Sather

Writing your first professional CV is undoubtedly a daunting process however if you can answer the following questions it will become easier:
1.What is my message?
2.What format should my CV follow?
3.How do I identify my transferable skills?
4.How can I present my transferable skills?

What is my message?
First and foremost you need to think very carefully about exactly what kind of career you want to embark on. Do you have a vocational degree and want to pursue a career related to that subject? If so, ask yourself what type of industry, organisation and size of company you want to work for.

If you have a non-vocational degree, think of the career you want to embark on and what appeals to you about it. Think of ways you can demonstrate relevant skills that you have gained through your education and life experiences. For example, if you have a History Degree and are interested in Journalism then having had your work published in a student newspaper will make your CV stand out.

What if I am not sure what my message is?
If you are unsure of what career you want to embark on, then concentrate firstly on thinking of five key elements of a job you dont want (e.g. working with figures) and then think of five key elements you do want (e.g. using customer service skills). You need to then think of the type of industry you would like to work in e.g. if you have a passion for music you may want to work in the music industry. Once you have established your key elements and industry you need to look at websites, national newspapers and arrange a meeting with a Careers Advisor to get an idea of suitable roles for graduates.

Once you have decided exactly what career you want to pursue you need to make sure this is reflected in every aspect of your CV.

What format should my CV follow?
Your CV should list your contact details, education, career summary, five key competencies/skills and hobbies and interests.

What contact details should I include?
You must include all your contact details. You must ensure that every time your postal address changes you update your CV and send a current one to recruitment agencies and any other active positions you have applied for.

What information should I include in my Educational Background?
At this initial stage of your career you should put down the full address of educational institutions with dates of passed exams. You should break your degree into years, list all the subjects, marks and if you are an undergraduate the class you have been predicted.

If you have had a placement, then in this section you should include the job title and organisation, and then under Career Summary you should provide detailed information.

What should I include in my Career Summary?
You should provide a reverse chronological summary of your work experience starting from your most recent experience.

If you have a vocational degree and have had a placement, then you should highlight all the responsibilities and achievements you gained. If you have a non-vocational degree and did not have a placement, then set out your employment history and think of ways of making the skills gained relevant to the role you are applying for. You should include all voluntary, part-time and work experience gained abroad e.g. Camp America.

What is a competency?
L Spencer and S Spencer in Competence At Work, Models For Superior Performance has defined a competency as an underlying characteristic of an individual that is related to superior performance in a job or situation.

How do I identify my key transferable skills/competencies?
You need to write down on several sheets of paper different areas of your life and then examples of achievements and skills/competencies gained in each area e.g.
1.Academic achievements e.g. awards,
2.Sporting achievements e.g. member of school and County team
3.Outside circular activities e.g. Duke of Edinburgh Award.
4.Holiday achievements e.g. summer holidays where you put language skills to good use.

The point of this exercise is to make you think about all the skills you have acquired through different aspects of your life. Once you have identified your key skills you need to think about the most important five key skills an employer would be looking for. You must then provide a specific example of where you have demonstrated the skill e.g. organisational skills used on an Euro Rail trip.

What type of words should I use?
If you are applying for a specific job advertisement you should incorporate words similar to those the employer has used. As a general rule there should be lots of verbs such as managed, multi-tasked, etc.

What additional skills should I include?
You should include information such as IT skills and a clean driving license.

What information should I include under hobbies and interests? At this stage of your career it is essential you include information on what you do in your free time and include as much detail as possible e.g. if you love cooking, what type of food do you cook? Who is your favourite chef and why?

How am I going present my CV?
You can e-mail or post it. If you post it, ensure it is on good quality white paper and in an A4 sized envelope.

How long should writing my CV take?
Be sure to give yourself enough time to write a couple of drafts and then show it to people and ask them if they were to summarise your three key strengths what would they say?

Suparna Dhar is a Career Coach and runs her own practice http://www.lifescanvas.co.uk She has over ten years experience of working in recruitment, training, management development, coaching and mentoring. Copyright Suparna Dhar 2007. All Rights Reserved.