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READ MORECandidate Advice
The most frequent questions we get from candidates are around how to make their CV most effective and how to prepare for interviews. See below our best advice on these two subjects:
Developing your CV
Make your CV stand out from the crowd
Most job hunting is now done online and, like the majority of job seekers today, you should be proactively promoting yourself in this medium, both on social networking sites and adding your information to generic and industry specific job boards. Remember, nearly all employers and recruiters now regularly use these sources to search for suitable applicants.
What this does mean is that your CV really has to stand out from the crowd. You can considerably increase your chances of being contacted if your CV is clearly, concisely and positively written and highlights your achievements, skills, qualifications and experience.
Design and Layout
A CV should be no more than two to three A4 pages in length. If you have more text than that, never try to cram everything in tiny type to make it fit! Use 10, 11 or 12 pt, ensure enough white space is left to make your information easy to read and summarise wherever possible, using bullet points to ensure that information can be found quickly.
Structure
- Begin with your personal details, name, telephone number and e-mail.
- Include a short profile, which should summarise your most relevant experience and strengths, as well as the type of role and company you are looking to work for.
- Follow your profile with employment history, if applicable, then education and qualifications. Remember your current situation is the most relevant to the job you are seeking so use the chronological format, listing most recent details first.
- With employment information, don’t just list the tasks/duties you were responsible for. Instead, describe your role using positive language and be sure to highlight key achievements.
- It is important not to leave any gaps between jobs or education, so if you do have any, include a short explanation as to what you spent your time doing.
- Briefly list details of qualifications and grades, with the highest/most relevant listed first. Including a list of specific skills such as IT packages or languages and what level of knowledge you have of them is recommended.
- A couple of final points:
- Listing interests is an optional extra but keep the list to just one line
- You do not need to include references but you can mention they are available on request.
And finally…..
When you are happy with the content and layout of your CV:
- Check for spelling and grammatical mistakes.
- Ask yourself, if you were an employer, would it interest you? Does it really sell your achievements, skills and experience in the best and most positive way?
- Proof read completely, more than once, and ask someone else to check it too.
- Your M3 Pharma Consultant can also give you an appraisal of your CV if you wish.
Last but not least, revise your CV whenever you gain new skills or qualifications, or significant achievements. Also you may wish to emphasise certain skills in your CV to suit individual job applications.
Preparing for your Interview
Interviews give both you and an organisation a chance to discover your suitability for their vacancy. For employers they can find out more about your skills, experience, personality and drivers, in addition to giving them an opportunity to compare each applicant and their responses to a similar set of questions. This is the time when you can find out more detail on the role, the people you will be working with and the culture of the organisation too.
Most importantly, an interview is the time to really sell yourself and convince the interviewer you are the person they are looking for. To give the most positive impression you can:
- Prepare well, find out all you can about the organisation – and bring that new found knowledge into your interview answers if and when it is relevant and appropriate.
- Check the format of the interview and find out who’ll be interviewing you
- Prepare your answers to some standard interview questions, such as:
- Why do you want this job?
- Where does it fit in with your career plans?
- What are your strengths?
- What are your weaknesses?
- What’s been your most significant success at work?
- What is the biggest mistake you ever made?
- What is the greatest challenge you have ever faced?
- How do you cope with difficult colleagues?
- What do you do outside of work?
- What’s your current salary?
- Why have you changed jobs frequently?
- Make sure you have some well thought out questions ready for your interviewer, perhaps based on your knowledge of the organisation. And remember to ask what the next steps in the process are and why you can expect to hear back.
- Plan how you are going to get to the company and allow plenty of time, check traffic/transport reports to avoid any delays.
- Take a copy of your CV with you
- Research shows that people form an impression of you in the first 3-4 minutes of meeting. In an interview situation remember that what you say contributes to less than 10% of the overall impression your interviewer will gain during your meeting!
- Dress smart, keep it plain and simple.
- Walk with purpose and shake hands firmly – both give the impression of confidence.
- Be positive and confident, speak clearly and assertively. Take a breath if you feel you are speaking too quickly.
- Maintain eye contact with your interviewer, especially when you’re being asked and answering questions.
- Look attentive by sitting up straight.
- Smile when appropriate – it helps you relax and appear approachable.
- Remember to switch off your mobile phone beforehand.
Types of interview to expect:
Telephone or Initial interview:Some organisations use these to decide which applicants to invite for an initial interview, or to quickly assess interpersonal skills and background. An alternative is an initial interview that may be quite short, 30 minutes or so usually one on one.
Formal interview: This is the most common type and will be structured so that each applicant is evaluated against the same criteria. This more formal interview may be held with more than one person representing the organisation, for example an HR representative with your prospective line manager and/or colleagues too.
Group interview:A group meeting where the company can present the business and highlight the benefits of working for it to a number of applicants at the same time. You should be able to ask questions and may have an opportunity for one to one discussion, but bear in mind that you will be assessed during this process. This type of interview is followed by a more formal one at a later date.
Panel or board interview:Some organisations will interview with a panel or board of people present, a very formal situation. Don’t be intimidated – answer each question directly to the person who posed it.
Assessment centre:Larger companies use these, often if they are recruiting for a range of roles – perhaps for a new department or team. They normally consist of a presentation by the company and then a series of exercises for the applicants, such as prepared and unprepared presentations, group tests, role plays, informal or formal interviews and psychometric tests.