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WRITING YOUR VERY first CV can be a daunting process. And it doesn’t help to know that recruiters spend an average of six seconds reviewing a CV before they make the initial decision on candidates, according to research conducted by US site TheLadders, an online job-matching service for professionals.
“Many students don’t know what should and should not be included in their first CV,” says Amanda Augustine, career consultant and career management expert for TheLadders.
While there are no hard and fast rules when writing a CV — it really depends on what content you have to work with — there are some preliminary guidelines all students or new professionals should follow.”
While your CV may look different, depending on the industry you’re in, the one below should serve as a useful guide for entry-level professionals with very little work experience:
What makes this an excellent CV for someone with no experience? Augustine outlines the following reasons:
1. The layout is clean and easy to read.
The same font type is used throughout the document. Dates and locations are consistently represented, so it’s easy to scan and pick out the important information.
2. It includes a link to the job seeker’s professional profile.
While it may seem a little premature, it’s important for students to develop good social media habits from the get-go. “Create one professional profile dedicated to your future career,” she suggests. “If you’re studying to work in a more creative field, consider developing an online portfolio to display as part of your contact information. In addition, increase the security settings on your personal accounts so they’re hidden away.”
3. The job seeker’s goals are clear.
Maria’s professional title and summary at the top of the resume clearly indicate her interest in securing an internship in advertising or public relations. “If her resume was passed along to someone by a friend, the reader wouldn’t have to guess,” Augustine says.
4. It plays up the job seeker’s selling points.
Maria is pursuing her first internship and doesn’t have any relevant work experience to speak of. “As a result, we’ve shifted around the components within her resume to showcase her strengths: her relevant coursework, leadership activities, achievements, and skills,” Augustine explains. “Her work experience is moved to the bottom of the resume because it’s not directly tied to her goals.”
5. It includes some references to school.
If you’re pursuing your first internship, it’s all right to incorporate some information about your high school career. This includes any awards, honours, or scholarships you may have received or sports you may have played. If you held an office in an honour society or relevant club, include it in your first CV, Augustine says.
6. It lists her social media skills.
“If you grew up with Facebook and other social media channels, it may seem silly to add these to your resume — doesn’t everyone know their way around Instagram today?” she says. “But the reality is that this knowledge is an asset to many employers, and not everyone in the job market possesses it.”
7. It doesn’t include a list of references.
You do not need a line at the bottom that reads: “References available upon request.”
“Employers don’t ask for that information until you make it to a face-to-face interview, and they know you’ll provide it if they request it,” Augustine says.
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I was listening to a guy’s story on the radio recently , after sending out tons of cv’s he couldn’t get a job , let alone an interview . he decided to twist it around and he sent out some cv’s with all the stuff he couldn’t do or was very bad at . within a week he got a job offer because the employer liked his honesty !
I sent loads of CV’s out, past assessment tests, got interviews, but never got past the interviews due to lack of experience. (I was out of the workforce for a few years while raising my kids, in fact one place told me I should do an internship) anyway as hope was fading a job came up and I knew the person from when I had my kids, 1 phonecall and I was offered the job with no interview. Getting on fine as for not knowing outlook (one reason one of the jobs I went for didn’t give me the job) I use it daily, its no different from any other email (its very easy to adapt). I was told I picked up the computer systems the quickest anyone ever has. More importantly I’m happy there. suppose some things happen for a reason.
It says on it that its for an Intern position, we all know what that means, it’s a €50 Job Bridge position she’s going for, so all the experience in the world will make no difference, it’s slave labour exploited by some employers brought in by a worse Government than the previous one we had!
couldnt agree more. bit its the only tool in use at the moment. its what gets you in a door, but kids should be taught how to impress at interviews. they should also learn to remove everything from facebook.
Many years ago now I had no difficulty with CV’s and those bloody aptitude tests, but when it came to interviews I was dreadful, I found I over thought them. During one interview in the 80′s by a group of Nazi’s now working in Guantanimo I was interviewed by two people who fired a barrage of questions at me while a psychologist sat to one side and assessed the process. How could anyone not be completely stressed out with that?
I found if I didn’t give a tuppeny damn about a job and sauntered into the interview without a care in the world, just there for the experience, I would often be offered the position. I could rarely replicate this nonchalant attitude for those jobs I really DID care about and envied people I knew who seemed to breeze through interviews knowing they were totally unqualified and had never passed an exam in their life. They got by with a silver tongue and pure luck, one bluffed his way into a top multinational company and managed to rise to a very senior position by lying about advanced IT qualifications. I don’t begrudge him but I know I could never do it.
This whole article is just a poorly disguised pro-FG scam to encourage people to apply for internships on scambridge.
Sit tight people. Don’t break from the crowd and just take your weekly cheque at the post office. It’s your right.
The extra 50 euro is not worth it. You’ll lose your freedom every day as you’ll need to turn up and listen to some boss telling you what to do and showing you new things that’ll wreck your head.
#cantworkwontwork
Have you considered attaining useful skills?
The CV is a pointless thing to use in 2015.
Try getting a job without one ! I’ve been asked for mine for every single job I’ve gone for.
Interviewed a lot of graduates down through the years. If you’ve McDonald’s or pub work on your cv, you get viewed more favourably than if you have nothing. Hired a guy last year who put on his cv that he worked for an events hire company. Asked him what he did, said he cleaned the portaloos. Had a good chuckle. We normally advise HR about sending out offers the following Wednesday. I phoned him later that evening to tell him he got the job.
He passed his probation with flying colours and within a day had an application on my desk looking for funding to do a night course.
The guy was so energetic that you’d think his college job was travelling the world and staying in luxury hotels. He’ll go far.
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