How to write a CV

Every year, thousands of supposedly high achievers are left wondering why they didn’t get the job. The problem often lies with the way they have written their CV. While professional and academic achievements can never be discounted, unless you write a CV that conveys these achievements clearly in a way that will appeal to recruiters, your efforts are unlikely to be successful.

It’s All About You

When you sit down to write a CV, you are, in effect, writing an advertisement for yourself. This is your best chance to present your achievements and skills in the most favourable light possible, highlighting to recruiters what makes you stand out from the rest.

It’s impossible to write a CV that’s truly persuasive without having a clear picture in your mind of your skills and key accomplishments. Think about all your past activities: academic projects and degrees, part/full-time work experience, voluntary work, and even social and personal experiences.

To write an online CV that gets the attention of your target audience, you must focus on your achievements and present them in a dynamic, quantifiable way. For instance, here are two CV statements written correctly; notice the action verbs and specific accomplishments:

As a summer volunteer with the Youth Advocacy Service, I interacted with eight pre-school children on a daily basis, providing meals, supervision and companionship.

I created and implemented the unique ‘Partner Plus’ program, which resulted in an 18% increase in sales within three months.

As you can see, it is important to give your potential employer a sense of what you’ve actually accomplished. Grades, awards and certificates, where relevant, can sometimes help to substantiate and strengthen your statements. But the spotlight should be on quantifiable achievements.

It’s All About Them

When you write a CV that gets you the interview, it’s the result of knowing your potential employer and the specific job for which you’re applying. You should always customize your CV for the position and try to convey your background and skills in a way that will be most relevant to the employer.

To do this, read and re-read the job advertisement, research the company and its industry thoroughly and find out about its priorities and hiring practices. Spending time on the company website before you write your CV is a great way to make your application more relevant.

If you do your homework in advance, when it comes time to write a CV that is tailored to the specific opportunity you will be able to incorporate your knowledge of these key elements as you present your experience.

Don’t Forget the Basics

Of course, when you write a CV you must remember to include all the standard facts and sections that most recruiters will look for: personal details, contact information, career profile and objectives, skills and achievements, work experience, and education. Omitting any of these elements could create uncertainty in the recruiter or even cost you the job.

Use Smart Language for an Extra Edge

When you write a CV, it’s important to pay attention to the language you use.

• Include decisive action verbs like ‘initiated’, ‘negotiated’, ‘managed’, and ‘created’ wherever possible.

• If your CV relies on words like ‘always’ ‘never’ and ‘best’, recruiters may see this as a tendency to exaggerate or boast.

• Instead of ‘problem’, use ‘challenge’ - it’s more positive.

• Don’t write a CV that is overloaded with lengthy phrases or sentences. It’s better to keep things straightforward.

Remember that all the hard work involved in writing a CV can be quickly undone by careless and avoidable spelling or grammar mistakes. So, after you write a CV, always spell check and proofread your work multiple times and ask friends, family members, or colleagues to review it as well.

Peter Whitehead is commissioned to write articles on behalf of iProfile, the preferred CV template. iProfile brings the online CV into the 21st Century. Tips & advice vary from CV writing to negotiating a pay rise.

But just as gaining acceptance into university requires an understanding of what academia looks for in a prospective student, graduate careers also require careful study and preparation. Here’s what to keep in mind as you go about researching and planning your graduate career.

Do What You Love

Before deciding on a career path, it’s important to research the job market and analyse your own strengths and interests to find out what kind of graduate career might suit you best. As a wise counsellor once said, ‘Do what you love, the money will follow.’ This is good advice when pursuing your graduate career since the likelihood of success and happiness always improves when you’re doing something you feel passionate about.

To help you figure out your preferences and steer your graduate career in the right direction, many university career centres offer free aptitude and personality tests. These may help you zero in on the kind of graduate career that fits you best.

Start Your Job Searching Early

Start researching graduate careers early, before you graduate. Keep a tight focus on the work you enjoy and then apply that focus to relevant academic coursework, an internship and/or volunteer work experience that can give you a “foot in the door” to your chosen graduate career.

