All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission from the publishers, except by reviewers who may quote from brief excerpts in connection with a review in a newspaper, magazine, or electronic publication; nor may any part of this report be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or other means, without the written permission from the publisher. E-mail TopMBACVs@MBAmatch.com
You are advised to take individual professional career advice before adopting any of the ideas or tactics suggested within this e-book. Neither MBAmatch nor its parent company shall be liable for any loss arising from any action or decision taken as a result of the information provided within.
Interested in selling this e-book as an affiliate? E-mail TopMBACVs@MBAmatch.com for more information.
IF YOU HAVENT GOT THIS E-BOOK DIRECTLY FROM MBAmatch.com THEN IT IS AN ILLEGAL COPY
Contents
Health Warning .. 3
Introduction . 4
What is a CV? .. 4
Ambience of a CV ... 6
Format What should it look like .. 8
2 types of CV 10
Style How it should sound 14
Power words to be used ... 14
Content What it should contain .. 17
Proof Reading . 35
Reviewing and Re-writing 36
Appendix A Summary Dos & Donts . 37 Top MBA Careers Page 2 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
MBAmatch Health Warning
In the current world of increasing globalisation and individualisation getting on in life often means succeeding in ones job/career. Many people pursue this holy grail as the be all and end all of life itself or so it often comes across.
We are all sometimes fooled into thinking that more money, recognition, power, responsibility, status, rewards etc. are the manifestation of a rich, meaningful and happy life. So we pursue this goal relentlessly, often to the detriment of our own good and that of those around us whether we know it or not.
For many of us this is the sole reason for taking an MBA course to further ones career by earning more money, gaining more status, recognition and reward.
Rather than accept that scenario as the way it will always be however, I want to challenge you to think this through carefully. Consider your own values and the desires of your heart before launching down the road of insatiable career progression.
Having done so, if you then decide that this is what you really want (and thats fine, so long as you do so with open eyes), then the following guide will help you along your journey.
I urge you therefore to take some time out to stop and (re)evaluate your life/career advancement to date, before deciding to plunge head first into that sea of more.
Johann Diaz MBA CEO & Founder MBAmatch Top MBA Careers Page 3 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
Introduction We will use the UK/European term CV (Curriculum Vitae) throughout this article
Before you even begin thinking about the style, content, format etc. of your CV you must understand the objective of using such a document.
Objective: To get you an interview (usually) unless you are just testing the market or wishing to hone your application skills
From my experience as an employer, the CV/Resume gets the candidates foot in the door.. it had to get my attention..
I believe that a well-crafted CV/Resume is vital.your resume may be the only storyteller of your skills and experience once it has been submitted by any method..
Many people will tell you that there are right and wrong ways of writing CVs. We dont believe this to be the case.
There is no exact method, only current preferred formats for communicating your career history. And even then these will differ according to the countries and regions in which you are applying for jobs. So it is worth conducting a little research in each new territory for which you might be prepared to move to.
CV - What is it?
Quite simply, it is a tool to market yourself, and therefore should be seen as something of extreme importance. Its your main (and often, only) sales brochure now think about the implications of that!
Essentially your CV is about YOU. In fact, it is you (or rather a reflection of you) in a two dimensional format. It is often the only aspect of you that the recruiter will use to determine whether or not they wish to buy your talents. And therein lies the problem. How can such a life as yours be effectively summarised onto a few flat pieces of paper? Theres no easy answer.
Top MBA Careers Page 4 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
Obviously your CV should be personal and be a true reflection of you.
But before you even begin to think about what should be contained within your CV
put yourself in the place of the recruiter (the executive search consultant, corporate HR manager, head-hunter, recruitment agency, managing partner, whomever). Consider the following issues:
They may have already looked at 100 CVs today and 1000 over the previous week. So they are possibly totally bored of the whole process after all they are only human They may be having a bad day They may be under considerable time pressure to get through another 200 CVs this afternoon how much time do you think they can spend looking at (let alone reading) your CV? They may have set themselves a target of finding 20 candidates for their short-list and may already have ear-marked 20 CVs. Why should your CV cause them to replace one of those they have already decided upon?
Now you will start to understand the importance of giving it your absolute best shot straight away you will only get one chance to impress.
Make the assumption that the recruiter is starting out from the premise that your CV will not make it through to the next round.
Common practice suggests you have approximately 30 seconds to convince them otherwise!
