www.CareersAndCareers.com
Gain Competitive Edge
by preparing a Killer CV

Definition of CV
• 'Curriculum Vitae' or “CV” is derived from Latin and means \"the
way your life has run\". In other words, a CV is a personal
statement outlining your life from an educational and
professional point of view.
• The role of a CV is to get you an interview and your foot in the
door, not to get you the job.
• Your CV should reflect your occupational and educational life and
be relevant to the position you are applying for. CV is a tool
which acts as your personal marketing platform to sell/promote
yourself to a prospective employer.
• When preparing your CV bear in mind that potential employers
will only spend a mere 30 - 60 seconds reading your life history.
• Evaluating your own skills, your objective, education,
accomplishments, achievements and personality is one of the
most difficult hurdles and is the first step in the CV writing
process.
• Highlights the relevant facts about you, your education, and your
experience.
• Makes the first impression about you.
• Positions you in the mind of the employer, thus creating a value.

Career Planning
• An average professional
will change careers 5 - 9
times in their lifetime
• Therefore CV
experience is essential
if you are ambitious

Competitive Edge
• Finding a prospective employer through
research
• Information on the company
• Knowledge of the industry
• Network as networking works!
• Knowledge of the job
• Be well-prepared per job specifications
• An affective cover letter
• More than a Resume Most important
• Opening the Door
• The Interview
• Your Image

Finding the Right
Employer
• Newspaper
• Walk in and see
• Telephone
• Internet
• Head-hunter
• Job Service
• Career Advice Centres
Use the above Sources to find your dream
job

Network for Finding the
Right Job
Talk to people in a prospective organization &
keep your eyes & ears open for a good
opportunity

A New Approach to Hiring
• Now a days recruiters & HR executive
scans your resume and may view
your or profile
• They may your name. They
may read your , ,
or blogs
• The conventional method of
reference check by HR with your old
companies and colleagues is still in
place

Careful Planning is Crucial

Your CV should
Reflect......
What employers want:
• Reliability, Honesty,
Motivation, Ability, Efficiency,
Helpfulness, Integrity
What employers don’t want:
• Carelessness, Absence,
Irresponsibility, Troublemakers,
Lack of Ambition

What do you Want?
Logically show why
YOU ARE HERE NOW BUT YOU WANT TO BE THERE

Focus on a Career and Not
Just a Job
• Apply for a Job you Really Want
• Otherwise you will stay bored
and un-productive for the
employer
• Then soon you will have to look
for a new job

Professional CV Dos’
• Relevant, Clear and Concise.
• Be clear about your experience.
• Use white or light coloured
paper & use paper that is of
high quality if posting
• Reproduce on a laser printer or
take it to a print shop
• Use white space
• Avoid graphics and shading
• Use a font size between 10 & 14
points

Professional CV Don’ts
• No typing errors.
• No misspellings.
• No Abbreviations.
• Do not include any negative
information.
• DO NOT include irrelative
information
• DO NOT write as a letter instead of a
summary
• DO NOT include interests, hobbies
unless relevant to the job
• DO NOT include Age & Birthday

Have more than one CV
Versions
• Create a more focused CV each
time you apply for an
opportunity.
• When preparing a CV, stay
focused on Job Specifications
• Prepare and upload a 'generic'
resume to use in online
databases.

Don’t hesitate to show your
Achievements
• Summary of any published
research/articles
• Details of what your major
accomplishments are
• Achieved “An Investors in People Awards”
for previous employers
• Brand Management
• Responsibilities of group budget
• Lead a team of 21 in seven units
• Talk about how your skills would benefit
the company
• Only sell what the new employer is looking
for
• Always if quantify in numbers or
percentages when appropriate

Highlight Your Special Skills
You have to tell prospective employer,
What can you do which others can’t
• Played a major role in building “London Eye”
• Developed “Dreamweaver” software
• Conducted a seminar on Brand Management
• Tell how your values would benefit the
company
• Sell what the employer is looking for
• At the end of the day your CV is your Sales
Brochure

Talk about your Awards
You have to tell prospective employer,
If your work was Recognised
• If you were an Employee of the
Year”
• Passed in Distinction in your
professional qualifications
• Achieved a “Gold Medal” in your
degree or Master degree

Show that You have a ...
Demonstrate through your CV that you
Have one of these
• Your experience and it’s
demonstration on your CV should
show that you have a head on your
shoulders
• Give very calculated and measured
examples of your special
achievements

Be Prepared
• Employer will ask you questions
from within your CV, so be sure
to remember your CV
• For senior jobs, you will have
panel interviews and usually
more than one interview, so
analyse your own CV from
various angles
• Make sure to keep a record of
examples of work situations
from your CV

Strategic Thinking is the
Key
• The good news is, it's never too
late to forge a new professional
path. In fact, lot of people just
like you have successfully made
the switch. As long as you
approach the process strategically
and allow yourself plenty of time
to complete the transition, your
career change campaign is likely
to end in success.

