Thinking About #Job Hunting in 2014?

Seeking a new career challenge in 2014? Look no further - we can help with all your career management strategies:

• Invest in a new professionally written CV.
• Get specialist help with your job applications.
• Receive an impartial view of your skill set.
• Prepare for interview.
• Stuck in a rut? Not sure which career path to follow? A career mentoring session might be of help.

                          Sit Back, Grab A Coffee, Let The Experts Take The Strain

                                        www.onestopcareershop.co.uk

Is your new year's resolution for 2014 to get a new job or maybe to invest in your career?

CV & Interview Hints & Tips Video

A #CV and #interview hints and tips video which supplements our posts on #CV writing and CV/Interview hints and tips. We hope you find this useful.

One Stop Career Shop also offers a free, no obligation, CV review service.

CV Writing Hints & Tips In A Nutshell

#CV tips in a nutshell. I have been interviewing for a graduate programme last week and again this week. This led me to thinking about both CV writing and interviewing hints & tips. 

In this post we are going to explore CV writing hints & tips in a nutshell. More on interview hints & tips in later posts.  

CV Writing Hints & Tips In A Nutshell

CV writing tips - the absolute basics:

• Keep it brief - no more than 2 pages, 3 at an absolute push. The only exception are executive level CVs.
• If you are using a chronological format make sure you list your most recent job first, going back in time.
• Use the correct grammar and spell check. A good tip is to get someone to proof read the CV for you. Under no circumstances include any text speak such as lol or :)
• Watch the layout - don't make it too detailed, don't squash the content in an attempt to fit it on 2 pages. You may need to prioritise the content or group/discard older employment history
• Font size - no smaller than 10, ideally 11 or 12. Use a professional font such as Arial or Times New Roman rather than some of the more artistic fonts.
• Don't lie - you will only be found out. I loved this post "Is Your CV A Work of Fiction" from@AfterRedundancy, which made me smile.
• Make sure the CV is relevant to the role you are applying for. Look at the job description and the skills the employer is seeking and make sure you have these skills reflected in your CV.
• If you are applying for similar type roles it is fine to have a generic CV which you tweak slightly for each role. If you are applying for different types of roles or to different industry sectors then you will need to submit a different CV each time. All of this takes a lot of time and effort but it is the only way to gain invites to interview. Without this step your CV will not pass the screening stage.
• Consider how you use key words in your CV so that it can be screened easily or uploaded onto job sites.
• If you have employment gaps, include achievements or any voluntary work. Be prepared to discuss what you were doing during any employment breaks (tip: try and focus on any new skills acquired).
• Make sure you know your CV inside out prior to interview - you are only going to be asked questions on it! Make sure you have pre-prepared examples ready to back up your skills.

Good luck with the CV writing.

Dressing for Interview Success

More on dressing for career success

Photo Credit: mkh marketing

Further to our article on using Pinterest for career management, and our Pinterest post on dressing for interview I found this article Dressing for Success . Credit to Slough Job Centre for the tweet that brought it to our attention and to Office Angels for the original content

Using Social Media As A Career Tool

Social media can be a great career management tool - but exercise caution!

Photo credit: Rosaura Ochoa

Social media is a valuable tool for any career management strategy. If used wisely it can be used to:

• showcase your work and achievements
• reflect your personal style
• research a prospective employer and their brand
• build your personal network
• keep in touch with valuable contacts

However always remember that social media is a public forum. That might sound obvious but, depending on your privacy settings, whatever you post (both positive and negative) is available for public scrutiny. That means that prospective employers can also research you.

As a recruiter I can vouch for the fact that social media profiles are often reviewed in the recruitment process. Even though you are not bad mouthing anybody - are you portraying the image you want to show prospective employers? I guess its a question of checking out the privacy settings or consider the pics you post after a Saturday night out!  

What personal brand do you want to display?

Photo credit: Mediocre 2010

Enough of all that......now back to the positives of social media

In this post we are going to focus on Pinterest. 

Pinterest can be a great fun career management tool

Photo credit: mkhmarketing

I loved this article by Alison Doyle at about.com which sums up how Pinterest can be used effectively in managing your career. As a visual person I love Pinterest and so have created some boards which you might find helpful:

• CV Useful Hints & Tips
• Things to Consider Prior to Interview

 We will consider other forms of social media in subsequent posts.