Episode 10 – How to create an amazing CV with Lis McGuire

February 11, 2015 Podcast

Welcome to the 10th episode of the Graduate Job Podcast

This week I speak with Lis McGuire, professional CV writer and the founder of Giraffe CVs as we delve into all aspects of creating an amazing CV. We go from how to get the CV writing process started through to the language to use, top hints and tips to catch a recruiter’s interest and even get deep into the specific fonts to use. If you’re creating a new CV or if your existing one needs an update, then this is the episode for you.

You can download the podcast to your computer or listen to it here on the blog. Additionally, you can subscribe via iTunes or Stitcher radio.

MORE SPECIFICALLY IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT:

    • The top tip you need to follow before you start writing a CV
    • How to begin writing a CV
    • What to include in a CV to catch a recruiters’ interest
    • What makes a great CV
    • The powerful question to ask about every line of your CV
    • How to find great examples to put on your CV
    • The best tense to use when writing your CV
    • How to spot spelling and punctuation errors in your CV
    • Whether to tell any white lies on a CV
    • What to put in the interests section of the CV
    • How to avoid common basic formatting mistakes

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Transcript – Episode 10 – How to create an amazing CV with Lis McGuire

James:    Welcome back everyone to the Graduate Job Podcast, with your host James Curran. The Graduate Job Podcast is your weekly home for all things related to helping you on your journey to finding that amazing job. Each week I bring together the best minds in the industry, speaking to leading authors, entrepreneurs, coaches and bloggers who bring decades of experience into a byte size weekly 30 minute show. Put simply, this is the show I wish I had a decade ago when I graduated.

This week I speak with Lis McGuire, professional CV writer and the founder of Giraffe CVs as delve into all aspects of creating an amazing CV. We go from how get the CV writing process started through to the use of language, top hints and tips and even down into the specific fonts to use. If you’re creating a new CV or if your existing one needs an update, then this is the show for you.

James:   Hello, and welcome to the 10th edition of the Graduate Job Podcast.  I’m very excited today to be speaking to Lis McGuire.  Lis is a professional CV writer and the founder of Giraffe CVs.  She has over 15 years experience going from delivering interview winning CVs to helping clients to advance in their careers.   Lis is a CV guru and what she doesn’t know isn’t worth knowing.

Lis, welcome to the Graduate Job Podcast.

Lis:       Well, thank you, James. That’s a very nice introduction.

Hi, I’m delighted to be here and it’s really exciting to be on the 10th episode of your podcast.   Happy days.

James:  Thank you.  So I’ve given our listeners a brief introduction but before we jump into our topic today of CVs, would you like to introduce yourself properly and tell us a little bit more about what is it you do and what your business does?

Lis:   Sure.  Well, I’m Lis McGuire and I’m the founder and CV writer at Giraffe CVs.  Giraffe CVs is a CV writing company that helps professionals at all levels, from graduate to senior C-level executives to aim high, stand tall and get spotted through a great CV.  So, I set up the company – let’s see – probably in 2003 or 2004 now, and it’s really grown.  It’s been fantastic.  I’m a home based business and I started with, really, people in the local area who needed a better CV to enhance their career prospects and it’s grown and snowballed, really, so that I now work with people all over the world at all sorts of levels, in all kinds of different roles and it’s really interesting to me to get to know the kinds of roles that people are doing out there and the kinds of challenges they’re coming up against in their career.  And what’s even better is to know that they have been securing great roles on the bases of their new CV and then they come back to me and I can help again with their career progression.  So, it’s a really rewarding job and I really enjoy it.

James:   Excellent.  So unsurprisingly, today we’re going to cover the topic of CVs.  So, starting at the very, very beginning, what is a CV and why is it still relevant in this digital age?

Lis:    Okay.  So, a CV is basically your personal marketing document in relation to your career.  It summarizes the experience you’ve gained to date and the skills you’ve gained to date, ideally in light of what you want to do next.   So, a CV will contain things like your education and qualifications, your experience in terms of working experience, paid and unpaid, and any other relevant information that’s going to position you with a potential employer, showing that you’re a great fit for your career target.

