What comes first? The date, the title, the company?

I have seen many c.v.'s written and have read much on the subject, but my favourite way of detailing Career Experience is as follows:

left hand side -The Company Name
left hand side (underneath) -Your Title
far right hand side - Dates of service

Anything you want to make an impact with - put on the l.h.s. so people see that first. If you have worked for a large corporation (one that everyone would know), put that first to impress!

Or perhaps your title was the most impressive (and relates most to the job you are applying for). If that is the case, then put your title first, and your company name underneath.

The date (in my opinion) should always be on the far right hand side as this is something that is important, but when did a date ever grab anyone's attention?

If you follow the rule that anything you want to impress with, should go on the left hand side, then you won't go far wrong.

And lastly but not least, always start with your most recent work first and work chronologically backwards! It might be very interesting that you had a part-time job whilst at school, but if you are over 20 then I'm sure you've got more recent experience to grab their attention with!

Need further c.v. advice - contact me (I don't bite) - christine@high10.co.uk

Career Coaching/CV Writing Offer

For the month of July, I'm offering a fantastic package to get your c.v. looking professional and a coaching session to get your career on track.

This package would normally cost £150, but for the month of July you can book for a special price of £75 which includes:

A 1-1 coaching session (40-60 minutes) to ascertain where your career track is heading and what you need to do to get there

A professional bespoke c.v. guaranteed to open doors

Interested? Contact me at christine@high10.co.uk to discuss your requirements.

Mock Interview Questions for School Leavers

You can never practise too much for interviews. Get a friend to ask you these questions and really think about your answers and how they would come across to a prospective employer.

Have you worked whilst studying? If so, tell me what you have done and why you choose that type of work?

What was your favourite subject at school. Why did you enjoy it?

What transferable skills do you thing you could bring to this particular job?

Why do you think you would be suited to this work?

How could you make the customer experience with us, one to remember?

What do you like the most about working with the general public?

What do you dislike most about working with the general public?

Why do you want to work for this company?

Tell me in one sentence, why I should hire you over the other candidates.

Covering Letters

As an HR Manager I was often recruiting for a number of positions at any one point in time. Potential employees must have thought I recruited one person at a time and I frequently got envelopes containing a c.v. only and no covering letter telling me what they were applying for!

So, even though it is obvious to you what position you want, remember that it might NOT be obvious to the person on the other end.

Your covering letter doesn't need to be too long. Just containing the essentials:

1. Your name and address
2. The name and address of the person you are sending it to
3. The date
4. A title (normally the name of the position you are applying for and the town - i.e. Branch Manager Vacancy - Hull)
5. Open the letter by saying that you are applying for the position and enclosing your c.v. for consideration.
6. Let them know where you saw the vacancy advertised (i.e. ...as advertised on the JobCentre website and the code HUW/4567)
7. Give a short paragraph on why you think you are suitable for this position.
8. End by stating something like - if you need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me on ......
9. Yours faithfully (if your letter is addressed Dear Sir/Madam) or Yours sincerely if you are addressing it to a specific person.
10. Don't forget to sign it!
11. Keep a copy for your files

If you are really struggling to think of specific wording then just ask: christine@high10.co.uk

How to shorten your c.v.

C.V.'s should be 2 pages long - maximum. They should never read like War and Peace, nor should they be so sketchy that there's nothing to really grasp what you have previously done.

If your c.v. is too long, try to shorten it by:

Shortening sentences
Not repeating words
Using bullet points rather than whole paragraphs
Leave out names and addresses of referees (they can be sought later)
Leave out full addresses of companies you have worked for - a company name and town is enough
Don't put down your age, height, marital status, health etc.
If you've had lots of jobs consider condensing the ones that are earlier in your career and list them under the span of the years i.e. 1967 - 1987
Try a slightly smaller font for some areas of the c.v. (but don't go too small that they need a magnifying glass to read it)!

If you are still failing to condense it - send it to me!! christine@high10.co.uk

Are you in the wrong job?

My business is all around getting round pegs into round holes. Throughout my career I have seen many people put into positions which are totally unsuitable for them and they end up not performing, miserable and sometimes make themselves ill.

DISC Profiling is an excellent way of looking at yourself to see whether you are suited to a role or not. Once profiled, it gives you 3 graphs - you 'yourself' - you 'under pressure' - you 'at work'. If your 'work' graph looks nothing like your 'self' mask then you are probably in the wrong position! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to say that if you have to be 'someone you are not' for 8 hours a day then that at some point the breaking point will come!

See what benefits DISC can bring you by visiting: http://www.christineware.co.uk/personality-profiling.html