​In North America February 2nd is known as Groundhog Day, when, according to the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition the groundhog is said to come out of its hole at the end of hibernation. If the weather is sunny and it sees its shadow it goes back into its hole, which foretells six weeks more of winter weather.
The alternative dictionary definition of Groundhog Day is “a situation in which a series of unwelcome or tedious events appear to be recurring in exactly the same way.” And for anyone who has seen the eponymous film with Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell, Groundhog Day specifically symbolises getting stuck in a relentless repetition of the same day until such time as you make the right decisions and find your purpose.  
For the past 10+ months every day has felt like Groundhog Day for many of us: wake, eat, exercise, teach (if you have kids), work (if you have a job), eat, teach, work, walk, eat, work, sleep, repeat…..or a variation on that theme. On February 2nd 2020, who knew?
And the things that have brought changes to this monotony have not always been positive: illness, loss, redundancy amongst them. Being kind to yourself is the most important piece of advice I have heard for dealing with all these situations.
In the film, Phil (Bill Murray) has many unsuccessful attempts at escaping Groundhog Day until he makes the right changes and wakes up to find snow, love and a new life.
When dealing with redundancy, after the rawness of shock, grief and anger have receded there is the mission of finding a new job.  If you read around the subject, and I have, you can find a lot of advice about preparing yourself for the task, identifying your goal, doing your homework and being disciplined and resilient about executing your plan.  
To help with one of the key areas of preparation, your CV and LinkedIn profile, here are 5 tips for getting them to work as hard as possible for you:

1. A lot of recruiters use ATS (applicant tracking systems) to help them sort through the volume of applications they receive for each role, so you need to know and feature the keywords for your role and industry in your CV so that your skills are recognisable to AI-based readers.
2. Your CV needs to focus on your achievements and not your past job descriptions. Think about what your standout moments have been in your past roles and highlight them to show how you made a difference.
3. Keep your formatting simple, neat and business-like; don’t be tempted to use borders, fancy fonts, multiple columns and boxes to make the CV stand out.  Whilst these may appeal to some human readers (but not all) they often render the CV unreadable when ingested into an AI recruitment programme.  If you don’t know who is going to be reading your CV, then err on the safe side.
4. Keep it short and to the point.  If your CV is being read by time poor human recruiters they will want to be able to see what they need to see within a VERY short amount of time. With this in mind, use a Profile and a Key Skills section at the top of your CV to showcase why they will WANT and NEED to meet you, as this can encourage them to read on and allow you to get your message across. 
5. Use LinkedIn. Make sure your profile is up to date; that you are using all the sections you can, your headshot is professional, your banner is striking, your About section is compelling, your Experience is complete and you have spent time utilising Skills and Endorsements. This will make you a 5-star LinkedIn user and ensure your visibility on the platform, and to recruiters.

If you want to make your next 10 months into anything other than Groundhog Day then plan, research and prepare so you make the right decisions, find your purpose and your next job.
Good luck!
#groundhogday #cvadvice #cvwriting #recruitment #applicanttrackingsystems

If you are thinking of writing a CV it pays to do some research first.
​It used to be OK to create a document with your name, address, a list of where you have worked and or studied and some reference names at the bottom; but in these days of AI led recruitment and LinkedIn searches, it really does pay to be a bit savvy before putting pen to paper.
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Here are 5 things you need to consider before you write your CV:
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1. Who is reading your CV?  If you do not know who is going to be reading your CV you need to make sure it works equally well for a human reader and AI.  ATS - applicant tracking systems, are programmed to search for keywords based on the person and the skills the recruiter is looking for.  

2. What does a recruiter want to know?  It is not good enough to feature your previous job descriptions hoping that the information will match the specification of the job you are applying for.  Recruiters want to see how you contributed, your key achievements and that you have made a difference in previous roles.

3. What are the keywords for the role you want? This is pretty straight forward, if you don't know what the keywords are then your CV is unlikely to include them and therefore will undersell you to the human reader and be invisible to AI.

​4.  Did you know that you must tailor the CV for each application?  Know what you need to say in your CV in order to have an impact on the recruiter.  That does not mean you lie, it means you emphasise the skills the recruiter is looking for and edit out the irrelevant bits to make a punchier, more compelling read.

​5.  What are the company's values? Look at the website of the company you are applying to to find out what their mission statement is and what they value.  If you are not able to reflect these in your CV, you will definitely have the opportunity to do so in your cover letter.  

Writing a CV is not complicated, in fact the subject matter is at your finger tips (or in your head!).  The important thing is how you write it and what you do and do not say, so taking the time to do your homework will reap rewards later.  

For further information about CV writing contact CV experts New CV. 
#cvwriting #writingacv #cvtips # cvhelp #cvwritingservice

Graduating from university or college is going to not going to be the same this year; let's face it, what is? 
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Whilst the experience will probably not be the big day full of fanfare that everyone expects, the process of graduating, of finishing that stage of life and moving to the next, will still happen.

The reality of this period of change and the need to get a job can be phenomenally daunting for both the young people and their parents and, often, the favoured route is to start applying for jobs without taking stock of what the graduate has to offer an employer. 

After the champagne is finished and the uni flat is emptied (if it isn't already due to Covid-19), the very first thing anyone in this situation needs to do is write a CV based on their experience and achievements in the workplace. They need to think of themselves as a brand and use dynamic language to describe their accomplishments so that recruiters can see they take their personal brand seriously and are ready to work.

Work experience is key.  Whilst educational establishments drive home the importance of study, in the world of recruitment, it is what a person has done, as well as proving they have the ability to learn, that will get them noticed.

And if studying and socialising have taken up most of the last 3 or 4 years it is time for them to get some experience in a voluntary role, to prove they have a work ethic and staying power.  

More advice about CV writing and the importance of using LinkedIn to promote your personal brand will be in the next blog. 
#cvwriting #graduatecareers #graduatejobsearch # howtowriteacv #cv #findingajob #cvhelp #cvtips