Training Manual Creating a Winning CV

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Getting Started This manual outlines strategies, techniques and tips needed to prepare a winning CV as a

first step towards your career advancement goals. Itsummarizes the best CV writing

practices and dos and don’ts that you should keep in mind while drafting your career

application. The manual also aims to debunk myths commonly associated with the practice

of writing a CV and includes practical advice to help youprepare a professional and

impressive CV.

What is a CV? A Curriculum Vitae or ‘CV’ isyour personalized advertisement which is the first

representation of your skills, expertise and ambitions to a potential employer in order to

help them learn more about you.

As a job seeker, your CV is not just as a document, but your very own dynamic and self-

promoting advertisement used to communicate to prospective employers exactly what you

would like them to know about you. Your CV is thus, perhaps your most powerful avenue to

positively influence an employer's decision making process.

From an employer’s perspective, the importance of a CV is significant since most hiring

managers rely solely on CVs as screening tools to sort applications based on relevancy. With

time and resource limitations, it becomes impossible for HR to read every CV in utmost

detail. Hiring Managers use CVs in the recruitment process to determine if you are relevant

enough to be interviewed for the job role.

For this reason, it is important that your best skills and unique selling points should be

spotlighted-prominently and concisely.

Understanding the HR strategy It is essential to understand how the hiring process works in order to fine-tune your CV to

truly ace the job application process. A CV that showcases your strengths and ambitions but is not relevant to the hiring

manager’s criteria will not advance your career. It is essential therefore to conductsome

basic research in terms of studying the job role to establish connections between your

prior experience and the expectations defined for the vacant role.

Hiring managers rely on skimming or 'eye tracking' through CVs during the first round of

review to select the candidates who have systematically highlighted their qualifications, key

experiences and expertise to match the parameters set in the job posting.

Must Haves: The HR teams at most organizations rely on a list of must-havecriteria to weed

out applicants that are not a good matchto save their time and streamline the hiring

process. These must-have criteria can range fromresidence location, industry exposure,

functional skills, transferable skills, and quantifiable results achieved.

For example, in the case of a ‘Sales Executive’vacancy, the must-have key words will include:

Sales, Revenue Growth, Customer Service, Reporting, Business Networking and Key Account

Management, accompanied by relevant statistics such as 20% increase in revenue, 30%

growth in account acquisition, and 90% customer satisfaction levels. These keywords are

attention grabbing while the numerical evidence will help reduce your chances of being

eliminated from the top contenders.

Using keywords as a vital selling point will improve your visibility in any CV database if

your job application is electronically submitted.

Debunking Myths

1) Use your CV as self-marketing tool to provide readers with an overview of your strongest

selling points, even if that means a CV longer than one page.

2) CV structure, formatting and presentation is as important as the content itself.

3) Never lie or exaggerate on a CV because it is unethical and will result in damaging long-

term consequences.

4) Avoid mentioning past salaries or salary expectations on a CV.

5) Customize/tailor CVs to make it more relevant to each targeted job.

6) Use brief bullet point statements instead of lengthy paragraphs to convey your message

to anemployer.

7) If a statement or a sentence on your CV does not seem to add value, delete it entirely.

Drafting your CV As an introduction to perfecting your CV writing strategy, it is necessary to quickly overview

the structure of the CV and its components to identify sections that must be included, their

placement, and the type of information that needs to be mentioned to maximize the impact

of the document.

Step 1:CVheader

This section will contain your full name, complete address, contact number and email

address. It is advisable to use bold formatting to highlight your name to make it stand out as

explained in the screenshot below:

Top tip: Ensure that your email address reflects you as a serious and polished job

seeker- ideally firstnamelastname@gmail/hotmail or yahoo.com are the best

alternatives to use on your CV.

Using unprofessional email IDs such as mickeymouse@gmail.com or

ironman22@hotmail.com will make you a strong contender for an immediate

rejection from the hiring manager.

Step 2: Career Objective

Typically 3 sentences are enough space to communicate your top skills, industry/job-relevant

experienceand significant accomplishments that have resulted due to your initiatives. Ideally

you should write one sentence dealing with each component outlined above.

Step 3: Skills

Illustrate your transferable and specialized skills. Incorporate or list 10 to 12 of your strongest

skills relevant to the employer requirements mentioned in their job posting.

Remember to maintain honesty and avoid exaggeration, and strive to strike a balance

between general and industry specific attributes to ensure representation as a well-rounded

individual, and assured visibility if the employers conducts candidate search based on key

words.

