CV 4 Jobs

I have just finished running two successful CV & Interview Workshops over the last week. One was for a group of individuals who had just lost their jobs and the other for a group of students seeking work placement. What struck me was the amount of misinformation feed to jobseekers about CV’s and Interviews. Some of this information is so out of date it is unreal. More worryingly is the source of this information.

Jobseekers beware!! There are many career experts and wannabes in the market place offering so-called expertise. Unfortunately most of their knowledge has been taken for a lecture hall or text book. It is not real world and many of these experts have not experienced real world recruitment or job hunting.

CV Services and Interview Coaching services should be treated like any other service – purchase with care!! I suggest you seek referrals or recommendations from friends or family. If this is not possible check the service out online etc …..

Happy job hunting

I have reviewed thousands of CV’s and applications over the years. In that time I have see some funny mistakes BUT can I remember them – NO!! Since it is friday I have nicked a few CV blunders from other sites to give you a laugh before the weekend.

* CV Under Work Experience: “Service for the elderly to check they are still alive or not.”

* CV Under Key Skills: “bleaching, windo cleaning, pot washing, mopping, e.t.c”

* CV Under Work Experience: “Career break in 2007 to renovate my horse”

* CV Under Work Experience: “1991 – 1998: Stewardess – Royal Air Force”

* CV Under Hobbies & Interests: “enjoy cooking Italians & Chinese”

* CV Under Work Experience: “Role involved…counselling clientele on accidental insurance policies available to them”

* CV Under Work Experience: “2002 Voluntary work for the summer taking care of the elderly & vegetable people”

* Cover Letter: Cover Letter: “I’m intrested to here more about that. I’m working today in a furniture factory as a drawer”

* Cover Letter: “Time is very valuable and it should be always used to achieve optimum results and I believe it should not be played around with”

* Cover Letter: “I am about to enrol on a Business Degree with Open University. I feel that this qualification will prove detrimental to me for future success.”

Have a good weekend

P.S – Any other funny additions please post

Most businesses and processes have changed drastically in Ireland in the last decade – Recruitment, Careers and HR is no different and in actual fact may have changed more than most.

I was thinking about when I moved back to Ireland about 12 years ago. I joined one of the bigger recruitment consultancies in Ireland at the time. My how things have changed!! There were two PC’s in the office and one of those was for show – it didn’t actually work. The other was to receive CV’s from the very few high tech individuals who had email which was very few I may add. CV’s were faxed to the employer and the queue for the fax was as bad as the M50 today. Online Jobboards – you must be kidding. 99% of jobs were sourced through the local and national media. Online interviews and job fairs – next you will be telling me that people have landed on the moon.

So you can see how much thing have changed in the job market in a short space of time.

CV – Online CV or Video CV

It looks like the traditional CV could be changing. Online CV’s or Video CV’s get mixed reviews BUT I think when done right they can make an impact. They enable you to give that little bit more information to the employer that a piece of paper cannot. Video CV’s allow you to get your personality across and bring you to life. This is difficult with a paper CV. Have a look at this online CV. I cam across this site through another blog and this CV impressed me.

If you need a CV service or Interview Coaching check out these links. A professional can help you get the edge and make an impact in a competitive job market.

Professional CV writing is a key service I provide for jobseekers in Ireland. I have reviewed written CV’s across most skill-sets, business functions and roles. There is one common problem with most jobseekers on the CV writing topic, whether they are Executive, Professional, Graduate or Technical. They all ignore the person reading the CV – the recruiter or employer.

CV Preparation – The job specification has the answers

Ask any salesman if they had access to the buyer’s requirements before the sales meeting would it assist with securing the sale. Yes – would be the unanimous answer. This information would impact the marketing information they would send to the client and the approach at the sales meeting. A job specification is just the same. An employer is telling you what they want. So why do so many people miss this huge opportunity? It certainly puzzles me!!

Incorporating the job specification into your CV

I guess one reason is that most jobseekers are lazy. They write a CV about them. This is normally a general document – one hat to fit on all jobs. Is this you? If it is you are probably missing out on key interviews as a result. You must analyse the job specification and identify what is key for the client. Ensure that you highlight related experience and achievements on your CV. Make it easy for the employer. I agree it does take time but you will get the results. Job focused CV’s work.

CV Service in Ireland- Antrim, Armagh, Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Derry, Donegal, Down, Dublin, Fermanagh, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Tyrone, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow

Need help with a Cover Letter?

The cost of CV Services & Interview Coaching in Ireland

We are not great shoppers in Ireland. RIP OFF REPUBLIC!! Many say it is our own fault as we are lazy. I certainly do not shop around when I am on the market for good or services. I guess most jobseekers are the same. They need CV Services & Interview Coaching Services and go with the 1st professional they call. You could be lucky (and call me) or you could be unlucky. Price is certainly not the most important thing when seeking CV & Interview services but we all have a budget.

I had a funny feeling that I was not charging enough for my services so I embarked on a bit of market research. Let me share with you what some providers are offering in Ireland. I will provide the information I have to date and add to this as I am still awaiting additional info.

