19. SHORT
THE PERSONAL
COVER LETTER
CONTEXTUAL
INFORMATION
Dear David,
I am writing in response to the opening for xxxx.
I can offer you seven years of experience
managing communications for top-tier xxxx
firms, excellent project-management skills, and a
great eye for detail, all of which should make me
an ideal candidate for this opening.
I share your company’s values like xxxx as I am
passionate about xxxx and did xxxx in the past.
Therefore, I would love to be a part of your
team.
I have attached my résumé for your review and
would welcome the chance to speak with you
sometime.
Best regards,
Xxxx Xxxx
24. Being Prepared
• Do thorough research into the company
• Consider the position and research ways you could be an asset for
the company
• Find creative ways to present yourself
• Be prepared for the interviewer digging deep
• Ask some interesting questions – have enough of them
25. During the Interview
• Do not sound like you are only trying to say what the interviewer
wants to hear
• Listen to the questions and answer clearly and simply
• Show your personality during an interview – be charismatic
26. The questions
Your previous experience
• What do you like best about your current job/last job?
• What do you dislike most about your current/last job?
• What keeps you coming to work besides the paycheck?
27. The questions
Challenges
• What are the 2 biggest challenges you have faced and how did you deal
with them?
• Talk about a time when you had to overcome major obstacles?
• What is the most difficult decision you have made in the last two years and
how did you come to that decision?
• What was the most difficult period in your life, and how did you handle it?
• Tell me about the biggest mistake that you ever made?
28. The questions
About you
• Tell me the last thing you did which was fun and might make me laugh
• What has been the most valuable lesson taught to you by someone you
highly respect?
• Who is your role model and why?
• What was the last thing you did that makes you really embarrassed and
why?
• What is your plan B if you don’t get this job?
• How did you feel when you woke up this morning and thought about this
interview?
29. The questions
Management and Leadership
• How do you manage your typical day in terms of emails, projects, to do lists,
personal tasks, social chit chats and meetings?
• How do you manage and influence others?
• What are 2 areas of management style you would like to improve and how?
• What skills or knowledge do you hope to gain from working with EF?
30. Thank you
&
Good luck.
James Mandl – james.mandl@ef.com
Kristina Segura –kristina.segura@ef.com
Notas do Editor
Why is the CV important?
How do you write a top CV?
What can you do and what can EF do for you?
The structure of a resume will determine how easy it is for a recruiter to find the information they are looking for.
If you make your resume too complicated, or use too much text I am going to get frustrated trying to wade through the irrelevant info.
Also I am a very visual person and I like structure, so if I see that the resume looks disorganised, very wordy or not clearly presented I am going to think that maybe you are not a very structured person, that you are not able to present yourself or your ideas in a clear, systematic and succinct manner and that you do not have a eye for simplicity, clarity and focus.
I want to see the following: Education, Experience, Personal Info, Skills, Personal Interests and achievements, but my time is limited and as the info-graphic shows my eyes fall first and foremost at the top of a resume – so this is one of the main zones where you can influence my decision about what you can offer me. Previously the top of the resume was often used for writing an objective statement – however this is now considered obsolete. Recruiters don’t really make decisions based on this so you are using valuable “prime” space for un-useful information.
So as I mentioned, recruiters are busy people so they spend on average of only 6 seconds on a CV
This image shows a study using “eye tracking” technology, which can measure exactly where recruiters' eyes looked and how long they stayed on that spot.
They spend 80 per cent of their brief review on six key elements of your resume: your name, the current company you work for, your previous employment, the start and end dates of your previous position, the start and end dates of your current position and your educational background.
I also look for experience abroad, languages, goal achievements and key words which might correspond to the job description.
Here you see with this image where the eye naturally falls on the page. As you can see the reader does not read the whole thing.
So you need to be strategic about what you put – too much and the recruiter will miss the important things. Think about what matters and especially which of your skills and experience are really relevant to the job you are applying for. Maybe your experience as a waiter or waitress really doesn’t enlighten me as to whether you can web-page designer. Maybe the most vital and selling information about you is hidden inside a paragraph I will never read. So think about where you place the information on the CV.
I mentioned I was looking for achievements – more and more applicants are including goals they have met present and previous jobs– sales people for example include figures on what they sold or how much profit they brought into company. This is good because then I can see that they are result driven and have clear focus on what their goals and achievements have been. I have tangible and measurable information on their successes. I can also see that they recognise that their focus should be on bringing additional value to the companies they have worked for.
