The Ultimate Resume / CV Course! From LinkedIn to ATS to Interview: Get the Job

1. Welcome To The Ultimate Resume/CV Writing Course: Right, let's get your resume sorted and get you that dream job. If you're feeling frustrated by lack of progress in your career and tired of sending out resumes and not hearing anything back, then I've got the answers for you in this course. Welcome to our comprehensive resume writing course. Your step by step guide to creating a resume that doesn't just pass the applicant tracking system known as ATIS, but also grabs the attention of the hiring managers by making you stand out above all the competition. How can I confidently say this? Because I'll show you how to efficiently and effectively tailor your resumes to make a big impact on that particular recruiter for that particular job, which is something that you have to do. But don't worry. I'll show you how to make this process efficient and less time consuming. I'll show you how to use the right keywords, how to blow them away with amazing promotion of your experience and abilities, and how to sell your enthusiasm to work for them and their specific needs that they're recruiting for. Is going to require research and a few simple expert guided tips and tweaks to maximize your chances above the other candidates. But once you've mastered this, you'll open up opportunities like never before. This knowledge is tried and tested with over thousands of resumes and applications thanks to the help of the employers and recruiters that have helped me to create this course. I even interview a few of them in this course, so you can hear from them firsthand. In this course, you'll gain the upper hand with expert design templates, hands on exercises, linked in tips and insights from recruiters and hiring managers. You'll learn how to build a master resume that captures your complete professional history tailor resumes for specific job applications with targeted resumes. Stand the best possible chance of getting through the applicant tracking system known as ATIS, write powerful and professional summaries that highlight your key achievements, research the company and align your resume with their particular needs, craft a killer covering letter that shows you are exactly who they are looking for. Research the job description to really craft that killer resume and find out what their employees have that you might not have so you can find skills and qualification gaps. With quizzes at every stage and exercises to build your master resume and tailored resumes, you'll test your knowledge, reinforce your learning, and finish up with your resumes, ready to go. Yes, by the end of this course, you'll have a polished job ready resume and the confidence to approach your job applications strategically. Don't let a poorly crafted resume hold you back from your dream job and your career progression. It's time to take control of your career and your resume. Join me, and I'll see you in the course. 2. Typical Resume/CV Mistakes and Myths: Okay, this lecture is going to be about common resume errors. So you want to avoid errors, of course, in your resume because writing a resume is crucial for your job success, but it's easy to fall into these traps that could hurt your chances. So join me as I explore some of the most common mistakes and debunk some myths as well about resume writing. So let's start with the mistakes. Firstly, and probably most importantly, is to avoid spelling and grammar mistakes. This sounds obvious, but you will be shocked at how many job seekers don't proof read their resume. In fact, 59% of recruiters reject resumes based on poor grammar and spelling mistakes. Poor spelling and grammar can give the impression that you do not have attention to detail and are unprofessional. So always check for mistakes and use tools like Grammarly to help highlight any mistakes and fix them. Or you can ask a large language model like Chat GPT to correct any spelling mistakes and even rephrase things in a certain tone, like asking rewrite this in a professional tone for a resume. But just be extra careful not to put any sensitive or personal information into something like chat GPT. You shouldn't put any of your personal information into a large language model because then it will become part of its training data, so just be aware of that. So you can use hat GPT just to double check your spelling and grammar, as well. That's a tool that we now have available to us. So another mistake is avoiding using a generic resume. Make sure each resume that you send out for a job that you're applying for is tailored to that job. Employers like to see that you're really interested in their specific job and company. When you customize your resume, you can show off your skills and experiences that match that particular role and job that you're looking for. You see, employers will pick up on the fact that you have tailored your resume to that particular organization and that particular role, which shows your interest in that particular role, which is really going to come across really well. So when you customize your resume, you can really show off your skills and experiences that match that particular role that they're advertising for. We'll cover how you can do this later in the course, so don't worry. Yes, it's a lot of work, but there are some shortcuts that we can look at. Next is including irrelevant information. So keep your resume focused and don't add stuff that doesn't matter. Too many details can distract from your important qualifications and experiences. Stick to what's most important to make your resume strong and clear. And let's face it, it really needs to stick to two pages, and we don't have that much space to write down even the things that are relevant for the role. So trying not to go off on tangents and try not to put irrelevant things in there, it's just going to clutter your CV and look unprofessional. Okay, the next one is a lack of quantifiable achievements. So it's good to actually show off your accomplishments with numbers and facts in your resume. This proves that you're good at what you do. Using specific numbers helps employers to understand what you've achieved and displays the value that you can add to their business. A good example here is mentioning a particular award or achievement that you've received and why you received it, or giving an actual quantifiable percentage of improvement or percentage that you've exceeded a target by using actual metrics. We will look at this later in the course. So if that doesn't make sense just yet, don't worry. We're going to definitely look at that later on. Okay, so the next one is poor formatting and layout. So you should make sure that your resume looks neat and professional. Messy formatting can make it hard to read and doesn't look good. Additionally, trying to be too fancy can have the same effect taken away from the content. The best advice is to keep it organized and easy to follow. You'll find some templates and examples that you can use in this course, so don't worry we will be looking at this. So another mistake and more common than you might think is missing contact information. Don't forget to include your contact information on your resume. Sounds obvious, I know, but double check this. The contact information should be easy to find at the very top of your resume. The issue with missing this off is obvious. If you don't employers aren't able to reach you if they don't have your contact information. Equally, make sure that it's correct and up to date and that they can get in touch easily. X one is using terminology or jargon or acronyms that the employer might not know. Now, the risk of this really is if you are talking about any internal projects or anything that you've done inside of an organization and they've given it an acronym, and you've become totally used to using that acronym, and you haven't explained it in your CV, somebody external to the organization, an external employer isn't going to know what that is. So make sure you play dumb and you do describe what certain acronyms and terminology are at the start, and then you can refer to it later. Again, I'll look at this further in the course. Do think this is particularly prevalent to when you are talking about internal things because acronyms and stuff like that inside of some field or some industry are probably going to be universally known, but you still shouldn't assume that everybody knows it. Using technical terms relevant to the role is great, and it can show your experience and knowledge, but for the most part, aim to keep your language simple and clear. Using complicated words and acronyms and terms can confuse recruiters that maybe aren't familiar with them. So the next one, and this is a Biggie, make sure that you avoid listing duties instead of accomplishments. Show off what you've actually achieved, not what you did. Employers want to see how you've made a difference in your previous roles. Highlighting your accomplishments helps you to stand out. A good example of this is when a resume says that you manage the team of ten. Well, that's great, but what is the end of this sentence? Were you successful with managing a team of ten? What was the actual outcome? You might want to say something more like I managed a team of ten to achieve a certain sales target, and even better if you could say exactly what that sales target was and quantify it. Or you might want to say something like I managed a team of ten to increase productivity by 50% in six months or something like that. So explaining the outcome of your task is crucial, and it gives more weight to what you actually did. Don't fall into the trap of being too long or too short, either. Make sure that your resume has enough information to show your qualifications, but make sure it's not too long. A really long resume can be overwhelming, but a super short one might not give enough detail. Find that balance. We discussed this later in the course, but a general sweet spot is two pages. And finally, not customizing your resume for online applications or any application for that matter. When you apply for your jobs, make sure that your resume fits that particular job description. This helps the employers to find your resume and consider you for the job. Tailoring your resume to applications makes it easier for the recruiters to notice you. We cover this later in the course, and I'll show you how to make small tweaks that can enable you to apply for roles without completely having to rewrite your resume from scratch every time you go for a new job. So remember your resume is a personal marketing tool. Take pride in it and don't make these errors. In the next video, we'll cover the basic things we need to know about resumes. See the 3. Fundamentals: In this video, I'm going to talk you through the basics of a resume. Having the appropriate amount of information on your resume is pivotal for its effectiveness. According to standout CV, research shows that recruiters spend just a brief six to 8 seconds reviewing a resume or CV before determining its suitability for a vacancy. Shockingly, around 80% of resumes do not make it past this initial screen. However, it's worth noting that recruiters may spend anywhere between 8 seconds and 15 minutes reviewing a resume, emphasizing the need for concise, yet impactful content. So let's start off by looking at what you need on your resume. Firstly, you need your personal information, keep personal information and details concise and relevant and avoid including information such as age, marital status, religion, or political affiliation unless, of course, you've been directly asked for that kind of information. Example, instead of saying that you're married with two children, opt for professionally focused individual with a strong commitment to personal growth. Then relevant work experience, or activities. Trim your CV by excluding experiences or activities that don't contribute directly to your application's relevance. For instance, if you're applying for a marketing role, then it's unnecessary to include your stint as a lifeguard unless it shows somehow it ties into your marketing skills, which are probably doubt. Also unrelated hobbies or interests. While showcasing your personality can be advantageous, only list hobbies or interests that actually add value and are relevant to your application. For example, mentioning a passion for photography could be relevant for a graphic design position, but less so for an accounting role. Fourth, negative or controversial information. Maintain a positive tone throughout your resume by refraining from including any negative details about past experiences or employers. So avoid discussing any controversial topics or opinions that could potentially alienate employers or detract you from your professional image. And finally, CV length. Now, this is definitely a case of less is more. Keep your CV concise and to the point. While there's no strict rule on length, a two page CV is genuinely accepted and sufficient. This is greatly backed up by the statistics that we saw earlier stating that a recruiter may only spend six to 8 seconds looking at your CV when they initially receive it. Okay, so we have covered what your CV doesn't need, but what does it need. And remember, we are talking absolute basics here. So the relevant work experience is needed, tailor your CV to emphasize experiences directly related to the job that you're applying for. We will go into more detail later in the course about how to do this. Highlight achievements and measurable results and showcase your impact and value to potential employers. For example, quantify your achievements with statements like increased sales revenue by 25% within six months to provide tangible evidence of your accomplishments. Education and qualifications, provide detailed information about your educational background, including degrees, certifications, and any relevant coursework or projects that you've done. For instance, if you completed a thesis or a projects relevant to the job, mention it to demonstrate your experience in this particular area. Skills and competencies. So showcase key skills and competencies that align with the job requirements include both technical proficiencies and soft skills relevant to the role. For example, if you're applying for a project management position, highlight the skills such as leadership and time management and problem solving. Okay, contact information. Make it easy for recruiters to reach you by including your name, your number, and your email address. And even your Linked In profile. A study by cultivated culture shows that having a LinkedIn profile can boost interview rates, but only 48% of resumes include a linked to their LinkedIn. So make sure you maximize your chances and have your profile link there if you think it's relevant. I have talked about this in previous lectures, so use your judgment there, and we will be looking at LinkedIn and things like that a bit later in the course. So if you're a little bit confused at this point, don't worry. A will become clear. Show your contact details are up to date and easily accessible. I mentioned this in the previous lecture. For example, provide a professional email address, so not Scooby do 20 seven@hotmail.com or anything like that from when you were 12. Make sure that you've got a professional sounding email address, make one if you need to, and ensure that your linked in profile is complete and reflects your professional persona. Sounds silly, right. Why would anybody want to reject a resume based on an email address? Well, research from Zipia shows 35% of recruiters will reject a resume based on an unprofessional email address alone. Remember, a lot of recruiters look at CV and only take 8 seconds to make up their mind on it. By striking the right balance, your resume will effectively communicate your qualifications and suitability for the role setting you apart from other applicants. So these were the basics in this video. I'm going to go into a lot more depth, of course, into this course. But as a starter for ten, those are some of the basics that you need to make sure you have on your resume and what not to do, as well. I'll see you in the next lecture. 4. The Purpose and Audience of a Resume/CV: Okay, so when creating your resume, the first step is identifying your target audience, which varies depending on the level of the role that you're applying to. Understanding the demographics and preferences of potential employers is crucial. Let's get stuck in and have a look at the different levels of roles that you may be applying to. For entry level positions, focus on showcasing your enthusiasm, willingness to learn and foundational skills. Research the company's culture and values. What do they prioritize? Is it innovation, teamwork, sustainability? Whatever it is, aligning your resume with these values is going to make a significant impact. For mid level roles, highlight your proven track record, relevant experience, and specific skills that meet the job requirements. Understanding the specific needs and requirements of the hiring managers or recruiters is important. What skills and experiences are they looking for? Customizing the language, tone, and content of your resume to resonate with their needs can set you apart. For instance, if a company values leadership, emphasize your leadership roles, and any achievements that you've got around being a leader, if they are tech driven, highlight your technical skills and any relevant projects. Finally, for senior level positions, focus on your leadership abilities, strategic thinking, and significant achievements. Demonstrate how you can contribute to the company's long term goals, align your resume with the company's strategic vision and highlight your ability to lead teams and drive results. Preferably with a proven track record. As it's a senior role, you should have the experience, and that's really what they're looking for at this level. Now let's look at how you can tailor your resume for different industries. Different industries have unique expectations when it comes to resumes. Start by researching industry specific keywords or otherwise known as buzzwords. Also, look at the industry specific skills and qualifications that you're going to need. These are often the terms that the recruiters are searching for. So including them in your resume is going to help you to get noticed. Doesn't mean to say that every word in your resume should be jargon, but use an amount which displays your industry knowledge and expertise, whilst striking a balance between making sure it's clear to anybody who might not understand what the jargon acronyms or buzzwords are, but does show that you are on board on top of your industry specific knowledge. So, customizing your resume format and structure to match industry standards is also important. For instance, a creative field might appreciate a more visually engaging resume while a corporate role might favor a clean professional format, showcase your genuine interest and passion for the industry through targeted content and examples. Not only demonstrates your enthusiasm but your dedication to your field. You could do this by including personal projects relevant to the position that you're applying for. So any extracurricular projects that you've done will show that you actually have a genuine passion and interest in that particular field. Lastly, it's essential to recognize culture and regional variations in resume formats. Different regions have different expectations and norms when it comes to resumes. So understanding these can prevent misunderstandings and ensure that your resume is well received. Ensure you're meeting the basic cultural and regional standards to avoid immediate rejection. Adapting your resume layout design and content to match cultural preferences and conventions is critical. For example, in some countries, a photo and personal details are standard, and in some places, you might actually get rejected for including that kind of information because they want to run a recruitment that doesn't look at your particular demographics. So bear this in mind. Resources section where I give some more information about this. So consider the professional norms and expectations within the region. Avoid language or references that may be misunderstood or deemed inappropriate in certain cultures, what's considered impressive in one region, maybe irrelevant or even off putting in another. Understanding the expectations of professionals in different regions is important. Seek feedback from local professionals or mentors to ensure your resume is culturally appropriate and effective. Now, of course, this is extra important with online working and offshore working. So if you are picking up work in the gig economy, and you are actually trying to get work in different countries, then do pay attention to the cultural norms and expectations when it comes to your resume. As I say, looking for mentors can be good. Maybe even going to recruiters in those countries can offer really good tips on local preferences and what to do, and also importantly, common pitfalls to avoid. So by focusing on these areas, identifying the target audience that you're putting your resume out to and tailoring your resume to specific industries or positions and recognizing cultural and regional variations and adjusting your strategy based on the level and the role that you're going for, you can create a resume that will not only stand out, but also resonate deeply with your potential employers. See you in the next video. 5. Identifying Your Supporters Exercise: Okay, time for the first exercise. What we're going to do in this exercise is find some people that can help us with this process of writing our resume. You're not on your own. You can find people that can help. Now, this is a great idea for a number of reasons. One is that you can bounce ideas off other people and get different perspectives. But two, it might make it more interesting, more fun for you to work with other people on this. It's not just a solo thing where you have to sit down and really rack your brains on what work you did in the past and how to sell yourself. Asking for help and working with other people can motivate us as well. Now, I put this as the first exercise because you want to get these people in place early. Why not start getting help with this right at the start rather than waiting until later on in the process? What we've got here is a table, who, why, and when. In the first column for who we're going to think, who can I ask to help me with this resume? Who might be willing to help, who might be a good person to help? So what we're going to do is we're going to try and think of who to ask and put their name in the column. Now, just a tip here, what you might want to do is make sure you put their full name. So do this quite formally and put down any contact details for them as well, because you might want to refer back to this if you're asking for a testimonial or a reference or something like that. So do make sure that you take down their details so you can contact them later. In the second column, what you're going to do is you're going to have a at why you might want to ask this person to help you. So, you know, in the first com, just put down as many people or ideas that you can, and then you can always whittle them down to the ones that you actually want to approach from using the why column. Why do you want to actually use them? What benefit can they bring? Why are they a good idea to ask? And just to give you an idea here, it might be somebody that you've known for a long time because they'll know a bit about your work history. They might remember things that you've forgotten. You might want to ask a previous co worker or manager. They might have a bit more well, they'll have knowledge about the specific work that you did and they might be able to remember some stuff that you don't remember. So they could be quite useful contact to jog your memory about the work that you've done in previous roles. Also, they know the area that you've been working in as well. So you're if you're on the same career path, for example, then they'll be able to help in that regard. Might want to ask a career advisor or a professional mentor, as well, or if you're a student, a fellow student or somebody like a family member or anybody close to you that knows about your ambitions, or you might want to go to anybody in your university or college that helps with recruitment advice. So those are just some ideas. You probably got some idea about who you want to approach and ask for help with this resume. So do write them down in the who column and then have a think about why. So as an example, you might put for a previous colleague from your last job previous colleague, maybe his name is Martin. And you want to put down Y well because Martin on a major project. He worked with you on a major project. He might know the industry. He maybe he's got some qualifications that you don't have or he has qualifications that you do have, anything like this relevant to the task, basically. That's why you might want to ask Martin to help you. So that's an example for Martin. You might want to put down a previous boss, my old boss, and that could be somebody called Jennifer. And you might want to say, why was that? Well, for the same reasons as Martin, but also you might want to say that she can provide a testimonial. So that's basically what you're going to do to find out all of the people that can support you with writing this resume. The next thing you want to do is look at the third column, which is about when. So when are you going to seek their help and assistance? So different people you might want to approach at different times, you see. For example, a careers advisor or a really close friend, you might ask them early on if they could help you with your resume and give you any advice. If it's your old boss, for example, and they're very busy then you might want to show them the final draft and get their opinion on the final draft, or maybe you might want to approach them midway if you're a bit more comfortable with them and they can help you and help to steer you. So, you know, if it's a family member, then maybe repeatedly. So what you want to do is just note that down in that column there as well. So for Martin, it might be midway, 'cause he's an ex colleague and 4-year-old boss. Well, maybe the final draft. Obviously, you don't have to stick to just two. I'm just putting examples in here, but this is what you want to fill out. Okay, so that's it for the first exercise. Find out who can help you with this resume writing, make it a team, make it more interesting, bounce ideas off people, jog your memory with people. Take these people out for a coffee, have a sit down, rejog your memory about the times that you worked in a certain project and the tasks that you did and the problems that you had and the solutions that you had, it can be quite fun, actually. So do reach out to these people, reconnect with these people. And you never know they might also have an idea of other jobs that are coming up and have some other ideas of people and inside of their network and other opportunities that you might want to go for. So a very worthwhile exercise. I'll leave that one with you, fill it in, and good luck. 6. Diamond 9 Exercise: Time for the next exercise, the diamond nine. So the diamond nine is a really useful way for you to find your priorities. We're going to do two diamond nines. We're going to do one for the different factors for the job that you're going for. What kind of things do you want in the job? Now, that might be things around work life balance, salary, learning new skills, et cetera. And the next one that we do is going to be about your particular skills and what skills you want to learn, what skills you want to do, what skills you have, and what skills have demand on the marketplace. So let's stick with the first one, and let's explain what the Diamond nine is. Firstly, the Diamond nine is an interactive and engaging activity designed to help you to reflect and prioritize various elements related to your career choices, personal values, and skills. And it's particularly used in career counseling or personal development scenarios. Where you need to evaluate what your priorities are and then maybe discuss them with somebody else. So remember you have your supporters. Remember the ones that are there to help you early on, and frequently, maybe they can also help you with this Diamond nine exercise as well. So what you're going to do is you're going to do some self reflection. You're going to have a look at your skills, and we're going to make some decisions. So, firstly, let's do the first diamond nine where we think about what kind of things do we actually want in a job in the first place? If we're going to put all the trouble into job seeking, writing a resume, targeting that resume, applying for a job, we want to make sure that we're going for the right job. And this needs a little bit of sitting down and a bit of thinking about. So what I want you to do is just identify some factors that you enjoy in jobs. What's important to you? So I've got some examples here. You can use these. You can add some more to it. It just depends on what's important to you. So maybe you really want something with really high job satisfaction, maybe salary is really important to you, maybe work life balance is, maybe using your current skill set is important, maybe learning new skills or going on a totally new path and new challenge is important. Do you want job security, or are you interested in high pressure, high risk jobs a bit like sales where you might get paid a lot of money, but you could end up getting cut pretty quickly. Is location important to you? Maybe you're looking for something that's online, maybe a remote job is what you're looking for. Or maybe you want something where you're actually out of the office and outside and out and about with people. How important is a company culture to you? And is it important that the organization you work for is contributing to society? Maybe you want to work for a charity or something like that. So that's just some ideas. You can add some to them. So what I want you to do is I want you to write them down on a piece of paper and cut that piece of paper up so that each idea is on a little ticket. And then what you're going to do is overlay them into a diamond nine. Now we can print this page out if you want and overlay them on top, or you can just have a look at this page and just lay them out on your desk in a diamond, either way is easy. So basically, at the top, find out which one is the most important to you. So this is where you start prioritizing them. Then underneath that, put down which ones are very important to you. Then in the middle row, which ones are quite important, then which ones are less so important and then the least important at the bottom. And then once you've prioritized these factors, reflect on why you placed them where you did. And then what you can do is you can reflect on your own and think about why you place them in these particular areas in these particular priorities or and I recommend sitting down with one of your supporters and just discussing it with them and getting their point of view and their perspective on why you place these of different importance. Sometimes close family members, good friends of ours, know as well as we know ourselves, and might they might be able to steer us correct. Sometimes we can think, Yeah, I've got this job in mind. That's what I want to do because the salary is really, really good. And then a close friend of yours might sit down next to you and go, Yes, but you've always told me that you don't want to work in an office. You've always told me, and they can remind you of what your priorities actually are. Sometimes you can get carried away with the job that you think you have in your mind. So it's a very useful exercise, and it's useful to involve others as well. Once you understand what your priorities are, obviously, that's going to feed into the types of roles and jobs and organizations that you apply for. And this is a really good exercise to do early on because you don't want to waste any of your time applying for a role that simply doesn't really fit with what you want to do. You want to make sure that the role that you're applying for is definitely the role that you want to do that definitely meets with your values that you have prioritized. And if it does, you're going to be so much more enthusiastic about going for that position. And that's going to come across in spades, as well. It's going to be evident when you write your resume. It's going to be evident when you go to the interview. And if an employer sees that you're really enthusiastic for working for them and you know why and you've done this thought exercise, and you understand why you want to work for them, then that's going to come across. And even if you don't have all the qualifications and experience, sometimes that can tip it into your favor because they know that you are going to be an employee who's going to try their best and is happy to take on new skills and learn and grow with the organization. A lot of the time, they'd rather somebody like that, than somebody who's got all of the experience but isn't so enthusiastic about working for them, particularly, because who knows? They may end up just leaving if they get a better job opportunity, and then that leaves them in a bit of a predicament where they've lost the staff member because they've moved on and they have to go through the recruitment again. So that's why that is really important. Now, let's have a look at the diamond nine for skills. You're going to do the same thing, basically, but what I want you to do is write down what skills you have. Now, have a think about the hard and soft skills that you have. You might want to come back to this diamond nine a little bit later in the course because later in the course, I explain in more depth what hard and soft skills are. And we also have an exercise where we start to have a look at the skills that we have in comparison to the skills that are highlighted on a job description that we're going for. So we do look at skills a lot more in depth later in the course. But for now, if you want to have a go, just have a think about what skills you have. Soft skills might be communication skills, interpersonal skills, ability to diffuse conflict with team members. Hard skills might be programming. Maybe it's something like you can weld. Those are hard skills. And what you want to do is write down your skills, and then think about what skills do you enjoy the most and want to use a lot. Then think about which skills do you like to use and are happy to keep using quite often in any job or role that you have? What skill do you have that's highly developed and in demand, as well? What skill that is in demand and you're fairly good at and happy to use? What skill do you have that or what skill would you like to use and you want to learn and get better at? And what skills do you want to learn and you think are actually in demand and will be able to pay quite well for those skills on the marketplace? What skills do you think you need to develop but are unsure about the demand for it? What skills will you use if required, but you don't really want to use them too often. And what skill that even if you're really, really good at it, you just don't want to use it in your future career. Now, maybe if you're going for to change your career to a completely different career because you want a new challenge, might be because you're absolutely fed up of doing the things that you've been doing for the last so many years. And although you've got highly developed skills for that career, you just don't want to do it anymore. So put those there. And basically, again, what you want to do is have a look at what skills you had and where you placed them. And this is really good to help to focus your understanding about what kind of skills you want to use in your role and what kind of skills that you want to learn and get better at. And again, that is going to focus your job search as well. And then you know that you're going for the right job when you see it in the job search, you go, Yes, that's the job with the skills that I've got, or the skills that I want to develop and the skills that I want to use on a daily basis. So those two diamond nines should really help you to understand what you want to do and help to focus your job search, as well. So fill those in and good luck. 7. Section 2 - Getting to Know the ATS: Okay, in this video, I'm going to discuss the purpose of ATIS, which is an applicant tracking system. It's a specialized piece of software used by recruiters and employers to streamline their hiring process. At the end of the day, they get loads and loads of applicants these days, so they need something to help automate this process. What it does is it automates the collection, sorting and evaluation of job applications. AAT scans resumes for relevant information such as contact details, work experience, education, skills, and it organizes this data into a structured format. This really helps recruiters effectively manage large volumes of applications. It helps them to identify top candidates quickly through keyword matching and maintaining compliance with hiring regulations. Now that we understand what it is, let's dive in. Today's comprehensive job market, understanding the role of technology in recruitment is crucial. Consider these statistics. According to business DIT, 75% of recruiters are recruiting using an applicant tracking system, and the global ATIS market, which reached $2.3 billion in 2021 is projected to hit $3.2 billion by 2026. Additionally, 35% of small businesses use Atis to screen resumes and candidates. 