CV: how - thought process - clear message - top tip
INTERVIEW: guidelines - questions you may be asked - questions to ask - mistakes

CV WRITING
There are no absolute rules, so please accept this as merely a way to get going in the correct path for you.

How do I produce a decent CV?
Include the kind of information that matches the type and level of job that you plan to apply for in such a way that recruiters find you interesting as a candidate

Prioritise your information so that what is most important catches attention first, so that you do not look naïve enough to focus on trivia and so that the detail is left for them to ask at your interview

Include enough evidence of what you have to offer to appear convincing and professional, without boring people or sounding like a job definition

Stretch yourself in terms of the way you write and the words you use: the CV has its own grammar that need not use sentences and paragraphs, but if you think of a recruitment consultant writing a very concise report about you - then you will not go far wrong

Choose an attractive style, which means simplicity: avoid boxes, graphics, templates in MS Word programme, photos (unless you are a performer) and get your fonts right (Tahoma and Verdana are the best when you email your CV to recruiters and you could use 9.5 point size to give yourself space). Fonts such as Comic Sans aren't generally appropriate

Test and check your new document: try your CV out on friends and partners and have at least one person proof-read it; there is no room for error and spell-checkers do not find every mistake

Thought process behind a good CV
What do you want the recipient to know about you? Make notes on this, forgetting for a moment about CV lay-out and structured sentences.

Forget about your personality: don't tell them you're enthusiastic, tenacious and good at teamwork. You can send these messages within the CV but it must be in a professional way. You may want to tell them that you're such a good Sales Manager that your team has consistently over-performed despite the industry downturn and adverse factors such as a delay in a new product launch. You may want them to know that the internal HR procedures which you've set up have made it possible for the organisation to keep a low staff turnover, despite a merger and threat of redundancy.

With a good idea of the points you wish to convey, mould this into recruitment language. Remove personalisations such as 'I', 'my', 'our', and 'we' and try to think like a journalist in your approach. Under the heading of your current job role as Sales Manager, a point could be; Track record of year on year being over target, achieved even against a client of sector decline. Once you have put down a core message you can elaborate from it, possibly in bullet points underneath. Its nice for bullet points to follow headlines, therefore telling a coherent story, rather than appearing as brash claims that are unsubstatiated. i.e...

Track record of year-on-year over target
-Four times promoted within 5 years
-National award winner 4 times
-Average +6% against an industry norm of –4%
-Large network of accounts managed with almost no fall-out
-Innovative approach has led to success in developing new business
-Methodology has been the pattern for rest of the UK sales force
-Invited trainer and mentor
-Stand-in for Sales Director/Key Account Manager with understanding of both these roles

What this example begins to achieve is that it makes a large claim and then corroborates it with different kinds of evidence, expressed intelligently, giving this candidate a chance to fit in all the expected buzzwords.

Top Tip
Think as carefully about the document you are creating for your own career as you would if you had to prepare a very important presentation for a client or report for the boss. Don’t rush at it in hope; find the professional inside yourself and let your application reflect that.

INTERVIEWS
It can be quite nerve racking going on an interview. Often people can be unsuccessful in interviews because they are nervous or lack self-confidence.