Download
1 / 11
110 likes | 194 Views
Are you a Science or Engineering PhD student looking to strengthen your job application with a stellar CV? Learn how to craft a detailed record of your experiences and qualifications, showcase key achievements, and effectively market yourself. Discover the importance of a well-organized CV that provides relevant details to help recruiters envision your potential in various job scenarios. Understand the significance of tailoring your CV layout, focusing on experiences and skills, and adhering to crucial guidelines like keeping it concise and error-free. Avoid common mistakes such as inconsistent formatting, spelling errors, and including irrelevant information. Enhance your CV with action verbs, concrete quantities, and real-world results to highlight your capabilities effectively. Empower your job search by mastering the art of creating a compelling CV tailored to the needs of potential employers.
E N D
What is a CV? • A detailed record of your previous experiences and qualifications? • A showcase for your key achievements and skills? • A slick piece of self-marketing? • Relevant information which stops a recruiter thinking too hard about whether you could do the job
Help yourself by helping the recruiter • They try to build up a picture of what you have done in specific situations... • ...so that they can imagine what you might do in similar situations in the job • Your application is all they have • They don’t have much time to think about it • They are not going to indulge in any guess work which gives you the benefit of the doubt
CV layouts • Reverse chronological • Experience-focussed • Skills-focussed
The two golden rules The more relevant something is... • ...the more detail you can give and the more space you can take up • ...the easier to find you should make it
A few more guidelines • Maximum of 2 pages for the main CV • academic CV can include more detailed appendices including details of research, conferences, posters, publications, etc. • Reverse chronological • within each section
Know the job • What does the advert say? • What type of person are they seeking? • What skills and qualities would the ideal candidate possess? • How would those qualities be used in different situations in the job?
Know yourself • Review your experiences (not just work) • Identify examples of situations which illustrate how you have used relevant skills and qualities
Common mistakes most people make • Inconsistent, unhelpful and confusing layout and formatting • Spelling mistakes • Wasting space on unimportant stuff • Too much waffle and irrelevant info • Not enough useful detail • what you did, how you did it, how well • quantity, extent, quality, challenge, difficulty • achievements, outcomes, impact, success
Mistakes academics make (non-academic jobs) • Just focusing on the details of your research topic rather than your actions • Just focusing on technical achievements or skills • Too much technical/scientific jargon • Believing that anyone other than academics needs a list of all your publications or academic awards
Presenting your evidence • Think actionverbs • analysed, developed, evaluated, increased, initiated, implemented, led, liaised, organised, planned, presented, supervised, etc. • Think concrete quantities • “5,000 items”, “£50,000”, “team of twelve” • Think real-world results • “4 weeks before deadline”, “25% increase”, “excellent feedback”, “successful implementation”