Now start selling! Top MBA Careers Page 5 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
The Ambience of your CV Consider a few other points, some of which may speak to you in a new way or turn you off either way thats fine:
Bring your CV to LIFE, make it EXCITING for the reader (but totally true). Poor CVs are formal, bland and boring. You need to be creative! First impressions count; sometimes more than they should. What do we mean by that? Too often decisions are made based on gut feel/emotional responses without taking into consideration other aspects of the decision making process. Gut feel has a part to play in this process, but it is only one part of it. A recruiter will make a snap judgement about you from your CV fairly quickly make sure that it at least looks appealing therefore. How would you say it (all about you) without using words (using colours, shapes, sounds, touch/feel, taste, smell etc.)? Close your eyes and ask yourself what colour you would look like to be represented as, what shape, what type of song do you want it to sing about you. Use your imagination be creative in your approach. Does your CV say what you want it to say about you? Your CV must woo & seduce the person reading it. So speak their language; dont reveal everything be tantalisingly leading & suggestive! It needs to be a personal experience for them. Enough for them to want more. Dont let it be too long. 2 pages is usual; 3 at the absolute maximum. Multiply this by 300 and youll understand why! Use action oriented (power) words like those listed on page 15. In this success-oriented world, organisations are only looking for people who can make things happen. Thats not to say that we all have to be great leaders or managers or directors, but we all have to dress up our successes and skills and talents in achieving language. Keep asking the question So what? Top MBA Careers Page 6 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
Dont lie market yourself well; use power words, make it sound dynamic, spin the yarn a little but do not lie you will be found out eventually.
Be yourself dont try and be someone else or the type of person you think they are looking for. Eventually you will be found out and will have wasted your time and theirs and possibly burnt your bridges in terms of a possible future relationship. But do tailor it for each job! Dont forget that you are marketing a product to a carefully selected target market. Wouldnt you usually do everything possible therefore, to ensure that it is as highly matched to their needs and desires as possible? Well, the same is true when you are the product being sold. Top MBA Careers Page 7 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
Format - What should it look like?
Dont forget the points listed above under the section But before you ever begin.
Now put yourself in the recruiters position and ask yourself why should I look at this persons CV? Why should I look further past the top quarter page? Why should I read the second page? What more can I glean by doing so? Make it easy for the recruiter to gather all the data they want from the first few paragraphs of your CV. Overall it must be easy to read, with clear distinct sections and headings and good use of white space. Dont forget, you have to make it easy on the recruiters eye, otherwise it may get thrown out even before they have started to read the content.
Dont use any jargon (unless tailoring your CV for a particularly technical post, and even then, be careful) Be crystal clear and ruthlessly concise in all you say remember you dont have much room to pad out phrases and sentences. Write it out long- hand for the first time, then re-read and cut out words (e.g. prepositions like a, the, in, is etc. Repeat this process several times at least 4 times. Length to fit on 2 pages (or 3 if you really must but preferably two) remember no-one has the time nor the inclination to read/scan more Width normal 1 page margins. You could get away with reducing these a little but to aid its readability, white space is important. So keep those margins a nice size. It also gives the recruiter the ability to scribble a few notes down the side for questions to ask you at interview. Minimum 10 points font size overall, except for some areas which are annotations or explanation paragraphs. Never smaller than 8 points. Maximum 12 points, except for header/document title which should be bigger. Dont give the reader a hard time! Although this does depend somewhat on which fonts you choose to use. Top MBA Careers Page 8 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
Font Dont be too artistic with the font. The recruiters printer or word- processing software may not have the latest fonts. Then how will it look?! Consider also the possibility that your CV will be scanned into the recruiters database. When this happens a lot of the formatting will be lost and your scanned CV will look strange. KEEP IT SIMPLE!
Readability be very careful with your use of correct grammar, correct use of words/meaning (have a dictionary and thesaurus beside you), correct spelling (theres nothing more infuriating than mis-spelt words), appropriate word and line spacing, good use of blank spaces. Differentiation it needs to be different somehow. Use of a different colour of paper is an option (although generally another business colour e.g. buff/off-white not red, blue etc.), use a dynamic e-mail subject header (if e-mailed), if you are the 25 th or the 75 th CV and the recruiters attention span is say 20 minutes how are you going to get yours noticed?. Attractiveness not perfume but a nice pleasing typeface (usually Arial or Times New Roman or similar) and layout. Also consider the possibility (and likelihood these days) that your CV will be scanned into a database using OCR (optical character recognition) software. Having too much and too small text close together will not lend itself to accuracy of scanning. Having fonts which are too creative looking will not translate so well. The same applies if your CV is being faxed by you or someone else on your behalf. Professionalism Do not say I (first person singular), just make the statement e.g. dont say I was responsible for .. just say Responsible for xxx. Or while in this position I had a xxxx, just say Six month contract involving XXX. Make it sound assertive and commanding. Be straight, honest, up-front tell it like it is/was. Above all, dont waffle. Dont give the impression that youve spent more time on the format and looks of your CV rather than on the content contained within use standard fonts and point sizes. Use headings to break up the text but not too many. Top MBA Careers Page 9 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
Generally do NOT use boxes or shading as these will be lost if your CV gets scanned or photocopied.
