What Makes a CV Special, Interesting & Hireable?

Become a ‘Candidate’ not a ‘List Builder’….

A good CV makes a person stand out from the crowd. Being written with precise attention of the employer, their CV is scripted for a person that wants to be real ‘candidate’,and because of this, their CV deserves the employers attention.

From the point of view of a self made employer; I don’t want to be creating myself more work then I have to. I don’t want to build lists of ‘applicants’. I want to build lists of ‘candidates’.

I have employed literally hundreds of people for my own business, my most within a short period was 100 people within 3 months. My choice was NEVER to recruit unless I absolutely needed to.

Yep, I was more interested in finding the people that were relentless in seeking employment from my business even when we weren’t advertising for a position.

I wasn’t about employing a person for the sake of it; I am more likely to remember somebody who is “eager, keen, persistent, driven, determined and passionate…..” and, if that person met the criteria that I was looking for employing, well they were first on my list for an interview.

What makes some people stand out from the crowd?

Relentless & Persistent

Even though some candidates only become candidates because they may be annoyingly persistent; I tend to admire this trait in candidate…. and to be honest even though it is very annoying from time to time; if they were persistent enough to keep in contact for more than 12 months then they were worth my time to answer and have a chat. These people stand out.

Direct, Objective & Knowledgeable

When applying for a position; there are 2 main things that I want to see: –

1. Get straight to the point of why you are awesome at what you do,
   1. Don’t fluff about BS,
   2. I just want to know the facts.
2. Give me the feeling that you know our company and what we value in our employees,
   1. Do your research, what we do, how we do it, where we work and what our goals and objectives are,
   2. Build a synergy with you capabilities and how they will ‘best suite’ growing the business

Attention to Detail

A person that values their time and effort in creating their personal statement for employment (their Resume or Curriculum Vitae – CV), really only stands out when they captures the detail…..

Think of it like this…..

“The CV is not about you anymore….. it is all about getting employed by the best employer of your choice” – so how are you going to do that?

What is the employer’s brand?

• Colour Pallet
• Goals & Objectives
• Market & Industry
• Logo & How it Represents What they Do
• Their Sales Technique (their strategy for maintaining market share), and
• How do They Like Their Workforce to be Perceived (what is their image)

Build your CV Around the Employer

• Tell them what they are looking for (express yourself and what it means)
  • Show them how you meet the criteria
• Recognise their business
  • Illustrate your skills and experience to suite their needs
• Know their themes (colours, logo, images, demographic, styles etc.)
  • Have the theme colours delicately and subtly introduced throughout your CV
  • Include their logo on the CV cover page as a ‘candidate’ for employment
  • Understand why they have themed the business like it is and incorporate that into your CV
• Address the prudent needs to the position that you are seeking
  • Be direct, be precise and let people know that you are the right person.

When Writing a CV = Big Mistakes to Avoid…..

1. Don’t generate a CV that can be posted to 100’s of different employers,
2. Don’t send CV’s to employers that you aren’t genuinely interested in working for,
3. Don’t write anything that you wouldn’t find interesting enough to read yourself,
4. Don’t make your CV difficult to understand,
5. Don’t create a CV that you wouldn’t feel comfortable to have a stranger read in front of you,

So now that you have tested your CV with friends or family, now you can test it in the real world…. who cares if you door knock a recruitment agency or a business HR department just to ask them for their opinion of your CV.

Take any criticism as honest criticism and make your CV “the best”.

If you want the job, and, you have written the best CV for that job. Then get ready to stand up and deliver everything that you say you can do…. now could be time for an interview. Be Ready.

Things to Remember about Employers

• Employers want safety from their employees.
• Employers want to employ somebody who is faithful, realistic with expectations, dependable and driven enough to see where work is needed when others simply wait until they are told what to do.
• Employers that get more value from an employee then what they are paid will keep a job when business is having a tough time.
• Employers don’t like unnecessary surprises, they don’t want problems and they find customer quarrels hard to accept.

As an employer, when I recruited a new starter I wanted to know if the employee was thinking about their future and how long they would be with our business….. if they were long term and could see a future with our business, then it was more likely that I would invest my time and effort into their employment. This could be through training (on the job or off the job training) or through employment transitions.

I think about employment like this – “first get a job, then build a future”

Don’t make your prospective employer feel cornered before you get started. Give yourself the opportunity to shine and then make sure they want to see you progress.

 

For those people that are job seeking, I hope this Blog has provided some useful information. Good luck with making your “CV” Special, Interesting & Hireable…..

 

Written by Geoff Pike, Entrepreneur, Speaker & Business Mentor

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoff-pike-australia

Also, if you would like to read future posts then please click ‘Follow’ at the top of this article and feel free to connect via Facebook or visit the ‘Equipped to Discover’ Webpage, Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin page.

ABOUT GEOFF

Geoff founded a sole trader plumbing business in a remotely located and vastly underpopulated location in outback Australia. Starting business with only enough money to pay 4 weeks wages, Geoff persisted by growing the business into a multi-disciplined trade services company. Over a period of 12 years, the company Geoff established grew to employ a workforce of over 300 personnel covering an area almost half the size of Europe, receiving international award recognition with an annual revenue of over $30mil. Geoff knows what it takes to overcome adversity.