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Your CV – How to Remodel it for Hard Hitting Impact in 60 Minutes or Less
Coming soon:
It’s a “special release” e-guide.
“Ordinary” is out. “Bashing down doors” is in.
How to Overcome the “Too Old” Stereotype in Your CV
Got a mail from “M”. She was frustrated. Angry. Threatening to … actually here are her words:
I need to see you; if I get told I’m too old again I’ll murder someone!
Obviously her job hunt was going nowhere – and she put it all down to age prejudice. It does happen a lot. Here’s my reply with the antidote to ‘age prejudice’ and the “too old” stereotype.
Hi M
Thanks for your mail. Frustrated, huh? Sorry to hear that. There’s only one way to counteract a negative stereotype (“too old”). Here it is:
- Show how you are uniquely valuable.
- Show how you’ll provide powerful benefits.
- Show how you’ll solve the reader’s (employer’s) problem.
Your problem may not be that you’re too old – you are what you are, so that’s good news! Your problem may be that you’re not doing a great job of showing how you can be of great value to the employer. Maybe I’m wrong? Your thoughts? See attached if you’d like to get me to help you solve the problem by re-writing your CV.
[PS Meeting isn't something I usually do with my clients. I do work for people all over the world so have everything set up to help people from far.]
Gerard
CV Writer and Job Hunting Coach
“M”‘s CV was good in one way: It was one page – something which shows confidence and has an ‘up-to-dateness’ that is appealing. But she really blew it in other ways. Her age was all over the place – pretty much the first line was her age/date of birth. She had her picture there. She’s pretty in a mature kind of way. BUT no spring-chicken. And it was a casual pic, relaxing on the couch (this kind of pic seldom goes down well in promoting oneself in a professional environment).
Also there was NO sense of focus – “here’s what I’m looking for, this is the value I can provide, this is why it’ll be good to have me around, these are the problems I can solve for you.” No doubt she has good skills. She has good qualifications. Great in fact. But even on the one page I only noticed her Bachelor of Business Administration degree on my 3rd look.
There IS a negative stigma associated with age. Who knows why? It may have something to do with a very fast, technology driven world that some older people find hard to keep up with. It may be totally wrong.
But whatever the case – there’s no point in doing nothing to counteract the negative perceptions. One’s personal marketing has to be smarter, more focussed to stay competitive.
Good lessons these. What are you saying in your CV? Are you promoting “YOU” as powerfully as you should? It’s important, because “YOU” are all you have. See www.wowcv.net/ for more on my CV writing service.
I Hate This Quote
I hate that this quote/statement is kinda true. Another thing I hate about it is that it could be taken up by some as meaning that we must just accept our lousy circumstances and just be happy. Bull. Making the most of what one has, being positive in the face of massive challenges – that’s one thing, and it’s good. But having no aspirations, no vision, no goal – that’s another. Let’s not go there.
Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass
it is about learning to dance in the rain.
In a job hunting context – do we just give up and accept that to be happy in our job is unreasonable. We just have to knuckle down and take the whipping. Drudging along.
Coping with a temporary bad situation (“dancing in the rain”) is fine. But to not have a plan, a goal, a vision of something better and quietly, determinedly (is that a word? but you know what I mean) making it happen is actually what we should be doing. Right?
The “3 Steps to a Great New Job” programme is designed to help you make a big career change. It’s a self study programme via e-mail which will help you find a new career direction and then prepare to ‘hit’ the market with a high energy, innovative job hunting campaign. Visit www.GreatNewJob.co.za for more.
If it Seems too Tough …
Good quote:
“Don’t be afraid if things seem difficult in the beginning. That’s only the initial impression. The important thing is not to retreat; you have to master yourself.”
-Olga Korbut: Gymnast – Four Time Olympic Gold Medallist
Yeah, we all need encouragement through the ups and downs of pursuing a worthwhile goal.
By the way www.CareerAndSuccess.info is a community of people committed to making positive job, career and personal changes. Join them.
Is the Bad News Getting the Better of You?
Look, usually I’m deeply cynical about all the ‘feel good’ preachers. Sometimes life just sucks.
But faced with the choice:
1) Getting totally lost in the pig’s feast of bad news featuring at the moment – and drowning in it, getting dragged down by it, sinking in it, getting stuck in it – which if I focus on it I absolutely will be OR …
2) Seeing the bad stuff, acknowledging it but not submitting to it – by ALSO spending some time on the good stuff. Making a habit of looking for the good stuff – in people, in situations, in nature, etc – which will result in a mind that’s not ‘mired’, stuck, and controlled by fear, scarcity and bad news. What good can come out of that?
Perhaps #2 is the better choice? Better for me and everyone around me.
So a quick article I received via mail this morning on this theme follows here:
Law of Compensation
Crowd out all inferior thoughts by superior thoughts, evil thoughts by good thoughts, ugly thoughts by beautiful thoughts, distressing thoughts by pleasant thoughts, and you will begin to overcome the growth of all negative and confused states of wrong and discord. In other words, learn to think constructively of all persons, all things, all events, and all circumstances.