2 types of CV
There are 2 main types of CV: 1. chronological - the more standard one, where your employment record is described in chronological order beginning with your most recent job 2. skills where your employment record is presented under different skill / function sets.
If you are applying for a consultancy role or a senior management i.e. one where experience is required in a number of different functional areas (such as strategy development, project management, IT, marketing etc.) you might like to group your achievements under these functional headings, even though they may have been attained whilst you were employed within several different organisations.
Just by doing this you will stand a better chance of furthering your application, as you are actually tailoring your response more specifically to their needs.
Chronological (standard) CV Format If you wish to adopt a fairly standard approach to your CV follow these headings: (each section will be expanded in much more detail further down)
Title / label whats the name of your product and how can it be purchased? i.e. You and your contact details.
Top MBA Careers Page 10 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
Profile (optional) use with extreme caution summary about you but it MUST NOT be subjective i.e. your opinion.
Key Skills (optional) whats in it for the client? How will buying this product make their life easier, help them achieve their goals? etc. A quick synopsis of your key skills.
Key Achievements what you have achieved before (3 preferably but no more than 5) and what impact these achievements had on the organisation (qualitative and quantitative). These should be your key ones only.
Experience where and how did you achieve such great things before? Who were these companies? What did they do? What was your role? Offer the recruiter a list of SOME of your responsibilities, but not all just a few lines. Remember ACHIEVEMENTS are it! And they must have IMPACT.
Qualifications If the MBA is your highest qualification then place it at the top of the pile. Run down in order of importance.
Further Training List any other RELEVANT training courses attended (or on-the-job training periods).
Professional It is important for the recruiter to see that you support Memberships your career development through being involved with a professionally recognised institution.
Interests It is important for the recruiter to get a feel for what you do outside of the work environment. This is your chance to differentiate yourself! Have you had any articles or research published? Have you given any public seminars or keynote speeches? What do you Top MBA Careers Page 11 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
like doing? Dont underestimate the potential power of this section!
Personal date of birth is still useful to know although it will soon be illegal to ask or expect this in the UK as well as other countries.
See section headed Content further on, for more details about what to include in each section described above.
Platform/master CV
As you are going to need to tailor your CV to all the different applications you make, ensure you build a solid platform/master CV on which to start.
We recommend that you use the Chronological CV to compile a clear history of what you did, when and for whom.
When you start writing it, record absolutely everything you can remember you can come back to this later and pick out all the bits that you really need. Keep adding to it as you remember something else.
You should then compile the final version of your Chronological CV and save it in a sub-directory called Chronological under the directory CVs. Create another sub-directory entitled Skills CVs.
This file structure will give you the opportunity to create several other sub- directories under Skills CVs for each different flavour of CV e.g. you may have tailored one for the role of Customer Services Manager. Create a sub- directory called Customer Services Manager and save this tailored version within it. Then when you attach your CV to an application e-mail, the filename would still seem to be a generic one e.g. Joe Bloggs CV.doc rather than Joe Bloggs CV CS Manager.doc. Top MBA Careers Page 12 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
Although the recruiter will expect that you will have tailored your CV to the job you are applying for, you dont need to make it look so obvious.
Skills CV
There are two main differences between the chronological format and the skills format.
The first is that the experience section can simply be a list of carefully selected achievements grouped together under the key skills headings e.g. project management, business process re-engineering, product marketing etc.
The second is that you will need to insert a summary list of dates relating to your previous jobs underneath the Experience section.
Title / label Profile (optional) Key Skills (optional) Inclined to leave out in this format. Key Achievements Experience Group achievements together under relevant key skill/function areas Career History Dates, job titles and company names. If necessary a BRIEF one line (max) explanation of what they do. Qualifications . Further Training Professional Memberships Interests Personal .
Top MBA Careers Page 13 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
Style How should it sound?
Your CV must be clear and well thought-out. It must demonstrate a clarity of purpose and present a compelling argument. It should sound original and not contrived (as many DIY CV software packages do). It should sound:
Passionate
IMPACTFUL Professional - not pompous, not too colloquial Energetic & lively Achieving use power words see below Authentic self-confident but not arrogant Authoritative objective, informed, experienced Truthful would you believe it?
Power words to be used
Not only should these words (and others like them) be used within your CV for impact, but they are also important for the purposes of CV filtering if and when your CV gets scanned.
On these occasions recruiters search their databases for high impact words as well as other more obvious ones around industry, country, job function etc.
These words can be used either in the past tense or in other tenses depending on the context in which they are being included e.g. attained or attaining. Obvious, I know!
