Your CV or CV is your business card on the job market. He helps you get your foot in the door, gives the (hopefully good) first impression and introduces you to your future employer. Even if we all know about how to write a CV, it never hurt to remember a few tips and tricks and to polish up the standard resume, by adding more individuality.
Follow these five points and your application is guaranteed to land at the top of the stack of the HR manager.
1. Tail it
It is quite unlikely that you are at the same time applying as an intern in the marketing area and as a barista in a café. Should you do it just too! Even if you apply to several (same) places in the same area of activity, it is still important that you focus your application on the job description.
Of course, you don't have to reinvent the bike again and again, but you shouldn't always send the same application. A good tactic is a kind of master resume that contains everything you have ever done, learned and achieved and that you, according to the job you are currently applying for.
Tip: Adapt your curriculum vitae to the job by arranging the order of your knowledge or your professional experience in such a way that the most important thing catches the eye and does not have to search for the person who reads your CV.
2. Become part of the solution
Don't ask what your employer can do for you, ask yourself what you can do for your employer. After all, he doesn't want to hear what you want, but how you him can support.
A possible tactic is to use the cover letter for an “objective statement”. Instead of telling potential employers what they already know (that you want the job and that you have appropriate qualifications) take the opportunity to present your personality. Make it clear what passions distinguish you (something that has to do with the job that you apply) and in what way you can contribute to the success of the company. A likeable idea – short and crisp.
Tip: Do not exaggerate it with the formatting and take care of an orderly, professional appearance of your cover letter and the curriculum vitae.
3. Provide your qualifications
First give your professional experience and then your training. Training qualifications are definitely something positive, but you don't just consist of your degree. What defines you are your experiences, your qualifications and the goals you have already been able to achieve. These greatest of your advantages will help you to take a cancel out from the crowd. Even if you just have your degree in your pocket, a part -time job, an internship or volunteering have made you a responsible person who can calculate, plan and dispose.
Tip: Give the sections clear headings with your experiences and your training. You can't emphasize it often enough: A clearly structured curriculum vitae with headings and sub -items is easy to read. This makes it more likely that someone reads him at all and invites you to an interview.
4. Motz your softskills on
What really helps you during or after your school days to build up soft skills are stays abroad – especially those where you live abroad for a while for learning a language or to work. Suddenly you have developed planning and organizational ability, improving your communication skills and learning how to overcome obstacles. And before you show yourself, you have become an independent, flexible and creative problemer that shines with his intercultural skills.
Tip: If traveling and discovering new cultures are part of your passions, report about it in your cover letter and mention any experience abroad in the corresponding section of your resume. This is particularly crucial if you apply to an international company or for a job abroad.
5. Go to the list
Use our small checklist to be quite sure that your tailor -made, solution -oriented, soft -killed CV makes it at the top of the stack.
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Choose a classic font that you can find in every writings library. With Arial or Helvetica you are on the safe side.
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Choose a easily readable font size. Tiny words lead to painful eyes and not to interviews.
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Leave distances. This increases readability and makes your resume look more professional.
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Use list points. You do not write a novel, but a summary of your services.
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Write in active. “I was responsible for” and “The tasks included” are not an active expression. Instead, use active verbs such as “realized”, “improved”, “organized” etc.)
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Check your grammar and your spelling. Errors are an absolute no-go!
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Ask your parents or a friend to read your curriculum vitae several times before sending it. (Stupid mistakes just leave a bad impression!)
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Save and send your resume as a PDF file. Everyone can open a PDF and your formatting remains. There can be problems with Word documents.
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Use an email address with your full name and not one like [email protected].
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Make sure that the attachments do not become too large (a maximum of 2 MB).
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Go to the spot in the subject and the email briefly and make it clear that it is an application.
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Bring your online profile up to scratch!
Your curriculum vitae is up to date and you are so far to apply for your dream job. Now you just have to make sure that a Google search, also shows you from the best side. Since you have to assume that potential employers will google you, your online profile should be top and your LinkedIn profile match your resume. It does not necessarily have to be the same information, but the profile should look good and contain some additional information (e.g. links to articles from you or recommendations from colleagues and superiors) that are difficult to integrate into your resume.
Tip: Don't forget to specify your language skills in your LinkedIn profile-especially if you apply to an international body. For English we recommend doing the free EFset test and adding the certification directly to your LinkedIn profile.