James:   So, today we’re going to think about CVs from the position of a recent graduate.

Lis:  Yeah.

James:   So, imagine I’m a recent graduate and I need to update my CV for the first time in, probably, a couple of years.  Where do I start?  Where would be the best place to start from in terms of what needs to go onto it and how I need to tailor it?

Lis:  Okay. Well, the thing I’d recommend is actually starting with a blank page and first of all, get your career target in mind. So, really know in your head what kind of role you’re going to be applying for, with what employer and what you hope your career progression to be, and keep these points in mind the whole time when you’re writing your CV.  Your CV really has to be tailored to your career target.  So everything you write on that page has to reflect that goal.

James:  So I’ve got my blank sheet of paper and I’ve got the career in mind.  So, I’m wanting to go for a graduate job.

Lis:  Okay.

James:   How do I then structure what are must-haves that needs to go in, the nice-to-haves and then the things that I should really not put in at all?

Lis:  Okay.  So, must-haves:   As I mentioned, it’s really important your CV makes absolutely clear what your target is as a graduate.  So, the first thing I’d recommend is including a headline to flag your preferred direction.    So, a headline is kind of similar to your LinkedIn headline — but perhaps a bit snappier because you have 120 characters on LinkedIn — but just make it absolutely clear who you are and what your career target is from your headline at the very top of the CV so someone reading it understands why they’re reading it, basically.  As a graduate, probably, you don’t have the experience to call yourself by a particular job title; for example, sales and marketing professional, but you could use a headline that says “career target” and then indicate your job role afterwards.  For example, career target, business analyst; or career target, telesales manager, or whatever it is, but basically make it clear right at the top of the CV what you’re going to do.

Next up, you really need a compelling CV profile and I think we’re going to touch on this a bit later on but you need to add a kind of executive summary of your CV that shows your skills, your experience, and your career aspirations to the reader, and flag up right at the top of the CV what the recruiter needs to know.  This will avoid them having to scurry through the CV and try to find out who the professional you is and what the skills and experience you have at all and what do you want to do with the things you’ve got, with your assets.  I do actually recommend writing the profile last.  It’s kind of easier once you’ve got all your other sections in place.

As a graduate you need to present your education up front because it probably is your most relevant deliverable that you’re going to have to bring to a new employer.  It’s been your main focus, your education, and it’s been your main platform for achievement so far in your career and education.  So, unless you’ve been in an employed role and it’s been relevant since graduating, I’d probably put your education right after your profile on your CV.  If your education is relevant to your career target, then you might want to expand a little and detail the kind of elective modules that you’ve undertaken in your degree and talk about your dissertation or thesis and just show the substance in your education as relevant for your target role.

Next up, I really want to stress that it’s important to make the most of your experience.  Now, as a graduate it’s unlikely that you’ve got acres and acres of experience in the traditional sense from paid employment, but that’s okay.  I often find that graduates underestimate what they have achieved so far, although it’s not in an actual job, if you’d like.  But they can detail internships, unpaid work experience, degree based research projects and any extracurricular activities that can really enhance your credibility in a recruiter’s eyes.  So don’t underestimate what you’ve done so far.  If you showcase it in the right way, it’s going to peak a recruiter’s interest.

James:  No, yeah, I definitely agree.  When I’ve seen lots of graduate CVs, they tend to overinflate the bits.  So I’m not really interested in it.

Lis:  Yeah, exactly.

James:  And under-inflate  the bits I’m interested in so they’ll talk about their degree at length and also the different aspects of it which have no direct correlation to the job that they’re applying for, but they’ll underplay any teamwork or any paid work experience, or anything for me that shows transferable skills.

