Target each CV towards each job vacancy, including only the information that the particular employer organization will find relevant
In a recent survey of more than 5000 UK job-seekers by TotalJobs.com, it was found that 60 percent spend less than two hours working on each application following a job search, all inclusive of the time it takes to write a CV and cover letter, and to prepare for an interview.
What does this reveal? It seems that many of us think that when we are looking for a job, we have to cram in as many job applications as possible. The laws of probability determine that the more jobs we apply for, the more chance we will have of getting one, right? What we do not realize is that it just does not work like that.
An employer organization will hire you because your application and interview were of a high quality. You made the effort to show that you have what that organization values in terms of both capability and enthusiasm for the particular role. You will not get hired by any organization just because you happened to apply to 99 others. That just does not make any sense!
It is not advised to spend all of your job-seeking time slaving over your CV instead of getting out there and making connections. But if you are going to use a CV, put in the time and effort to ensure it actually helps you get a job. This does not mean that you have to write pages and pages. Target each CV towards each job vacancy, including employer organization will find relevant.
Your job cover letter also has to be targeted towards each different opening. Those of us who like to save time by mass e-mailing a template and just changing addresses and the name of the company each time need to re-think our strategy.
One of the top ‘don’t dos’ for job interviews is to be under prepared, but we still all too often fall into the trap of thinking ‘preparation’ is just about wearing a nice suit and revising our answers to all the stock questions. But what about researching the company before you go in there? This gives you a feel for the values and direction of the organization, which will help you target your answers in the interview.
It will also give you fuel for questions to ask the interviewers. It may seem like it is just a formality when they ask if you have any questions, but asking intelligent, specific questions will show you are genuinely interested in the organization and what it is about. Even if you do not believe any of this is true, the interviewers might just ask you straight out if you have researched the company.
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