Interview Coaching – Cost!!

a) 150.00 for 1.0 hours (= hourly rate 150.00)
b) 175.00 for 1.5 hours (= hourly rate 116.00)
c) 290.00 for 2.5 hours (= hourly rate 116.00)
d) 145.00 for 1.5 hours (= hourly rate 96.00)

CV Writing Service – Cost!!

CV services are a bit misleading because you don’t know what you are getting. I refer you to this article on CV services and checking them out. For example I could knock a CV out in about an hour. It would cost very little and get you very little results. Here are some of the prices I found.

a) 175.00
b) 115.00
c) 269.00

Please post a comment if you have been charged a different rate or any other CV on Interview Coaching experience you had.

CV Writing & Interview Services in Ireland – Antrim, Armagh, Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Derry, Donegal, Down, Dublin, Fermanagh, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Tyrone, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow

An impact CV is a key ingredient for success in the job market. Unfortunately most CV’s I review do not sell the owner and lack impact. Below I have outlined a number of excellent articles that can help you improve your CV preparation skills. Improve the quality of your CV and you will increase interview invitations. This will help you land your dream job.

Common CV mistakes – Avoid!!

As stated most CV’s I review are flawed. They fall down in many areas but there are common mistakes I see every day. Here are a couple of articles which will outline some of the most common CV mistakes you should avoid. Read CV Advice – mistakes and CV Preparation – mistakes.

CV preparation – CV Layout & CV Format

CV layout and CV format are very important for an impact CV. CV Format & CV Layout outlines some of the basic CV format and CV layout points to consider. Take these on board when writing your CV.

How many pages? – CV Writing

A common question I am asked by jobseekers is “how many pages for a CV?” CV Advice will answer this question.

CV Writing & Interview Coaching

Do you need professional CV writing support? Measurability CV Service offers a professional CV advice to jobseekers across Ireland. Need Interview coaching?

Lets face it interviews can be a difficult experience with nerves, lack of confidence or rustiness breaking the best of us. Interviews can be conquered and you can improve you performance and results. HOW? It’s all about your INTERVIEW PREPARATION. As Roy Keane famously said – “Fail to Prepare, Prepare to Fail”

Most jobseekers requesting interview support are obsessed with interview questions and rightly so as interviews consist of a series of questions. The problem with only focusing on questions is that many jobseekers prepare text book answers which lack impact or crumble when the questions they prepare are not asked. I guess it is a bit like exams where some students gamble by only preparing for 1 or 2 exam questions. There is much more to interview preparation that practicing a few questions BUT for the purpose of this post I will address a few popular interview questions and answers.

Why did you leave (are you leaving) your current role?

Describe when are you most motivated in your current job?

How would your last boss describe you?

What can you do for us that other candidates can’t?

CV template examples for you to download. Click on the links below for some “CV Templates”.

CV Template from Employ Ireland

CV Template information from this post

As much as I preach and offer CV advice about the subject I still come across jobseekers that are sending the exact same CV for all jobs without tweaking or amending it. They leave the CV Layout, CV Format & CV Content the same. If this is you – then your job hunting is flawed and you will miss out on important interviews. Jobseekers with a general CV that they send to all jobs are saying to the recruiters – I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU WANT!!

CV Advice – Employer focused CV

As soon as you accept that every job is different and each employer is different you will appreciate that your CV must also be different and amended for each job you apply for. This could be major overhaul BUT it could also be minor tweaking. If an employer does not see what they want to in a short space of time they will file your CV under “B” for BIN

CV Advice – No pain no gain

Yes this will make the application process that little bit more time consuming BUT who said job hunting was easy. When you begin tailoring your CV for particular jobs then you will start to see increases in positive results.

If you need help and CV advice a professional can help.

CV Format

CV format is very important when writing a CV for the Irish job market or in fact any job market. Ignore this element and it will cost you valuable interviews. There are a number of popular formats which I will discuss but my advice is that a CV is a fluid document so never take a strict approach to CV format.

CV Format – The chronological CV

This is perhaps the most popular CV in Ireland. This is because recruiters expect it and find it easy to read and get the information the need. Basically it is a CV style that lists most relevant work experience first and works backwards. This option is great if you have continuous work experience with little job hopping. It is also great when your most recent work experience or qualifications are relevant to the role that you are applying for. This CV format can cause problems when you are returning to work after a long period out, when you have gaps in employment, when you have switched jobs regularly or when the most recent work experience is not relevant to the role that you are applying for. In these cases you might consider another CV format. There are a number of other CV format styles that I will discuss in later posts including the Competency CV or Functional CV.

CV Format is just one element for CV success.

Selecting a CV style is just one aspect of CV design. There are many other important points including basics like spelling & grammar but also layout and content. This site has free advice on CV writing so feel free to browse for information to help you design an impact CV. Read this useful article.

CV Service in Ireland

There are many CV service providers in Ireland to help you on the road to career success. Measurability offer CV services for professionals across Ireland. Visit www.measurability.ie for more information about the services.