Lis:   That’s right, exactly.   And they can come from unlikely sources, you know.  You may think— Sometimes if you’re targeting a role that’s directly related to your degree, you might have actually done a really interesting research project or actually been involved in something really fun and practical.  For example, civil engineers; you might have been involved in one of the constructionarium projects in which they replicate real life fantastic building like – what’s it called – the Gherkin in London, and they build them on a smaller scale.  What amazing experience.  It’s like a real, real project to put on your CV and that can be brought to life as well through LinkedIn where you could feature it as a project and you could add pictures of you as you’re progressing your build.

James:    So, sticking with the education aspects, how far would you recommend that people go back in terms of listing educational things? Obviously university, but then A levels, GCSC’s?

Lis:   Yeah, it really depends.  Sometimes people have done a lot of tertiary education and they might have masters or PhD and so on.  So, it does depend on how much education you’ve got, but definitely not primary school, 100 percent.  I would–  Sometimes start with GCSCs, if you’ve got an undergraduate degree like a BSC or so on, but if you’ve got a masters you might just want to feature your first degree and your masters rather than going to the A levels.  But it depends how much you’ve got to say on your CV.  I mean, you might want to add your A levels in as something to say but it will be a prerequisite for the next stage of education.  So it’s not always necessary.

James:   Just on that point there of it depends how much you have to say are you a one page or a two page kind of—

Lis:  Well, I try to tend to produce a two-page providing that you can find some substance to fill it.  I mean, for a school-leaver, one page is absolutely fine.  But if you’ve done some part-time work experience, if you’ve done a few university projects, if you’ve been a member of, say, a society or represented your department at university, there’s some things that you can draw out there that are going to show transferable skills to your reader,  so I would advocate a two-page CV.  It doesn’t have to fill the whole two pages densely, but it’s a nice presentation and it can work.  I mean, I try and get—If you’ve got some relevant work experience, on page one I try and get your headline, your profile, your education and then start with some experience and I’d always put relevant experience on page one of the CV.  So, for example, if you’re going into a related field to your degree, then I’d recommend putting any degree, projects or relevant internships or work experience on page one, to start on page one and going on to page 2.

James:  Going from the more functional and skills based approach as opposed to just chronological?

Lis:    I guess.  I mean, in each section I advocate that you go for a reverse chronological approach.  So, with professionals of all levels, I would write your experience — providing that you’ve got two types of experience rather than you’ve been in the whole same kind of field the whole of your career —  so, relevant experience on page one and other experience to follow and I would go through reverse chronological format within that section.  So present your most recent experience first and going back through the years.

James:    That makes sense.  And what would you say separates a good CV from an average CV, from a poor CV?

Lis:  Okay.  A great CV will really convey a passion for the career target.  It will show information that is tailored to that particular opportunity that you’re going for.  It will tell the reader what they need to know at a glance so an in-depth read isn’t required straight away for them to confirm that this is someone that they’d like to get to know.  It needs to be really well presented and it, ideally, needs to have substance.  And by this I mean tangible examples which show that you’ve got the skills and potential to do the job and to progress.  So, wherever possible, quantify your achievements.  It might seem a bit funny to do at first, but you get used to it.  People want to know the scale of what you’ve achieved.  So, even if you’ve got a part-time retail job, you might want to talk about the volume of customers that you’re serving or how you contributed to meeting KPIs, any promotions that you’ve delivered and how you performed against those targets and so on.

James:    That’s a really good point. I liked in your post online in your blog where you talk about how does each line of your CV pass the ‘so-what’ and ‘who-says’ test.

Lis:    Yeah, that’s right.  So-what, says-who?

James:  Yep.

Lis:   It seems harsh and actually it seems a little rude if you’re sending that to a customer sometimes, but you’ve got to try and be objective and read it through the eyes of someone who doesn’t know you and has no care for whether they should really hire you or not.  They’ve got a stack of CVs and they’re looking at what you’ve written and thinking, well, why should I care about that?  You’ve got to– and then try and add some substance to each line that indicates why they should care, what the result was and what you achieved, what your impact was.

James:  No, completely and when I review CVs and application forms, ‘so-what’ is one of the things that is often written in the margin.  You need to really make sure that each line is adding value–

Lis:  Yeah.

