CV Cafe

What should a student put on their CV if they have no work experience is a question often asked.

If you’re in this position you can use it to highlight volunteer work you’ve done for a charity or community project.

It’s also a good idea to outline experiences you’ve had in all areas of your life to highlight skills you have, especially those that are related to the job you are applying for.

If you have any relevant coursework to add to your student CV that would show interest in the specific position you’re applying for. Simply add a separate section titled “relevant coursework” to the CV.

More student tips to follow…..

It seems that our second level students have less and less time in class to spend on the essential life skills that will needed for the rest of their life. They spend so much time studying for the perfect Leaving Certificate, A Levels etc, in order to progress to a third level course, and yet despite acquiring all this knowledge for their chosen career, they usually end up staring blankly at the computer screen when they have to create their CV, hoping that if they stare long enough, inspiration will strike from somewhere, or maybe – just maybe – the CV will miraculously write itself!

With CV Cafe it couldn’t be easier, simply fill in the forms, section by section. You will be asked about certain topics that employers generally ask about so if you don’t have an answer to one of the sections then talk to someone who might be able to give you a hand i.e. your parents or someone you have previously had work experience with. Most sections when not completed will not show up on the CV when you download it.

There will be further blogs on writing your CV for students so keep an eye out.

Happy job hunting

The CV Cafe Team

If you are on twitter and tweet a lot you may like to know that CV Cafe are on Twitter too!!

We are currently tweeting about tips for writing your CV and also retweeting jobs posted on Twitter.

We’d love to hear from anyone who has applied for a job through twitter and see how you got on. You can email info@cvcafe.com or contact us through twitter using @cv_cafe

There are plenty of jobs out there and you just need to know where to look, maybe someone is tweeting your dream job right now!!

Have a great Paddy’s Day tommorrow!

The CV Cafe Team

I think this is a fairly new website. It’s aim is to help those who have been made redundant to up-skill while unemployed (and retaining their benefits) with the chance to become employed after a certain period.

http://www.beginagain.ie

Details from this site include the following:

Are you a professional who has been made redundant and are you interested in:

- Participating in a work placement programme?

- Using your skills, keeping them current?

- Exploring employment options that maximise your strengths?

-Availing of mentor support as you develop career options?

- Developing new skills in new areas?

- Achieving an Institute for Leadership and Management Award in Leadership and a FETAC Level 5 Award?

This programme, provided by the Labour Market Activation Fund and operated by the Department of Education and Skills, is definitely for you!

Check them out over at

http://www.beginagain.ie

Courtesy of www.rte.ie

US firm Otterbox is creating 50 new jobs in Cork as it sets up its Europe, Middle East and Africa headquarters in the city. The new positions will come on stream over the next two years.

Otterbox designs and makes protective covers for high value smartphones and handheld devices.

The Cork centre will work on in-house sales, customer service, accounting, engineering, public relations, marketing, web design, graphics, HR and warehousing. Advertisement

‘The firm’s decision to establish its EMEA headquarters in Cork reaffirms the county’s global reputation as a hub for innovation and advanced product design and production, with access to and educated and skilled workforce and modern transport infrastructure,’ commented the Minster for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation Batt O’Keeffe.

He added that the Cork operation will be at the heart of the firm’s global growth.

Courtesy of www.rte.ie

450 construction jobs are to be created in a development project on the Grangegorman site in Dublin’s north inner city.

The €486m project was given the final go-ahead at this morning’s meeting of the Cabinet, and launched this afternoon.

The old mental hospital is to be replaced by a new facility for DIT, which will bring 22 of its 27 schools together on a single site. It will also house a new primary school and modern facilities for mental health patients.

The first stage of the project being announced today will take ten years, with potential for further development at a later stage.

There are many reasons for a gap in your CV, for example, the year out you took to travel around Australia or America. Maybe you took a year off to spend time with your new addition to the family! Whatever the reasons, simply explain the gap. It doesn’t have to be in any great detail, but will look more professional than leaving a great big gap in your CV.

In todays current climate of huge job losses it is particularly important to highlight what you have been doing with your time since you’ve been laid off or made redundant. Keeping an eye on updates and developments in your industry, whether you have undertaken a course to upgrade your skills etc.

Whatever it may be, let your CV explain everything you have been doing in order to re enter the workplace. Highlight college courses, back to work schemes, FAS courses (or similar)… this information will put you ahead of the rest when a prospective employer looks at your CV!