Top tip:List your specialized, technical or vocational skills at the top before

mentioning any transferable or soft-skills (e.g. Communication Skills, Presentation

Skills etc.). The skills section needs to appear immediately below your career

objective to capture an employer’s interest.

Step 4: Work Experience.

This is the most powerful area of the CV and is read in greater detail compared to other

parts.

The largest chunk of your time should be invested in structuring your experience with details

including dates of employment, employer names, locations, job titles, scope of

responsibilities and major accomplishments.

Additionally, a standard rule of thumb is to use a combination of keywords, action verbs, and

results oriented bullet points to reflect your strengths, a subject that we will explore in

greater detail in subsequent pages.

Step 5: Education.

This is also a critical component of your CV because your academic qualifications, trainings

and certifications can give you the added competitive edge to impress the employer. Use

this section to your advantage by truthfully highlighting your background, qualifications and

corresponding credentials.

After these 5 steps have been covered, there is also flexibility to include additional pieces of

information such as memberships, extracurricular activities or volunteer work if the need

arises, but don't let that distract you from the core content for now.

It is important to note that deviations can be made in the layout. For instance, it is

recommended to place education before experience if you are a fresh graduate looking to

enter the field of your choice, whereas if you are a highly experienced professional with

numerous years of expertise, it would be more appropriate to reverse the sequence so that

the experience receives more attention than your education and academic foundation.

General CV Writing Tips

1) Keep the layout consistent through use of the same font, and only using formatting

options such as bold and italic to draw emphasis where required.

2) Use consistent margins and fonts that are neither too small nor difficult to read, a

standard rule of thumb is using nothing smaller than 10 points or larger than 12.

3) Ensure the use of a consistent header containing your name and contact information.

Avoid use of unprofessional email addresses at all costs- disneyprincess@gmail.com or

princecharming@hotmail.com as this ranks one of the strongest job applicant deal-breakers

for employers.

4) Number the pages appropriately in the footer.

5) Take your time in preparing your CV- a cluttered, unorganized, lengthy or irrelevant CV will

be misrepresentation of your potential so it is best to prepare a draft and then revise it

multiple times to formulate a CV that has the 'wow factor’.

6) Utilize spelling and grammar check options in your word processing programs, or request

a friend or family member to review your CV to ensure that there are no inconsistencies in

presentation, or mistakes in spelling, punctuation and grammar that could potentially cost

you your job interview.

An error free CV is one of the foundations of a strong first impression, thus it is essential to

identify and rectify mistakes before they can adversely impact the employer's interest in

your candidacy.

Top tip: The selling point of any CV are the top 1/3 to 1/2 of the first page- basically the

portion that determines their ability to make it or break it.

HR personnel are known to pay critical attention to these portions of the CV, and as a

rule of thumb you must remember that "space equals importance".

Make the most out of the most pivotal sections of the CV through use of appropriate

visual structure and content to inspire the reader to continue to read the rest of the

document, without losing interest or focus in your capabilities.

CV Sections, in-depth:

Career Objective

The career objective is your chance of introducing yourself to the employer and setting the

tone for the rest of the CV.

It is basically the first point of contact that will either motivate the reader to continue

reading or immediately consider you as a misfit for the organization.

Consider the career objective as your tool to show the reader your target 'destination' as a

job seeker.

The key elements to consider in building a robust career objective are what outcomes do

you want to achieve from your job search, what skills are you able to offer in regards to the

company's needs, and what keywords is the reader of the CV looking for.

One of the first factors to take into account when building the career objective is to keep it

concise. Regardless of the relevant industry and nature of your dream job title, the most

impactful career objectives range between 2 to 3 sentences.

It is recommended to mention what you are looking for, your top 3-4 skills, the value or

results you will be able to accomplish if granted the opportunity, meanwhile consistently

upholding a conversational tone to effectively convey your message.

Let's demonstrate how you can express all these factors in a brief statement:

Example:"A results-driven professional with 6+ of strong expertise in the provision of proven

Marketing solutions, with keen proficiency in marketing campaigns and social media programs

resulting in 10% improvement in market share growth. Seeking a challenging position to

contribute accumulated experience towards accomplishing swift improvement in market

segmentation, market penetration, and revenue inflow and brand recognition, while

maintaining firm focus on the realization of organizational objectives."