James:   –and is giving some benefit to the readers.  So it’s telling them what you’re good at or it’s telling them what you’ve done.  And as you mentioned for the ‘says-who’ bit, is being able to quantify it in terms of, I increased sales by X amount or improved efficiency by so much percentage, is very powerful.

Lis:  And going back to your question of what differentiates a great CV from a poor CV, I’d say that graduates don’t tend to make the same, all of the same mistakes that professionals generally do because they’ve had a complete focus on their CV but there are still some issues that I see.  There are things like what I call meek and mild syndrome.  So, a graduate might have thought that they’ve not really achieved anything yet to promote to the world. So you get a kind of bland document that doesn’t really have any impact and it doesn’t stand out from any other document either.  So, I understand people don’t want to promote themselves without having the substance to back it up, but at the same time you’ve really got to make the best of what you’ve achieved.  And if you feel that you haven’t got the experience that you need, then go out and grab it because there are plenty of volunteering opportunities out there.  Actually, even this morning I had an email from the local park saying they were looking for people to volunteer on a once a week basis to do some conservation and improvement projects.  So, things like that are great to get practical experience and demonstrate transferable skills.  There’ll always be things that graduates overlook.  So, you might have had a job but overlooked what project that you’ve done with in that job or overlooked something that you did on a free basis that you’re just not drawing out in the right way on your CV.  So there will be more to your experience than you think.

James:  Completely agree again and when I’ve been working with people on their application forms for the graduates schemes when they’ve got to, in 200 words, say when have you worked in a team or when can you demonstrate this competency, and you’ll sit with them initially and they’ll be like, oh, well, you know, I have nothing to say here.  So, well, you just work through it on a step by step basis of, well, did you do any teamwork at university?  Oh, yeah, of course I did.  Well, you know, okay.  Did you manage the team at any point?  Did you take the lead?  Did you start to set up the meetings?  Did you try to organize people?  Oh, yeah, I did that.  Well, you just need to work through and think about it logically and there’s examples everywhere, as you mentioned.  So even the example there of the gardening, if you’re working by yourself, you know, you’re showing you’re a self starter.  You’re showing initiative.  You’ll be able to work without supervision.  So, there’s always, always competencies that you can draw out from every experience.

Lis:  Definitely.  And sports as well are a major thing.  I mean, you know, if you’ve been in a sports team and you’ve been a long standing member, you’ll have seen ups and downs and all sorts of challenges to overcome.  So it might not seem a natural thing to highlight but you can definitely use those kinds of experiences to demonstrate those competencies.

I’ve got two boys and they’re both in rugby teams and it’s really a fantastic experience for them.  And one son is in a consistently winning team and one son is in a team that has had a less than fantastic track record but when I look at it, it’s my boy that has been through the tough times with his team that’s probably developed the most from that experience.

James:   Yeah, I know.  It’s from losing that you tend to learn more than from winning.

Lis:  Yeah, definitely.  So, it’s a really valuable experience and I mean, you don’t necessarily need to be the captain of the team but anything you’ve done; if you’ve helped organize a tour or if you’ve helped to fundraise it, they’re all valuable experiences that you can draw out on your CV.

James:  Now, a question for you. A bone of contention here at Graduate Job Podcast headquarters; do you recommend writing in the first person, such as I have experience in?

Lis:  Yeah.

James:  Or in the third persons; James has experience in?

Lis:  Right.  So the trend seems to be and I agree — I have done both in my time because I’ve been running a long time now — but for the past, probably, year or so it’s been the smart third person.  So it’s kind of not saying, I am or James is.  It’s saying – I’m trying to think, James, how you might say it – but you might say a committed graduate who has recently finished a masters degree at the University of Cambridge – sorry – at Cambridge University, something like that.

James:   I agree.  I think in the first person people just tend to have I, I, I, I.  I did this; I did that.

