High Impact CVs
Gillian Knight
CV & Interview Coach IrishJobs.ie
Managing Director Kala Management Solutions
Ltd.
Agenda
• What is the purpose of a CV?
• Who gets the interview and job offer?
• A CV is a 20 second interview
• A terrible 20 second interview
• A high impact 20 second interview
• Structuring the CV for 20 sec impact
• Conclusion
• Q&A
.
What is the purpose of a CV?
• Marketing document
• Opportunity to impress a potential employer
• Highlight your skills & experience
• Get called for interview
• Secure a promotion
Who gets the interview & job
offer?
Employers will choose the candidate who has the
best CV for the job
NOT necessarily the candidate who is best suited
for the job.
A terrible 20 second interview
• Wasting space
• Under/Over selling yourself
• Bad grammar & typos
• Bad formatting
• Unprofessional photo
• Irrelevant/too much personal information
A high impact 20 second
interview
Here is what the interviewer wants to
conclude after a 20 second interview:
•
•
•
•
Person has the skills I require.
Person has experience of using the skills I require.
Person understands my requirements.
Person has provided benefit to previous clients using
those skills.
• This person is perfect!
A high impact 20 second
interview
• Professional layout
• Clear message
• Matching role requirements
• Can/Will add value
• Has core competencies
• Proven track record of success
Structuring your CV for high
impact
•
•
•
•
Dates are aligned down the left hand side
Job titles & companies are in bold
Some key words are highlighted in bold.
Education and training together with personal details can
be listed at the end of the CV.
• Only expand on more recent roles.
• Reduce text on lower grade roles as you progress in
your career.
• Be succinct.
Conclusion
• Writing a good CV is a skill itself.
• The key is approaching the exercise as one in marketing and
sales as opposed to writing an essay about ones life!
• Ensure you target the position directly with your CV and get
the message across in 20 seconds that you are perfect for the
role.
CV & Interview Help
You’ll find my articles on the IrishJobs.ie blog
www.irishjobs.ie/careeradvice
I run the IrishJobs.ie CV Review Service and also offer one to
one Interview Coaching.
http://www.irishjobs.ie/careeradvice/cv-review
Thank you
Any Questions