Appraise them from the ideal point of view. As you do this you will gradually transform your whole existence for the better. These are the means whereby you may steadily promote your welfare and advancement.
As you train yourself to mentally look for the good, you will move towards the good; and, as you form higher and larger conceptions of the good, these elements will begin to find expression in your words, acts, character, person, talents, powers, attainments, and achievements; that is, all things in your life will commence to improve as the direct result of your improved thinking.
This process does not imply, however, that you are to ignore the wrongs of life, the empty places, and the undeveloped states of being; but that you are to think right through and beyond them towards the hidden good or the principle within that is ever seeking a higher and fuller expression. You will, therefore, cease to condemn and to criticize in a destructive manner; instead you will seek to bring out the good in yourself and in others, and to discover and develop the greater possibilities everywhere. -Raymond Holliwell
Developing this kind of approach to life. Making this kind of thinking a habit – can’t be bad, huh? Probably good for job hunting – who’d you hire: a negative, down, depressed guy OR an upbeat, positive, enthusiastic, ‘look-for-good’ kinda guy (who also, by the way, understands and faces the challenges – just with a more positive disposition)?
By the way, I’m giving all readers a copy of the famous book “As a Man Thinketh” – just to help you ‘get’ the whole Thought>>Feeling>>Action>> Results relationship. I’m not a preacher of magic happening from airy fairy happy thoughts. But that little string of relationships really does have magic in it. Just send me an e-mail: 12jss@getresponse.com and I’ll send it to you (plus a bunch of other help, mind you. And free.)
Your CV – The 1st Second is Critical. Why?
Are there little things you can do to make a quick but effective difference in the attention grabbing, interest generating, interview winning power of your CV?
Sure there are. And they have much to do with the first impression your CV creates. When your CV is received, opened and looked at for the first time, whether in print or on a computer screen – that first 1 second is critical.
It’s a moment when no words are read. But many early judgements are already being made in the mind of the reader – who said the world was fair!!? But now you know!
So with that knowledge you can choose to play the victim or exploit it.
What does that one first glance at your CV say?
Here’s what it can say about you – that you’re:
- Neat.
- Professional (code for organised, trained, of high standard, adhering to good practices and codes of behaviour).
- A clear thinker.
- A good communicator.
- A person who’ll easily fit into a business environment – and contribute to it immediately.
- A person who has high standards and that when dealing with colleagues, clients and superiors you’ll be reliable, organised, clear, and you’ll be a credit to your employer.
- Highly computer literate.
And that’s before even a word is read. Pretty good going. But wait … let’s calm down a little and see the harsh truth.
What happens often, too often, to too many people, good people, people perhaps like you, is that the first impression they create isn’t the one described above. Here’s what you may be doing and here’s what that may be saying about you:
- It may be saying nothing – your first page may just grandly announce you – of how much interest actually is that to an employer? This kind of grandiose cover page could be judged as an unprofessional whim.
- You may put a great big picture on your first page – of you, or it may be clip art. You may have a page border of castles, cars, or diamonds. But won’t the reader just conclude that these are just tacky (in poor taste) attempts to create a big impression to hide the fact that your skills and qualifications are just average, or below average?
- Your paragraphs may not be aligned – or may be aligned with spaces instead of tabs – or aligned with 5 tabs instead of one (takes a little extra effort but the visual effect is worth it). The conclusion may be drawn that your computer skills are lacking or that you don’t know how to work properly with MS Word, or worse, that you just don’t care.
- You may have crammed your CV full of detail and it’s gone to 10 pages. The glancer may conclude that you’re someone who can’t get to the point, who can’t express him/herself clearly and concisely.
- In your long list of “duties and responsibilities” there may just be random points. Could the reader conclude that logical thinking and proper organisation aren’t strengths you possess? Absolutely.
- In an attempt to get to the nirvana of the 2 page CV, you may have used a very small font, single (or less) line spacing, and no paragraph spacing. You may just come across as someone desperate to comply, willing to sacrifice readibility for the 2 page CV – which is really missing the point altogether.
- You may have use a font that’s very big – and they may conclude you have eyesight problems, or that you’re very old and your sight is fading.
- You may have used a common format – a template, or a formate copied from your school textbook. These formats shout “average” – they put you in a box, they limit expression. Use them if you have to – they’re better than nothing but just be sure, again, that your alignments and all the stuff mentioned above is done perfectly.
You get the point, right? Your CV can speak without words – just a glance can speak volumes.
And yes, these are snap judgments people may make, rightly or wrongly, after just a glance at your CV. But that glance sets the tone for any further reading of your CV. You want it to be positive.
Badly constructed, worded and word processed CVs won’t do that for you – the reader may move forward, but with an irritated, unimpressed, negative mindset. And in a competitive job market that’s not going to help any.