Lis:  Exactly.  It’s more dynamic.  The language is more dynamic — and especially when you get down to your work experience –if you use power verbs, things like:  identified, realized, collaborated, delivered, generated, those kinds of words, it just makes it seem more impactful.  So your profile I would definitely write in the smart third person.  So, taking off, I am or James is, and just launching into it and use power verbs to start your bullets and your experience section.

James:    Sticking with language then, are there any other—   You talked about power verbs.  Is there any other language that you’d recommend people don’t use at all?

Lis:    I try and make sure it comes from the heart.  So, don’t get bogged down in CV speak.  When you’re writing your CV and you’ve got a draft to get out, try reading it out and then you’ll see what seems natural to you.  Don’t use language that you wouldn’t necessarily use when you’re speaking, if you see what I mean.  And also, reading out loud is a really good way to identify anything that doesn’t quite flow right or word repetition because sometimes your eyes just don’t see it when you’re reading on the screen or a printed version.

Another tip, actually relating to that, I now have a writing chair and an editing chair.  So, I will write at my desk, obviously, but then I’ll print out the document and go and sit in another place and just mark it up with pencil. I find that it works really well to spot any inconsistencies or small errors and so on.

James:   Definitely.  That’s so important.  We spoke in an earlier episode with Sarah Stimson who is in charge of a PR internship scheme the Taylor Bennett Foundation and it’s an amazing scheme with not too many places to get – and they get hundreds and hundreds and thousands of applications – and she said, one single mistake on the CV or application form and it’s straight in the bin.

Lis:    It just says attention to detail is not what it should be.  So, I really agree with that.

James:    A top tip I found is actually to go through the CV backwards.

Lis:    Oh, yeah.

James:  If you’re looking for formatting or full stops at end of lines, et cetera, is to work at the bottom right and then work up backwards.  As you mentioned, your eye just catches on things that it doesn’t pick upon when you’re reading it.

Lis:   That’s right.  And definitely print a copy as well as just viewing it on the screen because you can see how it looks on and off screen there and it might be a little different.

James:    Going through now quick fire some typical CV questions.  Referees – What’s your opinion on referees; putting them on or just have, “available, if required?”

Lis:    I think, actually, you don’t need to say that references are available on request because a recruiter or employer assumes that that’s a given.  If they kind of want to take you on as an employee, they’re going to go through request for references.  So instead, I would recommend getting yourself on LinkedIn, getting your profile together, building your network, getting your connections and then getting some recommendations.  And then you can put your LinkedIn profile onto your CV; interested parties can click through and straight away see that people are willing to stand up and say that you’ve got the experience and skills that you say you’ve got.

James:   That’s an excellent idea.  I know it was really difficult, personally, to try and get in touch with my university lecturers who were completely flaky.  That was – trying to get a reference from them….  You know, these people just disappeared over the summer months.  So having that reference on LinkedIn and available would save a lot of hassle.

Lis:  That’s right and references on LinkedIn can be from all sorts of sources.  So, yeah, it’s a great idea to get a reference from your lecturer.  But again, if you’ve worked on a team on a particular research project or practical project, then if you’ve got other people in the team who are willing to say how you performed, then get them to recommend you too.  Think outside of the box in terms of the people you ask for recommendations.  It can be anyone that you’ve worked with in a professional context.  Don’t dismiss any of your experience.  If you’ve had a part-time job that supported you while you were going through university, then you’ve still performed in that role and get people to say so.   I mean, later on as your career target changes you can edit these things to ensure that the experience and recommendations you feature are more reflective.  But for now, it’s the experience you’ve got.  It’s what you’re starting with and make the most of it.

James:    I loved one of your recent posts talking about the best way to use a file name to make sure that it’s practical–

Lis:   Thank you.

James:  –when you save it.   Could you just explain to listeners what you meant by that?