75% of recruiters use Atis to cut hiring costs, and 89% of large companies screen CVs and resumes and applicants with Atis software. And finally, 94% of recruiters report that their Atis system has positively impacted their hiring processes. Taking all this into consideration, it's easy to see how ensuring your resume is Atis compliant. Now let's have a look at some other ways that an Atis system will affect you when it comes to submitting your resume. Firstly, resume parsing. ATI systems automatically extract key information from your resume such as your contact details, work experience, education, and skills. This information is then organized into a structured format, making it easier for recruiters to review. Next is job posting management. Employees use ATIS systems to create and distribute job postings across various platforms, including job boards, social media, and company career pages. This ensures a wide reach and better candidate engagement. If you apply for one job board and you're crafty, you think, Okay, I'm going to apply for it again on another job board, but it's the same role from the same organization. Well, that information's good to go to the same source anyway. They all end up on the same Atis system. So there's a tip and a time saver for you. Next is candidate management. ATIS platforms help recruiters to track your progress through the hiring process. So this includes scheduling interviews, sending automated email notifications, and maintaining detailed notes on your interactions. Finally, candidate screening and ranking. One of the most crucial features of an ATS system is the ability to screen and rank candidates using keyword matching algorithms. It scans resumes for specific skills and qualifications, enabling recruiters to quickly identify top candidates. Use these tips to make sure that your resume is highly ranked. Okay, so what do we need to do to make sure that we are highly ranked? Here's some tips. Given the widespread use and impact of ATIS in the hiring process, optimizing your resume for these systems is no longer an option. It's absolutely essential. By understanding how ATIS works and writing your resume accordingly, you significantly increase your chances of passing the initial screening phase and getting in front of a natural human being who can assess you. Remember, in a world where nearly 99% of Fortune 500 companies use an ATIS system, mastering this technology and understanding it is key to standing out in the job market. The next video, we'll look at how to maximize your chances when considering the 80s system. I'll see you. 8. Optimizing Your Resume/CV for ATS Compliance: Okay, thanks to the last video, we now understand what the Atis is used for and what it's all about. So let's look at how you can ensure your CV is Atis compliant. Navigating the modern job market requires having a resume that appeals to human recruiters and successfully passes through that applicant tracking system. Here are detailed strategies to ensure that your resume makes it through the Atis screening, along with examples for each point. Firstly, you need to use relevant keywords. Incorporate keywords and phrases directly from the job description into your resume. So that's the top tip. ATI systems scan for specific terms related to job requirements. For example, if the description emphasizes project management and data analysis, ensure these phrases appear naturally within your resume. Mention these skills in your work experience. So here's an example. You could say, I led a project management initiative for cross functional teams, ensuring timely project completion and resource optimization. Or you could say I conducted data analysis using SQL and Excel to identify trends resulting in a 15% increase in operational efficiency. So pay attention to the key terms and the words used in the job description because those are the key words that the employers have asked the ATs system to particularly look for. Next, optimize formatting. Stick to a clean and simple format with standard fonts like Arial, Calibri or times New Roman. So no funky fonts here. Just keep it professional. Use a logical structure as well with clear headings, bullet points, and consistent spacing. Lots of white space not only makes it more inviting to read, but also more digestible, as well. Avoid using graphics, images, or elaborate designs. For instance, rather than an artistic layout with multiple columns and graphics, use a straightforward format. Now use your common sense. Of course, if you're going to go for a role in a creative industry, something like a video animation, then you might want to make use of graphics and things like that. It just does depend. Remember, the key is to always focus your resume on the particular role that you're going for. So use your judgment on that one. However, if you're applying for something office related like a project manager role, then you might want to keep it professional or keep it as professional as possible. The employer might not look too kindly on funky fonts and interesting images and emerges and things like that. When it comes to formats, don't worry about that just yet because we are going to have a look into formats of your resume in more depth in a following module. You might want to include a skills section which lists your relevant hard and soft skills that are relevant to the particular role you're going for. Use industry specific terminology, of course, and include a diverse range of skills that are mentioned in the job description. For example, if our job description mentions project management and data analysis, then we want to make sure that we get the following skills into our resume. Project management and data analysis, of course, are key. You might also want to include things like team leadership, Microsoft Excel, SQL, and other terms that are relevant to that particular role that you're going for. If you're going for a social media manager role, then you might want to include, obviously the term social media management and also content creation and any other skills and terms that are relevant to social media. Basically, go through the job description and look for the buzzwords because you're going to use those buzzwords and turn them into keywords in your resume, which is going to get you through that Atis filter. What it for me is you can use hat EPT to look for buzzwords in your relative fields to give you some inspiration and ideas as to what to put in your resume. Can also take the job description, put it into a large language model and ask that large language model like Chat GBT to give you the keywords from that body of text, and that is going to give you a list of words that you really want to make sure are in your resume. Next, you want to make sure that you tailor your resume. I've mentioned the importance of tailoring your resume before, and this is no exception. Customize your resume for each job application, emphasizing experiences and achievements that directly relate to the job description for the role that you're applying for. If applying for a marketing role that highlights social media management and content creation, for example, detail your relevant experience in these fields. Another thing that you need to do when it comes to tailoring your CV is to make sure that you use standard headings, label your sections with standard headings such as work experience, education, and skills. This is going to help the 80s system to categorize and check your information accurately, and we will come on to the format of a resume in a later module. So don't worry about that. If you are a little bit confused at the moment as to what that format should be, we will get onto it. Next, avoid using characters. So stick to standard characters and formatting like bullet points and dashes and avoid special characters, symbols or fancy formatting that might confuse an Atis system. For example, instead of using unusual characters or emojis, just use straightforward headings and bullet points. This gets a little bit more complicated if you are adding words from different languages in your resume. So if you need to do that, just be a little bit cautious about the different accents and character sets from one language to the next. If you're using it for a role and applying in a different or certain language, then there's always the risk that when it goes through any electronic filtering system, it doesn't recognize those characters and it causes problems. Next include relevant details. So provide specific details about your work experience, education, and achievements. Quantify your accomplishments with numbers, percentages, and metrics wherever you can, because they really do embed exactly what you have achieved. This not only makes your resume more impactful for the Atis system, but also for any human reviewers as well. Example, if you're a sales manager going for a sales manager role, you could say that as a sales manager, you worked at a certain company. Between these dates, you increased your sales by 25% within the first year, and you managed a team of ten sales representatives, leading them to exceed quarterly targets by 15% and implemented a new customer relationship management system, reducing customer response time by 20%. So with those examples, what you're doing there is you're actually giving some detail and hard facts about what you've been able to achieve. Makes your achievements more understandable and believable. Next, you want to check file compatibility. So submit your resume in a compatible file format such as Microsoft Word, which is dot doc or dot docs or pdf dot pdf. Avoid using formats that might not be compatible with the Atis like image files or unconventional document types. No matter what word processor you're using, there's usually an option to save as a Word document or a PDF. Just look at the file and then click Save As and see what options you have. Next and importantly, proof read carefully. Make sure your resume is free of spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and formatting issues. The 80s system can be sensitive to errors, and even minor mistakes could cause your resume to be overlooked or not get past the 80s filter. So use tools like Grammarly or have somebody else review your resume. Just don't be tempted to paste your resume into a large language model to rewrite or check grammatical issues because your resume is full of personal information, and anything that you put into a large language model like ChaGBT is then fed into ChatGBT's server and they will save that information. Your personal information will then be for training the model and be made available for other people's queries. So if you're going to use a large language model to rewrite any of your resume for a more professional tone, for example, then or to check grammar and spelling issues, make sure you don't put any personal information into it. You should never put any personal information or sensitive information into a large language model. And finally, test your resume. Before submitting your resume, use Atis friendly tools or software to test how well it furs against common Atis algorithms. Websites like JOBSc can help you to identify any potential issues and make necessary adjustments before applying. That's right. There are websites and services out there which will review your resume to make sure that it is as Atis compliant as it can be. By following these strategies, you can enhance your chances of your resume passing through the Atis system and getting into the hands of an actual human recruiter, increasing your prospects of getting that job interview. There's quite a few tips I've mentioned in this video, so you might want to watch this video a couple of times. Getting through the Atis really is the first obstacle on your way applying from application to the job interview and actually getting a job. So make sure that you get those keywords or buzzwords in it. 9. Section 3 - Documenting Your Work History Exercise: I mentioned in this course, using what I call a work history document. Basically what it is, is just a notepad. I use Excel or Google sheets. You can use whatever you want. It's just a place to put some scrappy notes down about all of the different responsibilities and tasks that I've had in every single role as I'm working through them in my career. The reason is is because I'm capturing that information down in writing so that when I look back and I want to fill in my master resume, I've got all that information in front of me, and I don't have to rack my brains trying to remember what I did in different roles and tasks. I don't need to have to remember, what were the problems? What were the challenges? What were the solutions? What did I learn? I've written it all down. Now, it doesn't have to be formal. It's just a place for you to put that information, so you've got it at hand when you need it. Okay, now I'll show you the template that I've created for you. So this is the work history template, which I'm providing you with. You don't have to use this template, and you can download it and adjust it in any way you see fit. I'll just go through it and show you how I use it. I've pre populated it with a fake role at a fake company. So what we have here is cookie Saras and shoes online. These are two hypothetical companies that I'm saying I as a junior marketing professional have worked at. And the real essence to this is to just keep it up to date as you go through your working career. Every time you take on a new project or a new task, make a note of it. This is something I've been doing for years, and it really is an asset when it comes to going for CVs and writing CVs or resumes and going for an interview, because how many times have you been in a situation where you've gone for an interview and you're really trying to remember the work examples and the things that you did in your past maybe five years before or later, it's really difficult to remember in detail some of the work history that you have. But if you've written it down in a document like this, it's going to jog your memory. It's going to be there to give you lots of examples. So when you get asked questions in interviews, particularly around behavioral type questions where they want a specific example from your past, you've got this wealth of information that you can draw upon. It's going to be a really good asset for you throughout your career and particularly when you go for interviews. The way that it works is you start off with the company, just put the company that you're working for and the job title that you had just to remind yourself of what job this was. And then write down the date, when you first started your task, you might want to put a little bit of information about what that task was in order to jog your memory about the task and then insert the detail. Now I've gone with situation task action result why not use that? Because that's the way you're going to structure your answers in your interviews anyway. So just write a little bit about what the situation is with this particular task, what you actually did in detail, or what the task involved, what you actually did, and what the result was. And then if you want any additional information here, and if you've got any links to documents or websites or anything like that, that might be useful. I've put a place here for that, and you can just add anything else that you want to really on the right hand side. So this is in Excel or open documents. You can load it up into a Google sheet like I've got here and update it. Now, I've wrapped the cells so that everything is inside of one cell. So what you might want to do to read it properly is just drag this down here. This will be the same in Excel, as well. You might want to go to format and then wrap in and you can wrap the text. It'll be similar in Microsoft Excel. If you're not comfortable with Excel, you can just use a Google Drive like this because I'm showing exactly how to use it in a Google Drive. Again, you can just click on it and you might want to just expand the box here to read it or read it inside of your box here. So the idea is, with this example, the junior marketing professional did a particular project or a particular marketing campaign. That finished, say, on the sixth or the 12th, 2022, and then the next task or the next situation started on the sixth or the 12th, 2022. And then we've detailed it here. Then let's say that that junior marketing professional got a new job at Shoes online. And became a marketing team leader, and that started on this date. And the first thing that they were involved in was a campaign for the shoe company for their brand strategy, just adding the detail. And then once that was finished and wrapped up, you'll write in how it ended, what the result was. And then the next task was an international marketing campaign to for the shoe company to launch into different markets. So I've put some information about that there. It started on this date, et cetera, and just go down, basically, just go down this document and add to it. It doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't have to be neat. It's just for you and your notes. But it really will be useful to make a note of this stuff because you'll thank yourself later when it comes to prepping for interviews. 10. Documenting Your Career History Exercise: Okay, this exercise is similar to the work history exercise that I've just shown you. But the chances are you don't have a work history document like I do because I've only just taught you about it. So if you don't have one, this is your chance to make a start and catch up. So if you don't have any notes about what you did in your past careers, other than maybe past CVs or resumes, then this is your chance to get all that information together in this exercise, and you might want to then create your own work history document from that and add to it as you go through your career to keep on top of it. So this exercise is about doing the hard part. It's about thinking of the previous roles that you've had and what the tasks were and responsibilities were in those roles. So we're going to get that information down on paper now. And then from this, we're going to use that information to compile a more formalized master resume. So there's three steps to this. The first one is, well, if you've got a work history document or any other notes, then get it out and start to compile that information in here. If you don't, you need to think about all of the different roles you've had, different internships, part time jobs, any responsibilities that you've had, anything, really, get it all down, think of everything. Again, you might want to talk to any of your supporters, people that know you well, people have known you for a long time. Might be able to remind you about different roles and things that you've been involved with that you might have forgotten about. Step two, okay. Again, with your supporters, have somebody who's close to you review that list that you've come up with. They might remember stuff that you've forgotten about. So share it with whoever is supporting you and then bounce ideas with them so that it'll help you to trigger and remember things. Again, if you are having coffee with an ex colleague, then they might remember things that you've completely forgotten about. So it's really good to make sure you've got supporters for this. So for each item in step three, break it down into its detailed components. So for example, if you worked in a supermarket, then you might have had a role of stacking the shelves in the supermarket. So break down what that role entailed? Well, it entailed inventory management, customer service. You're working with customers. You might have had to handle difficult customers. You might have had some experience with that. You might have had some experience handling returns and exchanges, stock replenishment, of course, maybe you worked on the checkouts for a bit, so you've handled cash, you've done checkout operations, et cetera, et cetera, maybe you've had some health and safety awareness training, and you've worked with variable hours, maybe had to work anti social hours at night and things like that. So try and break down everything that was involved in that job role. Now, if it was a project management role, it might be a case of dealing with stakeholders, working with requirements, prioritizing, you know, all of the different elements that entails that particular position. Then for step four, what you're going to do is you're going to enhance this list by adding a couple of personal achievements or successes for each role. So anything that you did where you had a personal achievement, maybe you won an award, or maybe you actually had some kind of tangible success, like you managed to save 20% through efficiencies, or maybe you managed to get reduce the bounce rate on a website if you're a marketer or web developer and you reduce the bounce rate by 50% or something, you want to get those tangibilities in there. So I've provided you again with another template. You can copy and paste this, write down the role that you had and the different skills and responsibilities that you had for that role, the things that you did. This doesn't have to be perfect. It's just a place to really brainstorm and get that information out of your head and down on paper so that we can work with it. And then, obviously, if you've had any achievements or anything notable that you might want to talk about and any tangible success metrics to put down here, as well, this is about remembering the roles that you've had and all the different elements and aspects of them, the skills, the tasks, what you did, what the achievements were, what went well, what didn't go well, what were the successes, what you learned from it, all of that information, get it down on paper. In step five, if you want to create a work history document, you might want to take this information. Even if it's not formal, you've just written it down. It's your scrapping notes. That's fine. Copy it into your work history document. You've got it there for the future, and then you've got this living document now that you can keep up to date. Again, the idea behind the work history document is it's supposed to be quick and dirty. You just get that information down. It doesn't have to be spelt correctly. It doesn't have to be perfect. You just want to get it down on paper so you can remember it in the future. You're also going to take this information that you've written here, and you're going to start adding it to your master resume. Now that is where you're going to make it more formal. You're going to use the things that I teach you in the next part of this course in order to get it into resume or CV format so that it's ready to be shared with somebody. That's the opposite of the work history document. That's where you're going to make it more formalized. You're going to make it sync to the point, focused, and well formatted, et cetera. But this is your starting point. You need to get all that information down written down so that you can work with it. And again, if you've got somebody that's supporting you through this who can help you with this, then that's great. So make a start, write down those roles for those jobs that you've had and everything that you can remember about them because all of that information is going to be really useful moving forward. You're going to write a lot of stuff down here, and our aim is then to take it and reduce it, make it focused and make it succinct so that we can get it into resume format. Good luck. 11. Exploring Different Resume/CV Formats (Chronological, Functional, Combination, Infographic): Welcome back to this module. So to start off, we're going to look at choosing a template or format for your resume, which is quite key. In fact, according to Underscore CV, 40% of recruiters are put off if the design of the resume does not match the position applied for as it can significantly impact how potential employers perceive your qualifications and experience. In this video, I'll explore the eight different types of resumes, and when each is most appropriate. I'll provide examples, statistics, and insights from real companies to help you make an informed decision on how your CV or resume should look. Let's get started. First, we have the chronological resume. A chronological resume lists your work experience in reverse chronological order, starting with the most recent job at the top, and then it emphasizes your career, your progression, making it ideal for individuals with a stable work history. Now, again, it starts with your most recent job at the top, and then you work backwards, of course, right down to well, as far as you want to go. Use a chronological resume when you have a strong and consistent career history. You want to highlight your career advancement. You're applying to traditional companies that value experience. For example, consider a mid level manager applying for a similar role at IBM. The chronological resume allows them to showcase their steady career growth, emphasizing their most recent and relevant positions first. Now, according to a study by the Society for Human Resource Management, 75% of managers prefer the chronological format because it provides a clear career trajectory. You could also have a look at using a functional resume. A functional resume focuses on your skills and abilities rather than outlining your work in chronological order. This format is particularly useful if you're changing careers because the careers that you've had might not necessarily align perfectly with the role that you're going for, but you want to highlight the transferable skills that you've got. It's also really good if you do have gaps in your employment history. And it's also great if you particularly want to emphasize specific skills relevant to the job that you're going for. Use a functional resume when you are transitioning to a new career or you have a significant gap or gaps in your employment history, or you want to highlight transferable skills. For instance, imagine a software engineer moving into a project management role at Google. A functional resume would allow them to highlight their project management skills and achievements, even if their job titles were primarily in software development. National Association of Colleges and employers found that functional resumes are especially effective for career changes with 30% higher callback rate compared to other formats in these scenarios. Third is the combination resume, also known as a hybrid resume. This format combines elements of both chronological and functional resumes. It typically starts off with the skills, summary, and qualifications profile followed then by the chronological work history. So you can use a combinational resume when you want to highlight specific skills, whilst also showcasing your complete work history. You can also use it if you want to show that you've got a diverse skill set and varied work experience, and also if you're applying for roles that require a combination of skills and experience. A good example here is a marketing professional with experience in both digital and traditional marketing, applying for a role at a tech startup, which would benefit from a combinational resume. They can emphasize the digital marketing skills upfront whilst also showcasing a consistent career path. Next and fourth is an infographic or visual resume. So infographic or visual resumes, use icons, design elements to present information in a visually appealing way. They are best suited for creative industries or roles where visual presentation skills are valued. Use an infographic or visual resume when you are applying for creative roles like graphic design or marketing, and you want to showcase your design skills. Use this one when the company culture values creativity. In this case, a graphic designer applying for a position at Adobe would benefit from an infographic type resume because it allows them to demonstrate their design skills and creativity directly within their resume. A study by Forbes found that 60% of hiring managers in the creative industry prefer visually appealing resumes as they help candidates to stand out. Another one for the creative industry is a creative or portfolio resume. So this format allows you to showcase your creativity and personality through design elements, portfolios of work, and multimedia content. It's ideal for those in creative fields. Use a portfolio or visual resume when you are in a creative industry like advertising design and performing arts. And also, you can use it if you want to showcase your creative portfolio of work. If the job requires a demonstration of creative skills, then this is a really good option. For example, an interior designer applying to a prestigious design firm like Gensler would use a creative resume to present their portfolio, including photos and multimedia elements of their past projects. 12. Exploring Different Resume/CV Formats (Academic and International or Europass CVs): Common for academics and those leaving education is the academic resume. This format includes sections like education, research experience, publications, presentations, grants, and awards. Use an academic resume when you're applying for an academic position or research roles. Also for when you need to highlight extensive research and publication history and when you're seeking positions in higher education institutions. So a researcher applying for a professorship at Stanford University would use an academic resume to list their extensive research projects, publications and academic achievements. Becoming more popular is the international or European CV. Often used in Europe, this format may include personal details like date of birth, marital status, and nationality. It also typically includes a professional photo. So use this when you're applying for some jobs in Europe or if the employee requests a Europass resume format specifically, and if you check the cultural norms, and you find that this is the format to use in the industry that you're going for and they want some personal information, this is the right format to use. So in this case, if an applicant for a multinational corporation like Siemens in Germany, they might use a European CV to align with local expectations and include a professional photo showcasing the importance of considering where your resume is going and the audience that it's going. But after saying that about the photo, just bear in mind that Zipper reports that 13% of resumes are actually rejected for containing a photo. So you really need to understand where your CV is going, the audience you're sending it to, and those cultural norms. So bear this in mind. Finally, whatever resume you choose, it should be targeted. A targeted resume is tailored for a specific job or industry. It emphasizes relevant skills, experience, and achievements that directly relate to the role and the job that you're applying for. The more targeted towards a specific job or role that you're applying for, the better. You should always target your resume to the specific job that you're going for, but targeting is particularly useful when you are applying for a specific job and want to stand out. And when you have the experience that directly matches the job or the role requirements that you're going for and if you want to demonstrate a really clear fit for the role. For instance, a candidate applying for a data analyst position at Amazon would create a targeted resume that highlights their data analysts skills, relevant projects, and specific achievements related to that particular data analyst role that they're going for. Job fights recruiter nation survey found that 87% of recruiters find targeted resumes more appealing as they directly address the jobs requirements. This not only makes sense because it more directly addresses the jobs requirements, but it shows the effort that you've put in to go particularly for that role, their role. And this speaks volumes about your dedication to them and their particular role. And this is really going to weigh quite heavily when they come to market because they're looking for somebody that really wants to work for them, not just not just put out their CV to tons and tons of people. It's specifically them that they want to work for. So, of course, that's really going to stand out. There are quite a few options there for choosing the right resume format, and you really need to know which one to choose, and that is going to depend on what kind of role and where you're applying. So it is a strategic decision, and it can make a significant difference in your job search. So understanding the strengths of each format and aligning them with where you want to apply for and what's expected from your potential employers is really key. And remember, you always want to target your resume either way. You are going for a chronological, functional, combinational or targeted infographic, academic, international or creative resume, use the information and examples in this video and tailor your approach to highlight your strengths and fit for the particular job that you're aiming for. Thanks for watching now. I'll see you in the next video. 