Hear from our Principal Andrea, who every year supports our students with CV writing to help them begin their personal job search programme…
CV writing has begun!
It’s mid-way through the first term and therefore time for me to support our students with CV writing. Teaching the Personal Development Planning module on the Professional Business Diploma is something I really enjoy doing, especially when it’s time to start talking about these all-important personal documents.
Most of our students have a CV of some description when they join us. However, over the next few weeks, we review, refine and update them to the standards expected of recruitment specialists and business employers.
How we support our students with CV writing
A CV, as you may well know, is a brief account of a person’s education, qualifications, and previous occupations. As you would expect it’s essential for it to give the reader the right impression of the individual. To help, I often challenge our students to ask themselves whether they want to come across as being creative, sporty or academic, as this can influence what they should consider including.
I also liken their CV to that of making a restaurant choice online. We often book a table just by reading the menu online. We haven’t visited the restaurant, or seen what it looks like, but the words have persuaded us to go and try it.
This is exactly what a CV does for a young professional. How well it is structured and crafted entices employers to want to know more and invite you in for that first interview. It also demonstrates how powerful the words you use on it can be!
Optimising CV’s for early employment
We support our students with the layout of each section of the CV. Employers do not need much of a reason to bin them and move on to the next. We emphasise the importance of proofreading them extremely carefully to avoid this.
CV’s that are scannable and have plenty of white space should be created. Recruiters tell us that most employers will rarely read it end to end. They need to make sure it states exactly what a company wants to see, and make it as easy as possible for the reader to understand their core strengths, skills and qualities.
The CV writing skills our students learn help to put them at the top of the interview list. They also benefit from our relationship with our partner recruitment agencies which helps to get them noticed, but this does not diminish the need for their CV to be perfect.
CV’s that showcase young graduates
We also work with our students to help them highlight their work experience. We aim to help them communicate what they have been responsible for in their early employment in part-time roles, and therefore what skills they bring to the table.
We then discuss with them how important it is to illustrate their other achievements and interests. They need to give a potential employer a strong understanding of what makes them tick, what they are good at, and whether they will fit into the ethos of the recruiting company.
I often tell my students that creating a CV can also create quite a headache! Partly because they will be asked to check it and re-write it several times to get it perfect. It can be hard for them to find the right words to describe themselves, but the confidence and sense of fulfillment achieved from having a CV ready to go when an exciting job opportunity arises makes this all worthwhile.
Job opportunities can arise at any time during the Professional Business Diploma
Our intention of creating CV’s so early on in our one-year Professional Business Diploma is simple. Christmas is almost upon us. A time when we gather with friends and family, seeing more people than usual or people we haven’t seen for a while. It’s never too early for students to start networking and sharing their CV!
They must be proud of who they are and their achievements in the first three months of the course. They deserve to feel excited about where it will take them in the future, and they have a powerful CV ready to email to anyone wanting to see it.
Happy CV building everyone.