My last post began a multi-week series focusing on my thirteen steps to career search success. I’ve already shared with you that there is no secret to career search success. The key is preparation. So, continue to follow along as we advance through our thirteen steps with today’s post focusing on 1) Resume/CV; 2) Vacancy Announcement; and 3) Cover Letter. Here’s to your best career life.
- Resume/CV – A killer resume or CV is the backbone of the application process. Although I don’t recommend it, some people actually even submit to vacancy announcements with their resume solo. Now, I will admit that a strong resume or CV. Before you begin writing your killer resume or CV, you have to first decide which type of resume will work best for you. There are three main resume formats: Chronological, Functional and Curriculum Vitae (CV).
The chronological resume typically works best for entry-level career searchers, such as those who have recently graduated from training or school, or those who are transitioning to a new career field. As you might imagine, the chronological resume lists your work experience in reverse date order, beginning with your current or most recent employment. It also typically lists your education and training first, in reverse date order, beginning with your current or most-recent completed training or education. This is done to place greater emphasis on your educational background since, at this point in your career, it is stronger than your experience.
The functional resume works best for job searchers who typically have achieved at around five years’ experience in their career field and/or have transitioned from task-based work to project-based work assignments. They may have even served as project leader or assistant project manager, on at least one major work project. The functional resume showcases the job searcher’s experience by breaking their professional experience into functional areas of expertise within their career field. The functional resume lists each area of expertise as a separate section within their work history heading. Within each functional area of expertise, the job searcher’s related accomplishments are showcased. The functional areas of expertise are listed near the top of the resume, before their work and educational histories.
The curriculum vitae, aka CV or vitae, is the resume format that researchers, educators, or those aspiring to positions in countries outside of the United States typically use. The CV differs from the resume in the manner in which it lists your experience and education; the detail of the information that is included; and its length. First of all, the curriculum vitae lists your experience and education only in reverse chronological order. There is no other option for listing your professional and educational background information if you use the CV format.
Your CV typically also includes more information. It sometimes includes the candidate’s business-appropriate photo or headshot, their race or national origin, their work authorization status, their marital status, etc. It also contains additional job-related information that your resume typically does not. Although this is not an exhaustive list, some of the additional information that your CV includes are conference papers that you have written; lectures that you have given; research that you have conducted, grants that you have been awarded and have performed work their mission, etc.
Now that you know about each resume format, you decide which format will work best for you, according to your individual career history. Then start building out each section of your very own “killer” resume.
2. In order to write an awesome tailored cover letter, you must analyze the vacancy announcement. The purpose of analyzing the vacancy announcement is to identify the most-impactful duty statements. The most-impactful duty statements are those that account for most of the employee’s time at work and has the greatest impact on the employee’s success. Once you determine which duty statements are the most-impactful, you utilize them as the focus of your cover letter to maximize the likelihood of your being the selected candidate.
3. Make your cover letter awesome. As I’ve shared with you in the past, your awesome cover letter is the perfect companion to your killer resume. A well-written cover letter creates the hiring manager’s vision of you performing your dream job as a member of their team.
Start by doing your research. That’s right. Before responding to a vacancy announcement, research the goods and services that the company offers. Find out who its competition is and compare their market ranking. Research recent news articles about the company so that you can learn about its successes and its challenges. Search Indeed, Glassdoor, and/or LinkedIn to find employee comments and other information about the company that you might find useful during your job search. Once you complete your research, it is time to start crafting your awesome cover letter.
First of all, make sure that your resume header and your cover letter header match. This will help to build your brand and show the employer that you pay close attention to detail. Next, date and address the letter. If you have the company’s name, you should try to find out who the hiring manager for your position of interest is, so that you can address the letter directly to him/her.
The first paragraph of your letter should be simple and straight-f0rward. Its role is to introduce your purpose for writing. Let the employer know which position you are interested in and how/where you learned about it (i.e., a professional journal, job board, word-of-mouth, alumni association at your alma mater, etc.). band search on the position title.
The second paragraph of your awesome cover letter is what I call the substance. This paragraph details a couple of your noteworthy career accomplishments that are directly related to the position for which you are asking the employer to consider you for. Remember, always relate your experience to the position that you want. You can’t go wrong when you do.
The last paragraph is where you re-emphasize your interest in the position and let them know that you would welcome the opportunity to discuss your experience in more detail in person. Close the letter out with the last sentence thanking the hiring manager for his/her continued consideration and let them know that you look forward to speaking with them soon.
End the letter with the ending salutation such as “Respectfully,” “Regards,” “Best Regards,” “Sincerely,” etc. and your full legal name.
So there we go…“Land Your Dream Job, Part 2.” See you next week in Part 3.
Career Success to You. Go Get Your New Job!
An original post on HR by Nnamtique (https://nnamtique.com)
