The Ultimate CV

Only the top few percent of CVs get to the shortlist. Here are four things you can do to make sure your document is one of those few.

Based on this book - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ultimate-CV-secrets-recruitment-insider/dp/0091929245

1. TRINITY ALUMNI CAREER NETWORK CVs
2. Route of ENTRY
3. Press / Trade advertising
4. Job boards / Recruitment sites
5. Apply directly to desired company via website
6. Recruitment Agencies (The acceptable face of the human trafficking trade)
7. Joseph  P  Bloggs 123  Street  Address  Town County Ireland Human Resources Department, Widgets Incorporated, 456 Street Address, Town, County. 26 January, 2013 Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to express my interest in any vacancies that may arise in Widgets Inc.. I believe that my proven track record in widgeting from entry-level to my current role as Widgeting Wizard Extraordinary with responsibility for all aspects of Cold call - Dear Sir/Madam
8. Job Fairs
9. Neptosim - marry the heir to the business
10. Or - the dreaded ‘Networking’
11. “Go and play with the nice children! Have fun!”
12. Trusted  agency From  within Using  proven  people Close  colleagues Adver>sing CVs Employer Approach Job-Hunter Approach Here’s why that last one is so important - Daniel Porot’s model has never been truer than it is now.
13. In the current climate, only a small percentage of jobs are visible above the snow.
14. So you ...
15. ... have to evolve ...
16. ... a new approach to the job-hunt.
17. Otherwise, you risk getting lost in the pile where the signal to noise ratio is not in your favour.
18. 4 things that will make a DIFFERENCE
19. Tight, smart writing.
20. For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn. It doesn’t matter whether Hemingway wrote this - whoever wrote it was a genius.
21. I  am  a  highly  experienced  Accountant,  with  a  number   of  years  experience  in  the  financial  area  including  the   Multinational  sector  and  Financial  Services.  Prior  to   taking  up  a  career  in  Accountancy  I  ran  the  family   business  for  a  number  of  years.  I  possess  strong   interpersonal  and  communication  skills,  with  the   ability  to  interact  effectively  &  professionally  with   clients  and  colleagues  at  all  levels.  I’m  a  team  player   with  a  strong  work  ethic,  while  I’m  an  enthusiastic   learner  with  ability  to  adapt  quickly  to  new  and   challenging  work  situations.     Whereas I see this kind of thing all the time.
22. Which makes whittling down the big pile of CVs much easier for me!
23. Most CVs are ‘Grand’. Grand is nowhere near good enough in a competitive market. Your content and delivery of your CV needs to be A1 all the way. The shortlist
24. Costs were cut by 19 percent over three years. Sales grew by 37 percent year on year. And then I ended up … Sloppy, first-draft, passive writing.
25. I reduced costs by 19 percent over three years. I expanded sales by 37 percent year on year. I sought a secondment … / I transferred to ... First, make it active voice.
26. I reduced costs by 19 percent over three years. I expanded sales by 37 percent year on year. I sought a secondment … / I transferred to ... Then get rid of the perpendicular pronouns.
27. Reduced costs by 19 percent over three years. Expanded sales by 37 percent year on year. Seconded to … / Appointed to ... Sharp, crispy, business-like writing.
28. “Ah come off it Robo!” Yes, I’m sure you wouldn’t write like this - and yet I see this kind of shoddy writing every day.
29. Passive voice In-jokes / Abbreviations Slang / Informal Overstating Mixing tenses DRAFT I know we’re all busy people, but you’ve got to get your CV away from that ‘first draft’ feeling.
30. I won’t waste your time inflating my credentials, throwing around exaggerated job titles, or feeding you a line of crap ... I loved this cover letter ...
31. The truth is I have no unbelievably special skills or genius eccentricities, but I do have a near perfect GPA and will work hard for you. There was a whole lot of honing of this apparently-plain writing, I suspect.
32. That’s a pretty short shortlist!
33. Gotta slide over to the right of the bell-curve ...
34. Who are you going to send this oh-so-sharp CV to?
35. 4.6 million people in Ireland
36. 1.8 million people working (source QNHS)
37. This many in your sector
38. Let’s zoom in on your sector ...
39. These people have the power to hire / fire ...
40. These people have the power to hire / fire ... and they know you.
41. These people have the power to hire / fire ... and they know you. And they like / value you.
42. Total Working Sector? Authority Know Like 4,600,000 1,790,000 W,000? X00? Y00? Z? That’s not a lot of people! For those people, you need to write a truly tailored CV.
43. Build a dossier on each of them
44. CORE CV Then develop individual CVs for each of them - based on the totality of info in your Core CV.
