CV Advice
How to write a great CV – CV Writing Advice from YourKnowsleyJobs.net
Your CV needs some attention. Employers see hundreds of CVs, they can spot a decent one in an instant. Whereas you probably only see your own and may one or two others.
Merseyside Employers make their minds up about a candidate quickly: They have to if they’re busy people. If your badly prepared CV is amongst other candidates who have spent time preparing their CV then chances are that yours will be placed in the floor based cylindrical filing cabinet.
Recruitment & Selection takes time
It can be a gamble for the Merseyside recruiter: Do they want to risk wasting time on an interview with a candidate who has mistakes on their CV? Will it be the legendary 10-minute interview followed by: “We’ll let you know”.
If it is a panel interview the and the candidate is obviously not suited to the role, the credibility and professionalism of the person who invited a terrible candidate to interview will be questioned: In the corporate world, its not worth their risk!
In a nutshell: If your CV is poorly prepared, no one from a Liverpool career-focused company is going to take your application further!
So how can you keep your CV out of the “Thanks but no thanks” pile, and into the HR manager’s Merseyside Recruiter’s “New Starters” folder?
Get your CV sorted out, it’s the first step to a new career
Writing out your CV takes time; efforts should be made to keep it up to date regularly. Start our your CV with and objective, what do you want to achieve. Make it relevant to the Liverpool Job you are applying for. Having an objective is a great way of making every CV you send out relevant to the role. It’s the only part you need change. Jobs in Liverpool are fiercely contested, so your CV needs to stand out.
Experience
It’s the main part of the CV. When searching through applicatants CVs the first part most recruiters who want to fill their jobs in Liverpool will look at the Experience section. We suggest you put this at the beginning of your CV, with the most recent jobs in Liverpool first, and working backwards. The most recent 2 positions are the ones the Merseyside recruiter will judge you on.
If you’re applying to work in retail, its best that your most recent jobs in Merseyside were in retail. The Merseyside recruiter wants the best fits for the role, often they won’t want an applicant no industry experience (unless there’s no one else).
This is where you need to think about what you are writing
Remember you can’t claim to have done something you haven’t done: but if you’re applying for jobs in telephone sales positions and your most relevant experience was a job in customer service that occasionally required you to sell, you should stress this on your CV.
Here are 2 ways to write your CV for that dream job in telephone sales:
Customer Service
I worked in a busy office taking orders, organising my day and answering Customer Service queries. I also ensured that the office stationary cupboard was kept full and I occasionally supervised the team when the manager was on holiday.
June 2005 – June 2007
Sales and Customer service
Working in a busy sales environment with a high emphasis on selling into vertical markets. I achieved my sales targets by effectively organising my day. I often performed the role of supervisor when business needs required me to do so.
The first one does not sound like a sales CV. If you to be short-listed when applying for jobs in Liverpool you need to spend time on your CV. Think about what you’re writing: when the HR Manager is sitting in their office reading your CV what will it say to them?
When applying for jobs in Merseyside you should be writing more than we have shown above and bullet points work well too:
- Achieved personal sales target 12 months running
- Won 60 new accounts that previously had never done business with us
- Increased sales turnover for my team 35% in 12 months
- Won sales person of the month 4 times
How else can you make your CV stand out?
Merseyside recruiters have a job to do: they need to fill their Merseyside job vacancies. What’s on your CV is the key to opening the first door: Interview.
Review some Liverpool Job advertisements from Liverpool recruiters on YourLiverpoolJobs.net, take notes on how they are written. Look at the phrases used on similar jobs in Liverpool to the one you’re going to apply for and other ones from similar sectors. You’ll see a common theme as to the way they are written. When writing your CV use these phrases to make your CV stand out to Merseyside employers.
Remember, you’re not a professional CV writer, (hopefully it should be the last one you ever write,) but Merseyside recruiters who are trying to fill their jobs in Merseyside see CVs all the time. If yours says “the right things” and has “the right phrases” you’ve more chance of getting short-listed.
Education
It depends on what you’ve done and which jobs in Merseyside you’re going for. Good advice is to put you educational achievements at the end of the CV, after the Experience section. From our own recruitment experiences at YourMerseysideJobs.net, the educational experience section is usually the section that has least errors. But in reality, experience is the key to interview.
Other CV mistakes to avoid
Spell checkers – Read your CV before sending it out when applying for jobs in Liverpool. There are some Merseyside Recruiters who will instantly disregard any applicant that hasn’t checked the spelling on their CV. The logic is usually: “If they can’t be bothered with attention to detail for themselves, then they’re not likely to do it for the company”. Spelling matters, get it right and don’t trust your American word processor spell checker!
Is it “driving licence” or “driving license”? You need to check.
Dates – Get you dates right. Liverpool Job advertisers are looking for gaps in employment.
Example:
2002 – 2003
Operations Manager
XYZ Shipping Co Plc
This information is no use to a Merseyside Recruiter. They need accurate months to be included. Were you employed for 12 months or from Dec02 – Jan03 and just 1 month. If the Merseyside Job Advertiser decided to interview you they will ask you the question. So you need to know the dates.
RFL – Reason for Leaving
“I left this role because I had a big argument with the Managing Director…” Its good to be honest but don’t include negatives on your CV. If the Liverpool Recruiter asks you at interview why you left you can discuss it.
Fill you CV with Keywords!!
Many Merseyside employers search for CVs online. They enter key phrases they are looking for such as “Account Manager” or “General Manager” or “Office Administrator”. Get the right search phrases on your CV if you want to be hunted down by Merseyside employers. Also if you’re in a competitive market and want to be found it’s a good idea to get key words relevant to your industry on your CV too.
Finally
Remember your CV is the first step only to winning your dream Liverpool Job. You have to make sure that at interview you step up to the mark. Don’t tell lies on CVs, you will be found out.
We also have the following job sites. Each job site is owned and operated by YourMerseyside-Jobs.net Merseyside Jobs , Knowsley Jobs , Wirral Jobs , St Helens Jobs, Liverpool Jobs , Southport Jobs , Bootle Jobs , Birkenhead Jobs , Isle of Man Jobs , Kirkby Jobs . Employers and employment agencies in the Isle of Man and Merseyside region add jobs in Merseyside and Isle of Man Jobs to these websites.