OK, so you have made up your mind you need a change, you are sick and tired of your boss, career, company, office. You are not getting the recognition you deserve or you are ready for the next step in your career but your current company cannot accommodate your burning ambition.
With determination you begin the search for a new opportunity. This is where you need to think through a few things:
Do you know what you want?
Do you really have the experience/ qualifications?
Can you honestly prove that you will add value in a new role?
The last point is quite important and we will come back to this in a short while. In any event, once you have thought this through, the next step is to identify agencies that have a focus within your chosen industry. This is vital, the generic agencies will not really understand the subtle differences within an industry specialization. If you want a career in Banking, find an ex banker who has started up their own recruitment agency!
Once you have identified an agency, making contact can be a challenge. It helps to understand some of the challenges agencies face to help you get the most out of them.
Agencies are quite literally swamped by applications. It is a tough world out there and unemployment as you know is high. This means that the moment a role is advertised, a gazillion CV's pour into our inboxes. 99.9% of these applications do not meet the requirements of the advertised role.
The recruiter has to make a decision based on the a quick scan of the CV. Due to the limited time to fill most jobs, this scan is often focused on the first few pages.
If the required skills are hiding on page 27 behind your scuba diving accomplishments, it will very likely be missed and your CV will join a list of regrets.
If you are applying for a role, study the job spec and prepare a personalized cover letter highlighting the specific experiences you feel make you an ideal candidate for the role.
This may sound obvious but you have no idea how few people actually do this.
If you are not applying for a specific role, indicate your accomplishments in your covering letter together with the types of roles you believe you could add value in.
If you are not applying for a specific role you need to help the recruiter a little. Focus on your achievements and elaborate on the types of companies you can add immediate value too.
The CV
There is no way around it, although CV's can never accurately reflect your experiences or personality, you need one to get an audience with the recruiter or prospective employer. Unfortunately this awful piece of paper can often be the the cause of you not getting an interview.
It is a catch 22 situation, leave out too much and the recruiter might not think you have the necessary skills. Put too much in and the detail will probably be missed or not read at all.
In our opinion, the cover letter should provide enough information to get an initial interview. (If you can match your experiences to the job spec or if you have highlighted significant achievements and areas in which you can add value)
The CV needs to be as concise and summarized as possible.
No fancy fonts, colors or borders. The shorter the better.
Include relevant information only. (Listing every single module of your second year Business Management course adds no value)
Actual achievements sell you! If you can demonstrate how you saved money, increased revenue or successfully implemented an important project, you are more likely to get in front of a prospective employer.
Look at your existing CV and ask yourself, "Do I want this document to try and sell me, or do I want an opportunity to sell myself in front of a real person?"
Most people try to cram as much of themselves into the CV as possible, an impossible task which as discussed above, will only result in your missing out on the opportunity to sell yourself in person. Keep your CV short and get in front of more people.
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