To reinforce what we just discussed, this career objective concisely addresses the 3 core

questions necessary:

What are you looking for

What are your top skills, and

What are you going to be accomplishing for the company.

However, what deserves a special mention is that this applicant has also managed to stay

away from a common mistake of sounding too self-centered by maintaining a balance

between emphasis on employer's success and personal goals.

In case you are a fresh graduate and don't have practical experience to showcase in your

career objective, do not worry, let's go over another example for an entry level candidate to

help provide you with insight on how to resolve this dilemma. A sample to demonstrate a

possible approach would be:

Example: "A dedicated entry level professional with strong knowledge of Marketing, Sales and

Public Relations strategies to use towards accomplishing improved brand visibility, awareness

and market share growth. Seeking a position to utilize skills pertaining to media outreach and

business networking to attain high returns on investment, and fulfillment of business

objectives."

In this scenario, you have made it clear that you do not have any prior experience but have

the skill set to meet organizational needs, in addition to establishing a goal you aspire to

accomplish if hired as an employee.

Career Objective Do’s & Don’ts:

1). DO pay close attention to the employer's needs: Define ways in which you are adding

value to the company, what combination of unique strengths you are able to bring to the

table, and what are the tangible outcomes that can be expected from your addition to the

company.

2) DO stay away from common clichés: Remember that HR managers go through a large

volume of applications everyday and want to see candidates stand apart from the rest, not

blend in with the crowd. Inserting phrases such as "successful track of increasing customer

satisfaction by 40%” instead of a mere “track record of success", are more significant

indicators of the positive changes you can be held responsible for.

3) DO keep in mind the job description: The skill sets and areas of specialization you plan on

including in your career objective should be in alignment with the ones mentioned in the

vacancy or job posting. Building strong links and smartly making use of keywords to

optimize relevance is a sure shot way of providing the reader with evidence that you have

done your fair share of research, have an exact understanding of what the company needs,

and are confident of your ability to match them correctly.

4) DON'T apply the same career objective to every job you are applying for: If you are a

professional with diverse exposure in multiple fields, for instance Business Development and

Banking Operations, do not make the mistakes of expressing the same career objective in

every application. Structure and separate distinct career objectives for both positions so

that you do not come across as an uncertaincandidate split between two distinct fields.

5) DON'T provide too much information: Remember to keep the career objective brief

because you will be using your experience, skills and education sections to further elaborate

how you developed certain attributes.

6) DON'T use bullet points: Career Objective is best expressed in a paragraph form versus

bullet points. Use 2-3 concise and crisp sentences to piece it together. Using bullets is the

standard recommended approach for other sections, but the career objective remains an

exception to the bullet point practice.

Prepare your career objective wisely and tailor it accordingly to the relevant position you are

interested in. Be honest in your experience, talents, career span and milestones to establish

a mutually beneficial position for yourself and the employer alike.

Skills The Skills section of the CV should be utilized very carefully and strategically to present

yourself as a promising contender for the vacancy.

Identifying the skills employers want and incorporating them into your CV is one of the

main pillars of executing a fruitful job search plan.

The employers have clear cut definitions of what characteristics and talents their future

employees should possess. These characteristics or skills are detailed in job postings or

advertisements, or at the very least laid out as clues, thus making your task of building this

section actually quite fool proof.

Skills can be divided into 2 main categories: functional or specialized skills and transferable

skills.

Specialized or technical skills have a comparatively limited scope of application, and are

developed through education, vocational training, studying particular subjects or

performing specific job roles, some examples being database management, computer

programming and medical specialists.

Transferable skillshave versatile applications, are essentially applicable for all types of work,

and do not have to be necessarily developed through specific training or education- for

example teamwork, communication and accountability.

They can be further broken down into the following 4 categories:

- Soft Skills: for example team work and public speaking

- Analytical Skills: for example research and creativity

- Organizational Skills: for example time management and resource management

- Personal Skills: for example integrity and reliability

Spending time reflecting on yourself and your core objectives before writing your CV will

provide you with a stronger perspective to help you narrate your unique story,

If you are still in college or university, and have not yet had the opportunity to gain hands-on

experience in the professional world, there is nothing to worry about, even the most senior

job seekers know that their CV will always be a work in progress.

You can highlight your academic qualifications as your most significant achievement instead.

The key here is to make course work relevant to the skills required for the role, for example:

Research, Reporting and Adaptability to new technology.

