Skilful CVs
Have you mentioned your skills on your CV? If not, read on!
Employers want to know what skills you can offer them & they’ll be looking through your CV for evidence of these. They may be looking for technical skills such as certain IT programming skills, or languages, but they’ll also be on the look-out for what we call transferable skills. Examples of these include communication, team working and decision-making.
It’s vital that you can show an employer you have skills….but not just any old skills…the ones they want and need for that particular job.
Let’s say you’re applying for a role in marketing. Read through the advert and highlight what skills they’re looking for. For instance, a recent graduate job posting from Pirelli Tyres asked for “initiative, creativity and communication”. So, make sure you mention that you have these attributes when putting together your CV. But it isn’t enough to just say you have them…anyone can write: “I have good communication skills” …you need to give evidence. How? By thinking through all areas of your life – academic, social, work – and finding examples that demonstrate you’ve used or developed that skill in the past. Why? Because past performance is an indication of future performance – the employer thinks: if you’ve done it before, you can do it again!
If there are no vacancies, but you want to apply to a company anyhow, you’d send what we call a speculative application. So, you’ve no advert to work from so how do you sell yourself to them? Start by using this link on the prospects website where you can look at the general entry requirements needed to get into that type of role. For example, roles in human resources require influencing, negotiation and interpersonal skills (look at this link to see where I got that from). So, think of some times in the past when you’ve used those skills and incorporate them into your CV.
How do you incorporate them? Have a look at our sample CVs to see the different ways you can do this.
Especially, view Jonathan Birstall –Codling and Andrea Keele. Jonathan has made references to his skills throughout the CV whereas Andrea has included a separate skills section.
I hope that was useful. Remember you can get individual CV advice from us by booking an appointment via careers online or by calling us on 01509 222039