During the final year of study, set aside some time to work on developing your future graduate career options, and make sure you have the financial resources to cover calls, trips and business clothes for interviews. Take advantage of graduate career counselling at your university career centre. Schedule mock interviews to polish your presentation and speaking skills. Attend graduate career fairs and on-campus recruitment events. Keep your academics in good order, a. And learn to manage time effectively between studying and exploring options for graduate your future careers.

Anticipate Hurdles

Be alert to potential challenges early on, before they become roadblocks in your graduate career search:

• Don’t like speaking to groups? Take a public speaking class or join a debating club.

• Is your wardrobe fit for campus only? Invest some time and money on updating your clothes.

• Not much job experience? Experience counts, whether it’s paid or not. Use time off to volunteer or do part-time work in the field you’ve targeted for your graduate career.

• Not well-rounded in extra-curriculars? Make sure you have the requisite computer skills, driving license or other practical qualifications that might help in your graduate career and job search.

See Yourself As The Employer Does

Remember, you’re just starting out on your new graduate career path. As thrilled as you probably are to have attained your degree, you are not entitled to have grandiose expectations at the very beginning of your graduate career. Potential employers are far more interested in what you can do for the company than in what they can do for you. Know your customer (the employer); learn what they need, and then market the product (yourself) as intelligently as possible.

Start Selling!

Once you’ve applied the time, money and effort to prepare yourself thoroughly for your preferred graduate career job sector, it’s time to get yourself out onto the market with a top-notch CV.

Stay Positive

When you’re competing with other graduates for a position, often the person with better graduate career search skills will win the job over candidates with superior qualifications simply because they know how to sell themselves. Keeping a positive, friendly and professional attitude can compensate for a lack of experience.

So as you embark on the searching for a job, make it clear to recruiters that you’re an easy person to work with and are always willing to learn. It can go a long way toward getting your graduate career off to a running start.

Peter Whitehead is commissioned to write articles on behalf of iProfile, the preferred CV template. iProfile brings the online CV into the 21st Century. Tips & advice vary from CV writing to negotiating a pay rise.

Understanding the Professional CV

Professional employees are those who act with integrity, understand the job requirements, communicate well with others, and are willing to adapt to the organisation’s requirements. A professional CV is like a professional employee; it must convey all those characteristics to help you land the job you’re looking for.

For starters, a professional CV always includes certain standard details that most recruiters are interested in:

- Personal information – name, address, full contact information.

- Personal profile and/or career objectives.

- Skills and achievements.

- Work experience.

- Education.

- References.

Beyond the basics, a professional CV will include a number of other key qualities that will put you one step closer to achieving your career goals. It all starts with knowing two things:

• Know Your Audience

Writing a professional CV requires knowledge about the position and the recruitment process. Examining the job advertisement carefully, researching the company, and contacting the recruiter’s office to clarify what the position entails are all likely to contribute to a professional CV that’s suited to the job. A professional CV is always customised to a particular job or recruiter’s requirements.

• Know Yourself

One of the most difficult aspects of writing a professional CV writing is the task of ‘selling’ yourself convincingly without fibs, exaggerations or boastfulness. But underselling yourself is a more common problem. Many applicants find it difficult to translate their achievements or experiences into skills that are relevant to the recruiter.

In order to prepare a professional CV, it is essential to avoid ‘achievement amnesia’. A professional CV highlights key experiences that a stand out for a recruiter or potential employer: projects completed on a shoestring budget or a tight schedule; sales targets exceeded; innovative techniques you introduced, etc. Make a list of everything you’ve accomplished in your professional or academic career. This will be indispensable when writing your professional CV.

When you know your target audience and have a clear recollection picture about of what you’ve achieved, your professional CV will bridge the gap between the recruiter’s needs and your skills as a candidate.

