CV Rescue

Every product you buy nowadays has a manual. Every service you sign up for has an SLA (Service Level Agreement), terms and conditions. When an individual embarks on the hunt for a job, he or she must also have one - it lets people know who we are, what we have done, and a little more, too.. it is a personal and personalisable document that serves as your first weapon in the arsenal of professional job hunting. It is known as a cv, which is the abbreviation for curriculum vitae. Curriculum vitae is the latin for "record of life" and the intent of a cv is to record not just your acheivements, but your accumulated skills, competencies and abilities. It describes who you are and speaks to what you are capable of via what you have already done.

Below is an outline for a simple, straightforward and effective cv. You are the product you are about to market, so get creative!  Too much colour is not a good idea, but professional use of colour, lines, etc is a great way to show your personality.

Remember that although the headings can be left in capitals, you should always type in lowercase, since capitals are construed as shouting.

Briefly, a cv is compiled of 4 main areas:

Section 1 - PERSONAL DETAILS (who am I - legislation governs what you don't have to share)

Section 2 - EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS (What I know - yes, education is important!)

Section 3 - EMPLOYMENT HISTORY  (What I've done - it speaks to my potential!)

Section 4 - REFERENCES AND SPECIAL NOTES

What agencies and employers want is a document that flows so that they can, at a glance, pick out what they are looking for to fill any vacancy they may currently have.

So here we go - The Cv OUTLINE you've been waiting for. Remember to remove the stuff in brackets which we've put in italics since these are guidelines for you! (Contact us via our website http://www.imm.co.za/ for an electronic copy)

(ON YOUR COVER PAGE: )

CURRICULUM VITAE

NAME

YEAR

(remember to keep this updated)

(on page 1:)

PERSONAL DETAILS:

SURNAME:

FIRST NAMES:

KNOWN AS::(optional)

CONTACT NUMBERS: (provide an alternative if you have one)

NATIONALITY

DATE OF BIRTH (optional, but a good idea - you have nothing to hide, after all!)

HOME LANGUAGE

OTHER LANGUAGES (indicate if you are "fluent", "good" or "fair" at these, some people break it down into speak, read and write - especially good if you know a few of them, it can look very impressive!)

DRIVER'S LICENCE:

COMPUTER SKILLS: (indicate the programmes you are comfortable working with)

(on page 2:)

EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS:

(copy over and enter the information below for each of the places you have studied at, starting with the most recent and working backwards to matric/senior certificate)

INSTITUTION:

QUALIFICATION:

YEAR OBTAINED:

SUBJECTS: (use this only when all you have is schooling or matric plus 1 further qualification) 

(on the next page: )

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
(Start with your most recent employer and work backwards chronologically. Keep your cv updated. Whenever you are given a new duty/task/award, add it to your cv so that there is never a last minute rush. Good records make for a great future! Copy over the following headings for EACH of your previous employers)

COMPANY:
SERVICE PERIOD:
POSITION HELD:
DUTIES:
REASONS FOR LEAVING:
SPECIAL AWARDS/ACHIEVEMENTS
(only put this in for those jobs where you have special awards/achievements - there's no point highlighting the fact that you don't have them when you haven't got them, see?)

It is critical that you leave out none of the above information. From this section companies answer the following questions:

 - how many jobs has this person held in X years? (in other words, are they a "job hopper" or on the other end are they a "company X career person", neither of which is ideal)

- how has this person grown, either in the company or in their career

Remember: past behaviour is a predictor of future behaviour - companies and agencies alike with skim your cv in this area in particular for indication that you have certain key abilities, competencies or skills. We will give you more info on what these are in future blogs.

Special note regards "reasons for leaving" - never write something like "my boss was a jerk". if you left for ethical or personal reasons, state something like: "ethical" or "personal" and leave it to discuss during an interview. CAUTION: READ INTERVIEW TIPS blog before you speak (still to come, so watch this space!)

(new page:)
REFERENCES AND SPECIAL NOTES
(A Referee is someone who you have worked for in the past, who can speak about your abilities, talents and special personality and style. When putting references on your cv, make sure of the following:
- that the referee knows they will be a referee for you. It's unfair to not warn people and your
reference will not glow.
- that you pick people who have no hidden agenda against you - this should be obvious but
sometimes isn't..
- that you keep in touch with your referees at least once a year so that you know where to reach
them.  There's no point having a list of referees that no-one can contact.
- when you cannot provide a telephone contact, provide an email adress for this person
- friends and ex-colleagues do not count!
- where possible, keep written references. Some companies only issue certificates of service. try to
maintain good relationships with all ex employers and where possible, get these letters on a
company letterhead before you move on.


REFEREE:
COMPANY:
CONTACT:
(copy this over for each referee)

SPECIAL NOTES:
CURRENT SALARY:
CURRENT BENEFITS:
TOTAL COST TO COMPANY: (explained below)
AVAILABILITY: (in other words, how what notice period do not need to give your current employer, if any. If none, then say "immediate")

Note on TCC - total cost to company --

A company pays a staff member a salary, but from that salary, they deduct
PAYE -pay as you earn- and
UIF - unemployment insurance fund --
they may also contribute X amount towards a medical aid,
or petrol,
or cellphone, depending on the type of work you do.

The full amount of what it costs your company to keep you in their employ is the TCC-Total cost to company -  that is, including whatever taxes they need to deduct from the various items and pay that over to the various government bodies. the higher your salary, the higher the income tax you pay, and this gets deducted before you receive your pay. For this reason we speak of GROSS pay (the full amount of your salary without your benefits), NET pay (the amount you take home after all the deductions) and BENEFITS (the added bits you get or not for medical, pension, petrol, etc, which are also taxable in different amounts)
- its a simple view, but all you need to know. If you need to know more, you probably need an accountant, not a recruiter - lol..)

And that, dear candidate, is your cv in a nutshell. It can speak volumes or it can say nothing about you. But it will certainly represent you, so why not put your best foot forward and re-visit what you have today! See if you have all the necessary bits and pieces of information and add or remove as you feel you need to.


Coming up : TIPS for effective cv writing - just a few little pointers to make sure you're MARKETING the best YOU!


Happy Job Hunting!