On the 8th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

On the 8th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

…8 Maids A-milking! Well all sorts could be read into that, but we’ll go for: On the 8th day of Christmas the CV righter gave to me 8 mistakes of applications, 7 deadly sins of job hunting, 6 Key Achievements, 5 Golden Rules, 4 calling cards, 3 networks, 2 referees and a killer CV.

A popular article is “What’s the worst that can happen? 8 gaffs when applying for roles” – which talks through some very valid points which I have seen over the years in my recruitment capacity; although they seem obvious these mistakes are still made by eager candidates.

The key to making a successful job application is not to rush – yes there are deadlines but if you have planned and researched from the outset then you will be in a position to start making applications, rather than deciding off the cuff to just start applying one day.

Make sure your CV is up to date – I’ve lost count of applications from candidates who sent in CVs which hadn’t been updated since securing a new role 3 years ago. Or worst still, an updated CV which has a garbled one line about the current role which tells us nothing and doesn’t follow the format of the previous roles so it is obvious they have rushed something to make the application. It does not create a good impression and if anything, says a lot about how you work and where you are willing to put in effort. Not good for a project person – not good for anyone but really, for a project professional!!!

Research your field and understand the basics such as skill-sets required, salary bandings (and where you sit), recruitment agencies specific to your needs, job boards yielding your types of roles and get networking in the right circles.

Putting that extra bit of effort in can be the difference between securing interviews with the lucky few or being discarded with the hundreds of competitors also looking for a new job.

On the 1st day of Christmas The CV Righter gave to me a Killer CV

On the 2nd day of Christmas The CV Righter said to me Two Referees

On the 3rd day of Christmas The CV Righter gave to me Three Networks

On the 4th day of Christmas The CV Righter said to me 4 calling cards 

On the 5th day of Christmas The CV Righter gave to me 5 golden rules

On the 6th day of Christmas The CV Righter said to me 6 Key achievements

On the 7th day of Christmas The CV Righter said to me the 7 deadly sins of job hunting

On the 8th day of Christmas The