Candidate Manager

Your CV has one purpose: to get you an interview. It should present you in the best possible light and convince a prospective employer that you have what it takes to be successful in the particular position or career. As many employers scan CVs rather than read them, it is important it is concise and interesting. Here are some tips on getting it right.

General Advice

• Avoid coloured paper or type, fancy fonts, photographs or clever delivery approaches.
• Be truthful and don't be afraid to sell your skills. Tell us what you have achieved.
• Keep the look simple and make your point quickly.
• Use the past tense and choose strong action verbs.
• Avoid speaking about yourself in the third person.
• Avoid jargon and acronyms that other people might not understand.
• Tailor your resume for each specific application.
• Make your CV results oriented: give proof to back up your capability statements.

Personal Information

Include your name, full address, telephone numbers (day/evening/mobile) and email address.

Qualifications

List both academic and non-academic qualifications in chronological order, giving grades.

Employment History

Beginning with your most recent job, include your responsibilities, duration of employment and any achievements you may have had. Do not omit any period of employment for whatever reason, as this may give the impression you are hiding information.

Personal Interests

Listing your interests is important, but do not generalise. For example, instead of simply saying 'travel', you could expand and say that you have travelled to 25 countries, and lived abroad for four years, but only if this is true. Your interests help tell who are as a person and can help differentiate your personality. Don't be afraid to list your personal achievements too!

Common Mistakes

In order to set your CV apart, there are some common mistakes you should avoid:

• Telling what you’ve done, not what you’ve achieved – For example; the activity of being a sales manager at a software company, should really be described as, managed 10 staff and exceeded the monthly target of €100,000 per month in sales as a team. Focus on the tangibles - only describing the activity, does not show an employer what you’ve delivered or the full extent of your responsibility.
• Squeezing in too much – Resist the temptation to clutter, and instead, focus on brevity and conciseness.
• Assuming that your CV means more to us than it does to you – As your CV is essentially your story, there’s always a risk that you will make it too much about yourself, and not enough about proving your ability to do the role you’re applying for.

We understand that interviews can cause anxiety to some. Nerves are generally affected when the candidate does not know exactly what the job entails, or when they are unable to explain their skills and achievements, and tying these into the particular role.

Every person that is called for an interview looks like they can do the job, on paper at least. The unfortunate thing for jobseekers is that a CV never got anyone a job. Planning is the key, and we have set out a brief guideline on how to enhance your performance at the interview stage.

Tip 1

Understand clearly what it is we do so that you are clear about what exactly we are looking for – skills, experience and personality traits.

The job description and any additional information is a big help here. We have found that a lot of job seekers have ignored this in the past, and consequently do not understand what the job entails.

Tip 2

Put some thought into quality examples and achievements which demonstrate relevant skills and work experience. It is often difficult to think on the spot at interviews. Therefore do your thinking before hand to aid performance on the day. A greater impression is created when you do not need a prompt.

Tip 3

Ensure that you know yourself. Understanding Candidate Manager, and the role, is a pre-requisite, but we need to know everything about you, what makes you tick. If you don’t know yourself you will struggle at interview.

In human communication less than 15% consists of words!

Quite often it is not what we say, but what we do, that can be telling in an interview. Research has indicated that looking down during an interview can be as a result of the interviewee being insincere, touching of the nose or lip can be caused from telling a lie, and resting your ankle on your leg can give an impression of arrogance!

Here are some guidelines for what to bear in mind:

1. A dry, firm hand shake reflects a strong personality and is what most employers are looking for. Limp, sweaty hands are definitely a no.
2. Do not exaggerate hand gestures when you are talking. Try answering an interview question in front of a mirror to help you understand how much you move your hands while talking.
3. Maintain eye contact but do not stare. If you are uncomfortable with this kind of body language look at the interviewer's nose as it has the same effect.
4. Reflect energy, enthusiasm and self control. Stand and sit erect. Slouching does not reflect a positive attitude in interview body language.
5. Do not fidget! Avoid playing with you hair, clicking pens and the like.

Video interviewing is a more recent development in the recruitment process, and some people are unsure of what approach to take with it. Here are the important aspects to bear in mind for a video interview.

1. It is still an interview. Most video interviews will be asking similar questions as a face to face interview. So, take some time to prepare your answers. Practice makes perfect, run through the questions and answers several times before you go to the interview.
2. Check all of the technical equipment before you start. Be sure that you won't have technical difficulties during the interview- be sure that the lighting is good, the camera battery is charged and you know how to set it up ahead of time.
3. Watch your appearance, dress as if you were going to a face to face interview. Dressing professionally is still expected. Would you turn up to the office for an interview in casual clothing? Also bear in mind your body language.
4. Treat the camera as if it were a person. Look directly at the video camera when you are speaking and maintain the attention when you are listening to the interviewer. Looking away too often will make you look distracted and uninterested. Also, be aware that some video conferencing services have a time delay, so be careful about speaking too soon because you do not want to interrupt the interviewer.
5. What interviewees tend to forget is that video interviewing is very similar to a regular face to face interview. Try not to get too stressed out or make yourself appear awkward on the camera. Take a deep breath, relax, smile and start the interview!