24th Oct 2011 - How to present yourself and your CV
Many jobseekers believe they are either too young or too old to be considered for certain jobs. The main reason they end up at the bottom of the pile is the way they present their CV. Those who present themselves as ‘up to date’ or ‘tech savvy’ WILL have an advantage, regardless of age.
If you are worried that your many years of industry experience - or your complete lack of it -will submarine your chances of getting a job, there are a few things you can do to present yourself as a strong candidate. The correct contact information is essential.
The once-ubiquitous need to differentiate between "daytime" and "evening" phone numbers is no longer a concern and makes a job seeker seem harder to reach and out of touch with today's pace of job seeking. The ‘quirky’ email address of bigboy4eva@hotmail may have seemed a good idea at the time in High School but doesn’t reek of professionalism on your CV. Recent studies suggest a gmail account gives a better impression than an AOL or Hotmail but I’m not sure I agree with this. Thoughts? When writing out your experience in your CV, choose your words wisely.
A dead giveaway that you're less experienced is when your CV's content is written in sound-bites. While it's not necessarily a bad thing to be short and to the point in a CV, writing that's too short and punchy is likely to point to your age, especially if what you're saying doesn't detail a specific achievement. On the other hand, older job seekers are notorious for using verbose phrases in their CV’s, detailing the different tasks they've been responsible for throughout each position they've held
So…….
It should be clearly and simply written and should point to true accomplishments. Keep it current and avoid being too formal with your language! Steer clear of old-fashioned terminology like something you’d read on an invitation to an evening at the bowls club. And don’t use Comic Sans or Times New Roman. This is my opinion, I’m no expert in the art of Typography but the use of these i generally consider to be a faux pas……they look dated.
With the rise in age of retirement and people looking to the older work force, your CV needs to be spot on more than ever! This is a blank canvas that could go on for pages and pages but these few simple steps could go a long way!
Wise men blog because they have something to say; fools because they have to blog something.