13. Building an Engaging Resume: Okay, in this video, we're going to discuss how to make your resume as engaging as possible once it passes the Atis and actually gets into the hands of a human. According to Top Resume, 75% of resumes are rejected by the applicant tracking systems. This means that only a quarter actually ever get to be seen by a human. So when it does get through the tracking system and into the hands of a human recruiter, this is really your moment to truly shine and leave a lasting impression. So how do you ensure that your resume stands out from the stack? Fear not, I've got you covered with these tips to create an engaging resume that captivates hiring managers and moves you toward your dream job. So tip one, tailor your resume to each job, tailoring your resume to each job isn't just a suggestion. It's an absolute must, I'm afraid. Yes, it takes more work, but it is very necessary. Of course, I've mentioned this a few times already in the course, but it is that much of an important tip. Research from Career Builder shows that candidates who customize their resume for specific job descriptions are 50% more likely to receive an interview invitation. Will also know the different types of format that you can use and when from the previous lecture. So this information alongside other elements such as keywords to make your recruiter stay interested until the end is also crucial. Based on research by Career Builder, 54% of job applicants do not update their resume to each position. So if you actually do, then you are in the minority and you've got an advantage. So take this easy step and stand out and make sure that you do update yours for the particular job that you're going for. There's a tip. Always keep your resume up to date with any new role change, qualification or any other relevant information. This will ensure that you always have a resume ready to go should any opportunity come up, but it also leads to less work when you actually do need to apply for that new job. Having a master CV, which we will get onto and having something that's already up to date really does make this easier when it comes to fine tuning your particular resume for a particular job because you've got a master one to draw upon. We will talk a bit more about this later in the course. Oh, tip two, use action packed verbs. Let your achievements do the talking with action packed verbs that command attention. According to research, action packed verbs boost your chance of being offered an interview by 140%. So make sure that you include them. For example, instead of saying, I managed a team, you could say led a high performing team to surpass quarterly targets. Do you see the difference? Obviously, one just sounds a lot better. Whereas if one is a lot more generic and forgetful. Now, of course, you only get so much room on your two page resume, so you're going to have to pick and choose when to use these action packed verbs in your statements. The reason is is because they add a little bit more to the word count. So if there's any particular achievements or educational qualifications or anything like that that you really want to stress and highlight, then you can use action packed verbs to really make them stand out, whereas you might choose to use more bland language on some of the things that are a little bit less relevant to the role that you're going for, for example, sure that you use some common sense for this. You don't want your CV to sound like a comic book and it's overboard with action packed verbs, but it is a really good technique that you can use to make certain things stand out really well. Tip three, speak with confidence in an active voice. Your resume is your chance to showcase your confidence and expertise, so don't hold back. Writing in an active voice not only exudes confidence but also makes your resume easier to read and digest. For instance, rather than saying responsibilities included, overseeing project timelines, say, I oversaw project timelines to ensure timely completion and delivery. This sentence is much more concrete and will give your reader a sense of the capability and confidence that you have. It's always best to say I, as well, because you're telling the recruiter what you did. That's what they want to know. So if you have done teamwork, I mean, when we're working, we're always working in teams, and it is very easy to slip into. We did this, we did that, but just remember that the recruiter wants to hear what you did. So do try and focus it on what you did by using the word I. Tip four, try and embrace white space for readability. In a C of texts, white space is your secret weapon. Not only does it enhance readability, but it also draws the reader in and keeps them engaged. Studies conducted by Nielsen Norman Group have shown that properly utilizing white space can increase comprehension by up to 20%. Remember, in the case of a resume, less is more. Don't take this as an excuse to reduce the font size to really small levels, though, so they can't read it. Remember your recruiter needs to be able to read your resume, and if they are hard of seeing or maybe a bit older, then they might require reading glasses and struggle if the font is too small. Don't make things too difficult for them. Don't make it difficult for them. Do bear in mind that they will be reading many resumes, and if yours is clearly laid out with white space, it's going to give the reader a sense of ease in their sifting process. Okay, so, yes, it's not easy knowing what to put and even more difficult knowing what to leave out to achieve a readable resume. There is a skill to this. Going to have to write it all down and take some time to choose what to remove and how to reword it and how to reformat it so that you can make it a little bit more legible and make use of some white space. So be aware, it'll take you a few attempts, a few passes at this process, and it will take you longer than the initial writing of the resume itself in a lot of cases. Five is showcasing your unique skill set. Your unique skills are what set you apart from the competition, so don't be shy about showing them off. Research from LinkedIn has found that candidates who list specific skills on their resume are up to 20 times more likely to be contacted by recruiters. Additionally, 48% of recruiters use skills data to help fill their roles. Tip six, address potential concerns head on. Anticipate any potential concerns or questions that a hiring manager may have and address them head on in your resume. Whether it's explaining a career gap or showcasing remote working skills, proactive transparency can go a long way to building trust and credibility. Whatever you do just don't lie. According to Forbes, 70% of workers do lie on their resume, but these lies are often found out during the interview and you don't want to be put in that situation. Not risk being in this number of awkward interviews. Tip seven, research the company culture, make sure you're going for a company with a culture that you really want to work in and you think is a good match for you. And this should help you to mirror the company's culture, showcasing your understanding and alignment with the company culture, which can significantly boost your chances of success. Research by ten feet tall shows that 84% of recruiters believe that culture fit is crucial when evaluating candidates. So mirror the company's values and language in your resume to demonstrate your compatibility and commitment. Should have an understanding of what the company culture is from your research. Now this is something that I talk a lot about in my interview skills course as well, because it is so important. Finally, tip eight, polish your resume to perfection. Dot your I's and cross your Ts and ensure every comma is in its rightful place. A single typo could be the difference between landing an interview and being passed over. You could argue that a typo won't make your resume any less engaging, but why make a mistake if you can avoid it? You just don't know who's going to be reading that resume, and they might have a particular thing about not having a completely polished and perfect grammar. So do try and get your grammar and spelling absolutely spot on. Recruiter might actually think that if you can't be bothered to check your resume for errors, then you haven't really put all the effort in, and you might not be particularly bothered about that particular role. And if you haven't bothered to read your resume for errors, and they can't be bothered to read it either. Attention to detail does speak volumes about your professionalism and dedication. According to a study by Resume help, 51% of documents have grammatical errors. By checking your resume, you are in the minority and your chances are greatly increased. You can do a quick check fairly easily with browser plugins like Grammarly, or you can paste your text into something like Google Docs or word, of course, but you can also use Chat GBT to ask to remove any grammar and spelling errors, copy your text and paste it into hat GBT and ask it to look for any spelling errors or grammatical errors, and it should give you almost perfect output. So that's a quick tip for me. You can use hat GBT, as well. Just make sure that you don't put any personal information into it or sensitive information because Chat GBT will store that. This brings me to an end of this video. With these tips, you're equipped to create an engaging resume that not only passes Atis but also captivates hiring managers once it gets into their hands and moves you forward to success. Use those tips wisely, though, you're going to have to think about them, and you are going to have to do a couple of passes with your CV to absolutely get it perfect. But after trying a few times and writing it down a few times and going over it, eventually, you'll get the hang of it, and you'll be making much more engaging and much more readable CVs. Good luck. 14. 1st vs. 3rd Person: Which is Best for Your Resume: Hello, in my previous video, we discussed the importance of having a compelling resume that truly shows your unique skills and experiences. Now let's delve deeper into a question many jobseekers face. Should your resume be written in the third or first person? In case you're unsure, the first person perspective employs pronouns like I, me, my, and we sharing your personal experiences and thoughts directly. This viewpoint provides an intimate, subjective and personal insight into your mind, creating a deep connection with the reader. The third person perspective uses pronouns like he she, it, they, and them offering an objective view of you and your work history. Imagine yourself sitting across from a potential employer, sharing anecdotes about your professional journey and accomplishments. This sense of direct connection and authenticity, that's exactly what writing in the first person can bring to your resume. I'll give you an example just so we're clear. A first person perspective would be, I worked in project management in this role. And a third person would be Michael James worked in project management in this role. So the first person is I and the third person is talking about myself. When should you consider using the first person approach? Let's have a thing. Firstly, when writing in the first person, it creates an immediate and personal connection between you, the candidate, and the reader who's the hiring manager. Consider using these two statements. I led a team of five developers to successfully launch a new mobile app. Versus, she led a team of developers to successfully launch a new mobile app. The former instantly establishes a rapport with the reader, drawing them into your story and achievements as if you're literally there talking to them. Moreover, when using the first person, it allows you to take ownership of your own experiences and accomplishments. It's about confidently asserting your role in various projects and initiatives. For instance, if you say, I led a marketing campaign that resulted in a 30% increase in customer engagement, well, this demonstrates your leadership and impact more effectively than a passive statement. Adopting a conversational tone in your resume can also increase your appeal to employers. It humanizes the document, making it easier for recruiters to connect with you on a personal level because it's like you're actually speaking to them as they're reading it. Imagine sitting down for a coffee chat with a potential employer, you would want your resume to reflect the same warmth and approachability as if you were actually there in person. Storytelling is another advantage of writing in the first person. By sharing personal stories, you're able to differentiate yourself from other candidates and leave a lasting impression. So consider this example from Sara, a marketing professional. Always been passionate about finding creative solutions to complex problems. During my time at XYZ company, I faced the challenge of rebranding our product line to appeal to a younger demographic. By tapping into my innovative spirit and collaborating closely with cross functional teams, we not only revitalized our brand image, but also saw a 40% increase in sales within six months. Using narratives like these, you can communicate in a way that is memorable. Finally, consistency is key in any form of writing, particularly with resumes, and a first person perspective helps you to maintain that consistency throughout the document because you are going to be referring to the first person a lot of the time. So instead of switching between first person and third person, you can present a cohesive professional narrative from start to finish if you just stick with the first person. Conclusion, writing your resume in the first person isn't just about personal preference. It's a strategic choice that can significantly enhance your chances of landing your dream job. So go ahead, own your own story and let your unique voice shine through. After all, your resume is your personal brand, and there's no better way to show it than speaking directly from the heart. If you are to use the third person, it is quite common to use that as the opening statement in a resume where it might be almost like a quote from somebody that's worked for that you've worked for before, like a reference or a testimonial that might say, Michael James is a very professional and motivated individual, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. That is where you would use the third person. This is still very popular in resumes, but it is becoming more and more popular to just go with the first person and say, Hi, I'm Michael James. I'm a motivated and professional person, blah, blah, blah. And if you do go for the first person, then you are keeping it consistent throughout the resume, as I say. But if you want to actually use testimonials or even if, you know, like a legitimate quote from a reference, and if it's a particularly good reference, then you might want to put that in there, and that obviously will come from the third person perspective because they are speaking about you. So that is the difference between the first and the third person. Hopefully, I've cleared that up, and I'll catch you in the next video. 15. Boost Your Career Resume Upskilling Part 1: So are you ready to climb the ranks and reach the top of success in your career journey? Climbing the corporate ladder requires more than just aspirations. It demands a strategic approach to upskill your resume and position yourself as a top contender for more senior roles. Whether you're eyeing a managerial position or aiming to lead a cross functional team or seeking to transition into a new industry or area of the business, investing in continuous learning and showcasing your expertise is essential. Here's an in depth guide with actionable insights and examples to help you to boost your resume and to accelerate your climb up the corporate ladder. Identify target skills, dive into the details of your desired career trajectory, and pinpoint the essential skills and qualifications that pave the way for advancement, whether it's mastering the art of strategic planning, honing your leadership skills or cultivating expertise in new technologies, align your skill development efforts with the demands of higher level positions. So if you're aiming for a leadership role in marketing, essential skills might include strategic planning, demonstrating proficiency in developing comprehensive marketing strategies aligned with business objectives and data driven decision making, which is utilizing advanced analytic tools to create actionable insights and optimize marketing campaigns. And team leadership, showcasing your ability to inspire and empower cross functional teams to achieve ambitious marketing goals. Second, professional development courses. Go on a journey of continuous learning by enrolling in accredited courses and workshops that empower you to acquire new skills and deepen existing ones. Choose programs that offer certifications recognized within your industry, getting certifications and doing training courses is going to enhance your knowledge and your credibility and marketability as a top talent. For instance, for aspiring project managers, consider pursuing certifications such as the project management profession, PMP, acquire comprehensive knowledge and skills in project management methodologies. Cumulating in a globally recognized certification endorsed by the Project Management Institute, PMI. Third is using online learning platforms, so you can use the power of online learning platforms to access a diverse array of courses taught by industry experts from around the globe. From leadership development to technical skill enhancement, leverage these platforms to tailor your learning journey according to your career aspirations and learning preferences. For number four, attend conferences and networking events. Get involved in industry conferences, seminars, and networking events to stay abreast of emerging trends. Expand your professional network and unlock new opportunities for career growth and advancement. I talk a lot more about networking in my CV and resume writing courses and my interview skills course, as well. Networking is really important. We often say it's not what you know, but who you know. LinkedIn, of course, is a great tool for networking, so do check out LinkedIn as well. Try and find people in your areas of interest and also people that are in the jobs that you want and want to aspire to and find out exactly what qualifications and certifications and experience they have. They've got the job that you want, so try and connect with them, and maybe you can find out some information. Maybe you can ask them some advice. Maybe they know of other career opportunities that are opening up in their organization. For number five, seek mentorship. So make meaningful connections with established professionals who can serve as mentors, guiding you through your career progression and offering invaluable insights and advice along the way. So you could tap into mentorship opportunities through initiatives such as internal mentorship programs. Many organizations offer formal mentorship programs where experienced leaders provide guidance and support to aspiring talent within the company or organization. Can also find mentors in industry associations. So join industry specific associations or professional networks that facilitate mentorship connections between seasoned professionals and emerging leaders in your field of interest. Another way is to just seek out a junior role in an area that you're interested in and show how keen you are to learn. You'll learn a lot on the job working with senior people who can mentor and guide you. Now, this might mean that you're, for example, a developer and you want to move into a product owner role or a scrum master role, which is a slightly different change. So you might want to seek out a job as a developer working in a scrum team so you can get close to those other types of roles that you want to go for. And then you can work shadow and pay an interest in their responsibilities and maybe take on some of their responsibilities as well. Now, that's going to give you some experience, and it's also going to give you an opportunity take on some of their responsibilities and put it into your resume. And it's also going to be something that you can talk about in your interview, as well. So that is a way to try and get from one position into another, try and get close to the people that are doing the job that you want to do. 16. Boost Your Career Resume Upskilling Part 2: Number six, volunteer for projects, seize opportunities to take on challenging projects or assignments within your current role, demonstrating your willingness to go above and beyond expectations and showcase your readiness for higher level responsibilities. For example, volunteer to lead a cross functional initiative such as strategic growth initiatives, spearhead strategic projects aimed at expanding market reach, driving revenue growth, or enhancing operational efficiency, positioning yourself as a proactive leader with a strategic mindset. Or process improvement projects, identify inefficiencies in existing processes and lead initiatives to streamline workflows, reduce costs, and optimize resource allocation, showcasing your ability to drive tangible results through innovation and collaboration. Now, this one is really proactive. It's being proactive. So for this one, you need to get good at spotting opportunities and by seeing problems and thinking of solutions to those problems. Then you need to bring your ideas up with seniors, and you may want to ensure that you've put a lot of thought into it and presented a well thought out plan to them. Hopefully this will impress your seniors and give you an opportunity to take on more responsibility in a proactive way. This should go down well and look great on your resume. Getting involved with projects that are outside of your particular field, like working in a cross functional team or initiative or working in different departments or with people with different skill sets is also going to be really good for your resume. Basically because you're showing how adaptable you are and you're building up a new range of skills, and you're also getting the chance to see what other people do in other areas of the organization. So you can really start to think what it is that you want to do after having some experience of working with other people in different areas. Getting this level of context about an organization's process is also really valuable. For number seven, try and get some leadership experience, or at least build on your leadership experience. So cultivate leadership experience by seizing opportunities to lead teams, mentor junior colleagues, and drive impactful initiatives that contribute to organizational success and growth. For example, demonstrate your leadership capabilities through initiatives like cross functional task forces, lead cross functional task forces or project teams focused on tackling strategic challenges or capitalizing on emerging opportunities. Showcasing your ability to collaborate effectively across different departments and drive consensus towards common goals. Now, this is one that goes a little bit hand in hand with the previous one volunteering for projects, particularly cross functional projects. Okay, another idea for leadership is mentorship programs, volunteer to mentor junior colleagues or new hires, providing guidance, support, and mentorship to facilitate their professional development and contribute to a culture of continuous learning and growth within the organization. For number eight, cross functional collaboration. Embrace opportunities to collaborate with colleagues from diverse backgrounds and functional areas, leveraging their expertise and insights to broaden your skill set and gain a holistic understanding of the business landscape. You may want to talk to your seniors about opportunities for working with other departments and understanding how things fit in into the bigger picture. This contextual information will really serve you well in the future. You may want to look into DevOps, which is a set of practices, tools, and cultural philosophy that automate and integrate the processes between software development and IT teams. This is a really useful thing to ensure that development actually works with the current IT infrastructure. So yes, this is similar to number six, volunteering for projects. But remember, you don't need to lead a project. You can work in a project, and you can still get exposure to different areas and working across functional team. That's really going to stand you in good stead. Number nine, continual learning and adaptability. So embrace a mindset of continual learning and adaptability by staying abreast of industry trends, technology advancements, which is crucial in this day and age, and evolving market dynamics to remain agile and resilient in the face of change. We have to get used to the idea of continuous learning throughout our career because technology is moving really fast, in fact, everything in this day and age is moving so quickly, so we need to keep on top of things. We need to keep on top of new tools and technologies that are coming up to keep us ahead of our colleagues and competitors and to keep relevant in the marketplace, which means we need to learn new skills, and we're going to have to learn the new tools for the jobs quite often. You can demonstrate your commitment to lifelong learning through initiatives such as personal development plans, develop personalized professional development plans outlining your learning goals, skill enhancement strategies and milestones for career advancement, reflecting on your proactive approach to self improvement and growth and also industry insights and thought leadership. Stay informed about industry trends, market developments, and thought leadership insights through channels such as industry publications, webinars, podcasts, videos. There's a lot on YouTube, networking forums, Slack, discord, perhaps, position yourself as a knowledgeable and forward thinking professional within your field, and also don't forget LinkedIn as well. Listing qualifications and certifications that you've gained over the years also demonstrates your commitment to continuous learning. And number ten, quantify achievements. When updating your resume, highlight your achievements using quantifiable metrics and tangible outcomes to demonstrate the impact of your contributions and showcase your value proposition as a top performer and strategic asset to prospective employers. Adding quantifiable metrics goes a long way to proving your worth and shows that you are results focused. In this instance, quantify your achievements with metrics such as revenue growth. You could say I've led a cross functional marketing campaign that drove a 30% increase in year over year revenue growth exceeding quarterly targets and delivering measurable return on investment. So notice I actually said I drove a 30% increase. That is a metric, that is tangible. Other idea might be cost savings. So you could say I optimized operational processes and implemented efficiency measures that resulted in a 20% reduction in overhead costs, generating substantial cost savings for the organization. Again, the metric there resulted in a 20% reduction. So again, that is something tangible and quantifiable. On that note, it's important to measure things in your current position because when you're measuring or have metrics or indicators, then you have that information that you can use, and it comes in handy when filling in your resume and also to quote in the interview as well. It's a lot more powerful to say that your efforts resulted in a 20% reduction in overhead costs than just saying it resulted in a reduction of overhead costs. The 20 metric not only makes it instantly understandable about exactly how effective you were, but it also shows that you or have been monitoring the amount of reduction in your overheads. So it's more trustworthy and believable, as well. Competitive job market where recruitment is increasingly driven by skills, expertise, and proven performance, a well put together resume that displays your capabilities, accomplishments, and potential for future success can be a powerful tool for advancing your career and achieving your professional dreams. By following these strategies and showing dedication to continuous improvement and excellence, you'll be well positioned to advance in your career and scale the corporate ladder with confidence. 17. Section 4 - Building Your Master Resume/CV: Okay, so let's talk about creating a master resume. Now, this is really important, and it's a bit of a lifesaver. Creating a master resume is an excellent strategy for managing your career development. This comprehensive document serves as a place to keep all your skills, experiences, and accomplishments, making it easier to tailor specific resumes for different job applications. Here's a detailed guide on how to create an effective master resume. Unlike a tailored resume, which is customized for a specific job application, a master resume is a complete record of your career history. This document serves as a source from which you can extract the most relevant details to create a targeted resume for each job that you apply for. Clearly, this resume will break the two page rule, but that's fine because it isn't the resume that you're going to send out. It's your tool for crafting tailored resumes into two pages from this one. Probably goes without saying, but let's have a look at the benefits of having a master resume as a comprehensive overview. A master resume provides a complete picture of your career journey. This includes every job you've held, every certification you've earned, and every skill that you've developed. Keep on top of updating this and creating a tailored resume will be easier. Or efficiency, having all your information in one place saves time when applying for jobs. Instead of creating a new resume from scratch for each application, you'll simply pull relevant details from your master resume. And accuracy, by maintaining a master resume, you'll ensure that no important details are forgotten or overlooked. This is particularly useful for long term career development and annual reviews. So how do you create one? I suppose you could argue that you could just have the list of information a bit like my recommendation of having the work history document. Now, I still think that's a good idea because the work history document is basically your rough notes of everything that you've done from which you can then create a master resume from, which can be which is more formalized. And then you can use that to create tailored resumes from. Putting this information into a well structured resume type document that resembles the structure of a resume will be the best way to make sure that nothing is missed. The dates are in the right order and it's easy to update. So I've put together a structure to help you to begin to build your master resume. This will be especially helpful if you don't have a current resume or if you have a very old outdated resume. So give a comprehensive overview, starting with professional experiences, list all your roles, including part time jobs, internships and volunteer work. For education, include all degrees, certifications, workshops and training programs. And for skills, catalog all your technical and soft skills. Now, soft skills might include languages and leadership abilities and teamwork, and technical skills might be your proficiency on certain software, coding languages, things like that. Put everything into chronological order, arrange your experiences in reverse chronological order, starting with the most recent position that you've worked in at the top and worked down. This helps recruiters to see your most relevant and recent experiences first. Put detailed descriptions in, provide detailed descriptions of each role, highlighting your responsibilities, accomplishments, and contributions. Now, don't be afraid to put lots of detail in a lot more than you would in an actual resume, because you want to record all that information because when it comes to creating your tailored resume, you might want to pick and choose different elements of the master resume for that particular job to create your tailored resume. Do make sure that you write your master resume like your actual resume, though, so that it's easy to copy and paste from. Use action verbs and quantify your achievements wherever possible. For example, instead of saying I managed a team and leaving it at that, you could say, I led a team of ten people to improve the project completion times by 20%. The key here is to write it as if you would in a resume because when it comes to applying for that job, and copying and pasting out of your master resume into the targeted resume, you might as well reduce the work effort by having it in a decent format with decent language and action verbs, et cetera in the master resume. It's just a bit less work for when you actually go and create the targeted resume. Next, create a skills inventory, create a dedicated section on your master resume that lists your skills. This should include both technical skills like programming languages and software tools and also soft skills like communication and leadership and teamwork. Put together all education and training. List all your education qualifications and professional development initiatives, include the institution's name, the degree or certification that you've earned, the mark that you've got, and the graduation date. Basically, all the information that you will need for your actual resume when you make a targeted resume. Aim is to write it in a way that you could just copy and paste into your tailored resume, but do include as much information as you can. You can always then omit information when it comes to crafting your tailored resume. It's easier to omit something than it is to have to think back and remember the tasks that you did in your old job, what qualifications you got, what mark you got, et cetera. Easier to omit stuff than it is to try and add stuff in when it comes to the tailored resume. So you're really aiming to have the master resume have all of the information that you might need in in a really good format, in a professional format, so you can just pick and choose which bits you want from your master resume into the tailored resume. And finally, include any professional developments, include any professional development activities such as workshops, seminars, conferences or online courses you've taken. You can also include a section with hyperlinks for your portfolio if that's something that's relevant to you. In conclusion, by creating a detailed master resume, you'll have a powerful tool at your disposal for job applications, networking and career advancement. This document not only helps you to stay organized, but also ensures that you are always ready to present your most relevant and impressive qualifications and experience to potential employers. If you've got a master resume at hand and you've been keeping up to date, then if an opportunity comes up, it doesn't feel like such a burden to go for and craft a tailored resume for that opportunity. So it removes a little bit of friction from that burden of having to craft a tailored resume from scratch for a particular role and motivates you to seize the opportunity if it comes about. Alternative, of course, is to go back to an old resume that's out to date and try to remember your qualifications, your work history, and everything else that you've done since that old resume and compile it into a new targeted resume. When you don't have a master resume that's up to date to draw from, it becomes a lot of work. And at some point, you'll need to go back over your own history. You're going to have to have a look at relevant qualifications and the training that you've received. So why not have it completed and compiled in one place, written in the right format, professional format, and ready to go. Then if an opportunity comes up, you just need to take the elements from your master resume and put it into the target resume, and it's good to go quickly without too much effort. So creating a master resume and keeping it up to date is one of the most important things that you can take from this course. To remove that friction of going for opportunities, not see it as much of a burden, have the master resume ready, and then if something comes up, you're feeling like, Yes, it won't take too much to go for it. That means that it's going to motivate you to go for opportunities a bit more, and you're ready to go and seize the moment when they come up. 18. Starting Your Master Resume Exercise: Okay, it's time to make a start on the all important master resume. I've got an exercise for you here, but don't expect to have this completely finished by the end of this exercise because we're going to go on further into the course, and I'm going to explain a little bit more about these different sections, sections like your qualifications, your skills, your work history, your education, et cetera. But now is a good time to make a start on this. So what you want to do is have a look at the different areas of your master resume and start filling out some information. Again, it's about getting that information down on paper so that we can work with it. So again, like the other exercises, fill up as much space as possible, get as much detail down as possible because this is the place where we want to brain dump our ideas, our thoughts, our memories about what we've done, and then we're going to use this as a tool to refine it later on. What this will end up doing is completing all of the different aspects of your master resume, and you might want to actually compile this and keep it together with your work history document when you're finished to keep everything in one place. Let me explain things become a bit more clear. So in a previous exercise, we had a think about the different roles and career history that we've had in terms of our jobs that we've had and our experience. Well, another important aspect of the resume, of course, is qualifications. So you want to do something very similar here, write down all the qualifications that you've got. Go dig out your old certificates, have a look at the training that you've done in the past. You might want to have a look in your calendar. Now, this is a tip. Go to your calendar and search training. You never know. You might have blocked out some time in your calendar for certain training activities. And by searching the word training, it might pull out lots of different training that you've done in the past, and you've got some information about what you've done, and it'll help you to remember. Okay, so another top tip is actually to go to HR and ask HR if they've got a record of any of the training that you've completed. What you want to do is just put down your qualifications, and you want to say where you got them from, what grades you've got and any particularly interesting things about them. So, for example, I did a business management degree. On the back of my business management degree, it explains all the modules that I did. So if I'm going for a scrum master role or a product owner role, something project related, I can have a look at the different modules that relate to that. So I did some modules on planning. I did some modules on projects. I did some modules using C Ban, for example. So, you know, put down the modules that you had in your degree. It's good to have that information in front of you because you might want to cherry pick those and really show them in your targeted resume if you're going for a particular role where they're particularly relevant. So that's qualifications. You want to do the same thing again for your career experience. I mean, don't duplicate effort here. You've either got your work history document and you might have all this information already there. You might done this task in the previous exercise where we looked at our career history. So feel free to just use what we've already got. You might want to actually skip this bit, or you might want to fill this bit in, but use it as a way to just refine some of the information that you've got to make it more succinct. You could use this as an opportunity to refine it another stage further before it goes onto your master resume. Next is your list of skills. Again, we've looked at skills in previous exercises, so feel free to use the information that we've compiled from those skills, but you might want to also put them in here as well. It's another chance to think about things. It's another chance to make things to sync. It's another chance to rack your brains about what kind of skills you've had. That exercise is always useful. Now, you might want to also add any additional information. Like, do you speak any other languages? What hobbies have you had? What hobbies do you do? What other skills and interests do you have? Are you part of any community groups? Have you helped with charity? Have you done any, you know, charity runs or anything like that? Any extra curricular information, brainstorm, put it down here. And again, as with the other exercises, if you've got supporters, if you've got people close to you, then work with them. They might be able to remember things that you've done that you've currently forgotten. Next is put down all of your achievements. Now, some of your qualifications are achievements, of course, but maybe you've won employee of the month. Maybe you have some achievements like you built something, even if it's not relevant to the kind of jobs that you think you're going for. Is just to get everything down on paper because you never know, it might be useful. It might be something that we want to actually use on our master resume or any targeted resumes. The idea is just to get as much information down as you can. And with achievements, you want to say about, you know, how might it appeal to a certain employer. So, for example, maybe you helped to build a shed. Now, I'm thinking off the top of my head here, but building a shed requires planning, foresight, learning a new skill, learning new skills. Also accuracy, safety, budgeting, maybe you had a certain amount of money that you knew that you didn't want to spend any more than this building your shed. Even something like building a shed, it might be completely unrelevant to the job that you're going for. But there's lots of transferable skills that you might have learned there. Sometimes if you're really scraping for proving that you've got certain skills on a job description, having this information down could be really, really useful because you can show transferable skills. Okay, so take some time, write down as much as possible. This refers to the different sections of your resume, and we're going to go on in this course and have a look at how to take this information and craft it into something that's suitable for your master resume, including making it more succinct, making it tangible with metrics, making it more interesting to read, and really getting to the point. So we've got lots of white space on our CV as well. So again, like the other exercises, just write down as much as you can get done here, and then we can move on. One final tip from me on this is these exercises and this one in particular, this isn't just a do it now and forget about it. Why not come back to this every three to six months? That way, you've always got it up to date. And then if you get an opportunity or you see a job come up, you've already got a lot of the work done. It's going to be a lot less effort for you to then take what's already here and craft it into your master resume and then the targeted resume. If you're keeping this up to date, you've got your work history document. You've got all this information up to date. You've got your master resume up to date. If an opportunity comes up, you're much more likely to go for it. It's about removing barriers. If you don't have any of this information in front of you and an opportunity comes up, but you're satisfied in the current job that you're in. It's not the best job in the world. You feel like you want to progress. But the problem is, this opportunity that's come up, you're thinking, Oh, rake, I've got to do a lot of work to craft a resume in order to apply for that job. Sometimes you can put yourself off from actually going for it. But if you've got this information here, ready to go, you've been reviewing it every three to six months, you've kept it up to date, and then the opportunity comes up, and you think, Well, it won't take that much effort to take what I've currently got and craft a targeted resume for this particular opportunity. So why not? Why not just do it and go for it? And you never know, you might get it. And fantastic. You've progressed. You've got a better job. You've moved up. Struck when the iron was hot on that particular opportunity. So a lot of this, yes, it's upfront work now, but with time, maintenance, we'll make it easier, and then you've got something ready to go, and you are well prepared to really go for any opportunities that come your way in the future. Now, I said at the start of this exercise that we wouldn't have it completed and finished by the end. That's because this is the first draft. What we're going to do now is go through the rest of the course, and we're going to look at each of these sections in turn in more depth, and we're going to make them even better than what you've already wrote here. So be prepared to revisit skills, education, things like that. Again, we're going to do another exercise on those, make them even better, and we can revisit this, refine it, and then migrate it over to our final master resume. 