If you have a detailed employment history there is no need to list off every subject you did for your Junior Cert and Leaving Cert in you CV. Just state the year you did your leaving, the school and the results i.e. 4 honours and 2 passes, no need to list every subject.

There is also no need to highlight the fact that you may have failed a subject. Leave this off the CV altogether.

Keep your CV a positive document. Highlight your strengths as this will make you appear an attractive prospect for any employer to consider for interview.

Good Luck!

It’s got to the stage now if you go trawling the internet for help with job hunting during the recession you’re pretty much guaranteed to get swamped with ideas. Lets face it everyone and his mother has a new way to beat the recession. So rather than reinvent the wheel we have pulled together what we believe to be the top 5 articles out there to help you get a job during the hard times.

1. 6 Myths About Job-Hunting in a Recession 2. “Top 20 Careers to Pursue in a Recession”: 3. Finding a career that is recession proof 4. Job-Hunting During a Recession Articles for Job-Seekers, Workers, Students 5. Eight Tips for Job Hunting During the Recession

Hi

CV Cafe would like to invite you to enter our fantastic competition to win €100 cash! And it couldn’t be easier.

All you have to do is tell us what you honestly think of the site via our feedback form on CVCafe.com You will find it here: http://cvcafe.com/give_feedback

For those members who have already completed the feedback form, thank you! You will be automatically entered into the competition.

The closing date is Monday the 30th March 2009 and the winner will be contacted via email and announced on our website.

We look forward to reading your comments. The CV Cafe Team

No matter what job you’re applying for whether it’s answering an ad in a newspaper or on a job site via email a cover letter is a must.

Keep the cover letter short and sweet – no more than one page. It should be a rough guide to why you are the perfect candidate for the job.

Don’t forget to mention the position you are going for – some companies have several positions advertised at the same time. Some companies also like to know where you saw the ad, but keep this short.

Never address the cover letter Dear Sirs or Gentlemen. It’s always a good idea to find out the name of the person you are sending the CV to, as it shows that you have some interest in who and what company you are sending your CV to.

Don’t be negative in your cover letter keep it positive and be sure to point out what you can do for the employer and bring to the company.

Don’t start your cover letter with “Please find enclosed my CV ……” – the employers will see that you have enclosed the CV so don’t waste space pointing out the obvious.

Don’t send a cover letter with bad spelling, grammar or layout. Always double check your letter and better still to have a friend or family member have a look over it for you too as they might spot something you have missed.

Don’t mention you’re recent redundancy should you have been laid off. Keep a cover letter positive and what you can do for them. If your CV shows you finished in December you can explain your position in the interview.

Good luck with your job search and we’ll be back with more tips soon.

Ali _________________ The CV Cafe Team _________________

Below are some tips from Irish career coaches to help you manage in the current difficult jobs market.

Our first set of tips are from Eve Bulman, a management coach in Dublin. More details at Brightskills Training

Think Big & Be Clear On What You Want – Start by asking yourself the question ‘If I knew I wouldn’t fail, what would I LOVE to be doing?’ – make a list of what you’re looking for in a job. Then identify your ‘compromisable’ and ‘non-compromisable’ criteria.

Work Within Your Circle of Influence – To keep focused and in control of the situation, every day ask yourself ‘What can I do today to bring me closer to my dream job’ and execute on this . Don’t Panic – Don’t take the first offer that comes your way if you don’t feel confident and comfortable with it. If you’ve done set 1 above, it should be easy to recognise a strong offer for you.

Career Success & Achievement List – List all the successful projects and achievements you have accomplished in your career to date and get comfortable talking about these – make links to the skills & competencies demonstrated for each

Apply for ALL roles & Attend Interviews – Applying for all roles that have potential to be a good fit for you maximises the opportunity for you to attend interviews – allowing you to ‘hone’ your interview technique and comfort

Our second set of tips are from Anne Walsh, a career change guide/coach/trainer based in Galway. You can download lots of free resources at www.annewalshcoach.com

“We are living in uncertain times, but the reality is that uncertainty and change is a part of life, it’s just that it’s now being thrown into sharp focus. Here are some tips on coping in these times”.

Spend some time identifying your accomplishments and achievements. Make sure you include non-work stuff in that list. You will be pleasantly surprised.

Fear can be absolutely paralysing at this time. We all have a favourite fear fantasy. My personal favourite is from Bridget Jones; found dead in your flat eaten by Alsatians? Now ask yourself how likely is it that fantasy will become real. Nope, I didn’t think so – remember, reality is often so much kinder than our minds.

