Science & Technology Skills Development Day with Goldman Sachs
Winning CVs & Covering Letters
Vanissa AmliwalaCareers Consultant
Three words
meachiever
creativedetermined
What will be covered
CV basic principles What to include in your CVCV layout and designHow to be a STAR!Creating a good covering letter
What three words describe you and why?
CV…basic principles 2E
Write your CV for
CV Robots & Human Eyes Layout & Design
Bullet pointsFont – sans serif
size 10-12Avoid graphics, logos & tables
2 pages
A4
30 seconds
Language & Keywords
Pick a voice, pick a tense and stick with it!
Use job related keywordsTagcrowd, Wordle
JobscanSpelling & Grammar
K
CV course of your life
Evidence skills
Tailoring
CV…personal details2E
AddressHouse number
Street nameTown or city
PostcodeNo
PhotographAge, Date of Birth
Place of birth Marital status
GenderDisability
Phone number
& voicemail
Work Permit Status
YesLinkedIn URLBlog & online
portfolioDriving Licence
KName
First & last name
Email keep it
professional
CV…profileYour sales
pitch. Make sure it has impact!
1Current
situation
2Skills &
knowledge3
Achievements
4Career goals
CV…personal profile Profile ExampleA highly dedicated and pragmatic individual, who is ambitious to pursue a career as a biomedical scientist and further specialise in microbiology. Hard work and motivation displayed in the first year of the degree was awarded by being on the Deans’ list. Laboratory diagnostic techniques and personal attributes enhanced through work experience as a Medical Laboratory Assistant at a Pathology laboratory, work shadowing in Cardiology and a Pharmacy Assistant.
CV…personal profile
Profile ExampleA highly talented and motivated BSc (Hons) Psychology graduate with excellent analytical, communication, listening and organisation skills acquired through a placement year at the NHS. Committed to developing a career in mental health, and seeking an opportunity to add value and apply mental health knowledge within the charity sector.
CV…education 2E
Reverse chronological
order most recent first
InstitutionName of university, college, school &
locationStart & End dates
Full Course TitleExpected grade
List 4-6 relevant modules from your degree Brief details of your
dissertation, main project, placement
Mention briefly A’Level, GCSE subjects, grades
or equivalents
CV…employment 2E
Your chance to
SHINE!
Reverse Chronological order
start & end datesname of company, location,
nature of businessjob title
duties, responsibilities, skills, achievements
Employment To highlight experience that is relevant but not
the most recent subdivide the section
into relevant and other
Tell the employerWhat you have done
What you have achievedSkills you have
developedYour personal
commitment and motivation
K
Placement volunteering
gap year
Evidence skills
Be a STAR!
Situation Task
Action Result
A STAR ExampleDescribe a situation when you had to give excellent customer service following a complaint.
A customer rang up complaining that they'd waited more than two weeks for a reply from our sales team regarding a product query.
Situation
Task I needed to address the client's immediate query and find out what went wrong in the normal process.
I apologised, got the details and passed them to our head salesperson, who contacted the client within the hour. I investigated why the query hadn't been answered. I discovered that it was a combination of a wrong mobile number and a generic email address that wasn't being checked. I let the client know and we offered a goodwill discount on her next order.
The client not only continued to order from us but posted a positive customer service tweet.
Action
Result
By Michael Higgins: The Guardian Professional 10th March 2014
CV…skills & interests
Adding Skills & Interests can show hidden
depthsAvoid
Clichés ie socialising, watching box setsExtreme sports
Anything too political or religious
Don’t include something you know little about!
Skills IT
Technical Languages
Broad range of interests
Sports, art, travel & culture, community
involvement, cerebral
CV…references
ReferencesAvailable on
request
Always seek permission from
your referee beforehand
Do not use a family member as a referee
Two referees
AcademicCurrent or previous
employer
IncludeReferee
Name, position, address,
telephone/mobile, email
CV Samples
Chronological CV
Skills-based CV
Get the right format
Chronological CV Most common format. Starts with your most recent job, and then works backwards.
Advantages Emphasises continuity and
progression over time Easy to follow Good if you have worked for
well known companies
Disadvantages Difficult if your career is
patchy Harder if changing careers Not so good if you are new to
the job market
Skill-based CVPresents your main skill areas
Advantages Strong emphasis on skills Jobs and work history are
more secondary Overcomes the difficulty of not
having a lot of experience or too much
Flexible
Disadvantages Difficult if you want to
emphasise continuity Might lose the impact of any
prestigious companies you have worked for
Advanced Assigned Assessed Absorbed Accelerated Attained Attracted Announced Appraised Budgeted Bolstered Balanced Boosted Bargained
Benefited Beneficial Comply Critiqued Closed Collaborated Designed Delegated Demonstrated Developed Detected Efficient Enhanced Excelled Exceeded Enriched Fulfilled Financed Forecasted Formulated Generated
Guided Granted Helped Hosted Implemented Investigated Increased Initiated Influenced
top 100 most powerful CV words
Integrated Innovated Instituted Justified Listed Logged Maintained Mentored Measured Multiplied Negotiated Observed Operated Obtained Promoted Presented Programmed Provided Projected Qualified Quantified Quoted Recommended Refine Revamp Reacted Retained Recovered Reinstated
Rejected Sustained Skilled Saved Scheduled Supported Secured Simplified Screened Segmented Streamlined Strengthened Triumphed Troubleshot Taught Tutored Translated Trained Uncovered United Unified Updated
Upgraded Validated Viewed Worldwide Witnessed
Source: Top 100 Power Resume Words www.careerealism.com
Covering Letters
Covering letters / emails
Make it personal
Write to a named person
Reference / subject line in bold
2What can you
offer the employer? Match skills and
experience to employer requirements
3 What attracts you to the job /
company? state your interest
and motivation
4End on a
positive & sign off correctly
State when you will be available for
interview
1 why are you
writing?vacancy or speculative
be specific
Covering Letters - Samples
Covering Letter - Vacancy
Summary Target your CV and covering letter Choose a style and language to market you
effectively Follow the recruiters instructions Evidence your skills and experience Include credible explanations for any weak
points Pay close attention to detail - presentation,
language, spelling and grammar DO NOT USE ALL CAPITAL LETTERS FOR
ANYTHING