Month: July 2015

Just wrote this to a prospective client in Australia:

My philosophy regarding CVs is to present you as a ‘solution’. So instead of early focus on ‘personal details’ and then career history, focus is squarely on where you fit into an organisation and what you can be trusted to achieve.

The rest of the CV then backs that central theme up, providing statistics, facts, details, even what your Managers / Directors / Colleagues say about your work (good stuff only, of course!)

I keep it brief. Info must be easy to scan and absorb. An employer must see, not just another job hunter, but a solution, someone poised to come in and deliver a definite set of outcomes & benefits.

What would you add?

Just amended my CV Writing Service info. Added this…

+++++++

WARNING: MY SERVICE MAY NOT BE RIGHT FOR YOU!

This is for your protection. And mine.

If you’re looking for a traditional / old-school CV – 10 (or even 5!) pages long, a cover page with a clip-art image of two people shaking hands on it with your name in big bold type and enveloped in scrolls … if you’re looking for a CV that begins with your “Personal Details” followed by your “Secondary School Details” … a CV that has long lists of your “Duties and Responsibilities” … then let me be clear, my service is NOT for you.

However … IF you’re willing to step outside your comfort zone a little, if you feel it’s time to ‘push the envelope’ in your efforts to market yourself, if you’re willing to take a bolder, fresher, more to the point approach in which you distinguish yourself (in a competitive and cluttered job market, not a bad idea!); IF you view yourself as a ‘business’; IF you want to present yourself as a ‘business solution’ to a company (whether you’re a PA or CEO) in just 2 or 3 pages (international standard)…

… THEN you’re the kind of person I LOVE dealing with. You’re the
reason I do what I do. And together we’ll get great results.

+++++++

Really, no-one (no employer) wants long. No-one wants boring. No-one wants long lists. They want hard-hitting value. Relevant to their needs.

If your CV focuses strongly on your best achievements, your best qualifications & skills, your best qualities AND translates them clearly into value / benefits for the employer…

THEN adding long lists of minutae is unlikely to do anything other than bloat & confuse and fragment attention of the reader. You want a few main points (your best), hammered home hard. If a few points (your best) – hammered home hard – don’t make the impact you need, NO list of minute details is gonna help.