Create a Winning CV & Covering Letter

Create a Winning CV

& Covering Letter

How long does a recruiter

spend looking at your CV?

A –

1 minute

Source - http://cdn.theladders.net/static/images/basicSite/pdfs/TheLadders-EyeTracking-StudyC2.pdf

B –

30 seconds

C –

6 seconds

By the end of the session participants will be better able to:

1• Analyse example CVs in terms of content and

structure

2• Identify employer requirements and explain how

these impact on CV and covering letter content

3• Recognise the key factors that make an effectiveCV and covering letter

What makes a good CV?

• What should be included?

• What shouldn’t?

Components of a good CV

Introduce yourself to the person next to you and imagine

you are on a recruitment panel and a CV has landed on

your desk. Discuss:

• What do you want to see on this CV?

• What don’t you want to see on this CV?

(3-4 mins)


Components of a good CV

• Not one perfect model

• Targeted to the specific job/role or career area

• Highlights relevant skills you have to offer

• One or two full pages

• Clear and concise layout – in sections

• Informative, but concise – use ‘action words’

• Accurate in content, spelling and grammar

• Don’t lie – but don’t undersell your achievements


Recruiters are like…

Putting together a CV

Individually, look through the circulated copy of Tom

Jones’ CV. Then, in pairs, discuss the below:

1. What is effective or works well?

2. What doesn’t work well or shouldn’t be on the CV at

all?

(5 mins – bear in mind this is potentially 50 times longer

than an employer could spend on a CV!)

Exercise 1: Reviewing a CV

Putting together a CV

As before, review the new copy of Tom Jones’ CV.

Take time to consider each section of the CV in your pairs.

After 5 minutes, we will then discuss each section as a

group.

Exercise 2: Reviewing CV #2

Common Structure of a CV

• Personal Details

• Education

• Work Experience

• Skills

• Achievements

• Interests

Putting together a CV:

Personal Details

Personal details should be at the top of your CV, with your

name in larger/bold font and acting as title.

Include:

• Name, Address, Phone, Email (appropriate)

• Possibly a LinkedIn profile, webpage, Github

Don’t include:

• Relationship Status, Date of Birth, Photo …

• Lines and lines and lines of information

• Novelty fonts and lots of colour


Education

• Most recent institution first (i.e. Imperial)

• But – don’t just write ‘Degree at Imperial’:

• Summarise academic attainment:

o Key modules

o Expected degree classification (or end of year result)

o Some projects undertaken, long-term lab work or

coursework (you can highlight skills here, too)

• Generally, as a student, include schooling back to

GCSE (or equivalent) – though this can be succinct


Work Experience

• Again, reverse chronological order

• Set out each role with dates, employer and title

• Don’t just list tasks undertaken

• Use bullet points with action words to highlight

relevant skills and outcomes from each role –

which can be transferred and applied to future roles

• Could split this section if a range of experience

• e.g. ‘Relevant Experience’, ‘Engineering Experience’,

‘Voluntary Experience’, ‘Leadership Experience’…


Skills

Generally, a skills section contains:

• IT/Computing – software, programming languages etc.

• Languages (indicate a level of competency)

• For some roles, you might wish to include a summary

of laboratory skills/techniques

• Driving licence

Be concise!


Achievements

This sort of section is where you could mention:

• Academic awards and certificates

• Sporting or musical achievements

• Positions of responsibility (good to include dates)

• Other achievements outside of academia and work

Avoid just listing lots of titles of awards – often better to list

less and provide context, for example:

• Dean’s List 2015 (awarded to top 5% students)

• J.W. Smith Scholar 2013 (for highly commended Chemistry project)


Interests

Employers often like to see a section on interests, to

show you have wider scope than just focusing on

studying.

However, don’t just list a load of things you like! Try to add a

little for each interest. For example:

• Are you on a team, or play a sport regularly?

• If you’ve travelled, did this involve organising itineraries?

• Do you blog about an interest, read widely on the subject or

contribute to online communities?

CVs and Job Descriptions

• How to match your skills to the skills an

employer is looking for.

What skills should you make sure you are highlighting

on your CV if you were applying for this role?

(3 mins, discuss in pairs)

Part of the role description for an Engineering (R&D)

Summer Internship at Mondelez –

1) Find the skills the employer wants

Job description: reviewed

• How can you show you have these skills in your

CV?

Think about how you can evidence the skills sought:

The employer wants… My evidence

Project management 2nd year group project when…

Organisation Planning and running events as

social secretary of IC Basketball

Attention to detail Inputting data and lab results…

Written communication Emailing members of society for…

Verbal communication Liaising with customers at…

Presentation skills Presenting poster to…

Team work Team of 5 on group project

2) Provide evidence for skills

Examples from Tom Jones’ CV:

• Project management:‘Entrepreneurship project in a team of 6 – created a new

product that was commercially viable using applied Physics and

developed a business plan…’ in Imperial research project

• Written communication:‘Wrote and presented written reports to senior management

team’ during BAE Systems Internship

• Interpersonal skills:‘Liaised with suppliers about the ordering of goods’ in sales role

3) Get this into your CV!

4) Get this into your cover letter!

Key paragraphs:

• Why you are writing

• Why the company

• Why you

• Why the role

• Closing paragraph: brief summary and thank

for the opportunity

Have a read through the example being circulated!

Where you should talk

about your relevant

skills, knowledge and

suitability for the role.

Key points from example

Last summer I worked at BAE Systems on different projects in multi-disciplinary teams varying from five to ten people on all stages of the design process.

Teamwork

I was also responsible for my own project that analysed data on operator response times and I used my programming skills to create an analytical tool, which increased the efficiency of one process by 15%

Analytical &

Programming

Skills

This placement stimulated my interest in consultancy, where I would be enabling organisations to operate more effectively through enhancing and developing the applications of technology.

Why this job

More key points from example

I volunteered to coach a novice boat crew where I was able to lead and motivate them to win a number of races.

Leadership

I was interested to read on your website that Hi Tec

Limited has developed innovative data handling

systems to increase significantly the response time for

information demands from key customers…

Why this company

My strong communication and technical skills

combined with my great interest in consultancy

provide evidence to support my application for this

role. My CV provides further information on my

background and I would welcome the opportunity to

discuss my application further.

Summary of

suitability

1. What is the purpose of the CV?

Your marketing document

Provides a summary of your education, experience & achievements

Helps you get an interview

2. How is it used in the recruitment/selection process?

Recruiters will often have a checklist of their requirements and will

be looking for these on your CV

3. What makes a good CV?

No more than 2 pages

Clear and concise layout

Tailored to the role

Uses action verbs to provide evidence of how you meet employer

requirements

CVs: a summary

1. What is the purpose of the cover letter?

A one-page document formatted as a letter that highlights why you

are interested in a specific company and the job role advertised.

2. How is it used in the recruitment/selection process?

Recruiters will often use a covering letter (or similar

question/statement) to judge your motivation for applying to their

company and the advertised role.

3. What makes a good cover letter?

Correct and clear formatting; in most cases one page in length

Key paragraphs on:

Why you?

Why the company?

Why the role?

Cover letters: a summary

Good Luck!

Barnaby Mollett & Jessica Noon

Placement & Internship Advisers

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Documents

Create a Winning CV & Covering Letter