How to write a CV:

• Beat the filters

Recruiters often employ specialised software to extract critical information from your CV, converting it into a standard format. So it’s important that your CV presents information in a way that gets you noticed. A high quality, professional CV is prepared with this sort of filtering in mind. Spending hours on formatting, fancy typefaces, and eye-catching designs is a waste of time and may even hurt your chances. A truly professional CV focuses on key data like achievements and skills.

• Keep it Real (and Relevant)

A professional CV highlights relevant information in a relevant manner. Leave out each grade you got, the addresses of all the institutions you went to, your gender, marital status, passport details, etc. A professional CV attempts to quantify skills and actual experience, such as: “Presented results of inaugural sales campaign to Board of Directors and key investors”. Recruiters notice it when concise, relevant information is presented in plain English in a professional CV.

• Mind your Language

One of the easiest ways to spot an unprofessional CV is grammatical errors, spelling mistakes or incomprehensible terminology. You may be hitting all the right notes, but if your CV is riddled with sloppy mistakes, it will never come across as a professional CV. Read, re-read and ask your friends and relatives to read your CV before you send it out into the world.

Peter Whitehead is commissioned to write articles on behalf of iProfile, the preferred CV template. iProfile brings the online CV into the 21st Century. Tips & advice vary from CV writing to negotiating a pay rise.

There are quite a few companies out there who are more than prepared to hire an ex felon but finding them can be next to impossible at the best of times. All to often when you do manage to find an employer who is advertising jobs for felons the job itself can be a “Bottom of the Barrel” type position. A position that is still available because nobody else wanted it.

What you are about to read will have you hired, working and earning within as little as an hour from now. The employers you are about to read about will take you on instantly regardless of where you live, your convictions, what qualifications you may or may not have and there definitely wont be any background checks. The best part is the work is as easy as it comes and the pay is more than you ever dreamed of making.

So what are these dream jobs?

They are online “Get Paid To” jobs, basically jobs where you get paid for completing tasks like taking online surveys. These are now the hottest jobs on the planet for anyone that is having trouble finding decent employment that pays well, and for good reason too.

There are thousands of market research companies out there that need to know what consumers are thinking, and they are willing to pay you very well for your opinion.

Starting out you can expect to make at least $40 per hour by simply giving your opinion on various subjects and products. There are even online focus groups you can get invited to once you have done a few surveys that will pay you $300 for two and a half hours work. Bet you cant find a job like that anywhere else.

All that you will be doing is simply filling out forms or clicking check boxes for surveys on things like what type of movies or dvd’s you prefer, what your favorite restaurants are and even things like what your opinion is of certain countries. These jobs are so easy to do even teenagers are doing them. And the best part is there is an unlimited supply of them for you to do if you join a few different survey companies.

Although these sound like a dream come true and the end to your financial worries there are some serious pitfalls when it comes to making a decent regular daily income.

Which companies that you decide to complete surveys for makes all the difference, join the wrong survey companies and you will be lucky if you make enough money each day for a loaf of bread. Join the right ones and you are seriously in the money.

All survey companies will offer the big bucks to suck you in but at the end of the day there are only a very small number of them that actually deliver on their promises.

Most survey companies are totally free to join but some companies charge for the service of supplying you with surveys. Stay away from the “Pay to Join” one’s until you are well skilled at picking surveys.

At my website Jobs for Felons you can grab a free list of the top performing

However, equally important as finding a good telecommuting job in the first place is knowing the qualities and traits that will help you to keep your job once you get it!

This article will share some helpful tips for creating and maintaining a successful telecommuting career.

1) Professionalism

The most important quality you can demonstrate to potential telecommute employers (and even once you have the job) is professionalism. It’s not just about behaving well during the interview, either. In every interaction you need to portray yourself as mature, responsible, and business-like. The employer needs to feel confident that you can be trusted. Avoid filling your correspondence with smilies or weird fonts, and try to minimize background noise as much as possible during telephone interviews or meetings.