Top tip:Read the job description carefully and make 2 separate lists containing the

appropriate skill sets requested clearly. You can perhaps highlight the transferable

skills in one color, and the specialized or functional skills in another color to refine the

organization process, and then determine which of these skills you can best support

in the professional experience sections with strong evidence and examples.

It is recommended to use a blend of 10-12 specialized and transferrable skills that will be

sure to help you in getting your CV shortlisted, whether by computer or human screening.

Exercise: Identifying skills in a job description

Let’s take a look at a sample job description to practice selection of appropriate skills:

"An exciting opportunity to become a member of the Alpha organization as an Executive

Secretary. The scope of work will include scheduling appointments, handling customer

database management, preparing performance reports, answering phone calls, greeting

customers and visitors at the front desk, in addition to performing other ad-hoc duties a

requested.

Preference will be given to candidates with exceptional communication, organization and

multitasking skills due to the fast paced nature of work."

Looking at this example, let's start differentiating them and putting them in their

appropriate categories. Scheduling Meetings, handling the customer database management

and preparing performance reports are functional skills that are typically developed with

hands-on experience in a professional setting.

Meanwhile, answering phone calls, greeting clients, communication, and organization and

multitasking are generic and transferable skills that can be developed and demonstrated

without definite experience within a particular job role or industry domain.

Be sure to supplement these skills with other applicable strengths when you prepare the

skills section. For example, other attractive traits that Executive Secretary could include are

presentation skills, use of software applications, time management, teamwork, decision

making, inter-departmental coordination, logistic arrangements and even bilingualism.

It is also advisable to place the skills in order of importance when building the sections,

starting with the ones that you consider as stronger selling points.

If you are a fresh graduate with little or no professional experience, place more emphasis

on transferable goals because the specialized or technical skills will be developed through

on the job training and professional development initiatives.

Recap: Prepare a list of your 10 best specialized/functional skills, and top 10 transferable skills that are relevant to your field, and can best highlight your professional strengths and areas of expertise. Out of these, go ahead and shortlist 6 skills from each of the 2 categories that you would want to include in your CV. It is recommended to place them in order of their importance and as well as your proficiency because we went to make your strongest skills your strongest selling points as well. Onceyou’re done, you may proceed forward to building the next section of the CV.

Work Experience The professional experience section is by far the most important section that can help you

market yourself, convince the employers of the unique strengths that you possess, and

persuade the employers to invite you for an interview.

For job seekers who have practical work experience, this section will probably be the

longest in your CV. On the other hand, if you are a fresh graduate and have no professional

experience or internships to use as content, do not worry, there is a strategy to counter that

situation as well.

Fresh Graduates:

As a fresh graduate, the main tools you can use to spearhead self-branding objectives are:

volunteer work, extracurricular activities, and accomplishments from other areas of your

life such as travel study experiences or team leadership highlights, and memberships.

Employers recruiting for junior positions understand that you need a job in order to build

experience, and for someone with a fresh degree, lack of experience will not be a crucial

deal breaker.

Experienced Professionals:

Moving on to candidates who have had some practical work experience, the first factor to

consider is how you make use of language to demonstrate your talents.

Avoid using lengthy paragraphs to convey your point to the reader, brief bullet statements

should be your focus.

In order to lay down foundation of a good bullet, remember that they do NOT involve use of

pronouns such as "I, you, he, they, etc." Omit personal pronouns, and the need to refer to

people in your statement

Use verbs or actions words at the beginning of the sentence. In addition, provide

quantifiable proof of your achievements while holding a job title, to give credibility and

momentum to your points.

To illustrate the significance of this point, let's take a look at 2 bullets:

a) Managed the Account Department to maintain positive cash flow

b) Directed the Accounting Department operations to accomplish growth in retained profits

by 15%

The second bullet is structured in a more thoughtful manner, it doesn't sound cliché or make

the candidate sound like he was doing the job just because it was assigned to him, instead

he has taken a step further to show drive as a leader by directing Accounting Department

operations, which consequently resulted in an increase in retained profits by an impressive

15%.

Numbers and financial performance are indicators of good or bad operational quality for all

employers, so leave a strong mark in the reader's mind by using quantitative figures as

evidence of your service contributions.

The third factor to consider when building your professional experience section is knowing

what a career highlight is, and what a responsibility is.

Career Highlights or accomplishments are more powerful sellers on a CV compared to key

responsibilities, so where applicable, use them to demonstrate proficiency in functional

areas.

For example, if an applicant was recognized for their outstanding contributions as a team

player or was awarded "employee of the month" title, this is not a milestone that can be

included under key responsibilities.