Top MBA Careers Page 14 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
Accelerated Gained Achieved Gathered Acted Generated Advanced Hired Aligned Identified Applied Implemented Assessed Improved Attained Increased Avoided Introduced Awarded Launched Boosted Leveraged Bridged Managed Built Mastered Captured Maximised Championed Mobilised Changed Motivated Clarified Obtained Complemented Penetrated Connected Pioneered Converted Planned Created Prepared Cut Prevented Defined Promoted Delivered Raised Designed Realised Developed Rebuilt Diagnosed Recruited Directed Reduced Discovered Regenerated Elected Replaced Eliminated Restructured Established Retained Exploited Saved Finalised Set-up Top MBA Careers Page 15 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
Remember the overall objective of your CV is to get you an interview, by tantalising and wooing the recruiter!
Tailor the content of your CV to the application/job. Have several available to send out at a moments notice; each tailored to different types of jobs for which you might wish to apply. Make sure your CV gives the recruiter what they want to know make it highly relevant. Golden Rule # 1 Tailor it - the standard one-size-fits-all approach will NOT work
Leave the recruiter asking how did he/she achieve that? at several points within leave low-level fruit just a phone call away tantalise them into wanting to know more
Weed out trivia be ruthless keep asking So What? as the recruiter will be asking Check for simple grammatical errors Check for spelling mistakes dont give the recruiter the opportunity to throw your CV out on the basis of a few small spelling mistakes. Be careful, however, when using a spell checker they do not check the context of the phrase and may let through words which are correctly spelt but within another context Pay attention to detail postal/zipcodes, e-mail addresses, company names, figures etc. Relegate personal details to the bottom on the second page
Top MBA Careers Page 17 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
As suggested in the Format section above a standard approach would be to use the following:
Title / label whats the name of your product and how can it be purchased?
Profile (optional) use with extreme caution summary statements about you and your experience, but NOT subjective
Key Skills (optional) based on your experience - whats in it for the client? How will buying this product make their life easier, help them achieve their goals? etc.
Key Achievements what you have achieved before (3 preferably but no more than 5) and what impact these achievements had on the organisation (qualitative and quantitative)
Experience where and how did you achieve such great things before? Who were these companies? What did they do? What was your role? Offer the recruiter a list of SOME of your responsibilities, but not all just a few lines. Remember ACHIEVEMENTS are it!
Qualifications If the MBA is your highest qualification then place it at the top of the pile. Run down in order of importance.
Further Training List any other RELEVANT training courses attended (or on-the-job training periods). Sometimes this section can be combined with the Qualifications section (under the title Qualifications & Training).
Professional It is important for the recruiter to see that you support Memberships your career development through being involved with a professionally recognised institution. Top MBA Careers Page 18 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
Interests It is important for the recruiter to get a feel for what you do outside of the work environment. This is your chance to differentiate yourself! Have you had any articles or research published? Have you given any public seminars or keynote speeches? What do you like doing? Dont underestimate the potential power of this section!
Personal Date of birth is still useful to know although this will soon be considered to be discriminatory in the UK as it already is in many other countries. It is however a natural question which people ask themselves. No doubt, they will try and work it out from all your dates anyway. If however you offer them this information as well as any other information, like status, nationality, driving licence etc.) thats up to you. It only becomes discriminatory if they ask you for this information and/or base their decision on this information.
MBAs often ask whether they should include a few lines on what their objective is i.e. what type of roles they are seeking and in which industries/organisations.
Why? I ask.
Why would you want to use a statement which the recruiter could use to filter you out straight away? After all, dont you have enough transferable skills to be able to do the job for which you have applied? If you dont then you shouldnt be wasting your time and the recruiters. Remember you want them to be your allies, not your enemies!
Top MBA Careers Page 19 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
Section Objectives
It is absolutely critical that you understand the objective of each section of your CV. This will enable you to phrase your CV content in such a way that is most attractive to anyone reading it.
