The CV is your first impression over the recruiter, Part: 3

Personal Summary/ Statement

A personal statement that fits your career goals and focuses on what skills you bring to an employer tailored for each job for which you are applying. This is a statement that offers a brief overview of your skills and ambitions, and it would usually fit between your personal details and the education section. Think carefully about including a statement.

A statement could work particularly well to explain your thinking if you are changing career direction. For artists' CVs, a short, unpretentious statement is vital, to explain your philosophy and work. Medical CVs often include a brief Career Plan providing some idea of how you see yourself developing in the medical world.

Don’t just assume an employer will see how your experience relates to their job. Instead, use a short personal statement to explain why you are the best person for the job. Including professional goals can help you by giving employers an idea of where you are going, and how you want to arrive there. You don’t need to have a special section devoted to your professional objectives, but overall the resume must communicate it. The question of whether or not to highlight your career objectives on the resume is a polemic one among HR managers, so go with your feeling. If you decide to list them, make sure they are not generic.

To help take the sting out of putting a personal summary together here some examples of completed summary and a list of the type of things that may help you to best describe yourself and your skills.

 

Examples of Completed Statements:

·         I am an experienced joiner with well developed skills and experience in groundwork, concrete finishing and steel fixing and have worked in the construction industry since 1982. I am also a skilled laborer who has supported many different trades over the years. I have a full clean UK driving license with entitlement of up to 7.5 tone. I am keen to return to work after a period of training and personal development which has broadened my skills and experiences.

·         I am a flexible and experienced insurance administrator with excellent time management skills. I am a good communicator with proven inter personal skills and am used to working in a team whilst also being capable of using own initiative. I am skilled In dealing with problems in a resourceful manner and negotiating to achieve beneficial agreement. I am always enthusiastic to learn and undertake new challenges.

·         I am a professionally qualified fire engineer with 7 years experience. I have recently achieved RTITB accreditation in the use of Counterbalance fork lift trucks and I am seeking employment that will make best use of my skills and allow me to develop them further. I am determined and enthusiastic, I have developed good planning & organizational skills and am confident working independently or as part of a team. I am flexible regarding working hours and am able to work a range of shifts.

·         I am a hard working, honest individual. I am a good timekeeper, always willing to learn new skills. I am friendly, helpful and polite, have a good sense of humor. I am able to work independently in busy environments and also within a team setting. I am outgoing and tactful, and able to listen effectively when solving problems.

·         I am a punctual and motivated individual who is able to work in a busy environment and produce high standards of work. I am an excellent team worker and am able to take instructions from all levels and build up good working relationships with all colleagues. I am flexible, reliable and possess excellent time keeping skills.

·         I am an enthusiastic, self-motivated, reliable, responsible and hard working person. I am a mature team worker and adaptable to all challenging situations. I am able to work well both in a team environment as well as using own initiative. I am able to work well under pressure and adhere to strict deadlines.

·         I am a dedicated, organized and methodical individual. I have good interpersonal skills, am an excellent team worker and am keen and very willing to learn and develop new skills. I am reliable and dependable and often seek new responsibilities within a wide range of employment areas. I have an active and dynamic approach to work and getting things done. I am determined and decisive. I identify and develop opportunities.

·         I am a nice fun and friendly person, I’m honest and punctual, I work well in a team but also on my own as I like to set myself goals which I will achieve, I have good listening and communication skills. I have a creative mind and am always up for new challenges. I am well organized and always plan ahead to make sure I manage my time well.

If your not sure what to say, or how to start then consider selecting a combination of up to 5 sentences from the list below to create your own personal profile.

Also consider adding information relevant to the job description or duties that you may be expected to undertake this makes it personal!

·      I am an organized and efficient person with an enquiring mind.

·      I am a flexible person seeking employment which will allow development, growth and make use of my existing skills.

·      I am a good listener and learner, and am able to communicate well with people from all walks of life.

·      I am a keen, hard working, reliable and excellent time keeper.

·      I am a bright and receptive person, able to communicate well with people at all levels.

·      I am good at working using my own initiative and I am flexible in my approach to work duties.

·      I have a good sense of humour and a pleasant approach.

·      I am a hard working individual with experience of assembly line work, drilling, and spraying.

·      I am a loyal and trustworthy employee who can work alone or as part of a team.

·      I am a quick to learn and willing to adapt to any job.

·      I am a competent, loyal, hard working employee with the ability to achieve tasks when working alone or as part of a team.

·      I am punctual with an excellent attendance record.

·      I have a flexible and positive approach to employment and am willing to train to suit my next working environment.

·      I am an organised, efficient and hard working person, and am willing to discover and accept new ideas which can be put into practice effectively.

·      I am a good listener and learner, able to communicate well with a group and on an individual level.

·      I am able to motivate and direct my talents and skills to meet objectives.

·      I always seek to achieve a high standard in whatever work I undertake.

·      I am well organised with a clear and positive approach to problem solving.

·      I am a well organised, efficient and professional person.

·      I am able to communicate easily in both spoken and written forms.

·      I am a hard working, loyal and mature worker with a variety of skills to offer.

·      I am keen to obtain new skills and training and have a flexible approach to all work situations, and find it easy to adapt.

·      I am capable of relating to people at all levels and am prepared to help them overcome problems in a work situation

·      I am open minded, receptive and innovative, with an enquiring mind.

·      I can work unsupervised alone or as a member of a team and I like to use my skills to make a positive contribution to the workforce.

·      I am a family person with responsibilities, very reliable and trustworthy.

·      I am willing to learn new skills and have many existing ones to offer.

·      I have good interpersonal understanding and communication skills and am a confident team worker with the ability to work on own initiative.