Thus, the professional experience section should ideally be divided into 2 subheadings: Key

Responsibilities and Highlights.

With these factors discussed, let's try to fine-tune the details presented in order to polish

your CV further.

Firstly, never undermine the importance of your promotions! If you joined the organization

as a Sales Executive and secured a promotion to the Sales Manager position, it is best to

show that growth in your work history.

Use a subheading titled "Designation Chronology" in bold, and mention the job title and

dates you were providing expertise under that role to gain an output, as shown below :

Designation Chronology

• Jan 2014- Present: Sales Manager

• Mar2012- Dec 2013: Sales Executive

Secondly, it is recommended to use a company profile as a part of your job description

without assuming that the reader will be aware of the company and the nature of its

operations. A brief one liner on your organization in the area between your job title and key

responsibilities should be included.

To essentially summarize the components of good professional experience section, use the

follow steps:

1). Start with your job title, company name, and dates that you have been employed at the

company. If you have multiple roles that you plan on detailing, use a chronological order

starting with the most recent ones. Also, keep in mind your tenses, use past tense for old

roles, and present tense for current positions being held.

2). Insert a brief one sentence company profile to indicate what industry it falls under, and

the scale of their operations

3). Insert your designation chronology with corresponding dates/titles in chronological order

if you have received promotions from an employer

4). Make a subheading for Achievements or Highlights and use this section to bring to

attention quantifiable achievements, successful projects and awards

5). Make a subheading for Key Responsibilities and use this section to provide the reader

with details regarding your direct accountabilities that you were hired to fulfill. Ideally, the

skills you mention should be supported by your key responsibilities as an explanation of how

the skills were developed or enhanced.

Education Education is an important point of interest to an employer, and a pivotal factor to remember

is that if you are a fresh graduate looking to build your career, place your education section

directly below the career objective as it will be your most powerful selling point.

Meanwhile, if you have already have prior experience relevant to the available job

opportunity, is it recommended to show experience, before adding details associated with

education.

List any honors, key projects, thesis topics directly related to the target job.

For entry level candidates it is advised to list key areas of focus under your graduate or

undergraduate degrees. For example, if you are looking to enter finance or accounting

domains then you can add course titles such Financial Accounting, Managerial Accounting,

Corporate Finance and Business Statistics to provide a stronger insight into your

qualifications and exposure to related subjects.

Be concise. Only add your high school name and associated year of graduation if you are

under 25 years of age, and use it to complement your college degree or specialized trainings

completed.

If you have an undergraduate and graduate degree both finished, then highlighting your

high school in the education section is not recommended because your recent academic

accomplishments are definitely more impressive and carry more worth as unique selling

points.

You will ideally want to demonstrate passionate involvement with lifelong skill development

and learning, so relevancy is key to bridge gaps between employer interests and personal

professional development initiatives.

You can display and organize your education information effectively as under:

The 4 steps to follow are: Institution Name and Location, Degree Name, Year of

Completion, and your cumulative GPA.

The CGPA or grades are an optional step and can be skipped if you are not confident that

your results will help your job seeking goals. With these fragments of information put

together, the final output you achieve should look like this:

King Saud University (KSA)

Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering

Jan 2014

CGPA: 3.5

Or

Irvine High School (USA)

High School Diploma

Aug 2012

Remember to place all degrees, certifications, trainings etc. inreverse chronological order,

starting with the most recent enrollments. Other possible information you may want to

consider including here are publications, grants and awards.

A final recommendation is to make a separate subheading for computer skills under the

education section to highlight your fluency in use of specific computer applications,

software, and hardware and programming languages such as HTML or Microsoft Office

In conclusion, the education section should be used strategically to display a wide range of

information include degrees, trainings, seminars, conferences, awards, publications and

research.

Do not underestimate the importance of keeping your content job relevant to catch the

employer's attention without coming across as an under or qualified candidate.

Extra-curricular Activities / Volunteer Work

The Extracurricular Activities section of the CV is not absolutely critical to include, and can be

included or disregarded based on your personal preference and extent of experience in

engaging in extracurricular activities or volunteer work.

It is no secret that employers want well balanced individuals who are not only exceptional in

their area of expertise, but also take active interest in community involvement and

improvement initiatives to provide some sort of benefit to a cause.

Adding volunteer work that is relevant to your target role, especially if you are an entry level

candidate without professional experience to show off can be one of the major attractions

for someone reading your CV.