Multi-Tasking
• Demonstrate that you are
a Multi-Tasker
• No need to give practical
examples on the CV but be
ready to answer any questions
during the interview if asked

Team Worker
• Demonstrate that you are
a Team Player
• And that you can Lead as
well affectively

Well Balanced
• Demonstrate that you are
a well balanced
professional
• And can keep balance
between priorities and
judge these logically

Out of the Box
• Demonstrate that you can
“Think out of the Box”
• And can lead the company
strategically ahead of its
competitors

CV Structure and Format
• Keeping your CV concise
and to the point is a
difficult task. Selecting a
comprehensive structure
and format will help you
achieve this. There are
many layouts to choose
from, and they vary from
country to country

Styles of CVs
1. Reversed-Chronicle
order
2. Skill-Based
3. Creative

Typical CV Headings
• Contact details
• Personal profile
• The Career Objective
• Education & Qualifications
• Professional Experience
• Additional Skills
• Hobbies and Interests
• References

Contact details
• Name (write full name with big and
bold font)
• Address, City and State, Post Code
• Telephone Number
• Mobile Number
• Email Address

Personal Profile
• Highly recommended to grab the
reader’s attention, it is a key selling
tool. Ideally this should be punchy,
precise and no more than three, 15-
words sentences. E.g. “A Group
Financial Controller with 15 years
experience of Management Accounts
in Financial Services”.

The Career Objective
• KEEP IT SHORT
• Example: “To obtain a position as
Director Finance in a Banking or
Insurance Sector.”

Education & Qualifications
• List most recent education first.
• Write Date of Completion & University/
College name
• Percentage only if passed in “A” grades
• Academic honours.
• Don’t include high school (unless this is
your highest level of education).

Professional Experience
• Write in reverse chronological order
• Divide the relevant experience starting with most recent
job first
Five Important Components to mention: –
• Job Title
• Name of Employer
• Location
• Dates of employment
• Description
• Exclude
• Unaccountable gaps in between jobs.
• Street address, supervisor names, telephone number or reason for leaving.

Additional Skills
• Technological Skills.
• Foreign Languages
• Project Management
• Training Skills
• Audits etc.
• Professional
Memberships
• First Aid

Hobbies and Interests
• Don’t list your Hobbies unless
these are professionally
organized, that is, if you belong
to a club or group
• Has some relevance to the
position

References
• Do not send to employer unless they request it.
• Usually a maximum of 3 references are requested, Ensure
at least one is an existing or previous manger
• All individuals with direct knowledge of your job abilities.
• Or a professor of main subjects in case this is your first
job
• Ask the permission of referee before giving their names
and numbers.
• Provide details on company name, job title and contact
details like telephone, email

Killer Cover Letter
Importance of a Cover Letter
• Your Cover Letter makes a FIRST IMPRESSION
• Potential employers spend 80% of their time
reading your cover letter

Layout of Cover Letter
You should Include:
• A heading describing the job title you have applied
for or would like to apply for
• An opening paragraph expressing interest in the
job
• A second paragraph briefly outlining relevant
experience & achievements
• A closing paragraph asking for an interview

Steps to a Killer Cover
Letter
You should Include:
• Always address your letter to a real person
• Your letter needs to state clearly what job you are
apply for and why
• Make your letter personal to the company
• Make sure your letter is enthusiastic about the job
Don’t be afraid or shy to ask for an interview

Finally......
Analyse Your own CV:
• Does your CV clearly and quickly communicate to
employer that you can do the job?
• Does it highlight your strengths?
• Does everything support the job you are targeting?
• Should anything be removed?
• Does it really sell your skills the way you want it
to?

Contact Us
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Orlyn Park
Lusk, Dublin
IRELAND
Tel: +353 1 843 842 0
Email: rahat.kazmi@CareersAndCareers.com