CV and application processes
What is a CV by definition?:
As explained on the Government Website,
"A CV is a short, written summary of your skills, achievements and experience which relate to a role you want. You use it in the first stage of applying for jobs. Employers often ask for a CV instead of an application form but sometimes you'll need both."
Why and when would you use a CV?:
A Curriculum vitae is a snappy way to show an employer the reasons as to why you are a good fit for their company and what you can bring to the table. Most companies and employers will work in a process of elimination when it comes to hiring people. The CV is the first time an employer will be introduced to you so it must contain only the most vital and important information. The CV is normally quickly read over by the employer and they are looking for skills and experience that can help them. Therefore, being original and confident is a must.
The Process of hiring (from the employer):
Stage 1 - Initial posting of the offer
Whether it is through Social Media, Company websites, Indeed or word of mouth, a company will begin by creating and posting their Job Advert. Small companies might use social media more and big companies will use their own website. From this we can tell that the best way to look for a job is to check all forms of media constantly and following small companies will give you the best chance in making sure you get updates.
Stage 2 - Resume Screening:
This is where our CV comes in. Companies will quickly (10 seconds per CV) read through CV's and look for the ideal qualities they desire. For example, the one shown on the website, if the employer requires 5+ years of practical experience but a college student has applied, this person can be quickly ruled out. Overall a CV is the way employers check your past experiences and grades against their requirements. Although this is the main way an employer will narrow down their applicants, they may do their own extra steps...
Screening:
Screening is sometimes a way that an employer will first make contact with you. It allows the employer and employee to talk and align their expectations such as pay, hours, flexibility, start date and other deal-breaking questions they may have. They will normally do this over a video call and also find out more about your personal background.
Pre-selection:
I myself have been involved in a Pre-selection test. Last year I applied for a part time job at Aldi. After handing in my CV, I received an email a few days later. The email had a link which took me to an online test. The test had a timer of 45 minutes and I had to answer questions to common things that may happen in store. Ranging from the customers to handling produce, questions were asked about certain scenarios and I had to choose how I would deal with said issues.
Pre-selection tests are more commonly seen with bigger chains of employers as it means no-one has to physically sit down with thousands of people and ask questions. If thousands of people applied to one job, Pre-selection tests allow the employer to easily narrow down their selection, depending on the answers they give.
Stage 3 - First interview/ interview:
Commonly there are two types of interviews, Structured and unstructured interviews. Structured interviews, being shown to be almost more than twice reliable than unstructured, are the most commonly used. Although it may be best to use a structured approach to an interview, some jobs may use a unstructured. For example a company looking for a financial advisor may use a structured approach in order to find out more about the person's accomplishments and how they would deal with common or unusual situations that may arise. However a person, such as myself in the past, who is applying to a restaurant or bar may have an unstructured interview due to the fact the employer might be more interested in the persons character and their background, to see if they would be a good fit for the team.
STAR:
Normally used within the screening and pre-selection segment, STAR is an acronym for a process of questions that can be asked to a person and see if their answers match with what the employer expect and want. It can be used to ask candidates about past experiences as well...
S stands for Situation. The candidate will be asked about situations they will find themselves within the workplace and how they would be expected or how they would resolve the situation.
T is for Task. Finding out the end goal for the candidate and the process they would go about solving it. Is it the conventional way? or are they going to take risks in order to possibly have a better outcome?
A is for Action. If they fail or something goes wrong, what is the action they will take in order to resolve or minimise the damage of their mistakes?
R is for result. What did their past situation, task and action help them learn? Have they been able to take what has happened and make sure it will not happen again?
This does not always have to do with the job physically however. For my Aldi Pre-selection process for example, I was asked how I would deal with a colleague not doing work and how I would support a colleague who was feeling low. Companies like to see how you treat your fellow staff and commit to work at the same time.
Stage 4 - Assessment:
Similar to the pre-selection stage, an assessment stage assesses the candidate (what a surprise!). Only seen in more prestige and crucial jobs, the candidate will be asked to do a more refined and hard task. Case studies are given to people in order to see how their mind may work to solve issues and it is a good way to test how quickly and accurate their mind works. For example, a job with the WHO, may ask you how you would solve a worldwide issue. Given the feedback, the employer can see the angles that the person would bring to the team.