·      I am a mature person with a sound engineering background.

·      I can organise and prioritise my own workload effectively.

·      I have the ability to work under stress and keep within set budgets and targets.

·      I am a mature and confident person with sales experience, team leadership skills and the ability to create new sales and build on existing accounts.

·      I am a quiet and focused person who can work swiftly and effectively either alone or as part of a team.

·      I am a reliable, trustworthy and flexible individual who can learn new skills easily and execute them swiftly.

·      I am a confident driver with clean driving licence, I have my own transport and an excellent knowledge of local and national road and motorway networks.

·      I am a confident Fork Lift Truck operator with a good all round knowledge of warehouse duties.

·      I am an experienced machine operator with a good all round knowledge of factory procedures.

Example:

Personal Summary

Recent graduate with BA in economics. Excellent research, time management and problem solving skills. Highly organized with the ability to manage multiple projects and consistently meet deadlines.

Research Skills

·      Developed and conducted surveys to measure current attitudes towards personal financial planning.

·      Evaluated reliability of online and offline information sources for inclusion in research study.

Time Management Skills

·      Met weekly editorial deadlines as Sports Editor for university newspaper.

·      Managed detailed project plan to coordinate activities among team members for final group presentations.

From the examples above, you might notice that there are several skills listed. Which skills should you include? The answer is simple. Look at the job description or advertisement. In the qualifications section of the job description or advertisement, you'll find a list of skills that the employer is seeking.

Customize your CV for each job

The most common mistake made by job seekers is to create one generic CV and send it out to all job openings. Customize your CV for each job application. Make sure that your CV has the keywords that the recruiter is looking for.

Education with courses and certifications

Education and training can include:

·                     Academic results, degrees, diplomas and certificates

·                     Technical and professional qualifications

·                     Work and vocational training received

Your educational qualification is a vital part of your CV or resume. However, simply stating the kind of degree that you have achieved is not sufficient. It is recommended that you supplement it with the important courses that you took and how those courses would help you with the job you are applying to. List your qualifications in order of the most recent and most relevant first.

Give details on the title of your qualification, where you studied, the grade you were awarded and the date you achieved it. If you have a PhD, give the full title of the PhD and the name(s) of your supervisors. 

Do not include qualifications with no relevance to the job. You can include qualifications for which you are currently working as long as you make it clear that you have not completed them yet. If your major has a nonstandard name, you should explain the curriculum on your CV and you can do so in a way that shapes the reader’s perception.

For example, the University of Pennsylvania offers a major called “Digital Media Design (DMD),” which is a fusion of computer science, communication, and fine arts (think: future Pixar engineers). A DMD student who is applying for a software engineering role at Amazon might describe it as ‘a computer science–based major with additional courses in design and communications.’

Recent graduates should list their most serious (that is, most impressive/relevant) activities on their CV. Don’t list everything you did, though everyone can have a lot of half-hearted activities, so an extensive list won’t impress anyone. More experienced candidates usually will not include activities.

Current students and some recent graduates may want to list relevant courses. Make sure the courses are truly relevant, though. If the course names aren’t clearly understandable to someone not familiar with your university, you may want to give them more “user-friendly” names. This is also an excellent section to tailor to each position or company.

If you received any awards in college, they often will be listed here. You could, instead, include an “Awards” section, but many candidates find that this takes up precious space. Students with low GPAs may find that awards help them compensate for an otherwise less impressive college experience. While you must always include education on your CV, this section should get shorter with more work experience. Many candidates with even two or three years of experience list just their major and degree.

About High School

High school almost never belongs on a CV. There are probably only three exceptions to this and two of them occur only very rarely. Freshmen and sophomores might consider listing their high school on their CV, but only if they really have nothing better to list. It’s unlikely to impress anyone.

If you have some very impressive accomplishments from high school and the only way to include them is to list your high school, this might be acceptable. However, it’s more likely that these accomplishments should go elsewhere, such as under an Awards section.

If you have awards or honors, you can choose to list those either with your work experience/education or in their own Awards section. The best decision largely depends on how much space you have and how much you want to emphasize your awards. You should list the dates and why you received the award.

False information

Lying about your results or your employment history may get you to the interview stage, but it's unlikely to get you any further. Interviewers will certainly ask you for more details about the information on your CV, so it will soon be obvious if you've lied. What's more, even if you did somehow slip through the net but were rumbled later on, employers are legally entitled to withdraw their offer. Stick to the facts!

If you lie on your CV, you’re taking a big risk. First of all, you’re very likely to get busted during the background and reference checks. Even if you get lucky and make it through the hiring process, dishonesty on your CV can get you fired down the road even if you’ve been doing a great job.

If you haven’t yet graduated from college, for example, put down the name of the school you’re attending and state your expected graduation date. Don’t say you’ve graduated if you haven’t.

Too much information

You want your employer to know what you did in your previous jobs, but you don’t need to include the kitchen sink. Describe your job duties in enough detail to give the employer a good idea of your general responsibilities. Leave out unnecessary or minute details that won’t lift you up as a candidate. More importantly: Highlight your job achievements. Use bullet-points to help the reader focus in on your accomplishments. Too many candidates make the mistake of including a detailed job description instead of emphasizing individual contributions.

·      Don’t leave separate qualifications section; put the qualifications with the instruction where you took them, making the institution in to a heading.

·      Give more details about your recent education, especially as it relates to your intended job.

·      Mention: project work; dissertation (State word- length); relevant individual papers (indicate topics).

·      Mention any non-library research skills used, e.g. stats, fieldwork, questionnaires.

·      Include awards/prizes from School to College/University (If undergrad or new graduates); if many, have separate “Awards” subheading after “Education” section.

·      Give date of all exams.