2) Dependability

Also important is to show that you are dependable. You can do this by making sure to be on time for interviews, responding to email or phone calls quickly, and of course once you have the job, “showing up” for work on time every day. Telecommute employers really have to take a leap of faith when they hire you to work at home because they can’t stand over you to be sure your work gets done each day. It’s up to you to put them at ease by demonstrating your commitment and dependability in every interaction.

3) Resourcefulness

Working at home also requires you to be resourceful, much more than regular jobs. You need to be able to think on your feet and handle any challenges that come your way. Your manager may not always be available at the moment you need him or her, so you will be expected to do your best independently. During the interview process your manager may even test your resourcefulness by asking pointed questions like, “How would you handle an irate customer if no one was available to help?” Your answer will reveal a lot about your ability to handle the job.

4) Communication

Since you will be isolated from your manager and co-workers every day, it’s also important to stay in contact frequently. This includes answering email and returning phone calls quickly, but also being proactive by asking questions and otherwise making it known that you are involved with and committed to your work.

5) Teamwork

Most telecommuters work independently, but sometimes you may be required to interact with others in a team environment (even if it’s done by telephone or internet). Demonstrate your ability to work well with others by behaving maturely and professionally. If you have a disagreement with your boss or a co-worker, handle it calmly rather than flying off the handle.

There are a few other important qualities of a successful telecommuter, but demonstrating these alone will get you off to a great start. If you would like to know more about telecommuting, visit http://www.Telecommuting123.com/success.html today and download our free guide, “How to Be a Telecommuting Success”.

So when one may think that they are short of options, look again, as the solution may be right in front of you with the advent of modern technology. Searching for jobs in the traditional way has gone due to changing times. The internet is really filling the gaps that have been long present in the teen job market. Considering jobs for 13 year olds, it is not so far-fetched for them to apply and begin earning money in just one day, regardless of their skills or location.

When a teen decides to get a job working online, they no longer have to go through the lengthy application and interview process, and then sit and wait to see if they will even get hired. When held up against applying for your standard everyday job, it’s no wonder these paid online jobs are quickly becoming the top jobs for 13 year olds everywhere.

These paid online jobs really are a cut-above the average everyday job. Taking online surveys is the most popular online job for this group at the moment. They are getting paid for sharing their opinions on movies, magazines, TV, and many other things that they are using everyday. This really is the greatest job to squeeze into a teen’s already cram-packed social schedule. Aside from most teens earning $20-$40 per hour, there are also no set schedules for them, no commuting to and from work, and the work is there, whether they want to do a little or a lot. I dare you to find a job this good anywhere else.

Taking surveys is really pretty simple, since all you are really doing is checking boxes or filling in specified information. When you complete one survey the money is transferred to your account and you move on to the next survey. But choosing the right survey company might not be easy. Much of the time, teens get trapped in to taking surveys for companies that promise big money, and then in the end only pay them a couple of dollars an hour at the absolute best.

Speaking of “Free to Join” paid survey sites, and there literally hundreds and hundreds out there, only a very small handful are reputable and will ever pay you for the work that you do. Teens can join as many as they can of these genuine survey sites, and they will then have an unlimited number of the higher paying surveys available to them each day when they log in and start taking surveys. Jobs for 13 year olds have never been easier to find, if you are looking in the right place.

At my website Jobs For 13 Year Olds which has been set up especially for these 13 year old job opportunities there is a free list of the very best

Some people are so jaded of the fact that you can get a wonderful job, have fun, and be paid well all together. They find it quite impossible to have all of these in one job. They would say it is either you get two of the good things and leave one hanging somewhere else. Worst, you do not get any of it at all, but would rather stay because you have no choice or think that the competition is stiff for you to get the dream job of a lifetime. But you are losing every inch of happiness that you deserve if you are thinking this way.

What lies a mystery to these people is that careers on board are developing quickly in the work marketplace. The need for fleets and ship employees has been doubling the long list in the last five years or so. And with the popular increase in traveling consumers, it follows that there is an increase in cruise liners and its current employees. But what really constitutes a job on a cruise ship?