Volunteer work that you incorporate in your CV can be used to support the skills you have

displayed in the first half of the CV, for example Team Work and Leadership.

Remember that the information you include in this section should uphold the professional

tone that you have managed to set since the beginning of the CV

Lastly, this section of the CV can be used to incorporate memberships and professional

affiliations that you are involved in. For example, candidates targeting engineering or

project management roles can list their memberships linked to Jordanian Engineers

Association or Project Management Institute – Jordan Chapter- this will not only reflect

professional activities and support, but will maintain a close tie to their target job titles.

Now that you have an awareness and understanding of the various types of activities,

volunteer work and memberships that can utilized towards building this section, let's take a

look at some CV samples to gain insight into structuring the content.

The section can be titled Extracurricular Activities, and will be broken down into additional

subheadings based upon your personal needs. For example:

Affiliations:

• May 2012: Speaker at Alpha Public Speaking Competition; ranked 3rd out of 10 speakers

Volunteer Work:

• Jan 2014: Served as Coach for the Regional Football Team; secured 2nd place in local

tournament

• Nov 2013: Part of a Fundraising Team at Alpha Organization; played a pivotal role in raising

$2000 dollars for academic programs

Professional Memberships:

• Nov 2013: Member; Association for Financial Professional

• Jan 2013: Member; Association for Financial Professionals- Alpha Chapter

After you are done, youwill have finished building your CV, with all the 5 main sections of

your CV now completed.

Personal Information Section

The personal information section of the CV is an optional component, however, it does add

value to the CV, especially if you are planning to apply for overseas where the employers will

be curious about your visa status, country of citizenship and language proficiencies.

There is a diverse range of elements that can be included in this section, such as:

1) Date of Birth: If you are applying for a job in a foreign territory, mentioning your date of

birth is a recommended action to take especially in the Middle Eastern region. Also, in the

case of senior level and managerial roles, age can be a good indicator of expertise as long as

it is supported with necessary proof in the key responsibilities and accomplishments section.

2) Citizenship: It is advisable to include your country of citizenship when applying for

international jobs so that the employers can assess the ease with which you will be able to

relocate, and any work visa arrangements that will have to be made in order to facilitate

your transition to the new company.

3) VisaStatus: Visa statuses can be included in the personal section if you are native of one

country, but working or living abroad. This provides proof to the employer of eligibility to

work, and your adherence to all legal immigration guidelines. No hiring manager would want

to hire an employee with no valid visa because this will be a legal liability, so it will be in your

best interest to mention if you are on a business, spouse or visit visa so that that there no

misunderstandings regarding your status in the country.

4) Language: Fluency in multiple languages is an excellent skill to have, and can be

showcased in this section to strengthen the value you are capable of adding to the

organization. Remember to also mention your skill level with the languages mentioned, you

may be an expert in English and possess intermediate fluency in French, so clarify if you have

expert, intermediate or beginner level fluency to avoid making the employer think that you

were being dishonest in your CV.

5) Driving License issued From: The countries from which you have been issued a valid

driving license can be listed here to further communicate to the employer that you are

capable of travelling or commuting for the job role if the need arises.

6) Picture: While we are discussing the range of personal information that you can choose to

incorporate in your CV, this is a good opportunity to discuss the pros and cons of including a

picture in your CV body. The picture is an area of debate, and there is no concrete answer to

establish if a picture should be a staple ingredient of a strong CV.

However, do remember that if you do decide to use a photo on your CV, make sure that it is

well aligned with your personal branding goals. The picture should be not offensive, but

instead be professional, and not take up too much valuable space on your CV. The fact of the

matter remains that your skills, accomplishments and expertise play a more pivotal role in

helping your land the job of your dreams, so utilize the space on your CV attentively.

Cover Letter There is one last step to take before you meet your career advancement goals head-on –

building the “Cover Letter”

Hiring Managers receive CVs that can range anywhere between 10s and 100s in amount in

their inbox and company portals. Depending upon the volume of job applicants, they strive

to better utilize their limited time by using cover letters to determine which candidate's

personality shines brighter than the rest of the crowd.

The objective of a Cover Letter is to encourage the employer to develop interest in your

potential, and dedicate time towards reading your CV no matter how vast the applicant

pool maybe.

The importance of a well-structured cover letter cannot be stressed upon enough- a

personalized, enthusiastic and job focused cover letter is essentially the "bait" used to

"hook" the hiring managers.

