CV Clinic by Loreal

8/8/2019 CV Clinic by Loreal

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L’Oréal CV Clinic

Guide to a healthy CV

The purpose of the CV may seem obvious…to list your achievements and experience. In fact, however, the real purpose of a CV is to make sure you

get your dream job. To get this job, you need to show employers a fit between your skills & knowledge and what they are looking for. The CV does

this by listing your experience out in a clear way which makes it easy for employers to see why you are such a good fit.

There is more than one style of good CV and we encourage you to produce more than one style of CV to have available in different situations.

Equally, a CV does not stand alone. You need a strong, compelling and personalised cover letter to go with your CV and add the element of

motivation to the skills & knowledge your CV demonstrates.

Preparing your CV is well worth investing time. First of all, you should establish clearly the content that you want to communicate through your CV.

We recommend the following EASY procedure:

• E: Experience, Employment, Education

o Make a clear chronology of your life to date, splitting your experience into the following headings: Education – your academic

studies, Employment – paid work, Experience – volunteering etc. The chronology should be most recent experiences first.

•

A: Achievements o Consider your employment and experiences and ask yourself the following questions:

o How did I come to have this opportunity ?

o What role did I play in the team ?

o What results did I achieve in this opportunity ? How were they measured ?

o What did I create, change or improve when working in this opportunity ?

o What was my contribution ?

o What did I learn ?

• S: Summary

o Good CVs are concise ! You should summarise most experiences on your CV in maximum three lines. A good CV summary

should always:

o

Be rich in verbs and action words (Changed, created, innovated, developed, managed) o State the results of your actions using concrete indicators - £ sales, % change, votes

• Y: Why include it ?

o Considering your whole experience mix, consider which elements need to be emphasised and which elements can be made

more concise. You need to constantly remix your CV for different job types which need different skills & knowledge

You should now have an overall set of experiences to layout on your CV. When it comes to layout, there are two main choices for you:

• Chronological CV which lists out your experiences in date order

• Skills Based CV which lists out your experiences arranged by the skill that they demonstrate

The choice of CV format depends on what you are trying to achieve. In our view, every job seeker should have a basic chronological CV available

ideally as a one page format. This will give experienced recruiters a quick tool to assess your background and make a decision. However, if you aretrying to enter a field where your experience is less relevant to your ambitions then listing out in a skills based format will make more sense.

When laying out your CV, the rule is to make space for your achievements. You are looking for every centimetre on the page to work hard for you

selling you to an employer. This means basic details should be minimised to the essentials whilst great experiences need space and emphasis. See

the following examples:



Curriculum Vitae

Pierre Stone

11 Ivydollfus Road

LONDON

W6 8AZ

Dob 19.10.1988

Tel 020.8762.4000

[email protected]

All round team player, entrepreneur and multilingual business studies graduate with extensive experience in the

charity sector and excellent academic track record seeks management trainee oportunity with a major

multinational firm.

Education

2006-2009 Thropton University, Barnetshire

BA(Hons) International Business – 2:1 predicted grade

1999-2006 Kings Hampfield Comprehensive School

A Level Mathematics (A), Geography (A), Media Studies (A)

GCSE French (A), Mathematics (B), Geography (A*), History (A), Media Studies (D)

Employment

Summer 2008 Veritas Software, Hartlepool, United Kingdom

Worked in the accounts department as an intern supporting the finance team. Worked with Microsoft

Excel and Sage accounting software.

Summer 2007 Summer job – Receptionist

Vodafone PLC, Hampwick

Handled incoming calls and personal callers in a busy environment

2004 – 2009 Jerrys Fish Bar, Ramston

Served behind the counter during holidays and weekends while studying

Experience

2009 Chairman, International Business Society, Thropton University

Responsible for day to day management of this busy society with over 300 members on campus and a very

packed term card. Work alongside the Treasurer, Events Secretary and Social Secretary to arrange 10-20

events per term with international companies.

Summer 2006 TEFL Volunteer, Reunion

Taught English as a foreign language to school children in Saint-Denis, followed by six weeks touring the

country & learning to dive

2008 Captain, Thropton Mens Hockey team

Followed strong interest in sports to become captain of this successful club, maintaining a record of

scoring minimum one try per match over the 2008 season

Interests

Socialising with friends, architecture and 4 wheel drive off road driving

LanguagesEnglish mother tongue, excellent French and basic German



References Available on Request



Pierre Stone

11 Ivydollfus Road, London W6 8AZ 07710 499 [email protected]

Bilingual business studies graduate with leadership experience in UK and abroad seeks first opportunityin sales or marketing with major multinational firm.