Section Objective Title / Label Announce yourself Provide easy reach to your contact details Profile (if used) To entice the reader to read on! Needs to be true, objective (i.e. not subjective) and highly targeted to the opportunity for which you are applying Objective (if used) To allow the reader to include you when narrowing down the pool of CVs, by aligning yourself strongly with the opportunity on offer, or telling the reader exactly what type of opportunity you are looking for To encourage them to read on Key Skills (if used) To convince the reader of your ability to do the job on offer To encourage them to read on Key Achievements To support all of the above objectives To demonstrate clearly that you have done it before To give the reader some re-assurance that you should be able to accomplish all the objectives that they (or their client) have established for this job/role To encourage them to read on DECISION POINT 1 (30 seconds) see note below Top MBA Careers Page 20 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
Experience To support all of the above objectives, providing more evidence To convince the reader to speak with you i.e. pick up the phone DECISION POINT 2 (1 minute 30 seconds) see note below Qualifications To further support all of the above objectives To provide a few more ticks in the boxes To reassure the reader that you have the ability to think and learn well To demonstrate that you have broadened your mind To demonstrate a level of commitment and stamina/staying power (involved in taking such a course) Further Training To demonstrate your willingness and desire to continually learn and better yourself Professional Memberships To add credibility and weight to your application To demonstrate your desire to become involved in professional activities outside of work To identify which professional networks you might be involved in Interests To show you have a life outside or work! To reveal something of your work/life balance To keep the reader interested in you, in order to pick up the phone! DECISION POINT 3 (2 minutes) see note below
Top MBA Careers Page 21 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
Decision Point 1 he point at which the recruiter has got (or at least, should have got) a t this point they will make their first decision whether or not to continue ecision Point 2 he point at which they will decide with 80% certainty that they want to speak ecision Point 3 enerally their decision at this point will not vary from the decision reached at ection Contents itle/Label bout the ONLY bit you can guarantee gets read! bjective: to tell the recruiter who you are and how to contact you
he name of your product YOU. Nice and big (say 20 point) so that it stands out well from the rest of the text in your CV. But not too big so as to look out of place.
T relatively good understanding of you and your abilities to carry out the tasks for the job.
A reading more of your CV. If their gut feel says no, your CV will either go into the bin or the maybe keep for later pile!
D
T with you, or not.
D
G point 2, unless they are very specific about what qualifications they expect you to have. Generally however, they will be more or less eager to speak with you depending on what is contained within the last few sections.
S
T
A
O quickly! T Top MBA Careers Page 22 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
Generally I suggest that you do not place any credentials beside your name (like MBA, C.Eng etc.) in the same font size, as it just looks a little arrogant. here is a place further down in the document for informing your reader that d to list absolutely very method available for getting in touch with you. List just the main ones bjective: To entice the reader to read on! Needs to be true, objective (i.e. not subjective) and highly targeted to the opportunity for which you are applying Many CVs t described as he type of paragraph which reads ke this: T you have an MBA or any other qualification. For example in the Profile section you could say an MBA qualified chartered marketer.
Underneath your name we recommend placing your current contact details in a much smaller font size (say 9 point). There is no nee e such as home phone (ensure however that you use an answerphone for times when you are not in), mobile phone and personal e-mail address.
Profile
O
hese days have an opening paragraph which can only be subjective & egotistical. Its t li
A Charismatic and Transformational Business Leader, with a passion for Excellence in Customer Relationship Management and a strong sense of Personal and Organisational Values. An Innovative and Lateral-Thinking Change Executive, combining strong Team Development & Project Management skills with a sound owledge of E-Business, IT, Operations and Business Process Management. ll whats wrong with that, you ask? Probably nothing, except it is what yo k of yourself. Within that statement there are only two phrases which a kn
We u thin re ategorically true a passion for Excellence in and a strong sense of c personal and organisational values, although even this last statement is quite subjective. Top MBA Careers Page 23 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
As a recruiter I would say yeah, yeah, yeah, Ive heard it all before prove it and you wouldnt be able to do so UNLESS you have some statements from ther people concerning you, which describe you as above. If you do (and ould do well to use the space better. worthwhile, nd no one actually read them. r your application, as they could turn e recruiter off. A qualified manager with over 20 years experience in ustomer Service, culminating in the role of Client Services Director for XXX bjective: To convince the reader of your ability to do the job on offer o there is an argument which suggests you might like to cultivate this) then you should shout it from the roof-tops. In this case you should add the words others say of me. somewhere in the text or words to that effect. That is then much more credible.
But if you do not have any personal testimonies (from people other than your spouse or family fans!) you w
In a straw poll carried out among consultants at top executive recruitment firm, not one consultant said they thought these profiles were a
Our experience suggests that whilst recruiters might read these statements, they could actually make things worse fo th
Our recommendation is therefore use one with caution - keep it totally factual e.g. MB C XXX Corporation and avoid using words that sound like MBA speak (e.g. strategic etc. Im sure you know what I mean)!
Notice how you can now bring in your MBA without leaving the recruiter feeling like they have been MBAd!
Key Skills (optional)
O
Top MBA Careers Page 24 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
Limit yourself to your top 3 only. It is proven that groups of threes generally ork well in presentations, speeches, marketing material etc. chievements, is our most important opportunity to sell yourself. If you dont do so within a your potential worth to e organisation. The objective is to leave them wanting to find out more. at nobody else has (or at least nobody else who might apply for this job)? ent and able to conduct business in 4 European languages Kee cruiter) and hat they perceive to be the value of what you have to offer. Consider these will gain by mploying you within their (or their clients) organisation. And what of these should not try to convince the recruiter of your ansferable skills here keep that for your cover letter/note. Here, you must look like a perfect match.
w
If used, this section, in conjunction with the next one on Key A y few short succinct phrases you will not get through to the next stage having your whole CV read the whole way through. Its that simple. Its the equivalent of the elevator pitch, where you may have one minute between floors to convince your listener to take some course of action.