If you have been made redundant, give yourself some time to allow yourself to grieve and also identify ways to get support and be kind to yourself.

If you have a job, take some time to look at the financial reality of your situation and get clear about more ways to save and set aside money.

If you lose your job, consider changing your career direction, maybe this is just the kickstart you needed!

We hope the advice is useful!

Best Wishes

The CV Cafe Team

Question 1: So, tell me about yourself: Sample Answer: As you know from my CV, I am a student, seeking my work placement (or part-time work, etc). I am a friendly and enthusiastic person, who is also reliable and hardworking.

Question 2: Why do you want this job/work for this company? Sample Answer: The company appeals to me because I would gain so much knowledge and experience. You have a wide variety of services that you provide and I would be interested in learning about these. Your company is also recognised as providing excellent customer care and this would be a vital skill to learn for all my future positions.

Question 3: Why do you think you would be suitable for this job/position? Sample Answer: As the position entails office administration, I feel I would be very suited to it. I have been computer literate for 5 years now. I am familiar with Microsoft Word and Excel. I have always achieved good results in my computer courses and I also have very good written and verbal skills.

Question 4: What are your strengths and weaknesses? Sample Answer: My strengths are my punctuality, reliability, and enthusiasm to learn new things. My weaknesses are gardening and backflips, so it’s a good thing this job doesn’t require those skills!

Question 5: What so you know about the company? Sample Answer: You can fill this in – based on your research in our previous blog!

Question 6: Do you have any questions? Sample Answer: I get the impression that this is very friendly and relaxed place to work. Is that true? / What are the working hours? / How would my working day be structured?/ What would my learning opportunities be?

Best of Luck – The CV Cafe Team

So, you have an interview with your desired company. The first thing to do is to learn as much as you can about the company and department you will be working for. The first port of call should be to check if the company have a website. Either a quick Google or a phone-call to the company should get the website address. If the company is a medium to large sized company, there should be a huge amount of data to use. Try to find out the following information:

The company’s location. It may seem obvious, but make sure you find out the exact location and how to get there on time. The last thing you want is the interview setting off on a bad foot with unpunctuality. An employer will have expected you to account for rush-hour traffic or train delays! It is also worthwhile to research how you could get to the office for the normal working hours, as this could be a interview question.

The company’s official name: If the company is called by an acronym or has a local informal name, always know the official name or what the acronym stands for.

What the company does: If the company is a services company, for example a large law firm, ensure you understand what kind of services the company provides. It may specialise in certain types of services or consultancy. If the company is a product company you should understand what those products are, what they do and the customers.

What is the company’s mission statement or ethos: This type of knowledge can help you stand out amongst candidates as it adds another dimension to the stock answers to “do you know what we do”

Company Structure: Find out who is the CEO or managing director, and try to find out a little about his/her background. If possible find out how the company is run, who is on the board of directors, who is in senior management. If you are applying to a particular department, find out as much as you can about the work your department does.

Company Salary Benefits: You may not ask these questions in the interview, but you should always know this information before an interview!

Coming Next…. How to Give the Perfect Answers

Top ten most common CV Blunders that prevent candidates from being shortlisted for positions:

1 Lying! – Just like Lee McQueen who was caught out spectacularly by Alan Sugar for lying on his CV in The Apprentice, you will always be caught out if you lie about your level of experience or abilities on your CV. Don’t do it!

2. Novelty Email Addresses! – thebigfella@myemail.com does not present a professional image!

3. Misspelling Curriculum Vitae – If you are applying for jobs that require attention to detail, for example an office administrator or personal assistant, you should probably know how to use a spell-checker!

4. It’s not about what you want! – Keep the CV to what you can do for the employer, not the other way around.

5. Five Page CV! – Unless it’s two pages or less, your CV will most likely be binned.

6. Expert Level! – Calling yourself an expert in something when you have only one year’s experience doesn’t work!

7. Lack of Formatting! – Use paragraphs, bolding, bullet points and italics but don’t over do it!

8. Unexplained gaps in your career! – If you took time out to surf in Bondi Beach, say so! Ambiguity on a CV is never a good thing!

9. Generic CV’s! – Tailor each CV to each job application. A generic CV won’t allow you to highlight different skills aimed at different job applications.

10. No Cover Letter! – It’s important to highlight your key skills and abilities so that your potential employer is excited to read your CV.

We’ll be blogging about any new features in CV Cafe, industry trends, job articles, and tips for landing that job.

Stay tuned!

The CV Cafe Team.