Lis:   It’s an underestimated underused piece of CV real estate.  So, you can do a lot with your CV file name.  I mean, the worst mistake to make is calling your CV something like, CV.doc which of course makes perfect sense on your own computer but once it goes to someone else’s computer whose got hundreds and hundreds of CVs, chances are someone else has had that bright idea too.  So, you really need to make sure that it has your name clearly on it.  That’s the first thing, and—-  So something like me, it might be Lis- or underscore, Lis-McGuire-CV and I can even add –CV-writer and straight away you know my name, you know this is my career document, you know what I do.  And I would reflect that last part, the ‘CV writer’ part to reflect your career target.  So, if you were going for a business analyst role, put business analyst at the end of it and it makes it a very clear impression from the outset.  That’s the first thing someone is going to see in their inbox, is your kind-of application email and your CV right there and they’re going to do something with that.  So, it’s the first impression.  Make the most of it.

James:   Naturally, my CV is whiter than white in terms of accuracy but I’ve been told that people, sometimes, stretch the truth a little bit on their CVs?  What are your thoughts on, maybe, tweaking the odd aspect of your CV to make it sound more impressive?

Lis:    I would just stick to the truth.  It’s always going to come back and bite you on the bum.  So, just stick with the facts.  I mean, make the most of what you’ve done and don’t be shy in promoting the achievements you’ve had, but don’t try and fudge dates, don’t try and say you’ve worked somewhere you haven’t.  It just can come out.  You’ve only got to watch that episode of the Apprentice every year to know—

James:  That’s true.

Lis:  –the pitfalls.  So, don’t do it.

James:  What’s your advice for the interests bit at the end of the CV?  I mean, I’ve seen some really bad ones which tend to come across a bit like a bad dating profile with people saying, in my spare time I like socializing with friends but I also like staying in and watching a DVD and having a bottle of wine.

Lis:   It just makes you sound boring, doesn’t it?  I think only speak to your interests if they are truly interesting.  So, if they’re a talking point.  Recently I had a customer who had really, kind of, a quite  corporate job but was an absolutely amazing musician in their spare time and toured around the world, just played to really high level.  So, that was a really fantastic interest and talking point to put on their CV, but just saying interests for the sake of saying interests is a no-no.  It just comes across as white noise.  So, I wouldn’t recommend it.  But if you’ve got something interesting to say that shows your skills and competencies, for example, a sport or if you’ve helped a charity, done some volunteering, anything like that that is going to big you up, make you seem like a better candidate, then include it.  But don’t feel compelled to and definitely don’t just add the same interest that the man next to you is going to add because it will all just make you blend in rather than stand out.

James:  I agree.  But if you kind of put something down that you are interested in or that is, that you’ve done that’s special, it’s an amazing talking point and just a way to start to build report with the interviewer, whether it’s which team you support in football, if they’re a rival fan of.  If you run marathons and you find out that they also run marathons

Lis:  Exactly.

James:  And you can start that conversation.

Lis:   The most unusual things can spark a conversation.  So, don’t overlook what your interests are.  It might seem routine to you but for the next person it might be really, really interesting.  So, definitely include those.

James:  Thinking finally about formatting, what are some of the basic formatting mistakes that people tend to make, whether it’s overuse of bullet points or bold or tiny fonts.

Lis:  I would say that sometimes it’s a really boring format, like it doesn’t have impact.  Maybe they’ve used a template that is just a bit dull, really.  Another common thing is people trying to cram too much and I often get asked, oh, can we just widen the margins?  You are thinking of the poor reader who is looking at this densely populated page and thinking, I’ve got to read that or I really should read that to find out what I need to know.  It’s just not polite, really, I think.  So, I would give plenty of white space, make sure your formatting in consistent throughout.  So, give clear headings and make sure they are formatted the same. Don’t overdo it.  Don’t go crazy on the formatting.  So, don’t use lots of different fonts and lots of different styles.  Just make the whole thing look as if it’s jelled together and nicely presented.  And also, print it out to check to see if it looks good on and off screen, as well.

James:  Are there any fonts you’d —  I mean, Times New Roman is the classic one.  We’ve got lots of font chat here it’s very exciting.  Times New roman is a classic one or would you recommend any— You don’t want Wingdings, obviously.

