| Welcome everyone to today's seminar on "CV and Interview Skills". |
| Remember, your CV is probably the most important document you will ever write. |
| It opens the door to your career! |
| And that job interview is probably the most important meeting you will ever attend. |
| It's like stepping through that open door. |
| So let's roll up our sleeves and get down to work, shall we? |
| First of all, I cannot possibly tell you everything you need to know about writing a résumé in the time we have. |
| But let me tell you that there are dozens of great websites on the Internet. |
| These will give you all the suggestions you need. |
| If you look at the paper I gave you, |
| you will see a list of the dozen most popular sites. |
| I can mention a couple of important points, however. |
| One is that your CV or résumé should not be too long. |
| A page is about right. Why? |
| HR departments do not have the time to read long documents. |
| Too many people are sending too many CVs! |
| After all, the economic crisis of 2008 is still very much alive. |
| Everyone needs a job now. |
| No matter how short you make that résumé, though, |
| you do not want to forget to tell HR how to contact your references. |
| References are people who will give you a recommendation for a job. |
| That's usually an ex-boss or a professor who knows you well. |
| Do not use relatives! |
| I don't care how much your mum loves you. |
| Also, when you send that CV, be sure to include a typed cover letter. |
| A cover letter is a letter where you, basically, are asking for a job. |
| It's like introducing yourself. |
| Make it brief. |
| The real information about you is on that CV of yours. |
| And, please make sure the letter is typed! |
| It doesn't matter if your handwriting is beautiful or not. |
| Companies only read typed letters. |
| Another point about CVs is you should try to have an attractive layout. |
| Maybe use different typefonts or colours to highlight information. |
| Some people include a photo. |
| You can find dozens of examples on the Internet. |
| Whatever layout you decide to use, however, avoid all spelling and grammar errors. |
| I used to be an HR manager. |
| If I saw a mistake, that CV went into the garbage. |
| Something you write in a CV is a description of your skills and experiences in an interesting way. |
| Mention training, too. |
| I mean these are what get you hired! |
| Do not just say, "I have lots of experience." or "I have many skills". |
| Tell that boss what you did, for what company, and when. |
| Better, tell him how well you did it! |
| Don't just say, "I sold houses". |
| Say, "I sold two million pounds worth of houses in my first year". |
| That is, say something to make the person reading excited and curious. |
| Finally, speaking of CVs, it's sad. |
| But some people actually forget to provide a contact number. |
| That's pretty silly. |
| You wrote a great CV, you have HR dying to meet you... |
| and they don't know how. |
| You forgot your phone number! |
| Oh sure, if you apply online, they have your e-mail address. |
| But you just showed them you're forgetful. |
| Why are they going to want to talk to you after that? |
| Alright, moving on to the actual interview, |
| I'll go over what you need to know by the end of it, |
| and what you can discuss and negotiate on later once it looks like you'll be offered the job. |
| First, there's working hours. |
| It's not that necessary to hammer out the hours off the bat, |
| especially since it's easy to come off as lazy when the first thing you bring up is how much you're going to have to work. |
| You can also find out more about possible promotions later on. |
| It is important, however, to get a feel for how much you'll be paid. |
| You should make sure the salary range is commensurate with what you're worth, |
| and if you're not, you can move on to better opportunities. |
| Being sure you're going to make what you want to live on |
| is much more important than issues like your pension, |
| you're all so young that your pension is not going to matter for quite a long time. |
| You should find out about what skills you must know for the job and what they'll teach you. |
| In addition, if the company will provide training, |
| you should find out how long the training period is and whether it is paid. |
| Beware of any jobs that want you to train for a long time without appropriate compensation. |
| Speaking of compensation, find out about holidays as well. |
| Do you get paid vacation time? |
| Are you allowed to take personal days? |
| Do you have to work on national holidays? |
| Once you work out these main issues, |
| you can move on later to details like the location and expected attire and whatnot. |
| Wow, that's a lot of information! |
| Let's take a break so you can think everything over and ask any questions you may have. |
| Don't hesitate to come and see me if you need any clarification on all this stuff! |