Education

2006-2009 Thropton University, Barnetshire BA(Hons) International Business – 2:1 predicted grade

1999-2006 Kings Hampfield Comprehensive School A Level Mathematics (A), Geography (A), Media Studies (A)5 x GCSE including French (A), Mathematics (B)

Employment

June-Sept 08 Veritas Software, Hartlepool, United Kingdom - Intern, Corporate Finance Department Achieved cost savings of 15% in transport & travel through project workManaged monthly reporting on £150k t/o for four monthly periodsRated “A” outstanding in internship evaluation

June-Sept 07 Vodafone PLC, Hampwick - ReceptionistTook sole responsibility for reception desk during busy periodsEfficiently handled over 100 incoming calls and 20 personal callers on a daily basisCoached full time replacement at end of summer period

Experience

2009 Chairman, International Business Society, Thropton UniversityBoosted society membership by 20% to over 300 membersAttracted new members by convincing BMW, Ernst & Young and McKinsey to visit campus for the 1

st

time in 2009 to hold events – offered free entry and free gifts for new members at eventsBuilt relationship with Careers Service to organise 15 corporate events per term

June-Sept 06 TEFL Volunteer, St Denis, capital of ReunionVolunteered to teach English in the capital of Reunion, St DenisDeveloped a range of effective English teaching lesson plansIntegrated into local family speaking French language daily outside classroomNegotiated extension of teaching hours to create an evening school

2008 Captain, Thropton University Mens Hockey teamSelected and developed a team to compete in Varsity competition 2009 – placed 2nd

Maintained personal track record of scoring in each match during the season

Interests

Regularly visit architectural exhibitions with particular interest in the work of Norman FosterMaintaining and racing off road vehicles

Languages

English: FluentFrench: Fluent




Pierre Stone

07710 499 [email protected]

Bilingual business studies graduate with leadership experience in UK and abroad seeks first opportunityin sales or marketing with major multinational firm.

Commercial Awareness

• Managed monthly reporting during finance internship, responsible for £150k t/o budget

• Extensive exposure to leading multinationals through International Business Society

• Insight into day to day commerce at Vodafone PLC through summer work

Creativity and Innovation

• Developed original learning materials and lesson plans while teaching English abroad

• Revised reporting tables for Veritas software to make completion more efficient/accurate

• Keen interest in architecture, regular blogger on trends in this area

• Developed new name & logo for Thropton International Business Society “Contax” events

Team working and leadership

• Coached full time replacement on duties following summer work at Vodafone

• Lead and managed committee of 8 students in the International Business Society

• Supported fellow volunteer through family issues whilst volunteering abroad

Education

2006-2009 Thropton University, BarnetshireBA(Hons) International Business – 2:1 predicted grade

1999-2006 Kings Hampfield Comprehensive School A Level Mathematics (A), Geography (A), Media Studies (A)5 x GCSE including French (A), Mathematics (B)

Employment

Summer 2008 Veritas Software, Hartlepool, United Kingdom Intern, Corporate Finance Department, June-September

Summer 2007 Vodafone PLC, Hampwick Took sole responsibility for reception desk during busy periods

Experience

2009 Chairman, International Business Society, Thropton University

Summer 2006 TEFL Volunteer, Reunion, 4 month placement

2008 Captain, Thropton University Mens Hockey team

LanguagesEnglish: FluentFrench: Fluent




The new versions of this CV give more space to key experiences and allow the achievements in these experiences to shine through. The CV has a

clearer layout and the bullet points force you to get straight to the point. All experiences in your life are interesting, but some are more effective

than others to put forward on a concise CV depending on your goals.

The skills driven CV presents your “offer” to a new employer in a concise manner and makes it easy for them to see the connection between your

current skill set and their future needs. However, you still need to include a basic chronology after the skills based section for reference.

Throughout the CV, try to stick to a few style guidelines:

• Try to maximise your use of positive verbs – words such as created, contributed, built, achieved

• Give quantative results of your actions whenever possible nothing is more compelling

• Make sure you emphasise your individual actions within the context of the team

• Maximised space for high added value experiences and minimise less important experiences

When you have finished your CV, make sure you check it for basic spelling errors. These are all too easy to overlook and can result in your CV

being rejected.

You should now create dedicated versions of your CV either for different companies or different sectors. For example, if you are interested in either

consulting or consumer goods you should create 2 versions of your CV tailored for each sector. If you are particularly targeting an individualcompany you could even customise a CV for their needs. You should also always have a one page summary CV whenever you might meet

employers, for example at a careers fair.

Guide to a brilliant cover letter

Your cover letter has three messages to convey to a future employer:

• Your motivation to apply to that employer in particular and why they are the only company you would work for

• Your knowledge and experience which makes you the perfect recruit for them

• Your skills and expertise which makes you the perfect recruit for them

This should all be achievable in one side of A4 but it must not read like a standard form letter. You need to carefully write custom paragraphs toinsert into your letter in order for employers to find it attractive. These should include facts and figures from your research about the company to

make sure the employer understands it has been written exclusively for them. You should mention what specifically attracts you about the

employer and where you would see yourself fitting into their structure.

Leading directly on from this, you need to point out your skills and experiences which make you an outstanding fit – draw attention to the

strongest experiences on your CV and make the connection clear between your past experience and your future ambitions.

Distributing your CV

Today, distributing your CV is not only about creating an outstanding document. You can push your CV to employers through two main routes

online:

• Uploading your CV to CV databases like monster.com

• Building a professional profile based on your CV on professional networking sites such as LinkedIn or Viadeo

Our advice is for you to create a professional profile on a networking site rather than to upload your CV onto a database. This allows you to have a

more professional image and to send employers links to review your profile. It also enables you to enter into contact with employers through the

tools provided on the site.

Good luck securing your dream job – we hope that this brief guide has been helpful for you in making sure your CV is healthy and ready to work

hard for you.

Documents

CV Clinic by Loreal