19. Crafting Objective or Professional Summary: Okay, to start this module off, we'll be looking at how to write your professional summary. Your professional summary goes at the top of your resume underneath your contact information and your name. As you might remember from the previous lesson, we discuss the different types of resumes. You've got your conventional resume, creative resume, et cetera. You'll be glad to know that regardless of the type of resume, the summary always goes at the top. A professional summary is concise. It includes impactful statements that include and highlight your career goals, key skills, and what you bring to the table. Think of it as a hook to get the attention of the reader to make them want to read the rest of your resume. Although this is optional, this section can serve as a powerful introduction, offering a snapshot of your professional profile. So let's have a think about it. Here's how to craft a professional summary that stands out. Firstly, keep your summary brief, ideally within five to six sentences. This is going to ensure that the hiring manager or the reader is quickly grasping your strength and qualifications without having to wade through unnecessary details. A good example of this is as follows. I am an experienced financial analyst with a strong background in investment strategies and portfolio management, adept at risk assessment and financial forecasting to optimize investment returns. Basically, highlight the key things that you want to get across after looking at the job role and reading between the lines and trying to identify exactly what the employer wants. You're going to tailor this to the role that you are applying for then use emotive words and really just highlight the particular things that you really want to show them immediately to hook their attention, and then they think, Okay, yes, this person is a potential great candidate. You're off on the right foot and they'll have a more positive view as they read the rest of your resume. So these personal statements, if done well, can be quite powerful and important. Okay, so let's have a look at writing to the job role. So as I just said, and before in this course, it's really important to tailor your resume to the particular job that you're going for using the job description as your source and basis for this. So align your summary with the specific job role that you're applying for. Highlight relevant skills and experiences to show that you're not just a fit but the perfect fit for the position. So, for example, going for a marketing manager position, something along these lines would be great. I'm a dynamic marketing manager with over seven years experience in digital marketing, search engine optimization, and content strategy with a proven track record of increasing online engagement and driving brand growth. Okay, the next thing to think about is the introduction. So begin with a strong opening statement that summarizes your overall career objectives and professional expertise. For example, you might want to say, I'm a seasoned marketing professional with over a decade experience in digital strategy and brand management. Basically, this line really needs to hook the interest of the reader, so make sure that it really does stand out. C skills and expertise. So highlight your core skills and areas of expertise. Use action verbs that convey your capabilities effectively. For instance, you could say you're proficient in leveraging data analytics to drive strategic marketing decisions. Next thing to think about is illustrating your experience. Provide a glimpse of your relevant work experience, mentioning key accomplishments or roles. For example, you might want to say, I successfully led a team of 15 in the development of a high impact social media campaign that increased brand engagement by 45% at such and such corporation. Next is adaptability. So show your adaptability and ability to adapt to different environments or industries if this is applicable. So demonstrate versatility and willingness to learn. Particularly what emphasizes you apart from other candidates? What is it that you think is your competitive advantage? And how can you contribute to the employer's goals? For example, you might want to say, by combining creative vision with a data driven approach, I excelled at transforming insights into compelling marketing campaigns. And make sure you have a professional tone. Maintain a professional tone throughout the summary, avoid informal language or unnecessary jargon to ensure clarity and professionalism. As I mentioned in a previous lecture, writing it in the first person might be the best option. It's becoming more common, and it does give you that sense of you are actually there in the room talking to your recruiting manager. So the first person is probably the one that I would default to. This is proof reading. So finally, carefully proof read the summary for any grammatical errors or typos. Clarity and professionalism in your summary is key. These are the first things that the recruiter is going to see and read, so make sure that it is absolutely perfect. According to ZIPA, 59% of recruiters will reject a candidate because of poor grammar or a spelling error. So don't fall into this trap. Now remember, you can take the statement, drop it into Chat GBT, and ask Chat GBT to check it for spelling and grammar. Or even reword it, or you can even ask Chat GPT to put it into a more professional tone. So that's another top tip as well. Use a large language model. Doesn't have to be Chat GBT. It could be Gemini, it could be Microsoft copilot, but you get the idea. So in summary, your professional summary is your elevator pitch. It's the first impression that you're going to make so make it count. Tailor it, keep it concise, and make sure it reflects your strengths and the needs of the job that you're applying for. By doing this, you can significantly increase your chances of landing the interview. Son in the next video. 20. Highlighting Your Key Achievements: Writing the achievements section of your resume, it's important to present your accomplishments in a clear and impactful way. This section, which is typically found beneath your professional summary highlights your most significant career successes. So how should you structure this section to make it effective? Firstly, use bullet points to list your achievements. This format makes reading it easier. Here is an example structure to give you an illustration on what it would look like, but also how easy it is to read. Remember, white space is key to making it more inviting and easily readable. These examples demonstrate not only the soft skills, but also results delivered because we're using metrics and this makes the results tangible and relatable. You should also make sure that your achievements are easy for the recruiter to review. So you can do this by a number of ways. Firstly, keeping it concise. Use brief, impactful bullet points. Secondly, highlight key metrics. So use numerical results for quick visibility and further emphasis on your achievements. Use strong action verbs. Start each bullet point with a strong action verb such as directed, enhanced, implemented, reduced, et cetera. Using a theosaurus will help in finding and switching words. You can use Chat GBT or Google, give me synonyms for the word directed and it'll give you alternatives for that word. Finally, being specific, avoid vague statements. Specific details make your achievements more compelling. For example, you might want to say I led a team to success, but that isn't as powerful as saying, I led a team of four to successfully double profits in six months through improved email marketing. Now, there's more words there, but it's very specific and it gives a lot of detail. A lot of detail has gone through in a short sentence. This is a communication skill and something that you need to practice and improve upon for your resume. It's well worth learning this skill because if you get good at it, not only can you make your resume more impactful and less space, but it's also a sign of a really good communicator. And that's a really good skill to have in business and in life anyway. You're demonstrating your ability to be a precise and effective communicator through having a resume that communicates quickly and effectively without any waffle. Okay, so no different other areas of your resume. You need to tailor this section for different job applications. This is probably the most important part to customize, as in this section is the section that shows your employer what value you can add to their organization. So you should analyze the job description, identifying any key skills and experiences that the employer is looking for. Remember to look for those keywords and make sure that you get those keywords in your resume. Not only does that make it more Atis compliant, but also when your employer is reading it, they're probably going to be looking for the same keywords as well. Also select relevant achievements. So choose achievements that best match the requirements and responsibilities outlined in the job description. We all know that we have limited space on the resume, two pages max. And if you've really got a strong career history and there's lots and lots of things that you want to put down about your achievements, you're going to have to cherry pick the best ones and tailor them towards a particular job that you're going for. So there's a skill and an art form in that as well. And also use job specific keywords. So integrate specific keywords from the job posting into your achievements to align with the employee's needs. Again, this will help you to pass the 80s, as mentioned in the previous lectures. Now let's see a complete example of how this section might look on a resume for a project manager. So starting with the professional summary, and it might start with I am, we're in the first person here. I am a detailed oriented project manager with over ten years of experience in the construction industry, specializing in high profile projects. I excel at delivering projects on time and within budget by effectively coordinating cross functional teams and managing complex schedules. My skills include advanced project management methodologies, risk mitigation and maintaining strong client and vendor relationships. There's a lot of keywords in that, and firstly, I've said right off the bat that I've got ten years of experience on what industry that was in. And that I've also delivered projects on time and within budget. Now, that's something that's probably come from the job description. We want a project manager with a proven track record of delivering on time and within budget, for example. The cross functional team, so effectively coordinating cross functional teams and managing complex schedules. You can imagine these are the terms and the things that have been specifically asked for in the job description. So you are using your personal summary to show how much of a fit you are to this job description. The next section being the achievements and make sure it's in bullet points, so it's easy to read, and it gets straight to the point, each one including metrics. So for timely project delivery, you might say, I completed a $10,000,000 construction projects one month ahead of schedule at such and such a corporation, saving half 1 million in labor costs. So there's a few metrics there. This is how big the project was 10 million. I completed it ahead of schedule by a month, and it saved this month. Those are the metrics. Rest of the achievements in this example, go on to basically have the same format. So it really clearly exactly says what you did quantified and qualified by metrics. Together, the personal summary and the achievements and the way they are set out makes a really impactful, precise, and to the point information for the recruiter to see exactly how good a fit you are for the job description. With this being tailored to that specific job description, you've got the best possible chance of making that impact. Conclusion, using a clear and structured format to make your accomplishments easy to read and stand out is key. Highlighting key metrics and being specific in your descriptions further ensures that your achievements are noticed. Remember, if nothing else, make sure you tailor this section to each job application. Have a look at the application on the job description and align your accomplishments with the employer's needs and what they're asking for and integrate any relevant keywords to improve your chances with that applicant tracking s. These tips in mind and let your achievements speak for themselves, driving your career and success forward. Tailoring this section is a lot of work. Yes, as is tailor in any of the sections of the CV, but at least we have our central or master resume and work history document to draw upon. If you do get the job, that work will be rewarded, and just think about how much that work will be rewarded. If you do actually land, a better paid job, and a job that you really enjoy. 21. Educational Background: So when it comes to writing the education section of your resume, it's important to present your academic background correctly. This section not only highlights your qualifications, but also sets the foundation for your expertise and readiness for the role that you're applying for. Where your education section sits in your resume will depend on the type of position that you're applying for, as I mentioned in one of my previous lectures. If you need to refresh that, then go back and have a look and then come back to this video. But if you know the type of resume and the format that you're filling out, then that's press. List your educational background in reverse chronological order, starting with your most recent degree or qualification or certification. This approach ensures that your highest level of education is immediately visible to potential employers. The key elements to include are the institution or the school name. So always include the full name of the institution where you earned your degree or certification. Location, mentioned the city and the country where the institution is located. Was it a degree, diploma, certification? Clearly state the type of qualification that you've earned, the major field of study. So specify the area of specialization or major for this qualification. The graduation date include the month and the year you graduated or expect to graduate. You get any honors or awards highlight any academic honors, scholarships or awards that you received. Any relevant coursework to the particular role that you're going for is good to include as well. You might want to include your thesis or dissertation. Briefly mention the topics of your thesis or dissertation if applicable to the job role and any study abroad or exchange programs. Include any details of any study abroad or exchange programs such as the duration and the institutions involved and what you did, particularly if they're relevant to the role that you're applying for. So here's an example of how you might structure the educational section of your resume. So it'll have the head in education, and then you might say, you have a Masters of Business Administration, the institution, the location, graduation date. And notice that it's clearly laid out in bullet points with institution where it's from, location, where it is, the graduation date, month and year, et cetera. And here's another example, a Bachelor of Science in computer science. Again, same thing, institution, location, graduation date, any honors or awards, relevant coursework, relevant to the job that you're applying for. So in this case, it might be data structures, algorithms, machine learning, artificial intelligence. If that set of skills is specifically mentioned on the job description and study abroad program. So if you did an exchange program at a certain university and give the date when you did that. Like in all areas of your resume, you need to adapt your education section for different job applications. Although they probably need less adaptation than your achievement section because when it comes to your education, it's what you've done, and it's pretty much going to be the same no matter what you're applying for, apart from the fact that you might want to emphasize different things depending on what role you're going for. So, for example, relevant coursework or any relevant modules within your degree is something that you might want to highlight, depending on what role you're going for. Might want to tailor that kind of stuff. So you might want to mention that you studied abroad, for example, or you may not want to mention it. It just depends on what's relevant to the role. But you need to obviously use your own judgment for this. For the most part, it's not going to change as much as the key achievements section of your resume, because that section is a part where you really tailor what you've done for the role that you're applying for. When we work, we do all sorts of different tasks and take on lots of different responsibilities, and we can't put it all down on paper, especially in two pages. So we really need to cherry pick and emphasize those particular skills and achievements for the role. But when it comes to your education section, it requires a lot less tweaking. You just want to tweak for relevance. So emphasize the aspects of your education that's most important and relevant for the job that you're applying for. Okay, so a question, what if you've got higher level education? Should you include your lower level education stuff? Say don't include the lower level education stuff to any particular detail because you really don't have much space on your resume, but do include it specifically if it's relevant. For example, if you're qualified at degree level, I wouldn't include your GCSEs in much detail or at all. The degree is going to trump whatever GCSEs you got. However, if you're going for a job that requires English skills and you've got an A star in GCSE English, then you might want to make note of that particular one. Otherwise, it's just going to take up pressure space on your resume and dilute the more important information. You might want to do is just list what you got or what subjects they are and what grades you got. But you don't really need to go into much more detail than that. You also want to highlight specific achievements if a job requires certain skills or knowledge areas, highlight coursework projects, honors that demonstrate your proficiency in those areas. Again, use your best judgment and highlight the things that are relevant to the particular job that you're applying for. So my final tips on education section of the resume, keep it brief. While details are important, keep the section brief and to the point. Be honest, only include truthful information about your education. I mean, that should go without saying. And, as always, proof read, check, there are no spelling or grammatical errors. By following these guidelines, you can effectively present your educational background in a way that highlights your qualifications and makes a strong impression on potential employers. 22. Professional/Work Experience: In this video, I'm going to be talking to you through the work experience section of your resume. The journey of detailing your work experience is like creating a narrative of your professional odyssey, each role and each responsibility and each accomplishment, weaving together to form a story of growth, achievement, and your capability. Here's how to navigate this crucial section correctly. Start with the job title, the cornerstone of your work experience narrative. Your job title serves as the headline guiding the reader through the professional trajectory. Whether you held the mantle of senior marketing analyst or project manager, clarity is key. Obviously, you need to put down the job title that you held, and that will be determined by your employer. Now, you might not realize this, but often we have some say in negotiating the job title whilst we're in the job that we're in. I've worked in places before where the job wasn't very clear, and the job title certainly wasn't industry an industry standard job title. So I asked the head of my department if I could change my job title to something more recognizable. I requested a different job title, which was industry standard or the industry standard job title for the role that I was doing. I also provided information about that job title's definition and its responsibilities and where it fits within the industry standard hierarchy of similar job titles. Often, if a manager wants to keep you and the job title change that you've requested is a sensible one, then your boss will see it as an easy way to keep you happy. It's a cost effective way of keeping up morale. However, sometimes they'll be bound by the organization's rules and HR, so sometimes it's just not possible. But there's often no harm in asking, right? I think if you can, it's definitely worth trying to get a job title change that is more in line with your career aspirations and what might look better on your resume. You see, you might want to think ahead of how your job title will look on your resume and what it means for any future recruiter looking at it. My personal role morphed from more of a data management role into a data science role, I asked for my job title to be changed from senior data manager to data science consultant to reflect the new nature of my work. So that's one example. Next is the company, a testament to your journey through the corporate landscape, a mention of known companies such as Google, IBM, or startups like Airbnb, lends credibility, and context to your accomplishments. If the company is a well known, successful company, then that's great for a number of reasons. One, successful companies mean that they have successful people, and you're going to be one of them coming from that company. And you've also seen a successful company in how it operates, and that means that you'll be bringing that valuable information with you to this organization that you're applying for. It lends credibility and context to your accomplishments. But what if you've never worked for a well known company? Well, in that case, anticipate that the recruiter will probably research the companies that you've worked for so in order to help them and guide them into the information that you want them to see, you can make sure that you give them enough information for them to find that company. And when they do their research, why not try and guide their research to find information about that company that you particularly think is relevant for the job that you're applying for? If your previous company has any particular projects or initiatives that would be particularly interesting for the company that you're applying for, then try to point the recruiter in that direction by mentioning them in your resume briefly. Doesn't have to be much, but plant that seed of intrigue, give them a hint of how your previous company's achievements and the roles that you had there are relevant to the ambitions of the company that you're applying for. This is better than just letting them visit the company homepage, for example, which might not be the best way to sell that particular company and what you did there and what their initiatives were and their challenges and successes were. So make sure that you try and guide them to a little bit more information that's going to particularly help to sell your experience and for this particular role. Next is location. So providing the information about the location where you worked gives context and additional layers of information to your recruiter. This will help them to understand a bit more about your professional journey. Next, dates of employment. A chronological breakdown within each role shows the evolution of your career, anchoring your achievements within a framework. This can get a little complex if you've been on a secubent or had a career break as I have done in the past. I found the best way to illustrate this is to still split the positions into new bullet points or paragraphs in chronological order and use the dates of starting and transfer and put in brackets seconded after the job title. That will explain any short secumbent stints that you did and why you returned back to your old position. Then key responsibilities. Now, it's tempting to dive into the intricacies of your daily duties, describing the malfaceted nature of your role, but you'll be restricted on space. You have to choose which duties to highlight, and that will depend on what you want to show for the specific application and the job role that you're applying for. Yes, that's right. This bit is to be tailored as well. You'll probably want to detail everything on your master resume, of course, but then pick and choose the responsibilities to mention and cover in depth for each particular application. Obviously, tailoring for each application for every job goes without saying it's something that we need to do for all aspects of our resume. Your achievements and contributions next. So herein lies the crux of your professional narrative and the outcomes of your efforts. As mentioned in the previous video, quantifiable metrics reign supreme here, whether it be a 30% increase in revenue or a 20% reduction in operational cost or a 50% improvement in customer satisfaction scores, get those numbers in. Next, the skills that you have developed. Each professional role serves as a way to gain new skills from mastering new software to increasing leadership acumen, highlighting the skills cultivated during each role, underscoring your ability and adaptability and capacity for growth. To give you some idea on the skills to include, you can ask hatEPT with a prompt like this. Me a list of skills needed for whatever the role is, say it's a safety officer role. This will give you an output with some idea of the different skills for that particular role, so make sure that you mention those skills in your resume. We will look at this a bit more in depth in the next video. Next is projects that you've been heavily involved in. Beyond the routine responsibilities, dive into specific projects, the key to innovation and collaboration. Whether leading a cross functional team in the development of a new product or orchestrating a company wide rebranding initiative, describe the scope, challenges, and outcomes. For instance, you might say, I led the implementation of an Agile project management system, which resulted in a 25% increase in project efficiency at ABC Corporation. Next, you want to cover your leadership experience. Leadership is not merely a title but a display of influence and impact. Describe your leadership style, highlighting instances where your guidance helps the team in bonding or focus on a particular goal. At DEF Inc, my servant leadership approach fostered a culture of accountability and innovation, resulting in a 30% reduction in employee turnover as an example. There are many leadership styles that you can adopt and each has their strengths and drawbacks. Different leadership styles are required in different situations and roles. The main leadership styles are autocratic, democratic laissez faire, servant leader. There are many more, though, so you might want to do a little bit of research on leadership styles to see which ones you have used and which ones you might want to highlight in your resume. Bit out of scope for this course, but I do look into different leadership styles in detail and cover them in my scrum master and product owner courses. If you do want a quick idea on different leadership styles, you can ask Chat EPT for different leadership styles and give an example for each one to help you understand them. When it comes to your resume, you might want to show that you can be adaptable by adopting different leadership styles depending on the situation project or the job role. Next, any relevant training or professional development within the role. So lifelong learning shows a recruit to your genuine passion to do well and to keep on top of your game. Detail relevant training programs, certifications or workshops attended, showing your commitment to continuous improvement and staying informed of industry trends. And finally, promotions. Climbing the corporate ladder is a testament to your proficiency and potential. If you have received promotions, it shows that your current or previous employers had confidence in you. So clearly set out the journey that you've been on, even if it's internal to one particular organization through promotions and include the extra responsibilities and impact of each of those positions. Now, let's address how to incorporate side hustles into your work experience. While attempting to use every entrepreneurial endeavor, choosing the right one is key. Focus on the most relevant side hustles, those that not only showcase your skills, but also align with the job that you're hoping to land. Similar to when discussing a project, provide depth by describing the role you played, the challenges that you encountered, and the outcomes that you achieved. For instance, founding and scaling a successful e commerce venture demonstrates entrepreneurial acronym, resilience, and strategic vision. The risk that you want to avoid when including side hustles is appearing like you have other distractions that may affect your work with the company that you're applying for. They want to hire somebody that's fully committed to the role, so bear this in mind. They don't want somebody burnt out, working nights or working night and day and not bringing their A game to the job every single day for them. You are still working on your side hustle and you do mention it, let them know that you have automated it, or at least you've got it to a point where it won't be a distraction or burn you out when working for them. In conclusion, creating a watertight work experience section involves a blend of clarity, specificity, and depth. By showing your value proposition, quantifying your achievements, and highlighting your unique contributions, you start to wow the reader. 