You never get a chance for a second 1st impression, so it is always best to make the first 1st count!
How? By using the one key tool you have as a Talent – your Curriculum Vitae. Remember it always gets in the door before you, and if you did a terrible job of it, you never get in the door after it. So, let us discuss this tool in a new CV Series, shall we?
The CV has always been a necessity for potential employers; whether it’s a graphic CV, a video CV, a presentation, all of it with one primary goal in mind – Tell me why I should hire you! This culminates in your skills, experience, personality, values, perception of life and your goals .. How you impress or devastate that potential employer with your CV can, and will, make all the difference on a long run.
The primary objective of sending out a CV is to Get You a Job Interview.
Most people think that a good CV will get them a job. This is a mistake. It is rare to find an employer who hires anyone solely on what they have read in their CV, regardless of how well written it is.
Employers still require you to show up and what do they do? They measure you against the strength of your paper, and well, there better not be a gap! That’s for our friends who put too much value in the science of copy and paste!
Employers want you to testify to your resume and see if you have the personality they want. This process of course, necessitates an interview. It is the interview that ultimately gets you the job and it is the CV that gets you the interview.
The most recent job recruitment process commences with the deployment of resume-tracking and appraisal programs, where a computer does the screening based on keywords, so you have to be extra careful to include keywords that best describe the value a job role should provide to an organization, or you get screened out by an algorithm even before a person has the chance to look you up! You not only have to impress the employer, today you must impress the employer’s computer as well! It’s tough! Remember, the purpose of any CV, electronic or otherwise, is simply to get you an interview.
Sometimes you have thought, “If only I had the opportunity to meet with the employer in person, I could have convinced him/her that I was the right person for the job!” Your only chance is to have an impressive CV, one that will get you noticed and get you an opportunity to have a chat with the employer in person and possibly get the job.
A Resume Gives You a Sense of Security
It is a good idea to periodically update your CV as you never know when you will need it on the go and having it ready could be of immense advantage, almost like a 30 seconds elevator pitch you need to sell yourself to a potential employer and then send in a follow-up CV there, A Resume Can Be Used as a Calling Card. This is of relevance when one intends to conduct informational interviews to test some potential opportunities. With your CV, our candid advice is that you promtly take up the boys’ scout motto!
