In recruitment, one of the things we often hear is ‘I hated writing my CV’!

I once asked a candidate in response, do you follow anyone on social media? They answered yes, my follow-up question was, why? They talked about the person's image, successes and story. This led to my final question. If I followed you on social media what would I see?

With a little bit of nudging the candidate opened up and started to talk about their interests, career aspirations and experiences. This is the key to writing a successful CV. Take a step back and look at yourself as if you were an observer of yourself. What would your peers say about you?

Let's see if we can change the word ‘hated’

Now let's see if we can change the word ‘hated’ in the title to ‘loved’ or at least ‘didn’t mind’.

There are three steps to take to change that ‘hate’ word.….or skip to the end for an even easier option.

✅ The first step in any successful journey is making a plan. Grab your notepad and write down these headers: Education, Work Experience, Skills and Interests. Now answer these and write down what you achieved, how you achieved it, and your responsibilities.

✅ Step one part two (sorry I cheated a little) - Go find any information you don't have to hand. These will give you dates, titles and old job descriptions that can help you remember what you did and any responsibilities added at a later date.

✅ Step two - Now look at yourself as if you are someone else and imagine what they would say. They were always on hand to help, they mentored me, and they were a fair manager… This should start to help you build your language to use in a CV. I lead by example, I delivered, I assisted.

This is the type of language recruiters look for when shortlisting candidates.

✅ Step three - Write your CV in two stages. The first stage will allow you to build the bones and narrative. Then leave it and go do something you enjoy. Now you can come back and look at it with fresh eyes. Remember it doesn't have to be perfect, or everything you have ever done, keep it concise and relevant.

The easier option

The even easier option comes in three steps as well

Thanks for reading, have a great day!
Locate a Locum Team