When you leave university, hopefully you will do so with a nice shiny new qualification under your belt. You now need to put that qualification into practice by getting yourself a nice shiny new job to go with it. There’s a lot to think about, where do you want to work? What job do you want to do? How do you market yourself to your potential employer?
Before you leave university, if you can, take time to visit with your careers officer, as he or she will generally be able to offer you information on where to begin with a lot of things, from writing your CV to practicing for interviews, and where to start looking for jobs.
Writing Your CV
A good quality CV is important. This is where you show your potential employer all the experience and qualifications that you have. You need to keep it very clear and concise.
Employers want to know about what you’ve done, but they don’t want to read through pages and pages of waffle about everything you’ve ever done. Here are a few tips to help you write a good CV.
· Always put your contact details at the top of your CV, this way even if your covering letter gets separated from your CV, the employer can still easily see who you are and how to get in touch.
· Give details of recent experience first and work backwards – by keeping it in this order it makes it easier for employers to read.
· Detail your strongest educational achievements first, and then work back through lesser ones.
· Keep your CV to one or two sides of A4 paper no more.
· Be clear and concise with what you put, try to avoid padding the document with unnecessary and irrelevant information.
· Sell yourself! This CV is your first impression on a potential employer, so make it a good one.
· Include one or two referees – ask their permission first, and include their names, and how to contact them.
Spell check, grammar check, and ask someone to look your CV over for you before you print it. If you are not confident in how to write your CV, try looking online at some examples, or go along to your local careers office and ask for assistance. If you’re really stuck, go to a professional CV writing company and get them to do it for you. This is an important document and one that you need to be really strong and impressive.
Writing Cover Letters
When you are in the process of applying for different jobs, the CV that you send out will remain the same, but each time you apply for a different job, you will need to write a covering letter to go with your CV, and this letter can be tailored to suit the specific job and company you are applying to. This is the place where you can really sell yourself to THIS company and for THIS job. In the letter you write, make sure that you:
· Name the job you’re applying for and the company it is within.
· Tell them why YOU are the right person for THIS job.
· Mention specific experience you may have that makes you more suitable than someone else.
· Point out qualifications that you have which they’ve asked for.
· Note where you saw the job advertised.
Doing all these things will help you look like you’ve taken time to look at this particular job, and hopefully it will help you stand out from other candidates.
Where to Look for Jobs
Jobs are advertised in a variety of different ways, and knowing where to look will often depend on what type of job you are looking for. You can start by looking in some of the following places:
· Job Centres
· National and Local Papers
· Employment Agencies
Online Employment Sites
Many libraries carry the national papers, and your librarian will also be able to point out which papers carry information on which types of jobs, and on what days of the week too. They can also often suggest other places you can look for information as well, and help you to research the companies you are applying to.
It can sometimes be worth researching companies that you’d like to work for, and contacting them directly even if they don’t have jobs advertised. If you do this, make sure you take time to find out who deals with the recruitment within that company, and address any letter you write directly to them rather than just ‘Dear Sir’. This method isn’t always successful, but occasionally it may prove useful as some companies will keep details on file, and even if they don’t have a post available for you now, at some point in the future they may contact you to see if you’d like to apply for a post that’s come available at that time.
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