So this is where you need to convince the reader of th They will then have the incentive to continue reading on past this first section.
Whats so special about you compared to anybody else? What have you got th E.g.
Flu
p the focus ALWAYS be on your prospective client (the re w to be the Unique Perceived Benefits you wish to convey (rather than unique selling points). Now you will approach the selling of your product or service from a more appropriate position, that of your prospective client.
So think about what benefits the recruiter must perceive they e are somewhat unique to you?
Tailor these to the role/job. You tr Top MBA Careers Page 25 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
Use this list to draw up a list of skills, achievements, expertise, training etc. which you have acquired. Golden Rule # 2 Its not only what you DO say thats important, its also what you DO NOT say!
that will hook them into going on to the next part of the process reading the rest of your CV (satisfy e done it before To give the reader some re-assurance that you hould be able to accomplish all the objectives that they (or their client) have established for this job/role This section will cli articulated and full o You should pull out ll list shown under the different experience (or skill) sections. It is the implications, inferences, innuendos that you leave the reader with, ing your objective for this section).
Key Achievements
Objectives: To demonstrate clearly that you hav s
nch success for you if your achievements are true, well f impact. This is perhaps, the MOST important section. your top 3 (maximum 5) achievements selected from the fu
Golden Rule # 3 Only ever list your Demonstrable Achievements
By demonstrable we mean sily seen and proven e.g. products launched, sales increased, costs saved, awards won etc. Ideally these by 2% yielding a 5% reduction in customer churn. Sometimes you will have to those which could be ea should also be quantifiable e.g. increased customer responsiveness 1 Top MBA Careers Page 26 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
make estimates of the acquired benefits of something you had done usually in terms of time, money or organisational image.
Some achievements are more difficult to quantify or qualify e.g. assisted in the re-structuring of the organisation. Try and turn these into something more tangible by describing the impact of this re-structuring on the organisation .g. designed to save 3m cost within the first year. in the North American arket by 36% in two years bringing in an extra $100m worth of new owing types of revious achievements (if you have had them of course): e
And dont forget to quantify the achievements. Use the So What? test. For example saying that you increased sales in the North American market means little unless you quantify it (increased sales m business). Im sure youll agree that the latter statement sounds much more impressive than the former. Do ensure however, that it is true!
Start by listing achievements which are totally relevant to the job for which you are applying. For example if you are applying for the role of Customer Services Manager in a new organisation you should list the foll p
Successfully implemented several new customer projects totalling in excess of 5m sales revenue p.a. Effectively managed large programme of service delivery contracts contributing approx. 20m each year Improved customer responsiveness by 75% through attraction and development of high quality staff Increased cu stomer loyalty by 5% over three years yielding in excess of 5m extra revenue Increased productivity by 30% through streamlining existing operational processes and effective programme management of several new IT developments Reduced cus tomer churn by 8% saving approximately 10m year on year Increased customer satisfaction levels by 40% through successful implementation of pro- active fault escalation procedures
Top MBA Careers Page 27 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
Bu will say if you are asked to explain how you determined the values of your chievements. convince the recruiter to speak with you hronological CV then you must list your achievements under ach role (as you may have had more than one job within the same
Name of organisation not months) when you were employed A brief description of the employer and their business tline of your responsibilities within that role BRIEF just one or
If y eed do is list your achievements under each relevant skills/function heading e.g. project management, IT/E-Business, marketing, customer service etc. Then list the ompanies you worked for and your job titles etc. underneath in a Career adly. Responsibilities dont tell the recruiter anything other an what you were supposed to do. They are more interested in what you t ensure you are able to substantiate your claims think about what you a
Experience
Objective: to
If using the C e employer).
Include the following:
Job Title
Dates (years only,
A brief ou two lines ou are using the Skills CV format then all you n c History section.
Responsibilities are almost totally irrelevant. After all, you could have been responsible for something which you were not suited for and consequently managed quite b th actually did and the impact it had on the organisation.
Top MBA Careers Page 28 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
By all means you can give a brief synopsis of the role and its significance, but do not list all the activities and tasks of the job. Quite frankly, its boring and a aste of premium space. w
See the following example:
1987 to 1993 XXX YYY Limited XXX YYY Limited provided full range of services to the xxxxxxxxxxxxx market, including xxxx, xxxxx and xxxxxxx systems.
