About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

How This Book Is Organised 2

Part I: Pitching Your CV in a Fierce Marketplace 2

Part II: The Rise and Reign of the Targeted CV 3

Part III: Bringing It All Together: Sample Targeted CVs 3

Part IV: Launching Your CV Into Orbit 3

Part V: The Parts of Tens 3

Icons Used in This Book 4

Where to Go from Here 4

Part I: Pitching Your CV in a Fierce Marketplace 5

Chapter 1: The Generic CV Is Past Its Sell-By Date 7

In a New Era, the Targeted CV Rules 7

Market Forces Zap Unqualifi ed CVs 9

Why mass posting of online CVs doesn’t work 9

Enter Web 2.0 10

Submitting your CV in a Web 2.0 world 10

Three Steps to Writing a Targeted CV 11

Sample Core CV and Spin-Offs 12

Lauren’s core CV 12

Lauren’s targeted CV 14

Chapter 2: Quick Online Ways to Find the Right Jobs 19

Climbing the Ladder: Vertical Job Search Engines 19

Searching the web for jobs 20

Using a vertical: The generic basics 21

Meeting the verticals 22

Job Boards Rising 24

The Continuing Power of Newspapers 26

But here’s the rest of the story 26

A new wind is blowing on newspapers 27

Hunting on Company Websites 27

Seeking and Finding Is Easier than Ever 28

Chapter 3: Spotlighting Your CV in a Web 2.0 World 31

Making Something Happen with Web 2.0 Sites 31

Getting Involved in Online Social Networking 33

What it is 33

Ways to get started 34

Writing about Jobs and Life: Blogs 35

What it is 35

Ways to get started 36

Receiving Live Feeds through Really Simple Syndication (RSS) 36

What it is 37

Ways to get started 37

Chapter 4: Familiar Search Tools That Aren’t Quite Dormant 39

Scannable CVs: Same as Ever 39

Plain Text CVs: A Long Last Gasp 42

Converting your CV to plain text (ASCII) 42

Avoiding ASCII landmines 44

E-Forms: Filling in the Blankety-Blanks 45

The Fully Designed, Eye-Catching CV Is Back! 46

From Identity Theft to Recruiter Turn-Off:

Why CV Blasting Is a Bad Idea 47

Privacy and identity theft problems 47

Overexposure to recruiters 48

Online Screening Keeps On Keepin’ On 49

Sample components of online screening 50

Pros and cons of online screening 51

Can your CV be turned away? 51

Match Your CVs to the Jobs 52

Part II: The Rise and Reign of the Targeted CV 53

Chapter 5: Creating Your Best CV 55

‘Telling It’ Mutes; ‘Selling It’ Sings 55

Focusing Your CV 57

CV Formats Make a Difference 60

The standard (reverse chronological) format 60

The targeted format 63

Executive format 66

Academic curriculum vitae 67

Making Contact with a Speculative Letter 70

Highlighting Your Best Work with a Portfolio 72

Choosing the Approach That Works for You 73

Chapter 6: Flowing Content Versus Jarring Detail 75

Exploring the Sections of Your CV 75

Leading with Contact Details 76

Hooking the Reader with Your Key Skills 78

Making Education and Experience Work for You 79

Education 80

Experience 80

Including Competencies in Your CVs 80

Gaining Extra Points 82

Activities 82

Organisations 82

Honours and awards 83

Licences and samples of your work 83

Shaping Your Content on Application Forms 84

Content to Omit: Your Salary Story 84

Chapter 7: Words That Make the Mark 87

Using Words to Bring Good News 87

Buzz words for administration and management 88

Buzz words for maximum effect 89

Buzz words for sales and persuasion 90

Buzz words for technical ability 91

Buzz words for office support 92

Buzz words for teaching 93

Buzz words for research and analysis 94

Buzz words for helping and care work 95

Buzz words for fi nancial management 96

Buzz words for many skills 97

Unlocking Your Talents with Keywords 98

Keywords for administration/management 99

Keywords for banking 100

Keywords for customer service 100

Keywords for information technology 101

Keywords for manufacturing 101

Keywords for human resources 102

Knowing Where to Find Keywords 102

Getting a Grip on Grammar 103

Spelling Like a Pro 104

Chapter 8: Catching the Eye in Three Seconds Flat 107

Word Processing in a Nutshell 107

Printing Your CV 108

Selecting Paper 109

Being Consistent 110

Breaking It Up 111

Choosing Typefaces and Font Size 111

Chapter 9: CVs for Your Life’s Changing Phases 113

Grabbing Good Jobs When You’re Older 113

The strengths of maturity 114

The mature person’s soft spots 114

A lower-level job beckons 117

Employment in the autumn years 118

Winning Interviews as a New Civilian 119

Making military strengths count 119

Dealing with military soft spots 120

Government Hopefuls: From Private to Public 121

Chapter 10: Nabbing a Job as a New Graduate 123

Getting Your Foot in the Door 123

Revising and Drafting Your CV 124

Case Study: Landing the Job with Experience 126

Case Studying: Nabbing the Job When You Have No Experience 129

Wading through the Maze of Graduate Application Forms 131

Facing the harsh reality 131

Getting your mind in gear 131

Moving into the maze of questions and answers 132

Chapter 11: The Bare Essentials of a Cover Letter 137

Why Cover Letters Are Important 137

Getting Started with Defi nitions 138

Writing the Cover Letter 139

Opening salutations 139

The body 140

Closing salutations 141

Checking Out Cover Letter Examples 141

Part III: Bringing It All Together: Sample Targeted CVs 145

Chapter 12: Targeted CVs by Industry and Career Field 147

Targeted CV for IT or Management 147

Targeted CV for Medicine 147

Targeted CV for Engineering 152

Chapter 13: Targeted CVs by Experience Level and Age 155

School-Leaver with No Work Experience 155

Graduate with Some Experience 156

Management CV 156

Senior Executive CV 156

Chapter 14: Targeted CVs for Special Circumstances 165

Changing a Qualified Teacher’s CV for Jobs in Education and Management 165

Creating Specialist CVs 169

Targeting Community Sector and Medical Positions 170

Part IV: Launching Your CV Into Orbit 175

Chapter 15: References Authenticate Your CV 177

The Harm Caused by a So-So Reference 177

Seven Things You Need to Do about References 178

Ban references from your CV 178

Expect employers to check references 179

Choose references with thought 179

Help references help you 180

Play safe with a reference folder 180

Stamp out bad references 181

Thank everyone 182

Finding References without Shedding Your Cloak of Secrecy 183

Allow Enough Time for Skilful Reference Management 183

Chapter 16: Following Up on Your CV 185

Why Follow-Up Efforts Are Essential Today 185

Questions to Ask Yourself Before Following Up 187

Do I phone or email my follow-up? 187

What powerful opening statement can I make when I call the company for follow-up? 188

How much information can I find out from a central phone operator? 188

What are some tips to get past gate-keepers? 190

What can I do if I keep getting booted to voicemail? 191

Why shouldn’t I leave a message asking the target to call me back? 192

How can I keep track of all my calls, emails and contacts as I follow up? 192

When is it time to throw in the towel and move on? 193

Monitoring Your Follow-up Efforts 193

Using the Follow-Up Matrix 194

Checking out a sample Matrix 197

Fast-Tracking Your Successful Follow-Up 198

Chapter 17: Almost Got the Interview Date? Prepare Yourself 199

When Your Job Conflicts with an Interview Date 199

Face-to-Face Beats Ear-to-Ear 200

Going Overboard on Ardour Can Cost You Money 200

When the Interview Is Out of Town 201

Making the Most of Your Moment 202

Part V: The Part of Tens 203

Chapter 18: More than Ten Ways to Prove Your Claims 205

Say It with Numbers 206

Say It with Percentages 207

Say It with Amounts in Pounds 208

Chapter 19: Ten Ways to Improve Your CV 211

Match Your CV to the Job 211

Use Bulleted Style for Easy Reading 211

Discover the Art of Lost Articles 212

Sell, Don’t Tell 212

Show Off Your Assets 212

Make Sure Your Words Play Well Together 213

Reach Out with Strength 213

Avoid a Weak Skills Profi le 213

Check Out the Technology 214

Erase the ‘Leave-Outs’ 214

Chapter 20: Ten Things that Annoy Recruiters 217

CV-Free Pitches 217

Major Mismatches 217

E-Stalking 218

Missing Caps and Typos 219

Too Much Information 220

Date Grate 220

Guess Who 221

File Style 221

Useless and Uninformative 222

Probable Prevarication 222

Chapter 21: Ten Tips on Choosing Professional CV Help 223

Choose a CV Writing Service, Not a Clerical Service 224

Ask Around for a Great CV Pro 224

Request a Free Initial Consultation 225

Watch Out for Overuse of Forms 225

Look for a Fair Price 225

Check Out Samples 226

Take Aim 226

Consider a Certified CV Writer 227

Remember That Design Counts 227

Know That a Poor CV Is No Bargain 227

Chapter 22: Your Ten-Point CV Checklist 229

Matching Skills for Skills 229

Format and Style 229

Focus and Image 230

Achievements and Skills 230

Language and Expressions 230

Content and Omissions 230

Length and Common Sense 231

Appearance: Online Attached and Paper CVs 231

Difficult Issues and Sugar-coating 231

Proofreading and More Proofreading 231

The Power of Targeted CVs 232

Index 233