Get your CV checked by someone you know is ‘hot’ on designing professional documents, ‘hot’ with MS Word and word processing, ‘hot’ on knowing how to format things, how to space words and sentences and make a document look smart.
Give attention to these ideas, tip, tricks – whatever – and you’ll get much better, quicker response to your CV send-outs.
Or, of course you can get it written professionaly – click here to go to the new WOW!CV site (my professional CV Writing website.)
Easy Change, Hard Change
Hard change – like losing weight, getting in shape, doing better at work, making a career change, demanding a higher salary, finding a new job, whatever – is hard … because there’s usually a bunch of ‘stuff’ clogging the pipes.
Fears. Wrong beliefs (like “I can’t, it’s too difficult” or “I can’t do that, I’ve always done this.”) Negative influences (perhaps people, associates who are entrenched in “old” wrong, outdated beliefs about how the world works.)
So change is hard because: we don’t believe we can do it. We think: “It shouldn’t be easy.” “It’s probably not possible.” “This isn’t going to work.” “I’ll give it a try, but I think I’m gonna fail.” “I won’t even try. I don’t want to be disappointed.”
We fight ourselves. On the one hand wanting a change. On the other, fighting against it. We go nowhere.
And then there’s “Easy Change.” The clue to it is in this quote:
“Our self image and our habits tend to go together. Change one and you will automatically change the other.” -Maxwell Maltz, Author
So … here’s the formula: healthy self image >>> constructive, positive habits >>> successful, easy change.
[For ">>>" above, read "leads to."]
This is one of the purposes of the new Career&Success Community. To discuss these things. And I’m going to be posting some really outstanding info on the “Resources” forum and starting a special group to discuss “How to Build Your Self-Image so That Change, Cash, Opportunities and Friends Come Easy.”
Wanna join the discussion and benefit from the practical, streetwise advice. Visit www.CareerAndSuccess.info and register now.
Branding and Tom Peters: Point #1 What are you known for?
In the brief focus on what Tom Peters had to say about branding oneself (or one’s business) (see below) – let’s expand and understand a little on each point (one at a time).
1. I am known for (2-4 things). By this time next year, I plan also to be known for (1-2 more) …
Let’s hang on with the “this time next year” bit. Let’s focus on now.
- What do you do well? What are you often complimented for? What do you do with your eyes closed?
- When a task comes up, a project, a new venture, a challenge to your department/business/unit: what can you be relied on to do?
That’s the gist of it. And it’s important. ‘Cause if we’re not doing this – building our personal brand – then we’re not helping ourselves in the job market.
When we feel like a change – we’ll find it really tough to differentiate ourselves amongst the masses. We stand the risk of blending in to mediocrity. This is one reason why some Recruiters hate their job – there’s just so much wading through mediocrity to find the one gem they can place somewhere.
You want to stand out. And the good news is: you probably DO NOT have to start from scratch! You very likely ALREADY are of great value just where you are.
But the challenge is to ‘capture’ it. To put it in words. To write your marketing message. Your brand statement. Your – “who am I and what can I do for you” statement. (This is very much what I try to do when writing a CV for one of my clients.)
THEN: you want to – over coffee, alone, brainstorming in your diary/journal – identify some further things that you can work on, to become known for. Improve and develop your brand. You’re a business. Businesses need to change, adjust, modify their approach, learn, re-clarify their objectives, plot the way forward, etc. So do you.
It makes for a more enjoyable, purposeful career/life don’tcha think? And the coffee’s good.
Tom Peters on Branding YOU!
Extract from a Rich Schefren blog post in which he quotes Tom Peters here. He raises critically important questions for anyone interested in job or career advancement or marketing themselves more powerfully in the job market.
“So, if you want to stand a chance in today’s hyper-competitive global market – you need to brand/position yourself as the go-to-guy (or girl) in your market.
“One of my business heroes Tom Peters came up with a personal brand evaluation that I’ve modified for our purposes.
1. I am known for (2-4 things). By this time next year, I plan also to be known for (1-2 more) ….
2. My current project is challenging me in the following (1-3 ways) ….
3. New stuff I’ve learned in the last 90 days include (1-3 things) ….
4. Important new contacts I’ve made for me or my business in the last 90 days include (2-4 names) ….
5. My visibility / maven marketing program consists of (1-2 things) ….
“If you can’t easily fill this out… you better get to work, because you’re currently moving towards being a commodity whether you realize it or not.”
By the way in # 5 the word “Maven” is mentioned. More about that tomorrow. Look it up.
Have you registered for membership to Career&Success yet? Join the community – people interested in the best information, the best advice on success, job hunting and careers. Networking together to help each other learn, support, persist and win. Go to www.CareerAndSuccess.info now.
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Welcome!
Hi - I'm Gerard le Roux - CV writer & guerrilla job search coach. You may have seen me quoted in newspapers or heard me on radio. I'm here to help job hunters. Enjoy your visit.