NATIONAL CALL CE TRE MAN N AGER
Reporting to the Director of xxxxxxx; responsible for the merger (and subsequent management) of ten field-based service desks into one National Call Centre with minimum disruption to existing customer base. Key achievements included:
Achievements
Objective: to demonstrate that you have done it before and re-assure recruiter that you will be able to accomplish the objectives of the job Achievemen important as ts are paramount. And they must e demonstrable. You must breakout your demonstrable achievements 1. LIST - How your current organisation defines success? What parameters do they use to demonstrate success? e.g. in terms of: a. turnover the
ts vs. Responsibilities the latter is not even one third as the former! Achievemen b (things that you have achieved for the company which are demonstrable not just hearsay or speculation) for each role. Follow the process below:
Top MBA Careers Page 29 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
b. profitability c. shareholder value d. funds raised ed improved ised 2. TH ould contribute to the overall success par n defines success in terms of increased turnover, then an appropriate metric would be new business sales revenue, or increased customer retention leading to increased repeat business; profitability might have increased efficiency or 3. 4. under each job think long and 5. o each achievement and
organisation, as far as is possible. You may need to estimate thes ontributions, if it specificity is more believable! 6. ey have had on/for the ct in a positive way. 7. THINK for each achievement also explain how you accomplished it briefly e.g. increased sales revenue by 10% through addition of 3 new client accounts worth over xxxK each. e. patients treat f. houses built g. market image h. financial risk minim i. etc. INK about what metrics w ameter e.g. if the organisatio reduced operational costs as metrics. LIST - Repeat questions 1 & 2 for all your previous jobs, as shown on your current CV. THINK for each responsibility listed hard about what you achieved. THINK go back t now quantify each one in terms of the success parameters used by the e c but be specific e.g. was 19%, say it do not round it up THINK if you cannot put your achievements into these quantifiable parameters, think about what impact th organisation. Record this impa Top MBA Careers Page 30 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
ou should heory goes. Its as simple as that. g slightly similar, then you will have Ca Then b you are applyin hat parameters the targete Remin oing on in the recruiters mind. ood the Now, enter your CV! bjective)? Answer 80% - your previous demonstrable achievements; 20% everything else. again or so the t
t, or you have done somethin more convincing to do using a Key Skills section and a great cover note. nt about your ability to succeed in the job, based on what you have achieved before. pture the above information in your platform/master chronological CV. efore you start to compile your tailored CV for the job for which g, think about how they might define success and w y might use. This will give you a good starting point for generating a highly d, high impact CV. d yourself of the psychological process g They understand the type of job/role on offer. They (should) have a g understanding of what will be expected from the person doing the job. They probably have an image established in their mind therefore, of what person looks like in terms of previous experience/achievements.
What is going to convince them that you are worth talking to (which is your CVs o
Because, if you have done it before, then y be able to do it If you haven
The recruiter will make a snap judgeme Top MBA Careers Page 31 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
Golden Rule # 4 Do not leave any si your employment gnificant gaps in dates unexplained
question what happened du Recruiters will spot it and ring that time. If it looks like it is a small time lapse they may give you the benefit of the doubt, but mostly their suspicions will be raised and so you give them more of a reason to place your CV on the thanks, but no thanks pile.
an MBA or raising a family, you should say so. Otherwise the reader starts to wonder whether you were in jail, on long-term sickness break, gone fishing
It is OK to stretch the dates in your CV a little, so long as you explain this at
Qualifications
Objectives: to provide more ticks in boxes, demonstrate your ability to nk for yourself, broaden your outlook and endure.
therefore, jus ighest first e.g. your MBA. Include the year in which you graduated and the institution
There is no need to list every single course you have ever attended. Once again, pick out those which you believe to be 100% relevant to the job for hich you are applying, and also those which demonstrate that you have had at least some exposure to other areas of business.
Even if you were unemployed for some time, between contracts, studying for etc none of which bodes well in terms of your application. interview stage, in case the recruiter decides to take up references. thi This section merely supports your application so far. Dont make this too big t list the relevant courses of learning, starting with the h at which you studied. w Top MBA Careers Page 32 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
Unless you have had little further education since, do not list your secondary/grammar (teenage years) schools.
These days it is often very useful to mention something about your level of IT / web literacy. Also include concise statement(s) about your language roficiencies, especially if you can conduct business in another language. Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) XXX Business School (2000) p
See example below:
BSc (Honours) degree in Electronic Engineering - University of XXX (1987) Various management training courses undertaken in Business Strategy in Action, Action Centred Leadership, Lateral Thinking & Creativity, Presentation Skills, Sales & Negotiation, Financial Management, Team Development and Coaching. Strong working knowledge of MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Publisher, Project, FrontPage, Outlook, ACT contact management, Time/Personal Information Management software. Conversant with TAS Books (accounts) and Qgold (payroll) software. Fluent in French and Spanish (to business level).
