Your CV - Key to the Interview Room

Jose Cofone, a senior account manager in the leisure travel division at recruitment agency New Frontiers, will be writing regular comments for ttglive.com. This is his second column.

At New Frontiers I will normally read at least 50 CV’s per day, which over 9 years equates to over 100,000 CV’s. In this time I’ve found that a CV literally has seconds to make a good impression to a prospective employer.



In this current employer focused job market, your CV is the key to unlocking the interview door. Due to the amount of people currently seeking employment (I mentioned last week that New Frontiers is receiving approx 1000 CV’s per week), your CV needs to stand out. You need to sell your skills and experience to the maximum of their ability to prospective employers.



There are various aspects to consider when designing your CV. Here are some tips:



Employment History - Your CV must be clear and concise and explain your duties fully. I find bullet points make your job history easier to read. Take care to ensure that you mention any unique selling points i.e. “Top seller in the company with over £10million nett sales in 2008”, “Tailor-making holidays using Galileo CRS”, “Aussie and Cruise specialist for the office”, etc.



Travel profile - I constantly receive CV’s which mention a passion for travelling but do not indicate locations that applicants have travelled to. This should be common sense if you are applying for positions in the travel industry. Your travelling experience can differentiate you against the job seeking competition. List the countries with a brief synopsis i.e. North America –2007 - 4 months spent travelling the east coast. I recently spoke to a candidate who had travelled to over 80 countries and 121 cities and did not think it was important to mention on his CV. Your travel profile alone can get you that elusive job.



Tailor you CV to specific jobs - When applying to any role, carefully read the vacancy details taking into consideration required skills and experiences. Visit the company website to get a clear indication of their needs and wants. Ensure that these requirements are shown clearly on your CV (if you have them). Do not be afraid to alter your CV for each position that you are applying to by showing them as the first job duties.



Points of attention -

No wacky email addresses. “crazyfool@email.com”, does not paint a professional image.
Ensure that your computer spell check is defaulted to English UK not English US.
Clarify any gaps between jobs, i.e. Dec 2006 – May 2007 travelling in Australia.


Finally, be realistic with the roles that you apply for! I received a CV for the post of Retail Travel Manager from a person who felt that she had all the suitable skills and experiences as she was managing a perfume store in Heathrow airport. That does not count!



If you would like some expert advice and guidance on writing a winning CV, New Frontiers will be running workshops in March. At the end of the workshop, not only will you know exactly what makes a great CV, you’ll leave with one too! Contact me for further details or check our website – www.newfrontiers.co.uk . We also have a “CV builder” facility on our site to assist you with designing your CV.

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