Lis:   No, definitely.  What is it?  Not Comic – Comic Sans, that’s one to avoid.  Just make sure that the fonts are going to appear as you see it on the screen.  So, use something that is quite widely accepted.  Arial is a good standard, although some people can think it’s quite boring but it’s easy to read.  It’s clear.  It’s going to translate.  No matter where you are, you’re going to be able to read an Arial document.  I’ve actually got a blog on them CV fonts, but they can change slightly.  I sometimes see people use Calibri and Verdana.  Times New Roman is a little traditional, I feel.  Arial is quite a good standard to go with.

James:  For all you font pedants out there, I’d recommend checking out the article on Lis’ blog for as  much font information as you can get.

Lis:  Thanks.

James:   So, now we’ve got an amazing CV.  It’s all ready.  It’s looking brilliant. It’s got no punctuation errors in it or anything, what’s then the next step?  Would you recommend either email or sending it?

Lis:  I’d recommend responding in line with their requirement.  So, if you’re responding to a job, then perhaps you need to follow what they’ve asked for.  So, if they ask you to send it in Word, send it in Word.  If they ask for Word and PDF, send it as such.  If you’re applying to a job off spec, you can email but you might also wish to send, that’s a way to stand out.  But I definitely, definitely recommend finding the person’s name who you’re wanting to contact and making your letter personal to them.  It’s respectful and polite and it shows that you’re really, truly interested in the job opportunity.

James:   And last week I spoke with Alastair Paterson, CEO of Digital Shadows, and he said he was amazed by the number of times that people got the name of his company wrong.

Lis:  Absolutely.

James:  Basic stuff.  Make sure you get the name of the person you’re sending it to right and also make sure that the name of the company is right as well.

So, moving now, Lis, on to the quick fire question round.  So, firstly, what one book would you recommend that listeners read?

Lis:   So I’m going to go a little bit off piste and not recommend a book.  Is that okay?  But I’ve actually got—

James:  Sure.

Lis:  –got something different that is on the reading line.  I really, really, truly recommend Reid Hoffman’s SlideShare presentation, The 3 Secrets of Highly Successful Graduates.  Now, Hoffman is the cofounder of LinkedIn and he does quite a lot of presentations, as you’d might expect.  This slide show is targeted to graduates who don’t really feel ready for the world of work and he shares three things that successful professionals eventually figure out about their careers.  It’s really, really moving, really on the ball.  So, I’d definitely recommend checking it out.  If you put into Google, Reid Hoffman SlideShare presentation for graduates, it will come up and you’ll get a lot out of it.

James:  All the links will be in the show notes.   So, I’ll definitely link into that.  It sounds really interesting.

Lis:  Perfect.

James:    So, next, what internet resource would you recommend for the listeners, to help with their job hunt?

Lis:   Again, going a little bit off piste, I’ve just found a tool called Plotr, p-l-o-t-r, and I think it’s absolutely fantastic.  It’s kind of like a career’s questionnaire where it asks you all about your interests and what you like, what you expect from your career, what you really thrive on and it’s quite an in-depth process.  A bit more than when I was in school, when it came out to do you want to be a hairdresser or fireman.  It’s really amazing.  It’s actually targeted at younger people.  I think they target it at 16 to 24.  But at the end of this process – it takes at least an hour —it’s quite an in-depth process but it gives you some suggestions of careers and it tells you, it’s 100 percent sure that this is the career for you, or it’s 99 percent sure that this career is something that you would really, really enjoy.  I went through the process and I found it really inspiring, actually, and it came up for me with editor which is handy because that’s basically the job I’m doing but it also came up with some creative jobs that perhaps I’d really like to pursue in future, things like web animation and designer, things that I would enjoy because I like the creative aspect of what I do now.  So, I’ve recommended it to some older clients as well as graduates and they’ve really enjoyed the process too.  So, Plotr, p-l-o-t-r.  Check it out.  It’s a great resource.

