UNIT 12 ---- Internet Function not fashion. CVs/Resumes for the 21st Century

Internet
     Function not fashion.
    CVs/Resumes for the 21st Century

                   In the past it was usual to produce our CV/resume and covering letter on paper and submit them by post (snailmail) or fax. Today, it is increasingly usual for companies to ask us to send our CV by email or for candidates to place their CV on a webpage. These are two excellent ways of distributing our CV, but there are several important points that we should not overlook.

1) Email
When we send our CV by email, we can send it either as inline text (that is, written in the body of the email) or as a file attached to the email (or as a combination of these).
In all cases, please make sure that the subject line is clear, and relevant. Our prospective employer may receive hundreds of CVs by email and many will have subject headings like :

• CV
• Job Application
• John Brown
• JB
• Our Vacancy

            We can imagine how frustrating it is to sort emails with meaningless subject lines like these (or, worse still, no subject line at all, as sometimes happens). If your name is "John Brown", a good subject line would be :

Resume    : John Brown
CV & Covering Letter: John Brown
Job Application   : John Brown
Application for Post of Sales Manager: John Brown

2) Inline text
              It is best to use "plain text". Yes, we can write our email in "HTML" or "Rich Text", but will our prospective employer be able to read it? Will it arrive correctly formatted? Will colours, typefaces, tabs and spacing, and any special characters like fancy accents be correctly presented? Perhaps yes. Perhaps no. Unless we are certain that what we write will be seen as we intended, we cannot take the chance with such an important document. Plain text, on the other hand, can be read by virtually all email programs world-wide and we can be confident that what we send is what arrives at the other end. However, even with plain text it is advisable to :

a) Keep the line-length short.
Use hard carriage returns (the "Enter" key) every 65 characters maximum.

b) Avoid fancy spacing and tabulation.
A CV/resume that is beautifully formatted in MS Word or some other word-processing program cannot be reproduced with the same layout in plain text. We should not even attempt it. Instead, we will need a different, simpler approach, similar to the one below.

Formatted document:
2005-        Sales Manager  United Technologies Universal Ltd    London, UK
2000-2005  Sales Representative      Wonder Techniques Inc.    New York, USA

Plain text email :
2005 to date
Sales Manager
United Technologies Ltd (London, UK)

2000-2005
Sales Representative
Wonder Techniques Inc. (New York, USA)

3) Attachments
           We should be very careful about sending our CV as an attachment. Many people are very cautious about opening attachments, largely because they can contain viruses, and our email with an uninvited CV attachment may well be deleted before it ever sees the light of day. If we are sure that our prospective employer will accept attachments, then this can be a good way to submit our CV and covering letter.
          
            Be careful too that our documents are properly laid out with a file format that can be read by our prospective employer. An MS Word document (.doc) is almost certain to be readable by anyone, on PC or Mac. Better still, convert it to the universal Rich Text Format (.rtf). If we send our CV produced on some obscure word processing program, and do not convert it to RTF, then do not be surprised if we never hear from our prospective employer again.

             Another word of caution: like the subject line for our email, be sure to give our attached files meaningful names. Do not simply attach a file called "CV.doc" or "coveringletter.doc". Once it has been saved to our prospective employer's hard disk, the name will be meaningless, unless they have taken the trouble to change it. But we should not give them this trouble. Instead, call our attachments something like :

a. Resume_John-Brown.doc
b. CV-and-Covering-Letter_John-Brown.doc
c. job-application_john-brown.rtf
d. JohnBrown_Application-for-Post-of-Sales Manager.rtf

4). Webpage
                It can be a very good idea to place our CV on the Web. This makes access to our CV easy and rapid world-wide. If we wish to retain confidentiality, we can always password protect it. Unfortunately, many people suddenly become artistic as soon as they add pages to the Web. They believe that they can somehow enhance their CV by adding colour, or unusual typefaces, or fancy backgrounds. They pay for their artistry in illegibility. If there is one, immutable law of the Universe, it is that contrast between text and background increases legibility (readability). In general, black text on a plain white background is the easiest text to read. (That is why books, newspapers and magazines the world over are printed in black text on white paper, except for some very special effect.) Remember, too, that a prospective employer may wish to print out our CV, and will almost certainly prefer to have a result that looks more like a conventional CV. Which of the following is easiest to read, and print?

10 Essential Tips

               Here are some essential tips that summarize much of what we have already discussed, and add some new ideas. Read them carefully and act on them. They will guarantee that job interview.

Tip 1: Use design that attracts attention
Employers don't have time to read through each of our job descriptions to know if we have the skills they need. The design of our CV must do it for them. Our CV should be well-organized and emphasize the most important points about our experience, skills and education. This information is the first impression that an employer has of us.

Tip 2: Match our headings to the job
Use a job title and skill headings that match the job we want. An employer who sees unrelated job titles or skills will immediately think that we are not right for the job in question.

Tip 3: Write convincing content
Good design will get an employer's attention. But after that, we must concentrate on the content of your CV, the actual descriptions of your skills and abilities, to ensure an interview and good job offer.

Tip 4: Use 'power words'
We need to control the image that an employer has of us. To do this, use power words that match the position we want. If, for example, we are applying for a financial post, we should use as many financial skills power words as possible

Tip 5: Use 0123456789
People react to numbers! Numbers are alive and powerful. They create vivid images in our minds. General statements are easy to ignore. Be specific and use numbers when describing our duties and achievements. Don't talk about 'managing a major turnover'. Talk about 'managing a $27,000,000 turnover'.

Tip 6: Put important information first
List important information at the beginning of our job description. Put statements in our CV in order of importance, impressiveness and relevance to the job we want. A powerful statement with numbers and power words influences every statement that follows.

Tip 7: Find key words from the job description
Let an employer do our work for us! Employers spend much time and money writing job advertisements and descriptions that contain key words for the position offered. Read these descriptions carefully to find the key words. Then use the same key words in our CV and cover letter.

Tip 8: Sell benefits, not skills
Holiday companies do not sell holidays. They sell relaxation, adventure, sun, sea and sand (the benefits of a holiday)! We should not sell our skills (many other people have the same skills). We should sell the benefits of our skills. When we write our skills and past duties, be careful to explain their benefits to the employer.

Tip 9: Create the right image for the salary
Use language that creates the right image for the level of job and salary we want. Position ourselves at the appropriate level. The language we use will immediately influence an employer's perception of us.

Tip 10: Target the job
We will have more success if we adjust our CV and cover letter for the specific skills an employer is seeking. This means that we would write one CV for one particular job and a different, modified, CV for another job. We 're-package' ourselves. In that way, an employer will see immediately that you correspond to the job description. It is not dishonest to 're-package' yourself. You are simply presenting yourself and your skills in the best light for a particular employer. This will help you to get more interviews. It will also allow you to apply for a wider range of jobs.