CV's - Introduction

How to sell your skills on paper and get yourself onto the shortlist for a job interview, is one of the most important steps for getting a job and often the biggest hurdle for many.

What you are attempting to do is convince someone, who doesn't know you, that you are a worthy consideration for the post they are trying to fill. With only your job application in front of them, you are hoping that all your skills and abilities, your personality and your experience will shine through the words and impress them. Impress them enough - to want to meet with you or talk to you personally and find out more about what you have to offer them.

Basically, if you haven't sold yourself in the first paragraph of your CV or job application - then you wasted your time writing it.

So no matter what skills you have that relate to the job on offer, you also need to develop some sales skills. If you are competing with many others, who may be equally qualified for the position, then the deciding factor may be down to how well you sold yourself in your application.

Remember also that a good salesperson does a far better job when they believe in the product they are selling and again, this is one area that many people fail in. Either through shyness, not wanting to "blow your own trumpet", embarrassment about talking about yourself or general lack of self-esteem, this is the one thing that lets so many down. If you don't believe in yourself, how can you expect others to? If you are not sure that you are up to a particular job, you are going to project that lack of confidence to the potential employer. If they are not short of applicants, then they probably aren't going to put your abilities to the test.

All of your confidence (or lack of it) comes across in the way that you approach the job application process, both in the written Résumé and later at the interview stage. Therefore, it is important to get your act together, believe in yourself and focus on what message you really want to send to your prospective employer.

The following sections cover the process of job applications and how to get the most value out of the content of your Curriculm Vitae or Résumé.

What you won't find are templates to copy - mainly because there is not one style to fit all cases. It is too simplistic to pick up a template that worked for one person in one situation and expect that you can just paste in your own details and it will work for you too. Not only are there differences in style between countries, but also in industries, so there would be too many variations and possibilities.

By the end of this guide I hope you will understand that better and realise that you have to custom fit every CV or Résumé to each job you apply for, if you are to make your best effort to be successful in getting the job.

Section 1 - The Employer

Section 2 - CV or Résumé ?

Section 3 - Hidden Messages

Section 4 - Cold Calling

Section 5 - Summary