James:  And actually, in the ten episodes, that’s now the second time that someone has recommended that.  So David Shindler, in the episode, Transitioning from University to Work, recommended that too.

Lis:  Fantastic.

James:   And following the episode I went online and did it.  So, if you check out the show notes for Transitioning from University to Work, I think it’s episode five, then you’ll see my results which were, I was 100 percent suited to being a university professor.  But as Lis said, it’s a really useful tool if you’re in a position where you’re not really sure on where to take your career and so many opportunities available to you.  Spend an hour, answer the questions as truthfully as you can and see the results.  It’s very interesting.

Lis:  Exactly.  And it also gives you really useful advice on how to pursue that career as well and gain the experience you need.  So, a top find.

James:  And finally Lis, what one tip would you recommend to people that they can implement now in their job hunt?

Lis:  I’d say it’s about confidence.  Find your inner confidence when you’re writing your CV and project a confident voice.  You really need to believe in yourself from what you’ve achieved to date and what you can achieve in the future because if you don’t come across confidently on your CV as if you believe in yourself, then it’s hard for someone else to find you convincing.  So draw on your self belief and put that into your CV.

James:   As they say, whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.

Lis:  Exactly.

James:     Lis, thank you very much.  It’s been a pleasure to have you on this show.  But before we close, where and how can people best get in touch with you and the work that you do?

Lis:  Well, I’m quite a prolific content creator so, you can find me on the web.  I’ve got a weekly blog at GiraffeCVs on all aspects of CV writing and career tips and I’ve also got a podcast, the CV Confidence Coach podcast on iTunes.  But you can get in touch with me by the usual social media:  on Twitter @GirrafeCVs; on Facebook, GiraffeCVs again and I’ve also got a Google Plus account, if you’re a fan.  So I’d be delighted for you to get in touch and feel free to email or contact me via one of those means.

James:  Excellent, Lis.  Thank you very much for your time.

Lis:   Thanks, James.  It’s been a pleasure.

James:    My thanks again there to Lis McGuire. We went slightly over the half an hour this week but when the font chat comes you just have to run with it. In terms of my key takeaways from this episode the first is that your CV doesn’t have to be good……it needs to be great! In the job market today it needs to strongly convey your skills, experiences, job goals, be personalised specifically to the job you’re applying for and all without a spelling and punctuation mistake, oh, and within a maximum of 2 pages. Don’t underestimate the amount of work required. As such if you need help go out and get it. Lis offers a free CV review on her website at Giraffe CVs, so check it for more details. A professional CV is a great investment and one that will pay for itself many times over, especially if it helps you get your ideal job.

The second key things for me was one of the very first points that Lis made. Before you even start your CV, have in mind what is the ultimate aim and goal of the CV. What job, role, industry are you aiming this at? Generic CVs don’t cut the mustard, so you need to be focussed and have this goal in mind with every line that you write. In fact before you start your CV, write down the goal whether it’s getting an internship with a fashion company or a job with a bank, write it down and keep it in front of you so it can keep you on track through the whole process. Which leads us neatly into the third key point. I loved Lis’s comment that you should ask the powerful question ‘So what, says who’ about every line on your CV. Every line, statement and paragraph should have a purpose and be taking you closer to your stated goal. If not be brutal, take it out or change it. I know it can be painful, but put the effort in and you stand out from those you can’t be bothered which is going to be the majority.

Right episode 10 can be added to the finished pile. You can find a full transcript of everything that we’ve talked about and all links at www.graduatejobpodcast.com/CV. Please get in touch with us on Twitter @gradjobpodcast, and also if you’ve enjoyed the show please leave a review on Itunes or Stitcher radio, we will love you forever and it also helps other people to find the show. If you’ve not already subscribed via Itunes or Stitcher radio, you need to sort that out, it’s the easiest way to get each episode delivered to you for free and to make sure that you don’t miss a thing. Join us next week when we speak to author Michael Tefula and cover the topic of how procrastination. I hope you enjoyed the episode today, but more importantly I hope you use it and apply it. See you next week.

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