So I come back again to a couple points already touched on.
I don’t want to see a CV from someone who has applied to 100 jobs with the same CV.
So Customize your CV to the position you are applying for:
Take the time to read about the company – check their mission statement. See what they do, what they are involved in, what type of culture they have in their company- because only then will you be able to position and market yourself appropriately.
Using strategic keywords of the industry and of the company is a good way to show you have done your research and for me to see you really are interested in this job. It shows you have taken time, gone the extra mile to understand what we stand for and care about what we do in EF.
The quickest way to get a rejection from a recruiter is by having a spelling mistake.
Review your application several times, ask a friend to proof read it. With just one spelling mistake your resume will be throw in the bin! And after you have spent all that time on preparing it, it’s a crying shame to blow it on one simple error! Also do recognise that you will become blind to the small mistakes once you spent you’ve been looking at your CV for so long! You need a new set of eyes!
Also if you are asked to provide a resume in a language other than your native one, do not just rely on google translate! Spend the extra time and effort to find someone who can rewrite your CV. And then get it proof read by a different native English speaker – don’t just trust your translator.
Spelling mistakes for EF is an especially big no no for two reasons – one we work in the education sector so we cant be making mistakes and secondly one of our core values is attention to detail – if a candidate cant even spell on their resume when they are trying to make their best impression and when presumably they have had lots of time to prepare, how will they respond under pressure, running against the clock?!!!
There are without doubt some things that whatever happens you should avoid!
Don’t have an inappropriate profile picture on your resume.
Avoid pictures that are too sexy, too formal or informal, make sure you are smiling – naturally of course!
Don’t use subjective text in the CV
State facts rather than subjective info – subjective text can be in the cover letter.
Don’t address the cover letter or intro email to the wrong person / company
Check your messages and names twice
Don’t use a standardized cover letter without any customization and personality.
Don’t let the recruiter get bored by the message you are sending
Don’t list irrelevant experiences
List only what makes sense for the targeted job
Avoid a very long CV (1-2 pages max.)
Your level of experience will impact the overall length so think about what you can omit
Make sure to not fake experiences or include lies
Getting discovered will mean losing your chance of a job
And again don’t have a messy structure and design
Be concise, recruiters don’t want to get lost reading your CV
So lets look at a few examples of CVs
So lets look at a few examples of CVs
Focused, 1-2 page CV
Clear structure
Standardized fonts
Clear and easy to read
Simple design
I get a good sense of David – he is organised, structured person. He appears to be focused and has good attention to detail as there are no errors. There’s some colour in the resume too which makes a change from the drab B&W ones.
This is a more innovative design
Full of relevant info
Shows personality
They have divided the focus into experience, leadership skills, results and creative ability –
The have thought about what the audience wants and what they are looking for.
Nice use of QR code providing the a way to download the CV which to me communicates a sense of innovative creativity. The ability to find alternative ways to do things.
This candidate actually hired someone to help with the design but that in no way detracts from the CV – instead it shows the candidates keenness to have something different
There are mixed opinions about cover letters.
Some recruiters don’t bother to look at it, let alone pass it on to hiring managers.
But the cover letter can be an opportunity to add a little more focus on your motive and interest in the company and what you can bring to the job and company.
The cover letter should not be too long (10 lines max)
It’s more personal and subjective than your CV
Don’t repeat the same things that are in your CV
Can be typed , but a handwritten signature is still appreciated
Provides more contextual information
When you are available
How mobile you are (interviews, moving for the company)
What you can bring to the position you are applying for
An intro email can play the same role as a cover letter
In most cases an intro email sent to the recruiter has the same structure as a cover letter.
Remember to include the title of the job you are applying for – 70 different job ads running at the same time.
Diana was working in the Website Marketing Team of EF Education First – here you can see her online resume
She uses an the info graphic of a thermometer to show her language skills.
She has links to the different social network sites where she is – this shows that she has a large network and it well connected.
She is being transparent which is good too and most importantly she recognizes that around 68% of companies will visit applicants on Facebook before deciding whether to invite the candidate for an interview.
When I am recruiting I will check out candidates on their social websites – so think about what photos etc. that you have there – a drunken party picture may seem harmless but it might not be showing your best side.
Here are a few more examples of other websites where you can create your online profile and CV. You just fill in the information and then the sites create a visualization for you. And with LinkedIn it creates a resume for you so that when you apply for a job thru linked in, the resume is automatically included.