23. Key Skills (Hard Skills and Soft Skills): This video, I'll be talking about the skills section of your resume. Writing this section thoughtfully can make a significant impact on potential employers, helping them to see how well rounded and capable you are. Here's a detailed guide to presenting your skills in a way that highlights your strengths and aligns with the job that you're applying for. You've probably heard of the terms soft skills and hard skills. So let's take a look at what they are. Hard skills. Well, these are specific teachable abilities or knowledge sets, and they're often job specific. They can be quantified and measured, and typically you acquire them through education, training, or on the job experience. Examples would include your ability in a foreign language, programming skills, operating machinery, or using specific software tools. For instance, being able to code in Python or knowing how to use auto card are hard skills. Soft skills, while these are more abstract, these are interpersonal skills that are harder to measure, but are key for effective collaboration and management. They include traits like being a good communicator, leadership, problem solving, and teamwork. Like hard skills, soft skills are more about how you interact with others and handle various situations. For example, strong communication skills enable you to give ideas clearly while problem solving skills help you to navigate challenges effectively. Let's take a look at how you should display these skills on your resume and back them up with concrete examples in your cover letter. For technical skills, as mentioned, these are your hard skills that are essential for the job that you're applying for. So list them clearly and where possible, quantify your ability or provide context. If we're talking programming languages, you might write that you're proficient in Python, Java and C plus plus. For example, at such and such a tech company, I developed a customer service chat board in Python that reduced response time by 30%. The software tools, you could add something like experience with Adobe Creative Suite and autocad at such and such a design company. I utilized a Adobe Illustrator to create marketing materials that increase client engagement by 40%. And for data analysis skills, you could say that you're skilled in using Excel, SQL and Tableau at whatever corporation, I analyze sales data using SQL, leading to insights that boosted quarterly sales by 15%. Now, for interpersonal skills, these soft skills demonstrate how well you work with others and manage situations. So for communication, you could write that you have excellent verbal and written skills at my last job, and this is where we're backing it up. At my last job, I led weekly team meetings and streamline project updates and reduced misunderstandings, leading to quicker task completion by 25%. For teamwork, you might want to write that you have a proven ability to work effectively in teams. So at collaborative solutions Limited, I was part of a cross functional team that successfully launched a new product line. And for problem solving skills, you could write that you have strong analytical and problem solving skills at Initative Enterprises limited, I identified, and resolved a critical workflow bottleneck increasing overall efficiency by 20%. You've also got something known as transferable skills. These skills are valuable across various jobs and industries, so you can show your versatility and adaptability with these skills. Use keywords from the job description to highlight them. Some examples would be leadership where you can say you demonstrated leadership through leading a team of ten in a high pressured environment at Dynamic Industries Limited, where we exceeded project deadlines by 15%. Project management, as well, so you might use project management in multiple different roles, and you could say that you manage multiple projects simultaneously at such a company, ensuring all work completed on time and within budget and critical thinking skills. So utilized critical thinking to troubleshoot and improve existing processes at a company resulting in 10% cost reduction. A lot of soft skills are going to be transferable, so bear this in mind. The soft skills that you've picked up and accumulated throughout your career are going to be really useful for new positions that you're applying for. The same can be said for hard skills, but often they can be quite job specific. So if you're going for a completely different career, some of those hard skills aren't as transferable as the soft skills might be. 24. Highlighting Your Skills Effectively in a Cover Letter: Now let's have a look at how you can back up your skills in your covering letter. Your cover letter is the perfect place to expand on the skills listed in your resume. Use this space to provide more detailed examples and narratives that demonstrate how you've applied these skills in real world situations. So let's look at how you can structure this. Starting with an introduction, briefly introduce yourself and mention the job that you're applying for. Then choose the skills that you want to highlight. Choose a skill from your resume and expand on it with a specific example. For example, at 123 Marketing Limited, I utilize my project management skills to lead a team in developing a comprehensive marketing strategy. This involved coordinating between departments, setting clear goals, and monitoring progress. As a result, we increased our client base by 25% over six months. Also connecting skills to job requirements is a good thing to do. So relate your skills directly to the job description. For example, you might say, the job description mentions a need for innitative problem solving skills. In my previous role at GGG Tech Limited, I led a project to develop a customer service chat bot that reduced response times by 30%, demonstrating my ability to apply creative solutions to complex problems. And then, obviously, you finish off with a bit of a conclusion. Reiterate your interest in the position and express your enthusiasm for bringing your skills to the role. By structuring your skill section with clear categories and backing up your claims with real world examples, you'll provide a comprehensive view of your capabilities. Remember, specificity and relevance are key. Write your skills in line with the job and make sure that you back up your claims with concrete examples. This approach is bound to catch the eye of recruiters. I mentioned in the last video, you can use HATEPT to give you some ideas on what skills are most relevant for that particular job and choose those to focus on. 25. Portfolios and Certifications: Okay, so in this video, I'm going to be covering how to include certifications and portfolios in your resume. So let's get started. As we touched on on the previous lesson, including certifications on your resume is helpful as it demonstrates your commitment to professional development and validates your expertise in specific areas. However, including certifications that aren't relevant can take up precious room on your resume that could be used for something more impactful and relevant. So here's how to effectively present this information. Firstly, list any certifications or professional training programs that are relevant to the position that you're applying for. Each entry should include the name of the certification or training, of course, and clearly state the title of the certification, the issuing organization. So mention the organization that issued the certification to you and, of course, the date of completion. For example, if you have a project management, professional PMP certification, you would say it came from the professional or sorry, the Project Management Institute, PMI and the date of completion. Now you can just put the month and the year. Month and year is usually acceptable. But the question is, what do you do if you are really, really experienced and you have too many? So if you have numerous certifications, make sure you prioritize the most relevant and recent ones to avoid cluttering your resume. Yes, it's tempting to put everything down. You are proud of yourself. I understand that, but we need to tailor these resumes to the particular job that we're going for. Remember, we only have so much space on that resume. Remember the tip about having plenty of white space. So create a section titled selected certifications and include the most important certifications there. Calling it selected certifications obviously implies that you have more certifications, but these are the choice ones that you've picked out specifically for this role. Remember, you can always add your additional certifications on your Linked In profile. If you are including your LinkedIn profile, you can reference LinkedIn on your resume. They can find out more information about the other certifications you've got over on LinkedIn. How do you decide on the relevance, especially if they all seem relevant? Now this is quite tricky. Focus on the most recent and or most recognized. If you're applying for a digital marketing position, your Google Analytics certification and Hubspot content marketing certification are, of course, highly relevant. A certification in an unrelated field such as first aid training might be less useful unless the role specifically requires it. And what about free generic courses? Include free generic courses, only if they are highly relevant to the job that you're going for and recognized in the industry. For instance, an online learning course on data science from a reputable university could be worth mentioning for a data analyst position. Okay, let's move on to how to add portfolios to your resume. This will usually come in the form of a hyperlink that the recruiter can click on, and it's basically a piece of supporting material for your resume. This could be a case study, a white paper, published work or anything else. The hyperlink should be the name of the project and come under its own section in the resume. If you know that your resume is going to be seen in electronic form, then you can use hyperlinks. Then it doesn't matter what the URL is because you have your title text anyway. So it might look like this. In hyperlinks for material like this is great as it gives the recruiter the option to look at your previous work in more detail, and it also does not take up room on your resume. It's especially useful in the creative and tech fields. But what if they have received a printed copy from the HR department? You can always write the hyperlink out, but if the link is long, well, it's not going to be very readable. It's going to be a pain for them to type out, and it's going to take up ter space on your resume. So you do have the option of using a link shortener such as short URL or Linkly or tiny URL. There's quite a few out there if you just Google Link shortening. The other advantage here is you can actually track when that link has been clicked as well, which might be quite interesting and useful to use. Up to you if you actually want to write out the links. On the one hand, it guarantees that the recruiter has the link information even if they get a printed copy. On the other hand, some links can take up a lot of space, and the recruiter may be reading your resume via an electronic device anyway, like a computer or a tablet, and they can use a link there. Or if they get a printed copy, maybe they can ask HR for an electronic copy if they really want to use that hyperlink. That's, of course, assuming that you have actually applied and sent in your resume electronically. 26. Highlight Your Portfolio and Key Achievements: So for some more inspiration, here's how you can present your portfolio effectively. This would work if you wanted to add a link to your own website portfolio on your resume. Have the project title, start with a clear title for each project. This helps in quickly communicating the theme of the project. Then a description, provide a brief overview of the project, including its purpose and objectives. For example, the title might be E Commerce website development, and a description developed a fully functional ecommerce website aimed at improving the online shopping experience and increasing sales. Then put your role. Specify your role to highlight your level of involvement and responsibility. For example, your role might have been lead developer. Next, put down the technologies or tools that you've used, list the technologies, tools and methodologies utilized. And well, this gives the employers insight into your technical proficiency to those of those hard skills. So in our example, for a website development that you did, the technologies might be HTML, CSS, JavaScripts, Node JS, for example. Okay, the next section is key achievements. So highlight notable achievements or outcomes such as if you met deadlines or exceeded performance targets. So, for example, you would put achievements, launched the website two weeks ahead of schedule, which led to a 20% increase in sales in the first month. And then you might want to put impact. So describe the impact the project had on the organization, client or end users. Quantify results wherever possible as well. So for example, the impact for this example would be increased user engagement by 35% and reduced the bounce rate by 15%, and you could also put challenges and solutions. So discuss any challenges faced during the project and how you address them. Employees value problem solving skills and your abilities to overcome obstacles, you see. For example, you might put the challenges where you integrated a complex third party payment system and the solution, you researched and implemented a robust API solution that ensured seamless transactions. Might want to think about having a team collaboration element to this. If applicable, mention how you collaborated with team members, stakeholders, or clients. This emphasizes your communication and teamwork skills. For example, you could say that you collaborated and worked closely with designers and marketing teams to ensure that the website met branding guidelines and business objectives. And you might want to put some portfolio samples in as well. So include links to relevant samples of your work such as code repositories, design prototypes or project demos, ensure they're easily accessible and showcase your abilities effectively. So for coding, you might want to give your Github repository or for anything else, you might want to make a video and give a little bit of a demo on that video to showcase what you did. And you also might want to include client testimonials or references. So if you receive positive feedback from clients or stakeholders or users, consider including experts or references to validate your accomplishments. For example, a testimonial might be from somebody who said John's work on our ecommerce platform was outstanding, resulting in a significant boost in our online sales. His technical expertise and dedication were evident throughout the project, and then obviously finish it off with who that person is who's given you that testimonial, their position, and which organization they're from. An extra note to add here, what if you have received awards and honors? So like with certifications, only display the awards and honors where they are relevant to the position that you're applying for or when they highlight your expertise and achievements that are relevant to the role. For example, academic awards can be particularly important for recent graduates, whilst industry specific awards are key for experienced professionals. Focus on awards that demonstrate the skills or achievements that are pertinent for this particular application. Instance, an outstanding sales Achievement Award is highly relevant for a sales position, while a best research paper award might be more suited for an academic research role, but not one and the other way around. If it is the case that you have numerous awards, then well done. But also, you might want to think about creating a section in your resume specifically called Awards and Honors to feature the top awards in detail and mention additional ones briefly. You can also use the trick of linking to your LinkedIn profile where you can put the awards down on your LinkedIn profile with more detail there. Ultimately, you need to be clever with your resume, especially in a competitive market. So presenting your awards, certifications, and portfolio projects in a structured and detailed way can effectively demonstrate your qualifications and professional growth with a rich and well thought out resume. This approach will make your resume stand out and give you a strong professional image to potential employees. 27. Finalizing Your Master Resume/CV: Okay, now that you've got to the end of this section, you know a bit more about how to fill in each section of a resume. I recommend that you revisit your master resume and the information you put down in the exercise at the start of this section. If you haven't already, you'll want to start moving this information into a master resume. Have another look at the templates and see the links I've provided you with for some ideas. Remember your master resume will be more than two pages because it's all of your information written formally so that you can just cut and paste bits into your targeted resumes, which are custom made resumes for one specific job that you're going for. I'm about to explain targeting in the next section. So here's a tip. You might also want to update your LinkedIn with what you've created for your master resume and keep your LinkedIn up to date, as well. You could even use your LinkedIn as your master resume. It's up to you. You do want to come back to this exercise every few months just to make sure that it's up to date and that you're ready to go if you do see a job come up or an opportunity, it's great to know that you've already got your linked in up to date or your master resume, absolutely bang up to date. So it's going to be a fairly painless exercise to start building a targeted resume for an opportunity that comes up. Okay, next, we'll be looking at how to tailor a resume to one specific job. This will require some research and skill in choosing the relevant skills and experience to display on a two page resume specifically for that role. That's what we're going to cover next. And after that, I've got exercises for you to either practice making target resumes or actually start making a target resume for the job that you're going for right now. I'll see you in the next video. 28. Section 5 - How to Write an Impactful Cover Letter: Okay, let's take a look at the all important covering letter. So in this video, we're going to explore how to create an impressive cover letter and how to adapt it into effective email outreach. Whether you're applying for your ideal job or reaching out for networking opportunities, these skills will help you to make a strong impression. So begin by introducing yourself and mentioning the role that you're applying for, include where you found the job listing. For example, you might want to say, Dear hiring manager. I'm writing, and by the way, that's if you have a name, then put their name. But otherwise, the hiring manager. I'm writing to express my interest in the marketing specialist position at your company, which I found advertised on LinkedIn. With my background in digital marketing and a passion for data driven strategies, I'm eager to contribute to your team. So that could be the start of the initial hook. The next part is the body paragraph. So the next paragraph would be about showing your enthusiasm for the company and the role. Mention something specific about the company that attracted you. For example, you might say, I am particularly interested in your company's initiative of use of AI in your recent marketing campaign. Your commitment to leveraging cutting edge technology aligns perfectly with my professional interests, and I'm excited about the possibility of being part of such an innotative team. For the next paragraph, highlight your relevant skills and experience with concrete examples. Explain how these align with the job requirements. So using our example, you might say, in my previous role at such a company, I led a social media campaign that boosted engagement by 40% in just six months and developed an email marketing strategy that increased lead generation by 25%. These experiences have refined my skills and make me a strong candidate for this position. In the closing paragraph, reiterate your enthusiasm for the role and invite them to contact you for further discussion, provide your contact details. So an example would be, thank you for considering my application. I look forward to the opportunity to discuss how my skills and experience align with your needs. Please feel free to contact me at my number or via email and then obviously leave your email address. Kind regards, Michael James. That sums up how to write your cover letter quite simple, keep it to those specific points. So now let's have a look how to adapt your cover letter for email outreach. For email, create a clear subject line, create a subject line that is engaging and directly relates to your application. For instance, you might put enthusiastic marketing specialist interested in joining your company. Start with a professionalized greeting. If you know the recipient's name, then use it. If not, a polite general greeting is fine, just like on the covering letter. For example, you say hi recipient's name or hi hiring manager or to who it may concern, something like that. Open with a strong introduction. So state the purpose of your email and mention your role or the role that you're interested in. Example would be, I hope this email finds you well. I'm writing to apply for the marketing specialist position at your company, which I came across LinkedIn. With my expertise in digital marketing, I'm excited about the opportunity to contribute to your team. Show enthusiasm, of course, and express why you're interested in the company and mention something specific about them just as you did with the covering letter. Again, the example is, I'm particularly drawn to your company's recent AI driven marketing campaign. This innotative approach aligns with my career goals and excites me about the possibility of contributing to your team. Also highlight your skills and experience, summarize your key qualifications and achievements concisely. For example, at ABC Limited, I led a campaign that increased social media engagement by 40% and developed an email strategy that improved lead generation by 25%. I believe my background makes a strong fit for your team, and, of course, include a call to action. Invite them to discuss further and provide your contact details. So you could say I would be delighted to discuss how my skills align with XYZ companies needs. Please let me know a convenient time for a chat. I'm available at this number or via this email address. And close with a professional sign off, of course, finish with a polite and professional sign off, like, thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Kind regards, Michael James. And there you have it. By following these guidelines, these simple straightforward guidelines, you'll be able to create a standout cover letter and if needed, adapt it into a persuasive and effective email outreach. 29. How to Research a Company: Okay, so when it comes to your resume, and I've said this multiple times, but probably the most crucial step is actually researching the company and the role that you're applying for. This might seem like a time consuming task, especially if you're applying for lots of roles, but it will significantly enhance your authenticity and relevance of your application. So let's discuss why this research is vital and how you can effectively incorporate it in both your resume and your cover letter. First, get to know the company's history. When was it founded? What are its major milestones and notable achievements? For instance, if you're applying to Apple, knowing its journey from a garage startup to a global tech giant can help you to understand its innovation driven culture. For example, in the professional summary bit right at the top, you might say that you are an enthusiastic software developer with a keen interest in contributing to Apple's legacy of innovation, inspired by its transformation from a startup to a leading tech company. The covering letter, you might say, I am particularly drawn to Apple because of its remarkable journey from a modest garage start up in 1976 to a global leader in technology. This history of innovation and resilience resonates with my own professional path in software development, where I have consistently sought to push boundaries and deliver cutting edge solutions. Next, look into the company's culture and values. Check employee reviews on sites like Glass stor, explore the company's social media profiles and visit its website. Look for values that resonate with your own. If you're applying to Google, you might find that the emphasis on collaboration and inclusivity matches with your own professional ethos. For example, on a resume under the skills section, you might put team collaboration and diversity advocacy aligning with Google's inclusive work culture. Or on the covering letter, you might say, Google's commitment to fostering an inclusive and collaborative work environment is one of the main reasons I'm excited about this opportunity. My passion for teamwork and diversity has driven my career choices, and it is reflected in my successful track record of leading diverse cross functional teams to achieve common goals. Following this, familiarize yourself with the company's products or services and its market position. Understand who their competitors are and their market share. For example, if you're applying to Tesla, know about their electric vehicles and their mission to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy, this is crucial. Example, when highlighting your experience, you might write that you contributed to the development of an innovative renewable energy solution paralleling Tesla's mission to advance sustainable energy. Or on a covering letter to Tessler, you might put that Tesla's pioneering efforts in electric vehicles and sustainable energy are truly inspiring. My background in renewable energy technologies positions me to contribute effectively to Tesla's mission of accelerating the world's transition to sustainable energy. My project on improving solar panel efficiency aligns directly with Tesla's ongoing innovations in solar energy solutions. Another tip is to stay updated on recent news about the company. Have there been any mergers, acquisitions, or changes in leadership? For instance, if you're targeting a role at Disney, being aware of a recent acquisition, such as when the acquired 21st century Fox could provide insightful talking points. For example, on the project section of your resume, you might write something like you developed multimedia content strategies during industry mergers, enhancing adaptability skills which are relevant to Disney's recent acquisition of 21st Century Fox. On the covering letter, you might write that Disney's recent acquisition of 21st Century Fox has opened up exciting new avenues for content creation and storytelling. This strategic move aligns with my professional experience in multimedia production, and I'm eager to bring my expertise to help Disney leverage these new assets to create compelling and diverse content. Addressing this information in your resume cover letter shows that you have understanding of the current challenges that the company is going through and how you particularly fit in and can bring some solutions to those challenges. And it shows that you've done your research on the company and that you're up to date with the current understanding and information about what's happening in that company. It's very proactive, and it really does show enthusiasm for you wanting to work for them. 30. How to Research a Company's Financial Health & Leadership: You could review the company's financial health and examine their financial statements and annual reports. This is particularly important for assessing the company's stability. For instance, if you're applying to Amazon, understanding their consistent revenue growth and profitability can give you confidence in their long term stability. Looking at a company's financial statements gives you a good indication of the health of the company and therefore what challenges they may be facing. Example, in your resume under the achievement section, you might write that you enhanced financial efficiency in previous roles, contributing to stable revenue growth, which is in line with Amazon's robust financial health. And for the covering letter, you might say that Amazon's consistent revenue growth and profitability over the years give me confidence in its strategic direction and financial health. This stability and forward thinking approach are what I seek in my next career move where I'm able to contribute to maintaining and enhancing operational efficiencies. These tips on research just show that you understand the organization, where it's at at the moment, and what challenges it might be facing. And then you're selling yourself as somebody that can either work in that environment or somebody that actually has the solutions that they need for the challenges that they have. But what if your research into the company shows that there are challenges and they are not in as strong a position as one would hope? And that can quite often be the case. I mean, it might be why they're hiring somebody in the first place. So alternatively, you can leverage your research to show how you can add value to the company. For example, if the company is weak in one area, you can address this in your application and offer a solution based on your past experience. For example, if applying to a struggling retailer analyzing their recent financial losses and understanding their leadership strategic initiatives can help you tailor your application to highlight your skills in financial restructuring and turnaround management. So again, you are seeing the problems that they have, and you are telling them that you understand this, that you have got experience in providing solutions to those specific problems. Ultimately, when hiring, that's what they're looking for. And you are basically telling them that you are the person that they've been looking for because you understand where they're at, their problems and you can bring the solutions that they seek. So for this example, under the achievements on your resume, you might write that you led financial restructuring initiatives to previous roles, reversing revenue declines and aligning with the strategic needs of companies in distress. And for the covering letter, you might write that the recent financial challenges faced by your company as seen in the latest financial reports, present a unique opportunity for impactful leadership. Your leadership team's commitment to revitalizing the business alliance with my experience in financial restructuring and operational optimization. I'm confident that my background in driving turnaround strategies can contribute significantly to restoring financial stability and growth. Now, just with that example, you might not want to dive straight away into saying that they have financial challenges or any other challenges that they're experiencing unless it's understood public knowledge and you don't think that they would take it the wrong way. It is good to get to the point, though. So if they are having financial challenges or any other challenges and it's been talked about and everybody knows it, at least you're diving into that particular issue that they're facing. So these are just examples. Don't copy them exactly. Use your own judgment. But I provide them for food for thought on how to approach this and how to sell yourself. So by demonstrating and understanding the company's current struggles and showcasing your relevant experiences, you can position yourself as a valuable asset to their recovery efforts. It's the same with any stated mission or objectives that the company might have. How can you help them to reach their goals? Applying for a job, whether for a senior or junior role, researching the leadership team can offer valuable insights into the company's culture, values, and strategic direction. For a senior position, understanding the leadership team is essential for aligning your experience and vision with their expectations and company goals. This involves examining the backgrounds of the leaders, the leadership styles that they have and their key achievements to assess how you might fit in into their strategic framework. For a junior role, it's still important to research the company's leaders because it can help you to understand the company's ethos, culture, and operational dynamics, as the leaders public profiles and statements are often reflected in the organization's priorities and work environment. Overall understanding the leadership team helps tailor your application and interview responses, demonstrating that you not only are a suitable candidate for the role, but also aligned with the broader vision of the company. Now it is always worth trying to gain insights into what the employers are looking for. So check out the LinkedIn profiles of the current employees in similar roles to the companies that you're targeting and interested in. You can also see if you can find the recruiter on LinkedIn if you have their name. Analyze their career path and the skills that they emphasize and their professional achievements. This can give you a clearer idea of what to highlight in your resume to show that you are the right fit for the job and for working for them. For example, if you're interested in a project management role at Cisco, look for the profiles of current Cisco project managers. Notice the common skills that they have and compare these with your own skills to identify any gaps that you might need to address. Finally, research the company's CSR initiatives, which is corporate social responsibility initiatives. These might include sustainability efforts, community engagement, and diversity policies. For example, if you're applying to Unilever, understanding their commitment to sustainable living plans can be a powerful connection point. In this case, for your resume, if you did any volunteer work, for example, you might say that you led sustainability initiatives in community projects, reflecting Unilever's CSR focus on sustainable living. Or for the covering letter, you might say, Unilever's dedication to sustainability and social responsibility is truly commendable. My personal commitment to sustainable living and my professional experience in developing eco friendly packaging solutions aligns perfectly with Unilever's mission. I'm enthusiastic about the opportunity to contribute to such meaningful initiative. Understanding these key elements, you can tailor your resume to highlight how your skills, experiences, and values align with the company's needs and culture. This not only makes your resume more authentic, but also shows that you've done your homework and you are genuinely interested in working for the company. 31. How to Research a Company Recap: Okay, this was a lot of information to take in, so let's recap this information. How to apply research in your resume. So in your professional summary, briefly mention key elements of the company's history and values. In the experience section, highlight projects and roles that directly relate to the company's current needs and initiatives. And skills include skills that align with the company's culture and market focus. And for achievements, showcase accomplishments that mirror the company's milestones and market performance. When it comes to applying this research into your cover letter, for the introduction, briefly introduce yourself and mention the roles that you're applying for in the company background, highlight your understanding of the company's history and major milestones. For alignment with values, discuss how the company's values resonate with your own for the product and service knowledge that you've gained, show your awareness of the company's offerings and market position. Current events knowledge that you found reference recent news or developments and their impact on your interest in the company and how you can help. For the CSR alignment, talk about the company's CSR initiatives so that you're showing that you're aware of them and how they align with your personal and professional values. And in the conclusion, summarize why you're excited about the opportunity and how you can contribute to the company's success. Researching the company in depth not only allows you to write a resume and cover letter that not only highlights your qualifications, but also resonates with the company's ethos and objectives. This alignment will significantly boost your chances of standing out to potential employers and demonstrate that you're not just fit for the role, but you're also fit for the company culture and mission. So by investing this time and understanding the company and the role that you're going for, you can write a more authentic and targeted and impactful resume and covering letter. Strategic approach shows employees that you are proactive, well prepared, and genuinely interested in becoming part of their team and this particular role. And not only that, but if you do start to research the organization and the role, you might find that it's not exactly what you wanted, and you can save some time by carrying on with the application. Alternatively, you might find out that, yes, this is absolutely the kind of role and the company that I want to work for. And you'll be enthusiastic about that, then, and try and get that enthusiasm across in your covering letter and resume. Now, some of that will come across naturally if you are genuinely enthusiastic. And that enthusiasm will carry across into the interview, as well. And this is really going to stand out to the employer because not only want somebody that's capable, but they want somebody that really is a good fit for their team and somebody that really wants to work for them and be part of their team as well. So it's just really going to help you in the long term. Yes, it's a lot of work, but it's really, really important to do this and make sure that what you're applying for is the definite thing that you want to get. And even if you're not as qualified as other candidates, say you've got other candidates that are a lot more qualified than you, but they have spammed out their application and their CVs without tailoring it, without really knowing what they're particularly going for. And then you come with a more tailored resume and you get across just how much you want to work for this particular company. Even if you're not as qualified as other candidates, you're really going to stand out to potential employers. So it will give you an advantage, and it's definitely the right thing to do because you want to make sure that you are applying for the right company that's a good fit for you and some of that you actually want to work. Okay, so I've stressed the importance of this enough. Let's move on to the next video. 