45. Targeted CV 1 This one is super-proud of his daughter the hockey star - and you played for Lenister. Trite and irrelevant elsewhere, it could be very useful to include on this one CV.
46. Targeted CV 2 This one hates MBAs - so you downplay your qualification and talk about the network you built on the programme, rather than the academics.
47. Targeted CV 3 This one is a big PowerPoint-Head, so you make sure you mention your Slideshare presence.
48. Targeted CV 4 Case Study: A client who loved fox-hunting, but only ever mentioned it on one CV ever - which got him to interview, and he secured the job.
49. Targeted CV 5 This was a great one - went viral in ~2.5 seconds.
50. Targeted CVs A small, focused number of versions, each one tightly tailored to a known reader.
51. If    I  see  the  world  thro’  John  Smith’s  eyes,  I  can   sell  John  Smith  what   John  Smith  buys The geniuses on Madison Ave had a great line about this kind of thinking.
52. Sell, don’t tell.
53. FOR SALE - A car. It has 4 wheels, some seats, windows, a steering wheel and an engine ...
54. BENEFITS People don’t buy features, they buy because they perceive a benefit in the purchase.
55. By the time the reader is halfway down Page 1 of your CV, they are making Buy/No Buy decisions ...
56. QC Analyst Sales Executive Supply Chain Manager Credit Controller Production Manager Management Accountant Your job title tells the reader a lot about what you do. Don’t waste loads of space telling me that.
57. What have you done for me lately? Instead, follow Janet Jackson’s great old anthem ...
58. Contributions Suggestions Wins Special projects Over-and-above DIFFERENCE Tell me about the DIFFERENCE you made in that job - everyone on the long list has the same responsibilities, only some have made a difference.
59. August 2009 to Present Headhunted by Widgets Incorporated (IRL) as the Senior Management Accountant, reporting to the Financial Controller. Widgets competes in the blah-blah sector, the local affiliate has a turnover of €92 million and employs 175 staff. Along with the typical analysis, audit and reporting functions, my brief encompasses: • Line management for 11 staff – 3 Accountants and 8 Clerks • Development, implementation and updating of all policies and procedures in my remit • Capital expenditure projects from inception to completion • Collaboration on key projects – insurance, systems development, stock control Key Contributions • Migration from legacy system to SAP – project team member • Merger, acquisition and diligence activities from time to time • Conducting training in finance for non-financial management May 2004 to August 2008 Joined Fidgets Ltd as Payroll Clerk, reporting to the Management Accountant. Fidgets is Here’s a nice way to express it.
60. WHY YOU? And this kind of thinking immediately helps you answer the killer interview question.
61. Day 1 Day 1280 Title Boss title Salary / Package No. of Staff Budget Key targets KPIs Key relationships Special project Special project Think about how your role has evolved or expanded. Over 3.5 years, your job has probably changed a lot, even if your job title hasn’t.
62. Make the reader’s life easier
63. Ladders study on how recruiters read CVs.
64. Average of 6 seconds on the first scan - “Is this candidate remotely in the frame for what I’m looking for?”
65. Name Current title / Company Previous title / Company Previous position start/end dates Current position start/end dates Education Then a further few seconds scanning these details.
66. Make my life EASIER If you make their life in any way difficult, your CV is going straight into the bin, after just a few seconds
67. DON’T make their job any harder.
68. 50% page 1 Whizzable Dates Companies Job Titles Body text Establish a protocol so the eye can quickly scan the document.
69. 66% page 1 Whizzable DATES Companies Job Titles Body text Stick to that protocol throughout your document(s).
70. This is easily accomplished, you simply reduce the font size until you need binoculars in order to read the damn document Then you can fit in every detail of your existence thus far on this planet - including that time you banged the big bass drum in the Christmas nativity play! Often, candidates try to squash more info into the document by reducing font size. Bad idea.
71. Trusted  agency From  within Using  proven  people Close  colleagues Adver>sing CVs Employer Approach Job-Hunter Approach It’s a tough market out there and this is how employers are hiring.
72. This is how you have to hunt now. So when you do find prey, make sure your CV is sharp!
73. Write tight
74. Tailor, tailor, tailor
75. Sell, don’t tell
76. Respect their eyes
77. Not exactly rocket science, I appreciate; but it is amazing how many CVs fail to observe these simple rules. The reader is looking to whittle down the pile. They are looking for a reason to eliminate you. Stop making that so easy for them to do.
78. Two extracts from my book to help you.
81. Rowan Manahan @ _ Thagyewverramuch