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Successful CVs and

Applications

Laura Trotter

Career Consultant

Careers Centre

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Lets get started...

Why did you sign up for the

workshop today? What would you

like to cover?

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Question

On average how long does an employer

take to review a CV?

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Stopwatch !y "ulian Li# http$%%www.flickr.co#%photos%&ulianli#%'()*'+,,

I often look at a CV for as little as

3 secondsbut I look at some CVs for as

long as 2 minutes.Confessions of a Recruitment Consultant

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...is a sales docu#ent$ To get you to interview

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What do employers want to see?

All &o!s haveco#petencies

our CV and coveringletter can show you have

the skills /and attri!utes0that they want

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ou got your eye on the target http$%%www.flickr.co#%photos%,+(-22)*342-%)-(5'+'*6-%

The person specification tells you what

the recruiter is looking for use it

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How to find out the skills required for the

opportunity

+. 7f you are applying for an advertised position8 read the &o! specification 9 skills

#ay !e outlined in the person specification !ut there will also !e detail in theoverall description.

,. :esearch the e#ployer 9 what is their co#pany ethos? What are their priorities

and o!&ectives? ;ro# this you can see what kind of people they would !e

looking to work for the#.

5. Look at the skills re

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Whats in it for #e? !y :on =ader http$%%www.flickr.co#%photos%planeta%(,6'2(,(6'%

In many cases! still too much about what our

company can "o for them! an" not enough about

what they can bring to the company.

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ACCURATE:ACCURATE:

ATTENTTIONATTENTTION

TO DETAILTO DETAIL

The stan"ar" of #nglish is still pretty poor $$$in many cases it

"oesn%t e&en make sense.

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Stand out !y Stevan Sheets > http$%%www.flickr.co#%photos%stevan%((5**(+*)%

e&en though hiring managers are inun"ate"! you ha&e to stan"

out! an" the only way to "o that is with precise e'amples of

achie&ements! an" "o it (uickly. Ryan Carfley! )i' Resume *istakes to +&oi"

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Think

chameleon

Think

chameleon

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Covering Letters

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The Covering Letter

:e#e#!er it is half of your #arketing package

Ai# for one side of A' #a

Always try and write to a na#ed individual

Target@

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What to inlude ! " #ain $etions of a Cover Letter

7ntroduction

Who you are % why you are writing&

Why you? Why are you interested in that 'o(? What partiular skills

and e)periene do you have to offer?

Why The#?

Try to show you have researhed their organisation& ositive conclusion

When you are availa(le for interview and you look forward

to hearing from them et&

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*ey +oints for Covering Letter

,iret to a named person

-ours .aithfully

/$ir0#adam1

-ours sinerely

/2amed ontat1

+unhy and foused

2o lists or ram(ling

3 $ide of 4" #45

6nthusiasti

4void (rohure speak

+ositive end

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Craking the Cover Letter

B =ai#u# + side of A'

B ;our key paragraphs

9 7ntroduction

9 Why the#?

9 Why you?

9 ositive conclusion

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$wap your CV with another student& Consider anyonstrutive feed(ak you ould give them (asedon the following7

+. 7s it easy to read?

,. o they show a good #iture of their relevant%technical eperienceand transfera!le skills?

5. o they provide evidence for the skills they have?

'. What are the good%!ad points and could anything have !een

i#proved upon? What do you think of the presentation?

(. Dverall8 does it provide a useful introduction to #ake you want tointerview the#?

-. What achieve#ents have they shown?

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Application ;or#s

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4ppliation form 8 $i) steps to suess

+. :ead8 think and plan

,. 7#agine yourself doing the &o!5. Ese ea#ples > prepared

'. Five yourself plenty of ti#e to fill in the for#

(. Check8 check and check again /spelling G gra##ar0

-. Heep a copy for your reference and ask for feed!ack

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6mployers9 +erspetive

What do you think were the top 5 areas where

applications fail?

+. 4ot tailoring their answer to specific co#pany and

&o! role

,. Lack of accuracy 9 spelling8 gra##atical #istakes

5. ;ailure to de#onstrate passion% #otivation for that

role%industry% co#pany

'. http$%%youtu.!e%=hkkoufsLas

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Three *ey +arts

4a#e%Contact etails%Iducation

I#ploy#ent 1istory

Additional infor#ation% Juestions$ Co#petency8

Co##it#ent G Self Hnowledge

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Questions 8 6)amples

Competeny Questions

escri!e a ti#e when youhave had to persuadeso#eone that you point ofview is right?

escri!e a situationwhere you have workedwith a group of people toachieve a goal?

Commitment Questions

Why have you chosen career path?

Why have you chosen e#ployer and role?

$elf *nowledge

What are your weaknessesand how have youoverco#e the#?

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$ituation % Task

4tion

:esult

How to use $T4:

K:7I; outline

Specific details of what8 howand why you took action youdid

What was the outco#e?Juantity? Juality? What didyou learn?

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.or e)ample; instead of7

When 7 worked in a shop 7 had to deal with angry custo#ers.

Try7 $ When 7 was working at Co#pany in a custo#er service role...

T ...7 was approached !y an angry custo#er who wanted to #ake aco#plaint to a senior #anager.

4 7 took ownership of the situation !y gently asking the custo#er ifwe could #ove to a

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Ke the recruiter@

Working in groups of 5%'8 you have ( #inutes todecide which of the - responses you would shortlistfor the following co#petency

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:ecruiter ;eed!ack

Who did you hire?

What did you notice a!out each application?

What stood out?

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:ecruiter ;eed!ack on Leeds Applicants ,2+,%+5 cycle

=a&or retailer

*, applications 9 6) re&ected at this stage

Large Technology co#pany

++) applications 9 )- re&ected at this stage

Accountancy and ;inance organisation$

,2+, > '(( applications8 ,) successful /-M0

Feneral co##ents$

NWanted to recruit #ore !ut had a lack of

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Hints and Tips for $uessful 4ppliations

Hints & Tips

-hen you prepare your application! think carefully about

the role you are intereste" in an" your skills. se plain

#nglish an" stick to the wor" limit. +lso make sure to gi&e

full "etails of your "egree mo"ules! rele&ant final year

pro/ects an" work e'perience. 0iring managers will wantto see what you%&e "one an" how this fulfils what they are

looking for.

KAI Syste#s

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.eed(ak from appliations to 3@

=any CVs are still very generic

N7n #any cases still too #uch a!out what Enilever can do for

the#8 and not enough a!out what they can !ring to Enilever.O

NThe standard of Inglish is still pretty poor in a lot of cases. 7tsessential that the students spell check and%or get so#eone to

read over what they have written8 as in #any cases it doesnt

even #ake senseO.

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;eed!ack fro# ;= 9 /7T co#pany0

The best a"&ice I coul" gi&e a stu"ent regar"ing completing an

application form is tailoring the answers they pro&i"e. There are

no generic answers or rules to filling out an application form

e&en for similar roles. #&ery company will be looking for slightly

"ifferent things as companies "iffer in their approach! &alues

an" beliefs. Therefore the stu"ent nee"s to look at the /ob

specification an" tailor their answers to what the role entails an"

what the company is looking for in the right can"i"ate. 1ou will

nee" to use rele&ant e'amples to "emonstrate the skills theemployer is seeking as this is the first filtering process

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Eseful we!sites

http$%%careerwe!.leeds.ac.uk%info%,2%applicat

ions

http$%%www.gradcracker.co#%advice%applying

%

I#ploya!ility section of VLI

http$%%target&o!s.co.uk%career>

sectors%engineering