32. Leveraging LinkedIn to Network, Reach Out, and Being Proactive: So in today's digital age and social media age, networking is a vital component of any successful job search. LinkedIn, of course, in particular has revolutionized the way that we connect with employers and show our professional profiles off. In this video, I'm going to explore how to effectively use LinkedIn to connect with potential employers, leveraging your resume to make a case for yourself, even when there are no current vacancies with that employer. Let's start by having a look at how to use LinkedIn to connect with employers. So LinkedIn is more than just an online resume. It's a dynamic platform where you can engage with industry leaders, join professional groups, and stay updated on industry trends. You should start by creating a comprehensive LinkedIn profile that mirrors your master resume. Your LinkedIn profile should include all of the key elements of your resume, your professional summary, work experience, education, skills, and accomplishments. Example, if your master resume highlights your experience in project management, ensure your LinkedIn profile includes detailed descriptions of your roles and responsibilities and projects and achievements in this area. Add any certifications or courses that you've completed to further validate your expertise. Now, the great thing about LinkedIn is unlike a resume, it doesn't matter how long it is. You're free to put lots of detail in there. Have mentioned a few times that less is more on a resume, and this applies a little bit still to LinkedIn, but you do have a lot more freedom to put more information in. What you can do is you can use LinkedIn as an addition to your resume. You can actually say on your resume to find more information on your LinkedIn profile. So that's a top tip. You can create links from your resume, directly to LinkedIn to direct the reader from your resume to the information that you talked about in LinkedIn. And it's a great way to not only show them your LinkedIn, but any other information that you've got on LinkedIn that might not be on your resume, so that could give you a bit of a boost. It's always worth trying to gain insights to what employees are looking for. So here's another top tip. Check out the linked in profiles of current employees in similar roles to your target companies. Analyze their career paths, the skills that they emphasize, and their professional achievements. This can give you an idea of how to position yourself and highlight any relevant experiences in your resume. Example, if you're interested in a marketing role at Google, look at the profiles of current Google marketing employees. Notice the common skills that they have, such as search engine optimization, for example, or content marketing and data analysis, and compare these with your own skills and identify any skill gaps that you might have and need to address. This is also another really good tip for learning how to move up the hierarchy or to get a job in a sideways industry or basically just if you want to move from where you are now to where you want to go. A look at people already there, have a look at the skills and the things that they're highlighting and go and get those skills if you don't have them. If you do have them, make sure you highlight them on your resume and LinkedIn profile as well. Here's another top tip. The other benefit of using LinkedIn is that you don't need to wait for job postings to appear. If there's a company that you're particularly interested in, reach out to them directly or even find the hiring manager if you can, and reach out to the hiring manager directly on LinkedIn. Send a tailored version of your resume along with any potential messages, explaining why the company interests you and how your skills align with their needs. This is going to go down really well because employers want somebody that's enthusiastic to work for them and be part of their team. So if you're proactive, not only is it showing the enthusiasm to work for them specifically, but it's showing how dynamic and proactive you are as a person, as well. That is something that employers really value. For example, you could say, Hi, my name is John Doe, and I've been researching your company and its innovative work in renewable energy, and I'm impressed by your commitment to sustainability. With my background in renewable energy technologies and project management, I believe I could be a significant contribution to your team. Attached is my resume for your consideration. I look forward to possibly discussing how I can contribute to your ongoing projects. More than likely, the hiring manager will click on your LinkedIn profile, so make sure it is complete before reaching out. Being proactive like this shows initiative and desire to work for that particular company. The thing is, if they aren't hiring at the moment, you could be wasting your time. But then again, it's never really a wasted time because we are talking about networking, and they may pass your details on to somebody else or another company. Is similar if they like what they see in your resume. And also, when positions come up, you might be at the top of the list for a direct reach out rather than going to application or posting a job advert. If they've got your resume already and they remember you and like what they see, then it's a lot easier for them to just directly contact you than go through a big recruitment drive. Now obviously, it depends on your organization. Some of them have to go through a big recruitment drive, but that's another story. They aren't hiring, but they are impressed with your resume, they might reply, and they might keep you in mind for any future openings or even mention someone within their network that might have an opportunity for you. Another tip if the company is a small company, but it is growing and it's thriving, you probably have more of a chance with this strategy than applying for or reaching out to an organization that's stagnating and overly bureaucratic, where there are multiple layers of sign off needed before they can open up a position. So I say, this technique is worth a try for a company that you really, really want to work for, and you never know by putting yourself forward, something might come of it. It's another way of expanding your network, no matter what happens. It's always good to reach out. So having an excellent resume is even more important than reaching out to a company that doesn't currently have any vacancies. Your resume needs to stand out and make a strong impression to keep you in mind of the hiring manager when they do finally start to recruit. Not convinced, take a look at this. According to a study from Job V, 87% of recruiters find LinkedIn to be the most effective tool for vetting candidates during the hiring process. Additionally, a well optimized LinkedIn profile can increase your visibility to recruiters by up to 27%. Let's take a look at some real world examples. IBM often looks for candidates with specific technical skills and strong professional online presence. By examining profiles of current IBM employees, you can identify key skills and certifications on highlighting your LinkedIn profile and resume. Looking at Salesforce, Salesforce values community engagement and thought leadership. Following their employees and engaging with their content can help you understand what the company values in its team members. Craft your LinkedIn profile and resume to reflect similar attributes and experiences. So in conclusion, networking on LinkedIn is a powerful strategy to enhance your job search, and certainly shouldn't be neglected. By populating your LinkedIn profile with information from your master resume, analyzing the profiles of current employers in your desired roles, and proactively reaching out to potential employers with a tailored resume, you can significantly improve your chances of landing your dream job. It's about presenting a strong idea of who you are, what you've accomplished and how you can add value to the company. Using LinkedIn effectively, you can build meaningful connections, stay informed about industry trends, and position yourself as a top candidate in your field. Networking is really important, so make sure you don't neglect it. I do have another course about job seeking where I talk about using LinkedIn and seeking jobs and networking a lot more in that course. Okay, let's move on to the next lecture. 33. Section 6 - Identifying Key Skills in a Job Description Exercise: In this exercise, we're going to take a job description that might have been advertised, and we're going to pull out the skills that are inside of it, because it's going to help us with the next exercise where we're going to take the information that we've written down and match our skills to the skills that have been requested and help to build up that targeted CV. So this is the first stage. You've got your job description here, we're going to use a scrum master as an example. It's somebody that coaches and facilitates a team and what we want to do is find all the skills that are inside of this job description. This job description is just a template that comes from monster.com. I took it from there just for illustration purposes. So you can read through it, and well, firstly, we have actually a skills section here, so we can already pull out a whole bunch of them from this job description right here. So, um promotes Agile values. So you need to know about Agile values. You need to be good at selling and promoting those Agile values and principles. You have to have outstanding communication, facilitation, negotiation and coaching skills, knowledge of the Agile framework, et cetera, et cetera. So these are more like hard skills, story splitting, estimating. But these are about task estimation, how much time they're going to take, et cetera. So that section you can jump to and take some skills, but don't just look at the skills section of a job description. You want to read the whole thing, and you want to pull out as much information about skills as possible. So we've got coaches here, coaches the scrum team. So somebody that needs to have respect in the scrum team and who is able to coach, not manage, but coach uses agile practices and principles. Okay, we had that in the skills section, so we've got that. What you want to do is you want to start highlighting. These words. And we will use what we've highlighted in the next exercise because we're going to note them down in a table, and then we're going to start matching our own experience to evidence that we've got these skills. So let's just have another look at some more for an example. Gets the team to a high performing level by recognizing areas of strength and improvement and employing appropriate again coaching and development techniques. So we've got coaching again, we've got recognizing areas of strength and improvement. So, you know, these are all soft skills for this particular role. If it was a developer's role, it might say having an understanding of certain coding languages. If it's more of a manual role, say, somebody working for construction, and it's about understanding electrics, maybe somebody that understands about plumbing. Get the idea. But what you want to do is you want to highlight these words. Now, there is another short cut tip for you as well. I do recommend doing this manually because you really want to understand this job description. At the end of the day, your potential employer has taken the time to put this information out there, and this is what they're going to interview you on as well. So you really need to know this job description really, really well. Here's some more hard skills. Understanding about Canban and Scrum would be some more. Lots of them are standing out to me here. But I won't go through the whole thing right now. But what we'll do is I'll show you a little bit of a shortcut. You might want to do this afterwards. But if we go to a large language model like Grock or Gemini, let's go to Grock. I've got one open. So, it says, ask me anything. So you want to use a prompt like this. Here is a job description. Please find all the skills requested. And then I'm just going to paste it in there. And let's see what it comes back with. I mean, you can use Microsoft copilot, Google Gemini. You can use CHAT EBT, of course. They're all large language models that will work for this. You might want to try multiple ones and see if it comes out with different outputs, and maybe Gemini will find skills that Grock didn't find, for example. Okay, so these are the skills that it's pulled out, guiding and coaching on Agile practices, recognizing areas of strength and improvement in teams, those two. I certainly pulled out. Ensuring understanding and adherence to scrum theory practice and guidelines. Yep. I just jump down here, resolving team impediments or team conflicts, for example, contributing to the advancement of Agile practices, leadership coaching and supporting for Agile teams, et cetera, et cetera, planning problem solving. Here we go. So in the next exercise, I'll give you a quick sneak peek. I've actually pulled out some of these skills and I've populated them. So leadership skills, problem solving skills, facilitation skills, agile methodology expertise, stakeholder management, communication skills. They were all in that job description. So you can take what it outputs here and from what you found when you went through it manually and highlighted or underlined the skills yourself. Just get all those skills out. If we can get them all together, then when it comes to writing the resume, you can draw back on your work experience and education and everything that we've written down in previous exercises, and we're going to match them up to these skills. To not only show that we have these skills, but to prove that we have them through actual tangible evidence and what the result was of when we applied these skills to really make an impactful resume that shows that we have all of the skills necessary for this role, and hopefully that will get us through to the interview where basically, they're going to ask us the questions that we supply on these to get some more information, to really reassure them that we're the right person for that role. Okay, so have a go at that. And the next exercise, I'm going to look at that table that I just showed you, and we're going to look at matching matching your skills to the skills in the job description. 34. Aligning Your Skills with Job Requirements Exercise: In this exercise, we're going to have a go at targeting our skills to the role. We're going to have a look at the job description, and we're going to have a look at the skills that are mentioned in it, and then we're going to have a look back at the experience that we've got, and then we're going to try and match our experience to the skills that have been requested. So there's three steps to this. The first one is to highlight, make a note of all the skills that have been asked for in this role. So take the job description, and you might want to print it out, get a highlight take a pen, underline, that's what I used to do. Or if you're doing it online, you just find a way, put it into your Word document and highlight there's multiple ways to do this. What you really want to get at is just finding the skills that they're requesting. Then you're going to after highlighting making a note to them, you're going to write them down into this table. Now, this table's been prepopulated with a scrum master roll got one down here for product owner role as well. I will give you a blank copy, of course. But for the purposes of this example, we're looking at scrum master role, and let's say we've got a job description, and it says that the applicant should have leadership skills, problem solving skills, facilitation skills, stakeholder management, understanding the agile methodology, of course, etcetera, et cetera. So that's the first step. Find all the skills in the job description and mark them down in this table. The second one is to prove that you have them. So step two is the second column. You're going to have a look back at what you've written down for your previous exercises where we've looked at our career history and skills that we've got, and start writing. Okay. For each skill, what evidence do you have that you meet that skill? What I want you to do is note that down in the second column. Now, I've put one example for each one here, but it might be multiple examples of you can use to prove that you've got that skill. In fact, I'd expect that you would have numerous ones. And what we're going to do is maybe use all of those, or we might just use the best ones in order to keep it focused. But for now, let's just write all of the examples you've got where you have met those skills. And because we've already done the previous exercises and we've thought about this and written it down, and we've worked with our supporters, hopefully, this information should come quite easily to you. Okay, the step three, the next and final step is to give some detail about the benefit that you brought with that skill. So you're looking at the second column, and you're basically detailing with some metrics. Remember what I said about metrics to prove and give tangibility to what you've been able to achieve with that skill. So for example, problem solving is a soft skill, and you might have an example in your past work history where you've resolved team conflicts. And what was the output of that team conflict resolution that you did? So it's great to say that you've resolved team conflicts, but what we really want to make this impactful is to prove that you have the ability that you're saying that you have yes, you can say, I have resolved team conflicts, and I have experience in that. But let's say that you mediated a critical team dispute which led to a 30% reduction in project delays and improved team cohesion. So you're making it tangible and you give in an actual output. So you're showing that your output focused, as well. And it just reads like it's more trustworthy, reliable, it gives context, and it's more believable. Problem is, you might not have those metrics. I often a lot of jobs, you might not be measuring those kind of metrics. So what do you say if you've resolved a team conflict? Well, in your notes, you're going to have a lot of information, hopefully, or at least some information about what happened in that situation in that context. Remember if we get through to an interview, we're going to have to describe the situation, what you did and what the outcome was in the star format. I taught more about that in my interview skills course, which you can take following this if you're interested. Okay, I've just taken a little bit of time there to write down an alternative for this if you don't have a hard metric like 30%. When it comes to team conflicts, there's something known as the Tuckman stages of team development. Let me quickly show you. So when it comes to team or group development, we have a forming stage, which is when people are getting together, being introduced to each other. And with any team, the first stage is something called storming. So this is where people are getting used to each other's personalities, trying to understand where they naturally fit inside of that social hierarchy. There's going to be people that don't get along, and there's going to be people that do get along as well. But that is the storming stage. And that is where you're going to find some conflict and some problems. People tend to be very polite at first, of course, getting to know each other. But when you start getting to work, irritations start to appear, and this is, as a scrum master, something that you can help with to try and make sure that the team along and solve any issues with that team development. Then norming is when people settle down and start to understand their ways of working together, and then they become a performing team, which means that they become effective at what they're doing. And then finally, you adjourn, so the team breaks up, it's finished, it's completed, it's task. That's just a quick overview of Tuckman's stages of group performing. So as a school master, what you might say is that your team was a newly formed team, and we're experiencing the forming and norming stages of team development. And I successfully resolve many conflicts to guide the team into a performing team in less than three months. So you've got a bit of a metric there. What you've said is you've had lots of nothing specific, but lots of generic conflicts. You understand about team conflicts. You understand about the stages of team forming and that there are going to be some conflicts within the norming and the forming stages. And you've got experience with that, and you were able, and this is the output, able to make them into a performing team in a certain time frame. That is a very scrum master and team leader specific example. But hopefully, you get the idea as to what you can put down as a benefit of how your skill helped. So they're asking for problem solving skills, and you might say, Yep, Okay, I've got resolving team conflicts. You might have other skills around problem solving, such as software testing, perhaps through your experience of software testing, you had loads of experience in problem solving. So you might say something like through software testing this particular product, I found three critical issues which I then later solved with my problem solving techniques of organizing a group brainstorming session, doing independent research, and then trial and error testing in a dev environment. So that's showing that you actually had a process and what you did to solve that problem. And then also remember we need to say what the benefit was and give it that tangibility. You might say that you were able to solve those problems within one week of first identifying the issue. So it shows that you not only identified the issue, you had a process around problem solving. You're experienced in problem solving. You actually can tangibly say what you did, and then you can say that it was a benefit because you successfully solved the problem and you did it within a short period of time. So that's just an example, another example that you could put down for problem solving. So just I'm just throwing these examples out there. You're going to need to practice this, and it's another skill that you're going to get better at the more that you practice it. But hopefully, I'm getting the idea across on exactly what you need to do in order to make your resume really stand out and really provide evidence that you have the skills that they're requesting. Okay, so time for you to give it a go if there's a role, particular role that you want to go for. And if there isn't one, maybe just find one online and just do this for practice because the more you do it, the better you're going to get. Take this template, keep it, make copies of it, or just keep it on file because you're going to come back to this every time you want to target your resume to a particular role. We're going to do this every single time for specific roles. So go ahead, have a go now, and if you've got a role in mind, go give it a go and good luck. 35. Selecting the Right Education & Qualifications Exercise: Okay, in this exercise, we're going to target your education to the job description. Now, don't worry, it's not as involved as the skills one that we've just done. There's only so much education that you're going to have, and there's only so much education that they're going to ask for on the job description. So what we're going to do is we're going to really try and target and focus our education for the role. So we might mention a lot of our education, but which ones do we want to highlight and which ones do we want to add more detail in? Of course, we're going to focus it to the job that we're going for. So we've got three tables here and the go in order of importance, I suppose. So the first one is pre university. You don't want too many or too much about pre university qualifications. The big ones are university qualifications or whatever is your highest level of qualification achievement. It might not be university. It might be higher education or it might be high school, whatever it is, obviously, the higher the education, the more prestige and weight it has behind it. Okay, so what you're going to do is you're going to have a look at the job description again. I've got the ScrummsterO open still, and we've got the education section here. So what is it that they're asking for? Interestingly, on this one, they want a bachelor's degree, and then the rest of it is experience in here. So the education section, I think they've only asked for a bachelor's degree. I'm surprised that it doesn't say that you need a scrum master certification up to a certain level from a known training provider like scrum scrum.org or Scrum Alliance. Might say, it says immediate working knowledge of Microsoft Office, but maybe it would say it wants Microsoft Office certification qualifications to prove that you understand Microsoft Office to a certain level. So let's pretend that that's what this particular job is asking for. If we go back to this, so one pre university qualification or training course that you would like to highlight, so have a think about what you've got. Personally, I've got GCSEs. That's what we do in England for somebody of my age, and I've got numerous GCSEs from A to B level. Which ones are the most important ones for this job? Well, I'm probably going to say that I've got GCSE English, and I've got GCSE in math. So they might be the ones that are most relevant to this role, so I might want to put that down and say what grade I got and which school I got it from. Also got my A levels. Now they're the next level up from GCSEs. So I might not put my GCSEs at all. I might just say that I've got my A levels. One of them was in business management, so I could put down that I've got my A level. And that is definitely going to be relevant for a leadership role in a team like a scrum master. Okay, two training courses that you think are relevant to the vacancy. So, for me, personally, I am qualified up to Scrummster level three from scrum.org, which is the highest level. Another qualification I might want to put down. Well, I've got Scrummaster one, two, and three, but by saying I've got three, you know, out trumps the other two, so I might want to put down my product owner qualification. Also from scrum.org. Or, in this case, this is just a bespoke. This is a very specific example to me, but I've also got Scale Scrum, SPS. Now maybe scale Scrum is more important for this particular company. This will depend on some of the company research you do and trying to find out what particular challenges are they experiencing. So for this example, they're looking for a scrum master, and they might be struggling with scaling Scrum. Whereas, they have a product owner. That's not what this role entails. It's good to show that you have product owner knowledge, of course. But if I was to pick two, I think I'd probably go with scale scrum. Depends on what I found from the research in the company and a bit more about the role to find out what their particular challenges are. But if I had to pick two, I might put that down. Now, there's nothing stopping you, adding another column to this table. Maybe you want to put three down. The idea is to try and focus it, just keep it to a small selection of your most relevant education because those are the ones you're going to focus on and highlight. It depends on how you lay out your CV. You might put a bullet point list of all the education and training that you've got, but you might want to talk a little bit about these particular training courses, or you might want to make them more visible on the CV. Put them near the top or something like that. The idea is to use this exercise to focus the training on specifically the training that matters most to this particular job description. So the next table is the highest level of education that you have, and you might want to go into a bit more depth about the higher level education because it's the one that has more prestige. It's the one that impresses the employer more. So for me, that's I've got a BA honors in business management, and I did a bunch of modules in there. So some of the modules I did was project management and team management, for example. So those are the most specific ones to this particular role. That's it, really. It's an exercise just to really hone in your education to the particular role because that is what you want to highlight the most when you're writing your targeted resume. Now, you've got a choice when it comes to writing your resume. Do you highlight your education above some of your experience? Maybe your education doesn't really fit with the job description as well as the previous experience you've got? In which case, move the education further down and highlight the experience that you've got and move that further up on the resume. Okay, I'll leave this with you. You can find the template, print it out, fill it in. Save the template again because you're going to do this every time you apply for a job because you want to target your education for every specific role that you apply for. 36. Combining It All Together Into a Targeted Resume: Following on from those exercises, which have really helped you to focus the various elements of your resume to the particular job that you're currently applying for. I now I want you to take a resume template and begin crafting your targeted resume. So, of course, refer back to your master resume. And hopefully, at this point, most of your targeted resume can be a copy and paste from your master resume. But you will need to make tweaks to ensure that the targeted resume is absolutely in line with this particular job description. So follow all the guidance that I've laid out in this course so far, and I'm sure you'll do great. 37. Available Resume and CV Templates: Okay, it's time to talk CV or resume templates. And I've put together a document that will take you to lots of places or sources where you can find resume templates. I'll go through this entire document for you, but you can find it in the resources section. So these are the options I found, and there's so many options online if you just do a quick Google search or if you use whatever search engine you want to use, let's start with Canvas. Canvas are very popular design and drawing type of websites you can create video thumbnails on it. You can create images, documents, all sorts of stuff. And it's very user friendly. I use it a lot. I'm very familiar with it. And one of the things it has is an awful lot of resume templates to check out. Got a link here that takes you to some example resumes that have been found online. They're not real people. They're just examples. And I've used them only in the videos of this course. So don't take them literally. They're not real people. But if you want to have a look at them, have a look at the templates and the formats, then you can via this link. So I'll just scroll down on these ones here quickly so you've got an idea of what's here. Okay, now, you won't be able to edit these yourself, but what you can do is you can print them if you want. What you'll need to do is sign in to Canva, but it is free. There is a paid option for Canva, of course, but you can do an awful lot of it for free, and you'll be able to tweak these templates for free as well on the free account. Now if you do want to change them, then you can just click here and what this is going to do is it'll open up those templates on your own Canva account. So if you're signed into Canva, it'll open them up and you can change them from there. If not, it'll prompt you to make an account. I'll just show you Canva very quickly. I will need to go to my other page. So this is what Canva looks like, and it's really user friendly. You can move things around, and it does give you the option to align different elements, which is really, really useful. You've got all of your resumes here. You can see the amount that we've put together for you. Now, you have the text. You have so many different types of texts that you can use. Showing you how to use Canva is a bit out of scope for this course. But there are plenty of courses online where you can learn how to use Canva, and there's lots of YouTube videos as well that you can that you can go to to find out how to use Canva. It is very, very simple. You can upload images, you can change the sizes of things. It's just really user friendly. I really like it. And when it comes to printing, you get the option to download, and then you can download as a PDF, if you want, and you can choose which pages or just the current page, et cetera. And what that will do is it'll download it into a PDF format. You can also download it as in fact, you want a PDF for print or standard for our purposes for a resume. Okay, so that's Canva. Canvas really good. And oh, yeah, I was going to show you all the different templates that you might want to find. So we can go to Design up here. And look, we already have resume and CV, but you can type it in here. And you're going to get loads of templates from Canva to use. So what you do is you just create a new one, basically, and then there you go. You've got your options to make changes and look at how many different visually appealing resumes that you can choose from. So, Canvas fantastic. I recommend checking out Canva. Next up, we've got Microsoft Word. So if you have Microsoft Word and you're comfortable with Microsoft Word, then you might want to use Microsoft Word. It's the same kind of thing, really. I mean, you've got lots and lots of templates here. So if you click on that Link in the resources section, you're going to find lots and lots of templates for your resume. Just pick the one that you think is one, the one that you like, and two, the one that is best for the the job that you're applying for. Remember, we want to tailor these for the job as much as possible. So that's an interesting one with charts and things like that. Laura and I talk about using charts in the resume and how it might not be a great idea because the 80s system can get really confused with graphics like this. So that's something to think about if you want to put charts and graphics in. I will talk about testing your resume with Atis checkers at the end of this video. So yeah. Okay, so basically, if you have Microsoft Word, if you're comfortable with Microsoft Word, there's a whole bunch of templates there through that link. Now, this one is really interesting. So for those of you, and I'm sure you've all got LinkedIn, LinkedIN actually has the ability for you to download your resume via their resources function. So if we go to my LinkedIN, for example, here I am. So if you want to connect with me on LinkedIn, then send me a connect. If you're taking this course and you want to say that you've completed the course and got an interview off the back of it, if you want to put a post out and tag me and learn management online into that post, that will be absolutely fantastic. Okay, so on your LinkedIn page, you'll have resources, and then you can save to PDF. What that's going to do is it's going to save your profile as a PDF, and then here we are. So this is my LinkedIn as in resume format, basically, now, it doesn't look the best and LinkedIn is a different thing. It's not a resume, but a lot of your information might be on LinkedIn. So this is a great starting point. You can actually just copy and paste. I mean, you can copy and paste from your LinkedIn profile, but you might find this a bit easier to use to pull the data from. And if you work in somewhere where you don't have Internet access, you've got it as a PDF. So that is a really interesting option for you there. Next up is, well, we've got resume.com and resume IO. So these are websites, and their specific function is to help you to write your resumes. So you'll find a few of these if you do a Google search. Let's just check out a couple of these here. Now, obviously, they're going to want you to make an account, and there will be a what you want to check with these ones is what do you need to pay for because they'll take you so far with your resume and then no doubt there'll be something at the end that says that prompts you to perhaps pay or subscribe or something like that. So that's just something to be aware of. But if they are charging for their service, then there should be extra options and things that make it worthwhile for that money. And that's going to be integrated ability to make use of AI to give you a ideas of what skills to put down and things like that. So, in fact, this one is integrated with Indeed, in fact. So just go back to the resume resource here with resume.com, you can login using your indeed account, and they integrate with Indeed. So if you're using Indeed, you might want to go to this one and try it out and see if that one is the one that you want to use. Resume dot IO. You can create a resume using a blank template here, and then it has an AI integration into it that helps you to write your resume. So you might want to check out resume IO. That's what this one looks like. I won't go too far into depth on this one, either. I mean, you can check these out in your own time. I'm just really pointing out that these things exist and what they're about. Got my perfect resume, so that has over 40 Atis friendly templates and scans your resume for the eightis compatibility. So what this one is doing is it's like the other two. It's like resume at Io and resume.com, but it also has the Atis checking facility inside of it. You might want to go ahead with this one because that is a really useful function. There are other websites that do Atis checking, which I'll have a look at at the end of this video. But this one has it integrated into the their resume buildo and here's an idea of some of their templates. Okay, next we have Adobe Express. So basically, this is just like Canva, but it's Adobe. So if you use Adobe, you might want to check out Adobe Express and make use of that, as well. Obviously, it's another alternative to Canva and Word. So if you're happy using Adobe, if you have a Adobe account, then this is one to look at. So in conclusion, Canva and MS Word. Well, based on my experience, I like Canva. I use it a lot. It's really easy to move textboxes around and elements around and line them up. So I like Canva. If you're more comfortable with Microsoft Word, then you might want to start there. If you've already got a nice LinkedIn profile that's already tailored to the role that you're applying for, or even if it's not, you could use it as your master CV and then take the PDF and then just pull bits from it. And also, if you want to make changes to your LinkedIn profile, but you want to save what you had previously, then that's an option. You can download it as a PDF and keep it as a version and then tweak your LinkedIn profile, and then if you want to go back to what you had before, then you've got it saved because you downloaded it as a PDF. Then obviously, resume.com and Resume IO and my perfect resume are similar services. But my perfect resume has the Atis scan for Atis compatibility. 