I’ve been speaking with a number of recruiters recently and they tell me they are inundated with CVs. Hiring Managers tell me the same thing. So developing a CV which genuinely stands out is essential to give yourself any chance.

Here are two tips that I’ve picked up from a number of these conversations. I was discussing the CV of our clients who has been unable to find work for nearly 18 months. Can you imagine the first question that gets asked when recruiters see this CV? Something like, “What’s she been doing for the past 18 months?”

CV writing tips – Make sure your CV is Recent

CV Writing Tips – Returning to work? Make sure your CV is both Recent and Relevant if you want be invited to interview

So here’s CV writing tip number 1 – it’s not a good idea to say that for the past 18 months you’ve been searching for a job! That makes you look pretty poor at your job.

Instead, while you are job seeking you need to be getting involved in projects, either paid interim work or even pro bono / volunteer work. This serves to ‘keep your eye in’ and keep you ‘work ready’.

So make sure you have some RECENT experience on your CV. Something is definitely better than nothing. And, you make find while you’re out there doing the interim work that you run into new connections and opportunities. Let’s face it, it’s more likely than sitting at home searching for jobs for the 500th day.

CV writing tips – Make Sure Your CV is Relevant

Tip number 2 is this – make sure your CV is tailored to RELEVANT to the role you are applying for. If this sounds obvious, good. But are you really doing it? It’s so tempting… so much easier to simply send out your ‘regular’ CV to lots of jobs. It takes real effort to tailor to E-V-E-R-Y application. But that is quite simply how you get jobs these days.

For detailed advice on how to make your CV more Recent and more Relevant, and for other professional CV writing tips contact us directly via email info@interviewdoctor.com or call our office on 08000 699 331.

You’ll be amazed how a CV can be improved in just a short while and how it can dramatically improve your job search results in a very short period.

Discover some of the top tips that Interview Doctor clients receive to accelerate their job search. They’re explained for free in this video.

To find out more about how to secure your next job, why not call us for a confidential, no obligation personal chat so you can find out exactly how we can help you accelerate your job search: 08000 699 331 or email info@interviewdoctor.com

In this video you’ll see, Sam went beyond the 7 secrets he promised and shared 9 vital ideas for his Business School audience. And you’ll benefit from them too if you plan to use social media to enhance your job search.

To find out more about how to secure your next job, why not call us for a confidential, no obligation personal chat so you can find out exactly how we can help you accelerate your job search: 08000 699 331 or email info@interviewdoctor.com

In this short video from the expert interview coaches at Interview Doctor, you’ll discover 10 interview mistakes you must avoid if you want to land the job.

While we give you quick solutions in the video, if you have an interview coming up, get in contact. If you are interested in improving your preparation or if you are looking to develop a series of more impressive answers, speak to us today. Our friendly coaches can help you to achieve the job winning impact you need at interview today.

Speak to Pam in the office on 08000 699 331 or email us to book a telephone meeting on info@interviewdoctor.com . At Interview Doctor we’re all about “getting you to the interview and getting you through the interview.

You can watch the video detailing the 10 Interview Mistakes You Must Avoid, here:

Please check that you aren’t making these CV mistakes in your CV.

We’ve just created a new video which highlights a few of the worst CV mistakes (the kind that guarantee your CV gets rejected)… You may have seen that video on YouTube or somewhere else on the web, but in case you found this blog first, you can watch this important video here.

If you are making ANY of these CV mistakes, you can find our solution here: The free 2-part video guide which takes you step-by-step through “The 7 Essential CV Upgrades You Can Apply in 45 mins or Less.”

Congratulations. But have you done enough research into the organisation before your big day?

If you are anything like most of our clients, you’ve not done enough yet. Maybe you are fully aware how competitive the job market is right now? Maybe you are about to find out.

A massive tip we can offer you which is really simple for you to act on is this: Do more research.

So you’ve looked at their website. Ok, that’s a start. But it’s not nearly enough! It’s so competitive out there that the best candidates will be doing far more research, ‘leaving no stone unturned’ in their meticulous preparation to make sure they get the job. Is that you?

What additional research could you be doing?

- News: Search Google or the other search engines for The Organisation Name + News – check what’s happening which is news worthy that you ought to know about (positive or negative). You need to be going into the interview with your eyes open and the media is good way of checking this.

- Company performance: How are they doing? Better than last year? Worse? Why?

- SWOT Analysis: Know what are their Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. This quick analysis will only take 1-2 hours but will enable you to feel confident in your preparation should you get asked any more detailed questions.

- People Research: Who is in charge? Who would your Boss be? Do you know who will be interviewing you? LinkedIn.com will give you some helpful background.

- Current Employees / Past Employees: What do they think? Where have they come from? What do they go on to do next? LinkedIn.com again, is a good source for this detail.

- Scandals / Drama: If they’ve been in the press, (e.g. BP Gulf Oil Disaster) have an informed opinion about the details.

- Competitors: Who are their major rivals? How are they doing vs each other?

- Brands / Sub Businesses: If it’s a brand house, make sure you know about their products, their launches, their advertising. What’s working? What’s changing?

There’s really no excuse for not knowing these things about a target employer.

For help on how to tailor your interview research, why not try one of our Interview Coaching sessions? Your Interview Consultant will be able to ensure you have all the key areas covered and will also help you to structure your interview answers. You can even book a Mock Interview with personalised feedback.

For details call 08000 699 331 or email info@interviewdoctor.com

Every success!

If you are writing your CV, you can learn a lot from the expert writers who compile our daily newspapers.

How many papers would they sell if they hid the most interesting fact at the bottom of page 24?

