Personal Branding: Winning CV & Cover Letter Writing is a presentation by Silas Magawi of EDAS Consulting Services (Nairobi, Kenya) for South Sudanese Audience at a weekend masterclass on CV and Cover Letter Writing organised by Excellence Foundation for South Sudan

1. EDAS CONSULTING SERVICES
Facilitated by
Silas Magawi
Presented by:
Silas Magawi – EDAS Consulting Services

2.  Understand the purpose of a CV & Covering Letter
 Know what to include in a CV and Covering letter
 Understand how to structure a CV and Covering letter in order to
market yourself effectively
 Understand how to target your CV and Covering letter to specific
opportunities.
Training Objectives

3. Introductions &
Objective Setting
01
Understanding
CV/Resume
02
Parts of a CV
03
Problem areas & best
practices
04
Understanding a
cover letter
05
Parts of a
cover letter
06
Training Outline

4. SESSION 1: WRITING A WINNING CV

6. # Qualify
# Identify an opportunity
# Express your interest
# Pitch
# Negotiate
# Maintain
What job seeking entails

7. # Lack of experience
# Handling interviews
# Branding yourself
# Not getting interview invitations
# Limited opportunities
# Not getting responses from employers
# Automation
# Limited professional networks
# Varying expectations
# Competition
# Rise in referral hirings
# Job scams
# Society values
Challenges in finding a job

9. Types of CVs

10. Did you know that the
average time an employer
spends looking at each
CV is around five to
seven seconds, and that
each position receives up
to 300 applications? With
this in mind, you need
a CV that seriously sells
your skills.

11. Applicant tracking systems act as electronic gatekeepers for employers and
hiring managers. The ATS parses a resume's content into categories and then
scans it for specific keywords to determine if the job application should be
passed along to the recruiter.
Application Tracking System (ATS)

12. Aligning CV to ATS
You can download professional PowerPoint diagrams for free
www.free-powerpoint-templates-design.com
Avoid images, charts, and other
graphics
Stick to simple bullet points
Use a clean resume design with a clear
hierarchy
Select the right file type
Don't put important details
in the header or footer
Optimize your resume with key words

13. SECTIONS OF A CV FOR ENTRY LEVEL
what are your career objectives and
how will they fit into/benefit your
prospective employer? Employers
want to see how you fit into their
organization.
your name, contacts
(phone and email) and
postal address
What are you skilled in? Include
both technical and soft skills.
Briefly explain each skill listed.
In a nutshell, who are
you?
Include the month & year, the position and the firm. Below
that, give a summary of roles in prose form. Note that it
should be a summary of roles (at most 7). After the
summary of roles, get to the achievements. Here, give your
specific achievements in that particular role. Achievements
should be relevant and SMART. Quantify your achievements
and indicate how they helped the organization.
2. Profile Summary 4. Key Skills
1. Personal information 3. Career Objective 5. Work experience

14. SECTIONS OF A CV FOR ENTRY LEVEL
How do you serve humanity? Are
you a member of any humanitarian
group? Do you take part in
mentorship, feeding programs, visits
to orphanages etc.?
List your academic qualification starting with the
latest. Please stick to ACADEMIC qualifications
only! Include the period, institution and course
studied (including specialization where
applicable). Grade attained is optional so you can
choose to include or leave it aside.
Are you a leader? Demonstrate it here. Include the
period, the institution/organization and the position
held. Details are not necessary, just list them down.
What are you proud of as an individual?
What are your biggest achievements at
school, in the community or/and work?
List them here.
for referees, always make sure you have these three
types: Academic (university/college level),
professional (doesn’t have to be your colleague or
current boss. Can be former) and social (not a relative
though).
7. Achievements 9. Leadership positions
6. Academic qualifications
8. Voluntary work 10. Referees

15. Here, list all your professional
qualifications. Any non-academic
qualification falls here, including those
computer packages. For short courses,
include ones where there was some
form of assessment and/or
certification.
1. Professional qualifications
List the relevant trainings you have
attended. The length of the training does
not matter. Include the year, training
topic and who offered the training.
3. Relevant trainings
Include where applicable. Professional
body and membership number.
2. Professional membership
Which IT skills are you excellent at?
4. IT Proficiency
Aside from work, what else are
you interested in?
6. Hobbies
List down your languages and
break them down into speaking
and writing.
5. Languages
OTHER OPTIONAL SECTIONS

16. Customizing your CV

17. You can download professional PowerPoint diagrams for free
Lots of job moves
Lack of formal
qualifications
Lack of work experience
Gaps in work history
Career change
Most/entire work with one
employer
Problem Areas in CV Writing