To get the results you want, a few key components to a memorable cover letter are striking

a balance between highlighted strengths, qualifications, professional ambitions, and what

makes you stand out in terms of talents, experience and industry exposure.

The most critical factor to making a strong cover letter is remembering to making it

personalized and job focused to establish a more personal relationship with the employer.

Cover Letter Writing: Dos and Don’ts

Let's go over some common Dos and Don'ts to ensure that you don't miss out on the job of

your dreams due to unintentional mistakes that are easily avoidable.

In order to utilize the strength of this marketing tool to its full potential, let's start with the

standard cover letter DOs.

First off, DO start strong: Skip boring details, cliché introductions, and target immediate

reader engagement by structuring a powerful opening sentence focused on why you should

be hired.

Use the opener to set the tone for the rest of the cover letter content- it should give a brief

insight to your skill set and qualifications, in addition to core quantifiable accomplishments

Maintain sincerity and a conversational tone so that the employer is encouraged to read the

rest of the body to get to know you better.

Secondly, DO prepare a personalized cover letter: We all seem to be short on time, and

personalizing each over letter for a particular employer might sound like a lot of work,

however remind yourself of the potential returns on investment once you have passed the

interview and are well on your way to climbing up the corporate ladder.

Grab the reader's attention by remembering to address him or her by their name if

possible, and then further building the CV body with information built through research to

align their needs with your skill sets, and recommending a groundbreaking idea to help

streamline operations.

This helps to not only establish a personal connection with the reader, but proves your

dedication, professionalism, and interest in seeing the company perform consistently better.

Do number 3 is to highlight your core skills: Read the job description in detail, select the top

3-4 skills that the employer has emphasized upon the most, and incorporate them in your

cover letter. This strategic use of key words will not only boost your visibility, but using brief

examples of where the skills were applied and what outcomes were achieved to prove

proficiency with the skill set can be convincing of your ability to deliver impressive results

immediately.

Lastly, DO remember to follow up: Applying for a job with a carefully drafted cover letter

and CV is as good as winning half the race, but do make it a point to follow up on your

application a few days after deadline has passed. Unless you have personal ties with

someone in the company, establishing a direct connection is necessary to ensure that your

request for an interview does not get buried under a pile of dust.

This concludes our sections on cover letter DOs, so let's switch gears and go over some

popular cover letter Don'ts based on industry trends and proven job hunting tactics.

Firstly, DON'T emphasize "I":"I am an accomplished Engineer", "I am fluent in the use of

various accounting applications”, or "I am a highly experienced team lead", these attempts

to express your capabilities may sound like a good idea but in reality this is one of the

biggest cover letter Donts. Exercise varying your sentence structure because overusing "I"

repeatedly at the beginning of sentences are known to reflect arrogance, bad

communication skills, so put effort into building sentences that can market your capability

without making the cover letter sound like your autobiography.

Secondly, DON'T make it too lengthy: Cover Letters are not a test to see who can write

more about their experiences and interests, instead it is a brief snapshot of the information

that has already been detailed in the CV. Remember to focus on your most significant

accomplishments, quantified results, or impressive responsibilities; repeating the same

content mentioned in your CV will not only bore the reader, but can prove to be

overwhelming to absorb in the prescreening phase.

Thirdly, DON'T exaggerate: Despite its objective as a persuasive document, make it a habit

to maintain honesty and resist the temptation to exaggerate or lie about professional

experience, job titles, employment gaps and skills. Not only will it be embarrassing when the

employer calls your references to discuss your prior roles, or question you about

chronological discrepancies, but being assigned a project that you do not have expertise

relevant to may result in you missing out on a job opportunity that you are genuinely

qualified for.

Lastly, DON'T underestimate the power of your tone: Use a tone that is consistently

positive and optimistic, cover letters should not contain any jokes, puns or humor even if

you know the hiring manager on a personal basis. There is a high likelihood of your cover

letter being read by multiple people from the hiring committee, so it is best to not

incorporate any comments that can be offensive or overly personal.

Feel free to use the provided pointers as a check list, and go over your cover letter to

confirm that you are not making any of the mentioned mistakes. All employers are critical

about their expectations from the applicants, so aim at presenting yourself in the best way

possible, even if it is on paper.

