The Perfect Match.

The New Year is out the way and we are now well into 2016. The first notable date in any New Year calendar is Valentines Day. This day often promotes the singletons of the nation to assess their love life and more often than not most agree it may be time to get out there and find that special someone!

After realising that your little black book has become so little it is now invisible to the human eye, your friends can only set you up with what can be described as ‘interesting characters’ and trying to talk to anyone in a bar these days is impossible because the music is “to damn loud”, most engage in some form of online dating.

Stage one is to create a profile that will make you irresistible to your potential Mr or Mrs Right! This usually begins with you trying to come up with a summary of why you are actually a real catch and someone that people should have in their lives. You carefully check your profile to make sure it’s perfect; everything is double/triple checked to deliver exactly the message you want to portray.

Sound familiar?

So anyway I got to thinking about this… We spend most of our days at work, so when looking for a new job why would we not apply the same level of care and attention when presenting ourselves to potential recruiters and recruitment businesses.

Your CV represents you and it is often the first point at which you will become unsuccessful in making a job application. A recruiter/employer will scan over a CV in seconds and in this short space of time they will decide if you are suitable for short-listing or not.

In recruitment we see many CV’s daily yet the same mistakes crop up time and time again:

Spelling and grammar mistakes Simple mistakes, like incorrect spelling and grammar, suggest that you have poor attention to detail. While spell-check is a useful tool, it shouldn’t be relied on as it is easy for errors to slip through. Before submitting your CV, give it a final read through (get someone else to read it too) to make sure you’ve caught any mistakes.

Using an unsuitable email address – So you got your email account when you were 13 and you’re still using pinkfairydust@hotmail.com? Get a new one, now! Fun and jokey email addresses will make recruiters think you’re unprofessional. Even if you only use a professional email address for job applications, the 5 minutes it takes to set-up a new email account is worth the time investment.

Empty statements – Including vague phrases, like ‘works well in a team’ and ‘good communicator’, is a common CV mistake, anyone can write these sort of statements. Instead, give examples in your CV which show how you applied your skills. This will give recruiters a much better idea of what you have to offer.

Not tailoring your application to each position – A one-size fits all approach will simply not work. Every application will require a different type of approach and CV presentation. Recruiters/employers will be looking for different skills and experience, so tailoring your CV to their requirements will make it much more likely that you will get progressed to the next stage.

The above might sound kind of obvious but too many people are still underestimating the importance of these points. So, this February, whether you are searching for a new job or a new love, remember to put in every effort and consider all the above to increase your chances of getting the results you want.

We hope everyone has had a fantastic start to 2016 and that work is going well, but if you are considering a move, now is the time to sharpen up your CV and get in touch with us. We would love to hear from you and see what new challenges you are looking for this year.

– Emma George –

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