38. Online ATS Checkers: Also, though, Job Scan. So if you want to check for your itis compatibility, Job Scan is the site that comes up top of Google Search. So let's just do a quick Google search for that. So 80s checker. And what you'll notice is JobScan comes up number one as the sponsored result. There's some others here. These are all sponsored. I like to go to the one that's at the top of the actual search results, which is difficult to find these days. But Job Scan is one of the main ones. We've also got free eightisRsume checker here as well. What they'll do is basically you will upload your resume. You'll pick the job description, and then it'll ask you to sign up. You'll ask for an email address before it gives you the results. So let's just try a couple. So let's just take one of those mock example resumes that are found online, and we'll put it into this Atheist checker. So we'll take this one sales director, area sales director for this one, two pages, and an AI developer from Richard Sanchez. So I'll take these two for an experiment. So we've got page three and page four, on page five, and page six. I want two different downloads. Page three and page four is one. We'll download that one as a PDF. And we will download the next one as well. So that's page five and six. Okay, so I am in I have now downloaded that as a PDF. Here it is. So this is the CV. And I've got the other one. Richard Sanchez, the AI developer. So let's go with the AI developer and let's upload his CV. Whilst that's running, we'll do the other one. So I'll upload my resume and we'll do the other resume for this one. See how they're getting on. Okay, so this one asked for a job description. So she was the sales director. Sales and marketing executive. And it's come up with a job description based on sales and marketing. But if you have the job description, which obviously you will have, you can paste it in here, and it'll match your resume for that particular job description. So we'll scan that one and we'll see what we get. We'll just go back to this one and this one has scanned our resume. And what it has given us is a list of ideas in order to improve for the Atis. Okay, so what this has done is it's not asked you for a job description, but it is given some recommendations on how to word things in this resume based on quantifiable achievements from previous predictions held, which is something that obviously I talk about in this course. So it wants the quantifiable achievements. If we go to the job scan for the sales director, It's checking for more things. So didn't find an address. Sales and marketing executive job title provided found in the job description was not found in your resume. Yeah, so basically, I mean, we've taken a fake resume, which is used only as an example, and we've put it to a fake job using example an example job description. So they're not obviously not going to match perfectly. Therefore, there are going to be issues. Now, hopefully, when you do this for real, you'll have a real job description and you'll have tailored your resume to that real job description, and the advice that gives you will be very tailored to that specific job description that you're going for. And I think you'll find it really useful. I like job scan. I think it gives you a lot of information about what to improve on your resume. I like the fact that you can actually paste in the real job description and do a check against that. As the other one has given us more generic advice on our example resume on how to improve it. So have a play with these and see which one you think. It's best to try more than one. And then after you've done a few, you'll probably find which one you like the best. And if you want to pay for their services, then so be it. But obviously, try a few, see which one you like the best, and then you'll get comfortable using a particular one, and you'll end up finding that's the one that you like to use going forward for every job that you apply for. So that's all I want you to cover in this video. It's a resource for lots of different templates for your resumes, and you've also got lots of different options when it comes to doing the Atis checker, the Atis compatibility checking, as well. That's what I wanted to bring to light in this video. So go ahead and make your resume now, tailor it to the job, run it through an eightis checker, and good luck. 39. Section 6 - Leveraging AI to Enhance Your Resume/CV (and What to Avoid): Welcome Laura to my CV and resume writing course, which you've helped me to create. So I thought it would be fantastic to get you on the course to give your first hand experience as a experienced recruitment consultant who's had lots of experience helping customers and clients craft their resumes and get them ready and get them into jobs. So I'd like you to introduce yourself and give us a bit of information about your very experienced background. Cool. Yeah. Yeah, so I'm Laura. My background is in HR recruitment. I've got in excess of ten years experience working in both big corporations and also smaller businesses. So I feel like I've got quite a good overview of what employers look for, you know, depending on the company size. I think in my time as a recruiter, I worked it out. I've written, I think in excess of 1,000 CVs, so breaking that down, that's 75-100 a year that I've personally written myself, but then obviously being a recruiter, I can look at, you know, 20, 30 CVs a day if I'm recruiting for, like, one position, and that spans from entry level to C suite. So a really, really good overview. And I think because of the length of time that I've been in this industry, I've also seen the changes as, like, ATS has come into play, AI, COVID, you know, all these things that have had a really dramatic impact on the landscape when it comes to applying for a job and specifically writing resume or CV. That's a really good point, actually. So I've got a list of questions here, which we'll go through. But obviously, bringing up AI is a good one to ask, as well. I'm thinking, top of my head now, questions around that would be, is it a really good idea? How could you use AI for crafting your CV? Maybe we should start with that question, if that's okay. So you can use AI, and I teach this in the course to help a little bit with making sentences sound more professional. One big thing that I say in the course is don't put your personal information into any large language model because it's going to then use that information to train on their dataset. But you can use it for spell checking and grammar and re rephrasing words and maybe trying to help with brainstorming some keywords that you want to use to get past hiatus. But is there anything that we can use live language models for and what we definitely shouldn't than the things that I've just explained? Yeah. Yeah, of course. Like, don't put any personal information into, you know, any sort of AI and yeah, there are different tools that you can use. So like you said, with the grammar, so you could use a tool like Gramoe. You know, that's just a simple copy and paste in there, and it'll just check it for any spelling errors. You know, anything that you might have missed. That's a really, really handy tool for, you know, just an extra QA. From a recruiter perspective, I would really emphasize doing something like this, just because, you know, if a CV comes to me and it does have errors in it does stand out. It really does, because, you know, that's your first representation. That's your kind of first chance to make an press as a recruiter, you have received somebody's resume or CV. I'll just say for the sake of this video, we say CV over here in New don't we're probably going to say that. So you advise a recruiter to take the digital CV that's been received and then drop it into something like Gramily just to check for Grammin and then it's going to give a really quick indication as to how many spelling mistakes are in there, and that gives you a sense of this applicant hasn't really tried that hard to make sure that they're yeah. Yeah, and it sounds cutthroat, but the issue is, I suppose as a recruiter is. Like I've just said, you know, I can receive I can receive hundreds of CVs in a day, but I'll whittle them down to 20 or 30. And then that's just a really easy way for me to just sens check and and it is cut throat, and it is harsh. But equally, everyone's got access to those tools now. So it's just something to really be aware of. So so that that works from both an applicant and a recruiter perspective. I suppose if you're writing a CV and I guess we'll talk about the ATS. But when you're job searching, copy and paste those job descriptions into a TBT or Bard or whatever it is that you use and ask it to pull out keywords. Do that maybe across five or ten and then you'll see the keywords that keep. Don't do one, two or three. Don't do a small amount because it won't mean anything. Go 5-10. Then when you see these consistent keywords popping up, you can even put it into Excel and just run a quick pull out the most common words. AI like that because what that will do is really position you in a way that when you submit your CV. You're ticking all those keywords. You're ticking all those key boxes. And the chances are whoever's recruiting for it has written the job description. So those words resonate in their brain. So your CV, it's like, Oh, okay, then, okay. You know, and it just kind of that does two things, actually. It will get you through an ATS, which we'll talk about. But also, when it gets in front of a person, which is the hardest thing, really, I think, when it comes to writing a CV these days. When it gets in front of that person, that person automatically connects with that CV and can see that the person that's written it has really taken the time to read the job description and write a CV that speaks to that position. Yeah. You said, not one or two, but five or ten. Sorry, what were you referring to there? Yeah, sorry, with the job descriptions, don't put one or two or three job descriptions into an AI system and ask it to pull out keywords. You need to put in some real data. You need to put in five or ten. So what I'm saying is, if you chose three job descriptions and put it in it might give you like, weird results. Whereas, if you put ten in, you've got more chance of seeing the consistent keywords. So it's a little bit more time consuming, but it's definitely worth the. So are you saying that if you pick a certain field. Say, I want to become I don't know, like a developer or a firefighter, two very different jobs there. You go and seek out job descriptions for ten firefighter job descriptions or ten developer. Then put all ten of them into a large language model to find commonalities between the same kind of key phrases and keywords for that field. Okay. Exactly. Because a lot of it's down to the lexicons. So if I'm speaking on a corporate level, you know, we'll use words like stakeholders. You know, entry level CVs, you don't really need to use terms like stakeholders. It's not really relevant. It's not really appropriate. But what you would find is if you're applying for I don't know, like a director level, then the term stakeholder would come up as a keyword and it's used in every job description. So that's just a really simple example. It will just tell you what is and isn't appropriate because let's say you are writing a CV for a mid or an entry level position and you use all these key phrases like stakeholder or, you know, all those types of things. You run the risk of your CV not getting anywhere because the ATS and the recruiter is going to look at that and be like, they rather be confused. I'd be confusing. Yeah. That's where AI, I think, actually drags people down also speaking about AI. I can tell when a CV has been put into Check GBT. And if, let's say you're applying for, um, I don't know. A cleaning position, let's say, right to the cleaning position, right to the skills that you've had, you know, about teamwork and all that sort of thing. What I've seen, and this is a recent example is somebody who was actually playing I think it was a cleaning position in school. And they've got a really impressive background. But what chat chPT I think it was that they used. What they actually did was just completely, like, hyper every single word within the CV, so that when I read it, I was like, don't even know what you've done, you know. So you're saying it kind of takes out the personal aspect. Generalizes a lot of the terms. When you're going for something maybe bespoke or even entry level and you want to see your character. What's going to happen with a large language model as it's going to depersonalize it. I'm thinking that in certain corporate jobs, maybe more senior jobs, everything becomes management speak and and you can maybe get away with it a little bit at that level because people are in that world all that lexicon, as you say, of seeing these buzzwords and sort of understanding what they are. But then it doesn't really set you apart, I suppose. And you haven't got your personality across. So that's a good top tip. Yeah. Nice language models can run the risk of stripping your own, you know, your own unique personality away from the resume, and that might be a detriment to yourself. Yeah, exactly, exactly. So by all means, you know, use AI to check it and whatnot. But the first draft should definitely be something that you've written yourself. You know. And then if you need a little bit of help, just like fine tuning, then fantastic. But yeah. There's only so many people in this world that can spearhead an initiative. And I think I've read about 20 million DVs. And I'm just like, Okay, somebody else spearheading an initiative, but it doesn't actually tell me anything. And this would be something to discuss, as well. It doesn't actually tell me anything. Yeah. Like, spearheaded it to what? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, something I mentioned in the course is to actually quantify what you've done that metrics. Otherwise, it's all a load of buzzwords and it's all very sort of sounds impressive. But if a reader then comes away from it and doesn't actually understand what it is physically actually that you've done, then it's one, it probably isn't going to set you apart. And two, it leaves, they're not as confident, I suppose, they've got doubts or questions around your actual capabilities. And that's going to come out in an interview when they start asking you and probing you those kind of questions. Exactly. Exactly. 40. ATS Explained: How It Works & What You Should Know: Got a question. So, off the back of this then, what will the recruiter do to get those? Let's move on to the Atis sort of questions because it's kind of related. So one thing you mentioned is using the job descriptions to find buzzwords or keywords in a field. Would a recruiter do something similar? And then how do they set up their Atises to explain a bit more about how the Atis works, if you would. Yes. I'm assuming it's keyword matching, but somebody has to set which keywords are needed. I'm also assuming that some of these Atis systems already have a library, a database of keywords that if you say, I am looking for this role on a drop down, it's going to come up with a set of keywords that maybe they can then choose. Yeah, please explain a bit more the process from a recruiter side on that. Okay, so there are many different ATS systems out there, you know, in a lot of the major recruitment platforms now they'll have them built in. So really, it's a tool to help recruiters save time in physically looking at CVs that don't match. So, you know, that's the objective. Mm hmm. And I personally, rather than just taking an ATS as it is, which you're completely correct, they do have dropdowns, so it could have a drop down for I don't know, customer service. Mm hmm. I like to program my own with my own keywords. So it would really depend on the recruiter. I would say probably that if you're applying for a position directly with a company that use an ATS, they will have programmed that really specifically, you know, with really, you know, specific keywords. So that's something to bear in mind. If you're applying with a company, really bear that in mind, you know, when you're looking at that job description because they will have set it up like that. If we're looking at recruitment agencies Mm hmm, they will have more than likely just ticked every box because they want the influx of CVs. They want that. But then what will happen is they'll segment them. And especially if we're looking, you know, in, like, I don't know, project management, engineering, that sort of thing, you'll have somebody who's really specifically, again, like, reprogram that down. Mm hmm. And so that's why I say, like, to really look at the job descriptions and like I said, like, think about who you're applying for the position with. Are you just sending it to a recruitment agency? In which case, you don't really need to think about that, but you would need to think about it. Where's it going to go down the line? And if you're applying directly with a company, then you know, just really focus on their values, you can get really granular with it because they'll have in there in their ATS. They will have everything to the values. Right. Yes. So if you say like words like in power, for example, like, be really, like, keen on those types of words. So yeah, so that's how it would be set up. So it's a very simple system. But unfortunately, like, especially if somebody tightens it a bit too much. Yeah. I can really alienate applicants. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Okay. Just to make sure I got this right there. In summary, there's two different situations. One where you're recruiting direct or you're filling out a resume direct to a company that's put out their job, and then there's the recruitment agencies. And when it comes to the company, you've actually got a lot of opportunity as an applicant to do a lot of research on that company and really look into the job description as to how they've set it up for their specific needs and what they want in an applicant. You can also have a look on LinkedI to other employees that are if the LinkedIn's are available to see what kind of experience and qualifications they've got. When it comes to recruitment consultants, it's a bit more general. So you can't really do that level of research. So you're looking more around industry specific keywords. But then the recruitment agency will let you will have less of a tolerance, larger tolerance on the amount of CVs that the ATS will let through, whereas the company will be more specific. So in a nutshell, if you're applying for a company, and I've said this in the course, it's really, really important to do specific research on that company in that job and really tailor it. Yeah. But you can because you can research it. Whereas, if it's a recruitment agency, don't you can't tailor it as much. So you just do what you can in terms for that specific field. That's why I say if you're going to take the keywords for the ATS, that's why I say look at five to ten job descriptions. Yeah. Because what recruiters might do. I mean, a lot of recruiters, if they're recruiting directly for a company, they'll usually short list and then physically give those CVs, well, that's it physically, you know, like on email, the company will get those CVs. But if we're talking, again, for a big organization, it might go through an ATS, which is why I say take five to ten job descriptions, find the keywords out of there, because then if it is going to a recruiter, you've kind of, like, touched all bases, you know, with the sometimes with a recruiter, you don't actually know what companies they're working with. So it's really difficult because obviously like to keep that to themselves and stuff, which is fine. You know, it's part of the industry. But yeah, that's why I say, you know, look at a few different positions, especially, you know, if it makes sense, you know, geographically for where you're looking for a role because you don't know if the recruiters recruiting for that position, especially if you kind of ticks all your boxes and stuff. So yeah, things to really bear in mind. 41. Resume Mistakes to Avoid and Pro Tips: The first question was on my list. So we've covered quite a bit, that's on my list already, which is great. And I'm just keeping an eye on my list to make sure we cover everything that I've got here. So the first question I was going to be, what are the most common mistakes and what sort of one or two things to do that really helps. Okay. Don't overcomplicate your CV is one of my, I suppose, top tips. There's a lot of tools now like Canva and tools like that, which will create a CV and it'll be really nice looking, don't get me wrong, those CVs have a place in the world, you know, designers or anybody who wants to really show off, that sort of thing. So far creative, site. Yeah. Whereas, you know, if we just kind of look at, you know, your corporate positions or something like that, I would just really stay away from that and focus more on the content of the CV. Equally, the layout is very important. So I've seen an influx of people using tables and boxes and sometimes graphs on their CV. Mm hm. And this can be for skills and things. So not something that would need to go on a graph necessarily, but it'll be like, you know, skill set and then it'd have out of 100 where they place themselves. And Bunk, it's a great visual. Okay. I went far. The minute that goes into HTS, it gets jumbled, it doesn't read it. I cannot read it. Yeah. So you've immediately thrown yourself out the pile. That's an error that I see. Like we said, the proof reading. And then also the personal statement. Your personal statement at the top of the CV should not be war and peace. It should be six lines tops and the content of that should be what you've done. And the value that you're going to add to the company that you want to join. You know, that's what that should tell the reader. Yeah. It shouldn't be a mini cover letter, which is often what people use that space for. Yeah. So a tip there, I suppose, is, you know, really thinking about and bullet pointing, what do you want to do and what value do you want to add? And just write that into a few lines. You know, you don't need to build on it because that'll be in your CV. All the information will be in your CV. So that's another one. And also, consider, um, putting a headline on your CV. A little bit like you've got on LinkedIn, where you've got your name and then you've got a headline. That's a really good way of getting some keywords in. So for example, on my CV, I've got my name, my contact details, a line break, and then I've got a headline, which is like recruiter, dash, HR, dash consultant. You know, I just says what I do. Says what I do. So that's a tip as well, because, again, it helps with the ATS, and as soon as a recruiter opens up that CV and sees that CV, they know what you're almost like, identifying us, you know, like you're saying, This is what I'm bringing in, these skills. And yeah, I think, and then not having it's a bit controversial this, but I think it's a hill I will die on. Don't go over two pages on your CV. And I know that's really, really controversial, especially if you go to LinkedIn and it's a big discussion. But I just feel like if you can't get it into two pages, you've probably not thought about it enough. You've probably not really honed in on what it is you're trying to say. Yeah. And I know there's the temptation you don't want to leave anything out. I do completely understand that. But it won't add any value. And sometimes ATS has stop reading after two pages, so I. It's a waste of time, yeah. There's a skill in itself in being able to be synced with what you're writing and what you're saying. There's a supposedly a quote from Einstein. I don't know if it's a real Einstein quote, but it says something like, if you want me to explain something, I can't remember it now. If you want me to explain something in depth, no. In fact, I can't remember the quote. I'm trying to paraphrase it. It's basically around I can talk if you want me to talk for an hour, I don't need any preparation. But if you want me to talk for a minute, then I'll need a day's preparation, something like that. You know, I get the sentiment. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I think that's it. I think it's looking at the position that you want to go for, looking at your own goal, and thinking, what are the most valuable things that I have achieved? Not done, achieved. That's very key. That's going to paint a solid picture. For the company, for the recruiter. You know, and it is hard to do. It really is. That's why, you know, a general tip is to don't go over ten years of experience. Like, ten years of work history is fine. Unless, obviously, you know, unless you've been at a company for ten years, then putting a previous position on there wouldn't hurt. But, you know, if you've done two year stints or three year stints, which is, like, the average, you don't need to go over ten years, generally. Yeah, that's a good tip. It's not what you've done. It's what you've achieved. Yeah. I like that. That's good. 42. Why Your Resume Isn’t Getting Responses: Okay. Next question on my list. How do you assess the effectiveness of a resume? So what I'm thinking around this is, from your point of view as a recruiter and experience with this, should somebody be worried if they've sent out their resume to five jobs and not heard anything back, or is that pretty average or I suppose it's completely going to depend on the field and the sector and experience level. But yeah, that questions basically give us a ballpark idea of how many CVs people usually send out before they get a bite on an interview. And secondly, like, what other ways are there to assess that your CVs actually decent needs major improvement? Yeah. Yeah, it's a good question. Often if somebody approaches me for help with their CV or a CV rewrite, and they will say, Oh, I've applied for five jobs, ten jobs, and I've just not heard anything. It must be MEV. Mm hm. And yeah, and, you know, that's a very kind of, like, surface level because then it's what industry are they in? How's that market doing? You know, are they applying for something that's too senior? Like, there's a lot of lot of things in play with this. I think, on average, I think it's 20 to 25 CVs that gets sent out for maybe two or three replies. Right. But that's very generalized. You know, um I think that if you are constantly applying for jobs and you get that as well. I hear people say, I've applied for jobs all week and I've not heard anything back. First off, have a look at when the end date is on that job because you might not hear until a couple of days before, so that's good to hear. If you're applying directly to positions and you're not hearing anything back, then that's one thing. If you're sending your CV to recruiters and not hear anything back, then that generally doesn't bode well for your CV, because what that means is, like, bear in mind, all recruiters want is CVs. You know, CVs to them are like a step to commission or whatever it is, you know, that's, you know, so your CV can be gold to them. So if your CVs have been rejected by recruiters, and I'd say, if you reach out to five recruiters and don't hear anything back, then you should probably contact the recruiter and just say, can you give me some feedback on this? Yeah. And another thing, if you're applying for a lot of jobs and not hearing anything back, but you feel like you're just applying apply and applying it in, think about how much time you're putting into applying to each job. Think about how much thought and consideration because applying for a job to some people is just going on, indeed. And you've got your profile set up and you just apply, apply, apply, apply, and, you know, you can apply for five jobs in 5 minutes more than likely, you know, if you're doing it that way. So I suppose, my advice is if you're really genuinely sitting down dedicating time to updating your CV and doing company research and doing all that good stuff and you're sending your CV off, you should hear within 20 applications. You really should. Um you know, if you're sending them to recruiters and not hear anything right, then I'd probably ask for feedback on that because they should be biting your Randolph. They should at least want a conversation with you as a bare minimum. A good recruiter would more than likely, they can see that there's value in your CV, but it's just not written very well. And I've done this in the past, would probably give you feedback? Yeah. Straightaway and say, Look, you're fantastic, but we need to know reach. So yes, it's a really hard question to answer because then you will get people, and I've seen this on LinkedIn who say they've applied for four, 500 jobs and not heard anything. I can't really comment on those situations. But yeah, I'd say within 20 to 25, you should be hearing back. Yeah, that is fantastic information, to be honest with you. So if there's anybody out there taking a course who sent five, ten CVs, unpolished, unresearched, and thinking, Oh, I haven't feeling despair because they haven't heard anything back. Yeah, you know, get the CV sorted, tailor it, get better at writing CVs, really research the company, then start sending them out. And if you're not hearing back after ten or 20, definitely reach out to a recruitment consultancy and try and find some or any mentor, anybody that's got. Exactly, exactly. Might be 43. Leveraging LinkedIn: The Power of Your Online Presence: Okay, so next question, how important is it to have a digital portfolio or online presence linked to my CV? So talking about LinkedIn and things like that here. Yeah, I'd say I'd say it's critical, to be honest. I'd say that's as important as your TV. Mm hm. So, you know, it used to be that if you wanted to buy something, the first thing you'd do is go to the website of that company, you know, and have a look. Yeah. And I feel like people need to look at LinkedIn like that. Mm hm. So a CV might spot your interest and especially in a competitive market, especially when you're applying for jobs on LinkedIn. Mm having a strong LinkedIn presence, yeah, is absolutely key. And Again, this will be in, you know, there's a scale, isn't there on there. So, for example, I work with a lot of university graduates, and the first thing that I speak to them about is getting, you know, a strong LinkedIn profile. And we talk about, like, a personal branding piece. Like, how do you want to be seen? You know? So that's looking at the cadence, like how often you post on LinkedIn and what types of things you post about. I do think it's just really important that you don't have to be one of these thought leaders, if you will, I know that people find the whole LinkedIn thing like a little bit cringy. Mm hm. But if you're in an industry, let's say, I don't know, we'll go with AI because it's everywhere. You want to be an AI, you are AI, and these things coming out all the time from Forbes, Harvard, like loads of credible sources. Even just posting about those things and just letting people know that you're in the loop with the industry and you keep up to date. Yeah, is very helpful that doesn't Well, for me personally, I um, I'm really interested in business as a general subject, business growth and where it's going. So for me, you know, I listen to a lot of pocas and I read a lot of articles genuinely, I think that if you're an individual who is genuinely passionate about the industry that they are in or want to work in, then actually, it's not that much work. You know, actually. So yeah, then especially for myself as a recruiter, if I then look on someone's LinkedIn and, you know, they clearly are, you know, in this industry and they're interested genuinely, then that speaks volumes to me about the kind of attitude they're gonna bring to that position, I think. Yeah, yeah. You know, builds that sincerity and that credibility. You know, silly things like, make sure that you've got a good profile picture, and by good, I mean, does professional. You know, people can see your face, smiling, look approachable. I know, again, it sounds silly, but, you know, think about it as you're going into a shop if someone's stood behind the counter and they look a bit, you know, dull, you're not going to approach them. So literally, think of it as like, you know, Just on that. What's better better then a nice looking sort of not I don't want to say selfie, but something that looks like you're a human being or a corporate, sort of like it was shot for the corporate magazine. Yeah. Blurred background or, like, white background sort of picture. You know that type of min on one hand, you got super corporate talking head sort of style, and the other one, it's like, it's a nice picture, but I can tell that this person's, you know, a person with a family and kids or whatever it is. Which W two, do you think? Um, I would say the latter, to be honest. Yeah, I think having just something that tells a little bit about your personality, you know, it doesn't you know, even if you're out having a walk and you managed to get a nice picture. Like I said, I wouldn't have one like stood on a mountain where you can just see your body. You want to be able to see your face, like, clearly. You know. But yeah, I prefer those types of pictures. Corporate pictures definitely do have a place. Mm hm. 100%. The reason that I say about having a more, like, humanized profile picture is because, like, a lot of data and a lot of studies show now, and I've definitely seen like a change that people are more attracted to people rather than an image simply. So we could even go as granular as looking like influences. Influencers used to be these kind of really high fly in, this that and the other. Nowadays, we're looking at, like, people just getting ready for work and doing the commute to London and things like that because it's things we resonate with, it's things that speak to us. So kind of following that change. Yeah, I definitely say having a friendlier profile picture is better. I know we've spoken a lot on that, but I do think it's really key. Like I said, it's a first impression. And yeah, that's great. You've answered my question there. I've got another question though about the LinkedIn. So there's two aspects of it, or maybe there's more. Let me know. But I think having a nice profile on your LinkedIn and it tells your skills and what you've done with not what you've done, but what you've achieved. On the LinkedIn. And then there's also the posting aspect of it. So the posting is going to get you out, get your name and your image out there as you post. People are going to find you more as you're posting, and you're also showing people that you're interested and on top of your the information in your craft. So no. The first question is, is there any other element to it that I've missed there? And the second question is, how often and how much would you say people need to post? Yeah. Okay, yeah, those are good questions. I mean, another thing that you could do, I suppose, is if you're interested in a company or something like that, follow them, re post their stuff, comment on their posts, even add insight. If you can add insight to something, then that's great. It's a good way of building relationships. So years ago, a couple of years ago, there was a company that I was really interested in working for on a consultancy basis. I just really liked their culture and the way that they run the company based on their LinkedIn, and I'd like to engage with a few of their posts. That, you know, genuinely stood out to me. And then I reached out to the director and just said, Look, I apologies for a bit, and I really like what you do. Is there any chance we could have a discussion? Mm hmm. And just by having that I felt so comfortable reaching out, it felt so sincere. So I would definitely say to anybody, you know, just do that, you know, really and help keep your eyes on the prize, as well, because you might think, Oh, you know, I'm not good enough to work at blah blah. I don't have the experience to work at Did. But if you kind of grow that relationship, it's a really good way of growing your network, which is another buzzword that I really don't like, but it's true. Yeah. And you can form these really natural relationships. And then all of a sudden, you know, you can easily get referred across to somebody. Like, Oh, yeah, she comments on that a lot, or I've spoken to her. She's a nice girl, like, that sort of thing, or, you know, she's impressive. This is a background. And before you know it, you're kind of, like, naturally building this around you. Yeah, that makes complete sense, one of the things we say is you need to research the company. And that's not just about researching the company to know how to sell yourself to them, but to understand what that company is about, what their culture is about, what they're trying to do in the world, and do you actually want to work there? And the thing is that if you're engaging on LinkedIn and keeping up with your craft and sending out posts and reading other people's posts and getting an idea of these different companies, you're getting a little step closer to what it might actually be like to work for that? Is that company because you've seen