I don’t know, but I guarantee it would be far fewer than they do when they follow their famous strategy of selecting the headline which the editor thinks will be the words with the power to have the very greatest impact on the target audience.

Isn’t that the power of headlines?

Don’t they grab our attention and draw us in… reeling us closer to read the next line… and then the next?

It’s a harsh fact that, regardless of the time, care, attention to detail and love that you put in CV writing, it’s unlikely to get more than 30 seconds – 2 mins attention from the recruiters. You see, they’ll know in just a few seconds if you are right, or wrong. The first impression will be so powerful their minds will be made up in 4-6 seconds. And after that… well, quite frankly you’re either hanging on in there for a bit of luck or your CV is already  headed towards that rejection pile.

So what should you do?

Well, learn from the journalists. Make sure that you pack your most impressive information into the headline – or on your carefully written CV – the Professional Profile. Good profiles relate your skills to what the job requires in just a few concise sentences.

The best profiles are:

• Factual
• Sector specific (state which fields your experience is in)
• Geographically specific (state where you’ve worked… UAE, USA, UK, etc.)
• Detailed (for example, list a relevant achievement or impressive detail from a recent job)

There are two ways asking questions can help you

Firstly they are a chance for you to continue to shine by asking relevant, progressive questions which show you are intelligent, attuned to their organisation and enthusiastic about the job. Secondly, of course, they are a chance for you to explore more detail about the role and organisation. With that in mind, never forget that interviews are a two-way exchange. Yes you are being assessed, but you must also take the opportunity to assess your interviewers and the opportunity they are presenting to you. You must ask the questions you need answering to be able to make the right decision for you, should you be offered the role.

Questions you might want to ask

If the interview has had a few tricky spots, or even if it has gone well, a smooth first question is to bounce the initiative back to them for a second with a question like:

“From the answers I’ve given so far, is there anything you would like me to clarify or elaborate on further for you?”

This is a really neat way of letting them clear up any zones of doubt they may have.

My favourite questions to ask are the ones which show you are thinking about yourself in the role and show that you intend to stay and excel in the role. Something like, “If I was to be successfully hired into this role what could I expect to be doing in 2-3 years from now?”

Alternatively, “What could the successful candidate expect to be doing in 2-3 years from now?”

Another set of questions are the ones that demonstrate your knowledge and suitability for the role. Assuming you’ve done lots of research you could ask a question about the organisation – maybe something which has been in the news recently or maybe a more specific question regarding a new approach from the part of the company to which you are applying. Something like, “I’ve notice that the advertising for XYZ Brand has changed to recently and a lot of the media spend seems to be online. Will this new role be working more on digital media rather than TV?”

Questions you should not be asking

The questions you shouldn’t be asking – especially at a first interview – are those regarding what the company can do for you. While you might be very keen to understand the opportunity to be sponsored through an MBA or for you to change to a 3 day week, this is not the time for those points. They are judging you against numerous other candidates and if you show yourself to be the one thinking about what you can take, rather than what you can contribute, you won’t be maximising your chances of reaching the next round. Wait until you know they want you before you start negotiating terms – or you may never get to that stage!

And remember! Just because you’ve been invited to ask questions, doesn’t mean the interview is over! Not yet! Don’t relax! Keep focused and make the most of this opportunity. Good preparation at this stage will make it much easier to excel under pressure at interview in the heat of the moment.

Interview Coaching

To find out more details about questioning techniques, to plan your questions and to plan your interview answers with an expert interview coach, take a look at our coaching options. Many of our clients find the coaching incredibly useful to focus their answers, cut out the elements they shouldn’t be saying and also to practice and receive feedback before they go into the live interview situation. You can find full details of our coaching services here.

We wish you every success.

Yes, it’s word of mouth that fills some of them, but there’s actually a great deal more to the Unadvertised Job Market.

In his book on the subject, author David Boyd clearly outlines a proven system for finding people who are actively recruiting but who haven’t actively advertised the job. In the book you’ll discover how to find these people, how to approach them and how to boost your chances of setting up a successful meeting with them.

If you have been out of work for a while and not found the role you are looking for, or if you are in work and actively looking for your next role, but without much luck, I recommend taking a look at this little volume. It’s packed with tips which have taken David many years to research and learn. Yet you can benefit from a quick read of it and change your job search the very next day.

If you order the book via this link, you’ll also be able to pick up a copy of “154 Sensitive Interview Questions You might Be Asked in an Interview – Wished You Had Prepared For.”

Click Here!

  I was astonished at how effective they were. Within two 
weeks of starting to use the system (I know, two weeks!) I 
had two job offers (that’s two job offers!), both at salaries 
which suited me and using my skill sets. What’s more, these 
offers were from people I knew and were under 20 miles from 
my home. But I had no idea they were even looking for anyone 
and these jobs had not even been advertised.

Not only that, but it would never even have occurred to me to 
approach them, and certainly not to ask them for a job. (I 
didn’t actually ask them – that’s all part of my system).

BraveNewTalent is a Career Social Network that allows Talent and Employers to connect in a much deeper way than ever before. Talent of all ages can power their careers by following employers, gaining insights, ideas, advice and opportunities to develop their career. Employers are able to build Talent Communities to connect with candidates in a much simpler way,showcasing their employer brand, engaging and recruiting the best talent.

Find out about Brave New Talent here on their website.

Do you need help with Professional CV Writing?

If you need help preparing your CV for one of the employers you are interested in joining, drop us a line and book a free 15 mins initial consultation with one of our expert CV writers. Email us today on info@interviewdoctor.com or call our office freephone line on 08000 699 331.