A cruise ship job is a hospitality-related job that entails you to work for huge floating-like hotels. Yes, a cruise ship is considered a hotel because it has the components of a genuine hotel service. The only difference is that the service is done on a ship while traveling on the waters. For starters, cruise jobs have divisions or departments, too. Each of this division employs a number of staff.

There is what they call a Deck Division, where security personnel, seamen, and desk officers such as the captain and other first-rate officers are involved. There is an Engine Division that includes engine officers, engineers, and other technical operators. A Hotel Operations Division employs hotel staff like receptionist, managers, pursers, and other related crew members. A Food and Beverage Division is taken cared by restaurant personnel such as the food and beverage director, managers, wait staff, bartenders, busboys, and more. A Housekeeping Division is composed of cabin and room attendants, laundry people, supervisors, cleaners, and other service attendants. To take care of your beauty and wellness needs, a Beauty Salon Division is ready to serve you with staff such as hair dressers, masseurs, beauticians, and cosmetologist personnel. For gaming and gambling, the Casino Division employs dealers, managers, cashiers, accountants, slot operators, and more. For other entertainment on board, the Entertainment Division is assisted by singers, performers, musicians, managers, dancers, comedian, public relations attendant, light and sound operators, and other entertainment staff. The Cruise Staff Division is formed by the cruise director and his assistant, trainers or instructors of fitness, aerobics, scuba diving and golf, a counselor for the youth, and other related-staff members.

PART 2 - For part two of this article, head on to Cruise Ship Careers where you can also get the best deals on a Carnival Cruise Line Ship vacation.

This is not the case. I used to own a dispatch service and had worked at a trucking company prior to my dispatch service. I have dealt with a lot of brokers in my time. I’ve even made a lot of friends because I’ve called on some honest brokers that were very fair to the carrier I worked with and my owner operators who were contracted under my dispatch. These brokers were very helpful and nice. The good brokers I had found went to the extent of bumping up the rate for me so that my drivers and company I worked for could make a little extra money, or would give my drivers a comcheck to help my drivers out with lumper fees so that my drivers wouldn’t have to take the money out of their pockets which was the carriers road expenses to live on. The carriers under my dispatch would not have to wait for the money to get reimbursed a week later. I’ve even made some long term friendships with some brokers who were honest and still stay in contact with most of them.

Yes, like in any industry you have good people and bad people and the trucking industry is no exception. I was told a few months back by a broker when I was trying to find a load for one of my carriers “if you see an extra thousand dollars wouldn’t you take it?” my reply to them was “no, that is the driver’s fuel money to help compensate for the fuel its not the brokers to take. This money should go to the carriers not in your pocket; they are the ones paying for the fuel.” This had gotten the broker vary angry at me because I am honest due to my up bringing.

These kinds of brokers who take the carriers fuel sur charges, all they are thinking about is money, living the high life and getting their loads hauled as cheap as possible. They have not had any formal training to learn right from wrong, but work according to what they had learned as a broker agent under another dishonest broker. They do things the wrong way and do not doing things according to correct procedure (yes there is a procedure to being a good broker) that is taught in a formal classroom setting.

I’ve recently noticed that a lot of brokers have gone out of business due to not only owner operators going out of business due to the fuel crisis this nation is undergoing but who are also taking the fuel sur charge away from the owner operators and small carriers who had ran under their dispatch.

Now I am not a broker yet, I am going to school to become a Broker, I have been taught not to be a dishonest broker. I was taught that if your honest with not only the shipper and owner operator and treat them fair, you will keep an on going business relationship with both the shipper and the carrier for many years. I was taught that if you’re dishonest to the owner operator and the shipper they will turn their backs and go elsewhere or there will be to much liability bestowed upon the company that these brokers who do not do things according to procedure learned in a classroom setting will have a lot of liability claims bestowed upon them.