the staff members posting. And then when it comes to one, knowing that that is the company that you want to go for, you feel more confident about it because you understand that company a bit better and the people that are in that company and what they're talking about and what they're doing. And then, secondly, you've already built up that knowledge. So when it comes to writing in writing your resume for that company, you've got a wealth of information to draw on and it just becomes all very natural, doesn't it? I want to work for you because I agree with your core values of this and I understand that you're having these particular this is your position in the market and these are the strategies that you've got and the problems that you've got, and this is where I feel I can fit in everything just feels very genuine around especially when you get interviewing, once you get to interviewing as well, that will continue to show through. By building that really solid base online, which is why I said it's critical to have this online. You know, then it naturally you could write a good cover letter and you can update your CV, and then you get to interviewing stage, and you feel very comfortable and confident going in there. You know, it's almost like familiar. So, yeah, it's critical. I can't emphasize, it's just it's a free resource, and it gives you so much information. There's one devil's advocate I will say about this, though, and it's an unfortunate thing about psychology, basically, is if there's a company that you have identified as that is the company I want to work for. And I feel like I've been chatting to, you know, replying to the staff's posts and everything, you can build it up in your head, and then yeah, when it comes to actually applying or maybe getting into an interview, all of your hopes are pinned on this particular position, and sometimes that can really stress us out, and we can end up going into an interview and not doing as well as we would have done if we were a bit more nonchalant about it in a way. Yeah, true. So it's a tricky one that one. Yeah, it's true. I mean, I wouldn't necessarily recommend focusing on one company, maybe a few companies. But yeah, I think you're exactly right, having your heart set on one. It's not applying for Uni, isn't it? You get your top three, but your top one that's what you're aiming for. No, you're completely right, but unfortunately, I think it is just one of those things. But you are giving yourself the best chance and you know, you know, I speak a lot about interview skills and things. And if it is the case, like you've just said, being a bit vulnerable at the beginning and saying, you know, this means so much to me, and I just hope I perform as well as I want to in this interview. And I hope my nerves don't get the better of me. Being that transparent and vulnerable at the start of an interview, if that is the case, you know, it wouldn't hurt. Yeah, yeah. It has to be genuine, but I get what you're saying. Yeah, yeah, that is a good thing to let them know that you really want to work here you're nervous. Yeah. Okay. 44. Crafting Targeted CVs Industry/Region Focus & When to Add a Photo: So the next question I've got, is there any industry specific tips for CV writing? I mean, this touch on this loosely, but yeah, we've already talked about design, roles, and you can maybe afford to be a bit more creative with the look of your CV, whereas corporate a bit more straightforward. Is there any other tips that come to mind that you'd like to share? Yeah. I mean, I guess, if you've got a position or you want to go into a position that would require a portfolio or something like that, I would always say just a bit similar to your link to just have a link on there like a webpage that would take you elsewhere. Don't try and cram. And anything onto there, probably cause I've seen that before where someone isn't quite sure how to position what they want to tell on a CV ends up making the CV a little bit busy or it's too long. So yeah, so if it is like a design position or even like engineering or, you know, in construction or anything like that, just a webpage. You can easily build a webpage on something like weeks for free and just have it there. Just have a landing page with all your stuff on. So that's one thing I suppose. Direct to LinkedIn and just have it on LinkedIn, I suppose. Yeah, yeah, or you could do that, yeah. Whether I suppose suits best what it is that you want to display. How many CVs are actually printed out these days and handed over or somebody will print them and sit down in the cafe and then go through them? Because the thing about having electronic links, I mean, they can follow it if it's written down. Yeah, yeah. If it's a hyperlink, they can't, I mean, are they gonna bother to type it in? Probably not. Whereas, if it's electronic and it's a link, they probably just click onto it. I don't know how many are actually printed. Maybe it's not that many or maybe people still like to do that. Well, so when I was working, I suppose, in a corporate environment maybe seven years ago or so, the initiative was brought in about the save paper. Mm hmm. And I really think that that's had an effect, 'cause I used to love sitting down with a stack of CVs, and like you said, I'd go to a cafe, I'd bring them home and just go through and highlight and whatnot, you know, kind of, like, yeah, just go through them, check them. I honestly can't say I've printed a CV. Gosh, probably in five years, maybe. I've not. And I can't I can't say that I've seen anybody, you know, if I work in like a co working space. I can't say that I see anybody now with bits of paper as a general rule, let alone print out a CV. So I just don't think it happens. I think everything's online. I remember our HR department they would strip the CV for any demographic pea And then what we wouldn't get the first wave would then they would print it out on paper. Alright. But this is going back a while now. Yeah. In more recent years, we would obviously get the electronic version. But one of the reasons, I mean, initially, they were printing them for us was because they wanted to strip certain information out of them. Yeah. Thank us just a hard printed copy. Yeah, like a numb, for. I think, like, the only probably times I could think about printing off a CV, and this takes me way back is, you know, when you're first applying for a job and you're going into cafes with your CV and you're handing your CV and things like that. And I think that's definitely still got a place. So if there's anybody, you know, who is watching this, who, you know, they just need, like, a side job or something, I think in those situations, going into places, small businesses cafes, whatever it is, and handing it in, I think that 100% and always will have a place. You know? So yeah and I love that. You know, I'd like to see more of that probably. With that is on the one hand, it's like a face. You're actually a person and they're more memorable when you meet up. This brings me on to networking a little bit. So the thing about job furs and stuff like that is if you're actually physically there, it makes so much more of an impact than a video call and that makes more of an impact than just a CV. But the thing, what's my point on walking in. Oh, yeah, you need to get to the right person. So if you're going to go into a cafe shop, but usually the manager isn't serving the coffee. Yeah, yeah. Unfortunately, the employee might take it and maybe the manager might see it or get hold of it. They might pass that on. But I think I mean, I did this when I was younger. I think a lot of my paper CVs just probably went straight in the bin. I looked. Yeah. So is there anything you want to tell me a bit about the European style. So we're still on sort of the question around industry specific tips for CV writing. I'm just thinking about the European style CVs, as opposed to Do you know if there's, like, I know I'll have some American customers watching this course and some from Europe and some from India. And that kind of. So is there any sort of like, do you know of any regional differences here? Yeah, sometimes, if we're looking at, like, Europe, not the UK, but, you know, I've worked with clients in probably more recently like Germany and stuff, and they still have a photo on their CV. That's really, really common and in the Middle East, having a photo in your CV is really, really common. Mm hmm. Um so I'd say that that's probably a difference. Having your full address on in Europe seems to be, you know, quite the norm. So it wouldn't just be, you know, UK, London or whatever it is. You would have a full address and postcode. Is that essential? Because one of the things I say in the course is just make sure that they can contact you. Yeah, it's tricky, isn't it? Be especially if a lot of people are remote now are willing to relocate, I think, you know, if we're talking about the UK especially having the UK and then the city that you're based in, or, you know, city that you're based in and open to relocation if that's relevant. I wouldn't be putting my full address on there personally. Just because, you know, it's kind of putting your bit at risk. It's going into a system. It's not necessarily, you know, GDPR compliant and things like that. So you just need to be just a bit steady on what information you're giving out. But in Europe, that's definitely the de thing, and I don't know if they've got stricter laws or something like that around it, but that very much is common. And yeah, and then the picture on there. And they do tend to have a cover letter attached to the bottom of the CV often if you're applying for jobs in Europe. I've seen that a lot like in Spain and Portugal. That, again, seems to be the standard. So just things to look out for. Can the photo get in the way of any sort of masking of any of the gender, um, so, you know, some HR departments want to make sure that it's gender blind. Yeah, they make. So if you've got a hard printed picture on your CV, then again, they might be able to cover that up with the HR department, but does it affect your view in any way? I don't think so. I mean, the reason I'd say, I would always advise anybody to not have that on there is because of the ATS, because again, it's going to go in, it's not going to understand it. It could jumble it. And but, yeah, just because to get away from, like, the bias or any potential, you know, bias, not having that on there probably is for the best for everybody. But we're talking now about, I suppose, what different cultures do and what is the norm in different. It's very difficult, you know, to say either way. But, you know, I know that every single CV that I work on, like, that's for, like, the Middle East. Every single one has a picture on it. I do mention that in the course. You want to check what is the norm for your culture. Yeah, because that's what you need to do. 45. Additional on ATS and Laura’s Guide to Resume Tools: Okay. So, are there any tools or software that you'd recommend for creating a professional looking resume? I mean, you've talked about the ability to create them in Canva. There's also word templates and things like that. We've talked about using AI large language models in a sense for buzzwords and maybe tidying things up grammarly for spell check and things any other tools or tips you can think of? Yeah. I guess if you are keen to have a CV that looks nice, but you don't want to go down the Canva root for obvious reasons, then there are loads of websites out there which will give free ATS templates. That's I suppose wanted because then you know that at the very least it's going to get read by the computer even if it doesn't get it through. Yeah. I'd say that's it's not overly complicated, obviously. It's not snazzy, but what it does is it just guarantees that the format of your CV is going to get through, and I think that's so important, Yes, that is 'cause I was going to ask, I mean, say about putting images like graphs and charts and photos into the CV, you might jumble it in the 80s. Is the Atis I don't know how it's extracting text from the files. Suppose they've got some kind of, you know, AI text extraction system on it. So they're probably better than they have been in the past. Yeah. If they're being updated recently with that kind of technology, um but whether, you know, you can actually try this out a little bit if you go to Google Docs and you've got an image of your resume, and then you can actually click Open as Doc, and what Google Docs will do is it'll try and open it up. I'll try and extract the text. What you'll find is the text will come through. Sometimes it'll come through okay, but if you've got an image with texts, you won't really know where to place it, and the text might end up jumbled in with a thing for the course on this, just give an idea. So I'd imagine some of the Atis are doing that. And then it's probably not reading properly, although it might have the keywords. It depends on if the Atis is literally just looking for buzzwords or if it's actually smart enough to do some preliminary scanning on grammar and sentences as well. Well, it'll grade it. So all of the CVs that I produce are like 90% plus on an ATS like that. So like a recruiter could set the ATS, so it's like, Okay, anything that hits 75%. So this is another thing actually that they could do, which probably should've mentioned earlier. They could set it to like, Okay, if it hits 75%, then let it through. Yeah. Or they could put. Unless it hits 95%, I'm not interested, you know? So yeah, I think going back to what you just said, I think it would depend because like you say, if the keywords were in there, it might get through. You know, but it all depends on how strict the parameters are that's been set or, you know, it really is a good tool. It really is. But also, you know, I will always like spot check if I use an ATS. I'll quickly have a quick look at some of the ones that haven't made it through. Mm hm. Just to make sure that, you know, it's not going to do. Mm. So there's tools out there that will check will run your resume through an ATS style system to check. Yeah. Yeah. They are you do pay for them. And so I do I have, like, a subscription. But I have, because I contract for quite a few different companies. I'll, like, check their ATSs and things like that and, like, you know, spot check and run things through them. And then I'll run my own CVs through them, as well. And I've run the same CV before through like five different ATSs and it's all give different results with the same parameters or similar parameters. So that's why I still check because they're not you know, they're not like, watertight or anything. It's a bit of a minefield, isn't it with the ATs, because you might do everything right, but the way that AT has been set up might not be brilliant. And, you know, this is why it's a bit of a numbers game at the end of the day. Mm hmm. Exactly. Okay, so yeah, so do you recommend using those systems to check your CV against? I mean, are there any way you can take the job description, the specific job description that into the ATS tracker service and then put your CV in and say, Well, however they're determining is ATS passable system? Yeah. Does it work where it's bespoke for that? Um, yeah, you could do. It would be a lot of work for somebody, I think. It wouldn't there's no easy kind of Oh, yeah, just put that in there and put that in then it'll tell you a number. And I think that's been done probably for commercial reasons because it is such like a big thing now. But yeah, I think unless you've got access to that, I think you'd struggle to do that. So on these ATS on these ATS checking systems. Yeah. With your subscription, what do you do? Do you just say, This is the job title that I'm going for? Yeah. The applicant is going for. And that's probably a drop down of all sorts of Yeah, exactly. And then you take their resume and you put it into that and then it basically checks it as if an ATS might check it. Yeah, exactly. I don't know what their parameters are going to be, but at least it's got some generic parameters, and then it'll give you a score as to how fit for the ATS it is. Yeah, that's it. That's it. And you can put like, you know, the levels, which entry level C suite. Like you can put like geographic information in there. Like you can put all sorts in there, to be honest. But yeah, that's how I go about it, generally. 46. Section 7 - Introducing Dom: My next interview is with Dominic Lusardi, who has extensive experience in the world of digital and has worked and delivered cutting edge commercial projects for over 20 years. Originally with an IT tech focus, Dom then started working in the gaming industry. He has since established a high tech digital visualization business offering augmented reality, virtual reality, holograms, and touch based interface solutions. Through the various roles, Dom has supported the growth of the digital sector in Tees Valley in the UK. He was awarded one of the top 100 entrepreneurs in 2019 by Mazarati and the Sunday Times. And in 2020, he was awarded T's Business Tech ambassador. Dominic now works with both large and small organizations, acting as a mentor and advisor to business leaders. He even advised the UK government and prime minister directly on the future of UK Tech. Dom is currently the chief information officer of COBI, a data science and AI lab in the Northeast. I'm very grateful for his time and addition to this course, and I'm sure you'll find his insights very valuable. 47. Dom’s Insights: Relevance, Experience, Gaps, Resume/CV Length, Personality, Awards: Okay. Hi, Don. Thanks for your time. I've got some questions about CVs. As somebody that's seen many, many CVs in your career. I'd like to ask, well, firstly, what kind of things have you seen in CVs that really put you off and the opposite. What sort of things have you seen when it comes to CVs that make you really take interest in a CV and a candidate? Yeah. Thanks for asking me here today, Mike. Yeah, CV's bit of a minefield, to be honest with it, and a black art. There's no perfect CV that I've ever seen. It's about keeping it succinct. It's about making the information that you're displaying relevant. And the things that I tend to look for in a CV, if I look down a CV and I'm, you know, looking at, I got four JuCSEs and I worked in the corner shop, and then I did a paper round and it's not relevant. Yeah, it shows aptitude. But you can do that by talking. You can do that in that way. You know, when I'm interviewing somebody, you know, in different businesses, what I'm tend to be looking for is lived experience. Mm hmm. Can they show they have at least some lived experience in this space or that they have some exposure to how the industry works. That's generally what I'll be looking for. I'll be looking for commitment. You know, if there's big gaps in CVs explainable big gaps in there, then warning signs start tend to go up at that point. What would be a big gap then? What would be something that you would think, Okay, they've had, six months off or Yeah, not necessarily six months, but, you know, a year, maybe two years of something in there of doing so, you know, I've had CBs would just be like nothing nothing said? Yeah. You might see that I worked at this company at this date, and then they worked at this company at this date, but there's no gap between them. Okay. You know, even if they've had a year round, you know, I messed around for a year. Fine. Great. Just be honest, man's. Totally. I had a year out because life is short. Yeah, but now I'm ready to get back to work. I might be a little bit rusty, fine from my point of view, because I'm gonna find that out during the interview. Those are the bits that I'm gonna find out whether that's true or not. Right. But big gaps in there really short CVs, statements of, I did this, I did this, I did this, with no reference to the person and that they are. You know, you always have that kind of personal statement in there, and most people put, you know, I go to the cinema or, you know, I like spend time with friends. Good. Mm hm. You're a human. Brilliant. Okay, ace. I'm glad you said that. That means you're social. That means you interact with people. Okay. So when I put you in a team, that means you'll be able to converse with them. Uh huh. You know, and some people don't like it, but I do. You, it explains more the person that I am. Mm hmm. The other things I'll probably look for in there is awards. If they've done something out of what their comfort zone is, you know, myself, I do a lot of volunteering. Mm hmm. And I do that because, you know, I like to bring value in there, but hopefully shows to people that there's more to me than just, you know, a techie. There's more to me than just, you know, turning up and doing my job and getting paid. You know, I believe in it, and the knowledge that I've taken from it, I'm gonna give to other people for free that can't afford it. Mm hmm. It's those additional elements in there, you know, What's the curricular stuff in Yeah. Or there might be a runner. I might do the London marathon or I might go cycling in Spain, you know, once a month or something. Whatever it is. Is that mainly because it makes it it's personable and it makes you remember them better, 'cause you go, that person will run a marathon. So it's memorable, or is it more they've gone above and beyond that side of their life to push the boundaries? They're a doer. They're a doer. They're a doer. That's it, is that they're willing to take on challenges that might seem very scary. Mm hmm. You know, not everybody's got that. I know not everybody's got that, but in some way, people have. Yeah, they'll have done something else. You know, even if they're part of, I don't know, an online forum where, you know, they all play call of duty and the top ten best team in the I really like that kind of stuff. I really, really do like that stuff. If it's the, what do I do outside of work? Well, I go home, I eat, watch TV, and that's it. They're not actually doing anything to push the boundaries even take the Call of Duty example, right? So say yeah, they get together and they play call of duty, but what if they're not a top ten team? What if there's nothing exceptional about that? It still shows that they're part of a team. They've got camaraderie, that they're willing to expand themselves from where they are. I've got life, it's social. They've got interests in other things. Absolutely. You know, you know, myself, I was when I was at university, I was, you know, I really into university. I didn't know, messed around than most of us. But I was part of a couple of groups, a couple of the student union groups. I was the president of one of them. Mm. And I think that hopefully shows to people when I don't put it on my CV, but I'll speak to them about it because it shows that I've got leadership skills. Yes. Does that one step up when something needs to be counted? Okay. So it's those additional bits that you might have in your life that you might not think are necessarily as important. But actually, the informed the person you 48. Dom’s Insights: Work History, CV Format, His Sifting Process, Experience Level, Congruence with CV: So moving on then to work history. Are you a fan of the bullet point? Or do you want a paragraph of what you did or what kind of things are you looking for in there? You should focus mainly on a bullet point with a few sentences, and there is what I generally look for. The role that they did, the length that they did it for, and then a description of, you know, what they did on a day to day basis, hmm, you know, and how they felt that they performed in the business. That, you know, if it's a short term thing, they only worked there for three months and I didn't enjoy the role. One? Yeah. I understand why it was only three months. But if you just put, you know, I had this role and I only do it for three months, I'm gonna be thinking. Yeah, that's a flag. You're gonna be jumping ship fairly quickly. Yes. Or for whatever reason, you didn't last in that job from the employer's point of view, so you need to have you need to put down a reason. Yeah. Yeah, and it might be that I wasn't a good fit for the team. Mm hmm. Okay, well, I don't know what the team was like. Sometimes it can be that the role that was promised to them wasn't the role. Besides got into the role. It wasn't exactly as the employer had advertised. And I've seen that before where people haven't lasted very long because it's just not a match to what they thought they were getting. Yeah. I mean, my own CV isn't really a bullet pointed one. It's descriptive of me. Mm hm. It's a description of the person I am, the roles that I've done, the value that I bring, and kind of my MO and how I approach problems. I hope that just broadcasts the type of person I am. And if they look at it and they don't like it, then that's not the type of business that I want to be working in either, you know, it's a really key thing, I think when people are going for jobs is that they can feel dejected when they don't get a job. But actually, sometimes you can be turned down for a job that's not right for you, and it's not right for them. Yes, that's quite key, actually, yeah. Yeah. Because it's as much about your fit as their fit to you as your fit to them, yeah? Yeah, absolutely. You know, I I remember doing an interview with somebody and the CV read brilliantly and they came in. And all they did was hustle me about when the start date was and what salary there was. I wouldn't answer the questions directly. Warning flags are just going off left right and center, and, you know, I found out a little while later that their personal circumstances had changed and that they were looking to get a role because they had to report that they had a role to somebody. And at that point, I was like, Well, I picked up on that fairly easily from the way in which you interviewed and the way you've written your CV. Mm hm. You know, so that's the converse side to it is that, you know, you don't know what you're up against. So just put your back into it and put yourself into it, if you don't like it. It's not the right role for you. Yeah. So would you have a limit, two pages, one page, three pages. To pages. Has to be two pages. Anything more than two pages. I'm just I like a bit of graphics in there if people do it, but over the top infographics that people are trying to do, where they made it overly complicated. Mm hmm. I'm going to be looking at ten of them. You know, I just want to get through them fairly quickly. I was just going to say sifting. What's your approach to sifting through Unfortunately, from my point of view, I was always in the position where I worked with others that they'd already done the sifting for me. And what's that sifting based on, we have a literal set of rigid criteria and maybe tools and qualifications. And if you don't meet those, then you just don't get into the shorts. What about the specification of the job said? If they weren't able to fill the specification of what the job said, and there was nothing else that would stand out in there for them to explain that they brought additional value. Right. Yeah, so even if they haven't met all of the strict criteria, but if they have an additional sort of thing that might be really valuable, it's worth putting in there because you might get through the CIF just because there's something extra that you can bring, they might take a look at you. And then that's my next question after the CIF onto the short list. I guess at that point, you might have different candidates with different levels of experience. But you might be looking for candidates that show that some of them might seem more committed to this industry, your business. They might have a sense that they might want to stay with the company longer. So I suppose that can have a weight against ones that are more qualified but maybe don't give that sense. 100%. I've had people that have amazing CVs and they come in and they can't even hold eye contact with me. Mm. We have somebody else who'll come in, might not have quite as bot CV, but they engage with me. I get a conversation and get a camaraderie with them, they're like, Oh, I can work with you. Might the other person might have the skills, but we're never going to match together. It's always going to be we're always going to bounce off each other in that sense. Cultural fit is very important. Yeah, hugely so. You know, I read the CVs, and I'll I will probably have, you know, people that I'll think of my the ones that I favor towards based on their CV. But when I'm sat there and doing the interview, I 100% make sure I don't have their CV in front of me. I'll always be influenced by the person that I'm doing. Okay. And I think that's, you know, no, but is that, you know, when you're working for a large organization, you know, big organizations, very rarely you're gonna be interviewed by the people you're gonna be working. And that can be a very different approach, but that's where you got to read the criteria of what the application was. I've noticed as an employer that you have certain CVs which you read and you think this candidate seems really good. And then when the candidate turns up, you end up with a completely sometimes they match, but sometimes the candidate just gives you a completely different impression. And what you realize is the CV, when you reflect on the whole recruitment later on, and you've interviewed the candidates, and you have a look back at the CVs, you find that the whole things changed. Yeah. 49. Dom’s Insights: Qualifications vs Enthusiasm and Commitment, Weight on CV vs Interview: Absolutely, yeah. I question for you, then on that, would you at that point, how much is the CV for you just a foot in the door to get to the interview, and then you base the hiring decision solely on the interview or would you take into consideration the CV as well? Uh, probably 20% of the CV, 80% person. Mm hmm. I would say for me. It can be different. You know, if you are, I say, if you're working in a really large organization, and let's say, you know, you want to be an electrician for BT, then, you know, you're probably fulfilling a criteria. Mm hm. In small organizations, you need to be flexible. You can't just sit there and go, well, that's not my role. You know, you need to wear multiple hats. And that's what I'm looking for generally in the interviews is their flexibility, their adaptability, and that they're able to demonstrate that. Anybody that's rigid in the way in which they act I might think, well, you know, it'll be great as a developer for that purpose, but that's all you'll ever do. Yeah. You know, and that decision is pretty much made up there's not time. Prove me wrong, but very rarely does that happen? In the large organization that we worked in CV and the application was taken into consideration in terms of, but we were very sort of regimented in the way that we would hire candidates. So we had a set of criteria that we needed to meet, and then we would score each of them. And we would score based on the interview. But then we would also consider the CV as well. So if there's anything mentioned in the CV that wasn't mentioned in the interview, we would use that as points towards that particular application. But that was very much a large organization, had a HR department. Yeah, so everything had to be I remember one of the shocks that I had. I went to university and worked in a team at university with two other guys. They were brilliant. How brilliant or what they did. I always felt that I was never as good as those guys. And then I went out to industry and went to work in the games industry. I got a job, and they didn't. And I went to the boss and said, you know, I got some friends. I think they'll really contribute towards the team took one look at them and went, No. Really? They're better than me. And he went, Yeah, no. Why is that then? He said, Because look at what you contribute, Dom. You're so flexible in the way in which you can work within the team. They just want to do that job. Mm hmm. That's not what I need to employ. I need somebody who's gonna grow within the team and influence the team and help it develop. Mm. That's what he was looking for. And that was a real lesson that I learned. There was no way my seed was qualification wise, there's nowhere near as powerful as theirs. Yeah. But the emotion and the personality that I put into my CV was lacking in that. Yeah. And that's what made the difference. This is a really, really strong point because you might be put off going for a role because you think, there's no way I'm ready for that, and there's no way I've got the skills and experience for that role. But what you might not realize is the people that are also applying for it who do have those skills might be a little bit complacent. And they might also have many different options as well. So they might not take the they might not take the time and invest. They might not take the time to really invest in this particular application, this particular CV. So if you can if you really want this job for the right reasons, the company really sort of resonates with you. Put a lot of effort into the research and go for it. You never know. They might see that. I might come across. I might hire you over somebody that is more skilled with the idea of training you up. Yeah, one of the funniest, well, the funniest things that happened to me, and I'm not sure whether it is funny. I graduated from university and applied for a few jobs, and I got offered a job to work for a very, very large software developer, and that is very much a household now. But it was doing a role that I really didn't want to do. But they were insistent, they rang me up and I really wanted you to do it. No, no, I really don't want to do it. Turned out it was a ie the role that they wanted me to do. They wanted me to go work on something that I desperately wanted to do in my career. Oh, no, really. And they were using it as a test to see how committed I was to developing myself as a person. Right. And that is probably one of the biggest life lessons I learned from doing that. To go back and to be able to change my answer to that question would have been something that I would love to be able to do. But really, you know what? They were right. They were absolutely right, is that I wasn't flexible enough in that position. I was too rigid in the way that was doing. So I wasn't the right person for the job. Interested. So, I mean, there's also the element of when you get a role, you can help to shape that role. It sounds like you want to do, which is something that I've recently done in my last role. Yes. Has helped to shape it into something that I'm actually passionate and interested in. And if the employees a good employer, they will see that and nurture. Totally, totally. A commitment to the team and a commitment to the process is worth so much more than well written CR. Mmm. Okay, well, I'd like to wrap it up there, Dom. So thanks for your time. It's been very valuable. I'm sure my viewers of this course will find it very valuable, as well. So again, thanks for your time. Alright, now thanks for having me in. I hope everybody finds the information we discussed today useful. 50. Last Section - Goodbye and Thank You!: Okay, well done for making it all the way to the end of this course. Congratulations. You now have taken steps to take your career into your own hands and go for those dream jobs that you want to get. You know the importance of tailoring your targeted resumes towards every particular job. You now have a methodology in order to make that efficient because you have your master resume, and I've set you on a path of keeping that up to date with the work history document and keeping the master resume up to date so you can seize those opportunities and you don't feel like it's such a burden and an amount of work go for all these different jobs because you can take things from the master resume into your tailored resumes. I've also told you about networking and the importance of LinkedIn and finding people who are already in the positions that you want to get and having a look at where you might have gaps in terms of your experience and your qualifications compared to those kind of people that are already in those positions. So you've got loads of information from this course. I'm sure you got a lot out of the interviews that I had with the people I interviewed in this course, as well. Now, the next step is to get an interview so I also have a course about interview skills to help you to maximize your chances of getting the job once you get the interview. So, have a look for my interview skills course under Michael James, and I'll put a link to it in this course, as well. One last thing. If you do end up getting an interview off the back of the information that I've given you in this course, I would love to hear about it. I love to hear about successes, and I love to hear about the success of my students. So if you do end up getting an interview, good but also, let me know. Let me know in the reviews of this course. Let me know on my Facebook group and reach out to me on LinkedIn as well, and just let me know that the information I've given to you here has helped you to go ahead and get an interview because that'll be fantastic. I love hearing about the success stories and how much I'm actually helping people out there. Helps me to continue making courses like this. So with all of that said, I really wish you the best of luck in your career. Good luck, and I will hopefully see you in my other courses. Bye for now.