Further Training
bjective: to demonstrate your willingness and desire to continually and better yourself. taught or on-t O learn
List any relevant further periods of training undertaken whether formal class- he-job.
This section can actually be combined with the section on Qualifications (as shown above).
Professional Memberships
Top MBA Careers Page 33 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
Objective: to add credibility and weight to your application, and identify which professional networks you might be involved
If you are involved in any professional institutions such as an Association of BAs or Institute of XXX then it is useful to simply list these (or some of to reveal something of your work / life balance side a work nvironment. What do you do? Where do you do it? What do you enjoy? and ome/leisure life. in. M them) under a separate heading (say Professional Memberships). This simply gives the recruiter an understanding of the professional extra-curricular activities and networks you might be involved in. I say might, because just listing it does not mean that you attend any regional meetings or take an active part in the organisation it might simply be for the status afforded by being a member.
Interests
Objective:
Finally give the reader a little something about you out e
Essentially everyone looks for balance a balance between work h
Top MBA Careers Page 34 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
Proof-reading
Whatever you do, do not miss out this step.
Get someone else to do it. Use a word-processors spell check, grammar check and word count functions. Have a dictionary and thesaurus to hand there are only so many ways you can say achieved 20% growth in
A word of caution however be very careful of the use of these standard word-processor tools, as they are usually set to reflect US grammar which is often very different to European/UK grammar! Why not ask someone to view it from the perspective of whether or not they would employ this person Get lots of feedback but dont forget that at the end of the day it is about you and so you should decide what stays and what goes. Weigh and balance all the different views you receive. But ask someone who you KNOW will give you the truth.
Top MBA Careers Page 35 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
Reviewing & Re-writing
Do so regularly; youll never know when you might want to send out the latest copy of your CV in a hurry! Therefore we suggest updating it at least every 3 months. Continue to tweak it as you remember something else or see other good CV examples Get others to review it for you objective feedback is worth a lot Benchmark, copy & IMPROVE on other peoples ideas - check out other web sites and their careers advice, look at other peoples CVs borrow good ideas and employ them in your own Golden Rule # 5 Dont waste any more time on your CV than you really need to
Put a good amount of effort into generating a great CV (or get it professionally written), and then move on to the next steps in the process dont stop here this is not the most important step!
Top MBA Careers Page 36 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
Appendix A
Summary CV Dos & Donts
Do
Make it original and personal it must convey information about the real you
Refer to your MBA appropriately within both your CV and cover letter/e- mail Use the space on your CV very carefully & economically Turn your responsibilities into achievements Always quantify your achievements (as far as possible) Test your CV with a few recruiters before using it Take the necessary time to construct a highly professional base (chronological) CV from which to spin-off variant tailored CVs Employ someone else to provide you with an objective view of your CV Be Creative whilst following some of the general guidelines above, do your own thing Ensure your CV is less self-centred and more prospect/client-centred Make it fascinating, exciting, stimulating, and informing otherwise it will automatically become boring, tedious and ego-centric Be careful when sending your CV by e-mail as the recipient sees the title of the file if it is Johns CV for Consultancy jobs the recruiter will realise that you are being a bit of a chameleon and will trust the information presented less! Solution set up many different sub-folders which are entitled appropriately for whatever demarcation you have decided upon (as suggested in section XX above). Then save the tailored CV under the tailored sub-directory with a standard generic file name e.g. John Doe CV. Send a hard copy follow-up if you have had to fax it in a hurry Make your CV personal Refer to your MBA appropriately within your cover letter/e-mail Use the space on your CV very carefully & economically Top MBA Careers Page 37 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
Top MBA Careers Page 38 of 38 MBAmatch.com 2003
Turn your responsibilities into achievements Always quantify your achievements (as far as possible) Test your CV with a few recruiters before using it
Dont
Write a CV greater than 2 or 3 pages (generally) Have MBA in huge letters at the top of the CV e.g. Jon Doe MBA as your heading Use subjective words in a profile (if you choose to use one) Simply list responsibilities Use the standard business school CV/Resume template without personalising it & testing it Allow your electronic CV to be a large file (for attachment purposes). Make sure it is less than 100KB in size, otherwise the recipient may not thank you especially is they are downloading it over a slow internet connection in their home/mobile office Waste all your valuable time tweaking it up once your 80% happy with it, put it down and get on with the more important parts of the overall job- hunting process Ever send a zipped up (.zip) or executable (.exe) file either it will get filtered out by the organisations anti-virus software or the recruiter will not have any un-zipping software to use Include a photograph unless the employer has asked for one Include lots of attachments unless you have been asked for some