As said, this form of assessment is very uncommon as it aims to test the IQ and abilities of a person, as well as their mental and cognitive thoughts. You would most definitely not be asked to do a test such as this for a mid-career job. It is normally reserved for CEO and Executive jobs.
Stage 5 - References and background checks:
The way to confirm who you are and to confirm the experience you have, the employer will contact your references and check your background in order to make sure you pose no threat. Normally used at this stage of the hiring process, they may only ask to see your references if they feel like you are not confident with what you are saying and what you have accomplished. The best way to show yourself off would be to stay grounded and humble about yourself and never exaggerate what happened.
Also these checks may be done within stage 2, therefore it is a good idea to include a reference and your education within your CV.
The background checks are more common within government and service jobs in order to make sure the person is true. However sometimes there are mistakes. As an example a woman was hired as a translator for US congress. However, as stated in this report, she was in fact waving her arms around in gibberish and has also been arrested before for identity fraud. A simple check could have stopped this issue. Overall, make sure you are prepared for questions about your past and be ready to admit the truth when getting employed.
Stage 6 + 7 - Decision and offer:
After the long process, your employer will normally contact you with an offer, consisting of your pay, hours and role. It is still left up to you, the candidate to accept this offer and make sure that you have asked all questions you have, to solidify that the role is right for you.
Why have I done this research?:
Understanding how the employer works and their thought processes, gives me the advantage over most people. By knowing the full process of elimination I can prepare myself for the future. The research means that when it comes to my own job applications, I know how much information is needed within each part. Right now, I have the knowledge of understanding of a hiring process and therefore I know that a CV needs to be short, informative and have references. I will not go into much detail when writing my CV, as my research tells me it will only be looked at for a few seconds.
By looking further into the employment process, I now know what I need to research into later when it comes to me having a mock interview. Knowing the employers thoughts and the structure of the questions they may ask me means that I can prepare myself efficiently.
What are good examples?:
In order to make sure I have the correct layout and information, I am going to research online for good CV examples. This means that I will have not only a firm understanding of the content that should go into a CV, but I will have the understanding of how one is created and make sure mine is to the best ability.
Indeed have some examples examples of CVs. Showing the content what goes into CVs I can infer to have; my personal details, a small paragraph summarising my expertise, bullet pointed key skills, Employment history and my education.
This is the most basic form of a CV that indeed show...
[Name and titles]
[Address]
[Phone Number]
[Email]
Professional History
[Name of most recent position]
[Start date - end date]
[Name of organisation or employer]
Brief description of job duties
Use short, active phrases and be as succinct as possible
Education
[Type of degree]
[Name of school]
[Date of attendance]
Skills and certifications
Use bullet points to list your skills
List the specific name of your certifications and the organisation that provided the certification
Awards
List relevant awards for this position or industry in bullet points
Community service
Use bullet points to highlight any relevant community service
Memberships
Use bullet points to mention any relevant memberships
Interests
Choose specific interests that differentiate you from other applicants
Now that I know how to display my content on the page, I need to look at real life examples in order to make my CV look as sleek and professional as possible.
5 out of the 8 people that done my survey said that my CV was too formal for the job for. As stated earlier, this CV is for Fulwell 73.
Although I felt my personal summary was good, my peers seem to disagree. Everyone has stated that it needs to be shorter. My research told be it should only be a few lines, however I felt like I had many great points to make. It will be difficult to shorten my personal summary as I feel like the points I have are all vital to showing my strengths and experiences. People have suggested making more bullet points instead of sentences. Other aspect of my CV which has been flagged, is its overall length. My CV spans over 3 pages, compared to the conventional 1 page which needs to be changed.
I have asked about what in could add and remove to the CV, now I am asking about the overall look of the CV. Again, my feedback is telling me that i just need to bullet point more and try add more color in order to make it less formal.
Overall my CV has been rated around a 6 out of 10 and therefore I know that the correct information is there, I just need to work on the structure more.
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