18. Capturing skills from your experiences
Activity Task Skill
Working in a
restaurant
•Dealing with public
•Handling cash
•Responding to customer
queries
•Working long hours in a
busy environment
•Customer care
•Communication
•Conflict resolution
•Numeracy
•Accuracy
•Time management
•Energy
•Working under pressure

19. The 5 Cs of CV Writing
• Clear – well organized and logical
• Concise – relevant and necessary
• Complete – includes everything you need
• Consistent – don’t mix styles or fonts
• Current – Up-to-date

20. CV Best Practices
• Stick to A4 sized paper.
• It should be printed on a high quality printer/paper.
• Avoid unnecessary details e.g., religion, photo etc.
• Print it on one side only, as double-sided may well be missed in a
quick shuffle by recruiters.
• Make sure that all your facts, figures, dates, addresses and company
names are accurate.
• Ensure spelling and grammar is checked and double checked.

21. • Mind the length.
• If you are creating a master CV that holds all your information, don't limit
yourself - this will happen when you tailor it to suit a specific job.
• Make sure you use positive words to describe what you have achieved.
• Be aware of using jargon; if you need to include it, make sure it is
explained.
• Keep it interesting and use short sentences, when you need to elaborate.
Use bullet points when you need to list, so a person can scan the contents
without effort and also enjoy what they read.
• Keep the tense consistent. Make sure you don't slip into present tense if
you've been writing in the past tense, and vice versa.
CV Best Practices

22. A WINNING COVER LETTER

23. WRITINGYOUR
COVERLETTER
WRITING YOUR
COV
ERLETTERWRIT
INGYOUR
COVERLETTER
WRITIN
GYOUR
COVERLETTER
WRI
TINGYOUR
COVERLET
TER
WRITINGYOUR
COVERLETTER
WRITINGYOUR
PRESENTATION
OVERVIEW
WRITING THE PERFECT
COVER LETTER
• What is a cover letter?
• What is the purpose of
cover letters?
• Paragraph by paragraph
• Things to keep in mind

24. WHAT IS A
COVER LETTER?
A COMPLEMENT TO YOUR RESUME
• Cover letters are a narrative complement to yourCV.
• A brief one page document that helps expand on the
experiences you showcased in your CV.
• Highlights your motivations in applying for the
position and why you want to work with this
specific organization.
• Showcases your personality and values.

25. A compelling cover letter answers "Why you?" and "Why them?"
-Why you: Focus their attention on your most relevant and compelling
qualifications. What value will you bring to the organization? (Not
what you want or what you can gain.)
-Why them: Be sure to include a sentence to a full paragraph on why
you want to work with this particular organization. Talk about them.
Be sure to match your tone to the organization, i.e. corporate banking
tends to be more formal than marketing or nursing. (Don’t confuse
formal with professional. All letters should be written with a
professional voice and focus. Do not use slang, abbreviations, or a
casual tone.)
Cover letters that are just about you are dry and expected. To catch their
attention, MAKE A CONNECTION.
PURPOSE OF A COVER
LETTER

26. PARAGRAPH BY PARAGRAPH
OPENING
PARAGRAPH
State the position to
which you're applying,
where you found
it/heard about it, name
drop if you have a
direct connection, and
give a brief about your
academic qualification’.
EXPERIENCE
Connect your
characteristics,
experiences to the
position and company as a
whole. Talk about your
key achievements while
linking them to your
experience. Link to the
roles of the job
advertised
SKILLS SET
Highlights the relevant
skills that you have that
are suitable to the job.
Summarize how these
will be useful to the
employer should you
join them. Check out for
the skills set advertised.
CONCLUSION AND
FORMAL CLOSING
Reaffirm your
qualifications and
interest in the position
and company. Could offer
to follow up with the
employer.
Address/Date/Ref
Formal Ending

27. Cover Letter
Best Practices
Be concise
Keep it short. 3-4 paragraphs
Focus on your achievements/strengths
Relate your letter to the job and company
Be specific on who you are addressing
Proofread your cover letter
Address the job needs
Avoid clichés/sweeping statements
Customize the cover letter to the job

29. QUESTION & ANSWER
SESSION

30. Contact us for Career and Professional Development
www.edasconsulting.co.ke
info@edasconsulting.co.ke
+254 748 999339 (WhatsApp)
We can help with CVs, Cover Letter, interviews, career
change, job searching, internships, selecting a course
of study, and more!