Quick Recap Recap: The Steps to writing a winning CV

Now that you know what an employer is looking for, time for a quick overview of basic

essentials to remember to ensure no negative impact of common CV related myths that

prevail:

1) Use CVs as self-marketing tools to provide readers with an overview of your strongest

unique selling points, even if that means taking more than one page

2) CV formatting and presentation is as important as the content itself

3) Never lie or exaggerate on a CV because not only is it unethical but will result in damaging

long-term consequences

4) Never include Salary History or expectations on a CV

5) Customize CVs to make them relevant to the targeted job it is being used to apply for

6) Always use short bullet point statements instead of lengthy paragraphs to convey your

message to the reader

This is a great check list to compare your brand new CV against to ensure that you have not

fallen victim to any of these misconceptions. Also, while you are still reviewing your CV, also

confirm that it includes all standard sections required by employers as follows:

1) A heading with your full name, complete address, contact number and email address

2) A focused and customized career objective in a professional yet conversation tone

ranging between 2-3 sentences to communicate your skill sets, industry exposure, years in

the professional workforce, and significant accomplishments that have resulted due to your

initiatives. Remember to avoid clichéd phrases, and refer to the job description to build

strong links and optimize searchability

3) A skills section to illustrate your transferable and specialized skills that are in sync with the

job role expectations defined by the employer. This will also boost your visibility and

searchability in automated applicant tracking systems and employee talent inventories, thus

enabling you to fully utilize the power of technology both on business networking websites

and employee job portals as well.

4) A professional experience section with details including dates of employment, employer

names, locations, job titles, in addition to distinct subsections to differentiate between key

responsibilities and major accomplishments, as mentioned before, drawing attention to

results achieved for the company beyond what you are accountable for are a huge focal

point for the reader. Also verify appropriate use of action verbs, key words, and quantified

achievements to maximize career options and establish yourself a potential star employee.

5) An education section with academic qualifications, degrees, trainings and certifications to

demonstrate commitment to lifelong professional development

6) And lastly, though optional, a final section to showcase any relevant volunteer work,

extracurricular activities and professional memberships that contribute to the development

or enhancement of your talents in relevance to the job

We hope that your CV is sync with all the defined Dos and Don’ts, and as a quick reminder,

conduct a quick google search of your name to confirm that your online presence does not

carry any information that could potentially hurt your reputation or perception from the

employer's view point.

Moving on the cover letter, remember to invest reasonable dedication into the preparation

of an attention grabbing cover letter in order to entice the employer towards continuing to

read your CV.

Recap: The steps to building a winning cover letter

1) Prepare your heading that should contain the same information as the header on your CV

2) Insert the date, followed by addressee's name, designation, organization name, and

mailing address.

3) Insert the salutation to address the person the cover letter is being submitted to

4) Introduce yourself in the cover letter in the first paragraph with a carefully crafted

opening line by briefly mentioning how your skill set is in sync with the job expectations and

corporate objectives.

5) Use the second paragraph as the core attraction of the cover letter to express your key

responsibilities in your past roles, accomplishments, results obtained, while maintaining

relevance to the organizational issues and talent gaps to persuade them of your suitability as

a potential employee.

6) The third paragraph should be used to request the addressee for an interview, and also

thank them for the time they have taken to review your cover letter and CV

7) Lastly, remember to sign off the cover letter with content such as "Sincerely Yours" or a

simple "Regards",

To further fine tune your cover letter quality, use this check list to ensure that you are not

making any rookie mistakes:

1) Start Strong: Skip boring details, cliché introductions, and target immediate reader

engagement through use of skill set, qualifications, in addition to core quantifiable

accomplishments

2) Personalize the cover letter to prove your dedication and interest in company success

3) Highlight your core skills to convince employers of your ability to deliver stellar results

4) Proofread before submission, and check for spelling and grammatical mistakes.Many a

times, lack of attention to detail ruins chances of making a positive impression

5) Ideally, your CV should not exceed one page.

6) Do not emphasize "I': practice the art of structuring sentences without overusing "I" to

avoid sounding self-centered.

Circulate your CV and Cover letter, and don't forget to follow up if you don't hear back from

the recipient after a week.

You can email, call or leave a personalized note depending upon your preference.

Be sure to keep the correspondence short to avoid sounding too needy, or coming across as

an annoyance to the employer, whatever medium you choose.

Never resend the same CV and cover letter for the same job role.

Do remember that CV writing is always a work in progress, and it is necessary to periodically

revise your CV and cover letter content to reflect your progressive accomplishments as you

climb your way to the top of the corporate ladder.

Wish you the best of luck with your job search!