skills'

Education (again commencing with most recent).

Employment/Applied Experience. (Sometimes to beat the reverse chronological structure, you may have 'Applied Experience' and 'Additional Employment' - two different sections assuming that the most recent role wasn't as relevant to the position and you wish to place emphasis upon a particular role that you want at the fore of the CV.)

Professional Membership. (Any affiliation with professional bodies/societies).

Additional Training and Achievements. 

Interests. 

 

This is pretty much what industry tells us, although the ordering and sections are not absolute, so this is merely a recommendation. You may not even have a skills section since given your extensive previous employment you will be able to implicitly demonstrate this in your role outlines. One thing that I repeatedly hear is that industry wants to get a feel for the individual behind the application, hence 'additional training and achievements' and 'interests' can convey much about the candidate's qualities, values. motivations and potential and certain things may resonate with the recruiter. Avoid the trivial, and naturally, anything that may be negatively construed. Avoid the word 'hobbies'. 

 

Your personal details need not even include your address and If you are also required to fill out an application form your protected characteristics will be completed there. There is no need to put date of birth, nationality or gender (or a photograph) on a UK CV. Having shortlisted an application round 70% of organisations will subsequently search for a LinkedIn profile, so include a link and ensure that you have one which is up to date, active and professional. And no, this does not necessarily have to be a premium account. 

 

Ultimately you are trying to get as close to the optimum as possible, but recruitment is subjective and prone to subconscious bias. There are self-proclaimed 'CV experts' that you will encounter online and in person, and advice is frequently conflicting and contradictory. You'll often find these guys working for recruitment agencies...if it is high end simply go with what they say. They understand their caseload and business accounts and know what their clients are looking for. 

 

Hopefully, your CV will end up on the desk of a hiring manager/panel. There are three things then that a human being is looking for: 1/ A readable and easily digestible format. The brain looks for patterns. Make it easy for them. A uniform, and consistent format throughout and ensure ease of assimilation. Avoid block text/lengthy paragraphs and use bullet points where possible. 2/ That is is modified to their role. As has been mentioned, every CV must be tailored to meet the specific requirements of the role. 3/ Themselves on a page. You likely won't know the person that is reading it, (unless it's an internal application), but you will have done your homework about the organisation, their values, organisational ethos, working culture, vision and business objectives. Appeal to these - and as mentioned, an interests section can align you as a candidate to the sort of person that would be a good fit for them. Appreciate also, that this is reciprocal -  are they a good fit for you?

 

There may be a myriad of reasons that you haven't been invited to interview yet and your CV may well be more than adequate. There are so many variables at play and of course prejudices. It could just be that a role was internally allocated or that another applicant's credentials were a closer fit. 

 

I work in research capability and I do a lot of work with career changers. We also have many PGRs and postdoctoral researchers making the transition to industry from academia and eager to know how to articulate their knowledge, skills, strengths, experience and attributes. I have found that instead of of having preconceived ideas about how to do a CV/application for industry  it has been best to follow their lead and ask employers themselves. As has already been said, avoid these supposed 'professional CV writers' at all cost - and that 'cost' can often be appreciable. I can fling you some templates if that helps?

 

 

Edited 10 July by SpacedX