You may view entire article at www.infotrucker.com There are many other articles on trucking,truck driving jobs, life on the road as a truck driver and many more at http://www.infotrucker.com

Pick a Design that Works for Both

When you are a Carhartt pants wearer, you have selected a line of pants that will work either in the outdoor job that you hold or can also be used in recreational activities that require free movement. Examples include walking, hiking, sailing and others. Perhaps you just enjoy an evening at the local watering hole where you may want to take part in a game of foosball or dance a few dances with your favorite partner. The design of the Carhartt pants will be acceptable in any of these environments, because they are designed to be comfortable and stylish at the same time. The fit is perfect for active people.

Look for Durable Features

Carhartt pants combine economical pricing with some of the best durability records in the industry. The cloth itself is a heavy cotton canvas at 8.5 ounces and additionally is 100 percent ring spun for even better fabric life. So, you can expect months, or even years of wear when you purchase Carhartt pants. These pants were originally designed to be the rugged outdoor wear of choice by working men and women in the railway industry so you know the garments were given high marks for their durability. The same features and a few more are still part of what makes these garments a great choice.

Cost Considerations

Carhartt pants allow you to complete a wardrobe that works for either work or recreation, or even for office wear. The good news is that having a comprehensive wardrobe for all these functions can be as simple as purchasing Carhartt pants Because these garments are reasonably priced, you won’t spend a fortune being suitably attired for your activities, whatever they are. A second positive factor in the cost considerations for clothing from Carhartt is that they are constructed of heavy 8.5 OZ cotton canvas. This makes them more durable that the lightweight garments that can cost far more.

Color Choices

Popular colors in several styles give you even more flexibility for pants that make the transition between work and play clothing. Smart color choices help you to look great on the job without resorting to just plain black or brown for your work clothing. When you get ready to go out on the town for an evening’s entertainment, these up to the minute colors keep you right in the forefront of fashion. The colors on the Carhartt pants don’t fade or streak even after repeated washings.

This informative article about Carhartt Pants and Carhartt Clothing was sponsored by workwear1.

Visit us on the web at http://www.workwear1.com for Carhartt Hamilton Pants.

The main mission of a Drug Enforcement Administration agent is to enforce the controlled substance laws and to bring to justice those who violate those laws by growing, manufacturing or distributing illicit controlled substances. There is no glamour in this type of career, but it is very rewarding to those who put their lives on the line to keep the flow of illegal drugs off the streets and out of the hands of adults and children.

What does it take to become a DEA Agent?

Those who want to apply for a position with the DEA will need to have some experience with law enforcement or the legal system. The DEA will only accept the most outstanding applicants because this agency is constantly being challenged to keep our country safe.

If you want to become a Drug Enforcement Administration agent, you will need to have a better understanding of what it takes to join this elite group. You will find that people with bachelor’s or master’s degree have a better chance of being considered.

Having a criminal justice degree or past experience as a police officer will give you an advantage over the other applicants. If you are fluent in another language such as Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese or Russian, then you are among the most sought after candidates.

What does it take to get a DEA Agent job?

The requirements to obtain a coveted position with the DEA are as follows. You need to be a United States citizen, you will need to be over 21 years of age but not older than 37. There will be a medical exam that includes a physical; if you have a hearing aide, it will disqualify you from the test.

There will also be a psychological and in-depth interview session. Your past drug use will need to be explained. This is not grounds for dismissal but very important because you will be given a polygraph test. You will have to take a drug test and a background investigation will need to be passed in order to gain employment with the DEA.

These tests may take up to 12 months to complete. If you pass all the required tests you will be trained for 16-weeks at the DEA training academy in Quantico, Virginia.

There you have! The only thing to add is that you start early in the application process. Give yourself at least 12 months from the date you apply to the date you will start work.

I must also add that you do more research on the DEA agent career. You need to visit websites that cover the profession in more detail. Do not let your competition be more informed and prepared than you.

Note: You are free to reprint or republish this article. The only condition is that the Resource Box should be included and the links are clickable.

Copywrite Kenneth Echie. Kenneth writes for Criminal Justice Schools. Get free scholarship report and learn to become a DEA Agent by visiting. Also See: Extra Income Ideas