Cv For Interviews

Posts Tagged ‘Jobs’

Interviewing is a two-way street.  Obviously, the organization is using the interview process to evaluate you and your credentials to determine if you are a solid fit for the company’s needs.  But the interview is equally important for the opportunity it affords you to evaluate how well the company and the position match what you are seeking.  Formulating a series of well-thought out questions in advance of the interview will not only help you draw out pertinent information form the interviewer, but also demonstrate your intelligence and sincere interest in the position at hand.

The best questions are those that arise from the initial research you will conduct of the organization while preparing for the interview.  Whenever possible, questions should be tailored to the position and company.   The following questions will provide you with some ideas and get you started thinking about potential interview questions you may want to consider asking employers during the interview.

- Fit for the Position

What are the most important skills and attributes a candidate needs to be successful in this position?

What are the characteristics of a successful employee in your organization?

Describe the work environment.

What are the challenging facets of the job?

What would be a typical work day in this position?

What is your management style?

What is your preferred method of communicating with your team?

What is the next step in the interviewing process?

- Company Culture

How would you describe your company culture?

What is the organization structure of your department?

Who are the primary parties that you are responsible to support: shareholders, customers, employees, etc.?  How do you go about making decisions when the needs of these groups are at odds with each other?

- Measures for Success

What are your expectations for new employee hires within their first 90 days on the job?  Within the first six months?

How and when will my job performance be evaluated?

What metrics are used to measure whether or not you are achieving your predetermined goals?

How will my success in this position be measured?

How is success measured in this department (or organization)?

- The Future of the Organization

What is your vision for the organization (or department) over the next two years?  Next five years?

What current major challenges are you facing as a manager?

What is the organization’s biggest challenge currently?

What is the organization’s competitive advantage in the marketplace?

The teaching industry is filled with competition for just a few jobs available in certain areas, so knowing how to write a resume for teachers is a very important part of getting in front of the school board and getting your own classroom.  I know this from experience as I am currently looking for my first teaching position having just graduated from college.  There really is an art to knowing how to write a resume for teachers.  Here are a few things I have learned.

What administrators care about on your resume is your teaching experience.  They also like to see any brief outlines of unique lesson plans or advancements that you have made in the classroom.  If you belong to any organizations, you should always include that on your resume as well as any achievements and awards you have been given as a result of your teaching career or your teacher education.

Always list what type of certification you have along with what grades you are available to teach and any endorsements you have gotten in your education.  If you have attended classes other than those required by your educational program, you should also include this information.

Some people, when learning how to write a resume for teachers want to show their creativity in the classroom on their resumes.  As long as it does not get out of hand, we think this could be a great way to set you apart from the hundreds of other applicants.  Maybe you will want to include a picture of yourself in the classroom or some pictures of you with your children.  Perhaps you want to include a border around the outside of your resume with apples or chalkboards.  If you are going to take a step like this, however, please be cautious and know where you are applying.  Often, small, rural schools prefer this type of resume rather than the larger ones, so keep that in mind!

Make sure that you also include any organizations you belong to and any offices you have held or are holding within these organizations.  For teachers, membership in the National Education Association, The International Association of Reading, and such can be very important.

Knowing how to write a resume for teachers is not much different than writing a resume for any other job.  However, you will want to include information on the resume that shows what you can do as a teacher and how you will approach the classroom environment.  Then you will know how to write a resume for teachers that can get you into the school and on to a great job!

The job market can be very competitive which leads many people to ask themselves, “How do you write a cover letter for employment?”  It is true that writing a compelling cover letter can be a daunting task.  A cover letter introduces not only you but your resume as well.  You want that cover letter to be interesting and make the person reading it not only WANT to read your resume but HAVE to read your resume.

So how do you write a cover letter for employment?  Start out by referring to the job that you are applying for and note where you found the position opening.  Remember that if you found it in a newspaper, underline the name of the newspaper.  Sometimes these little details really count!  Then go on in your cover letter to say how excited you are to know that there is a job like this available and how interested in it you are.

Your resume should be concise, but your cover letter can be a little more in-depth.  I have applied for countless jobs and experimented around with various formats for cover letters.  That does not necessarily make me an expert so I can answer the question of “how do you write a cover letter for employment”, but it surely has taught me a few things about what I shouldn’t do!

First and foremost, be brief in your cover letter.  Introduce yourself, tell the employer why you want the job, let them know about your special skills that would make you perfect for the job, and then express your eagerness for a personal interview.  You should ALWAYS include a telephone number at the end of the cover letter so that the employer knows how to get hold of you.  They may not always pay attention to the top part of your resume, but they most likely will see your contact number in your cover letter.

So, how do you write a cover letter for employment?  Just speak from the heart and let the person reading the cover letter know that you are truly interested in the job and that you have the qualifications to do the job.  Be sure and let them know, too, that what you do not know, you are eager to learn.  Your cover letter should be professional, but it should also reflect your personality.  That is what will get you the interview.  Once you are face to face with the person doing the hiring, it should be a cake walk from that point.  After all, it is your personality – as well as your abilities – that make you perfect for this job.  When you are face to face, you can express that in ways that can never be shown on a simple piece of paper!

When you get to the interview, be prepared to discuss your resume.  In addition to
explaining why you left previous companies and chit chat about the position, if you have
any gaps in employment be prepared to explain them.  Many people are scared that an
interviewer is going to discover that they were without a job for a period of time.  It is not
necessarily a bad thing, but you do have to be able to tell the interviewer why in the best
possible light.

You should always be honest when explaining any absence from working, but you do
have license to spin what you did do in the best possible light.  For instance, if you were
laid of your job and had a hard time finding a replacement but spent a lot of time with
your children you could say, “I took an opportunity to spend a few months with my
children in between jobs.”  If you took any courses or classes that adds value to your
skills as an employee be sure to mention that as well.  You may find it beneficial to add a
brief explanation on the resume itself or in a cover letter.  Most times it is hard to get to
an interview if there is a lengthy and unexplained employment gap.

If you are unsure what possible questions could be generated from your resume, have
another person look at it.  It is best to be prepared for certain questions and scenarios that
will likely come up in an interview.  You do not want to be caught unaware or
floundering for an answer.  Give yourself time to figure out the best explanation for times
of unemployment so an interviewer sees it as reasonable or even beneficial to them in the
case of additional education and classes.

Sadly it is all too easy to become complacent about your CV. It is easy to right it, forget it, never update it, then when you want to change jobs or start a new career, you find out that you aren’t being chosen and you wonder why? Well it is probably because your CV looks dated. Even if you only wrote it last year, it is time to go back and make it more up to date and relevant.

If your CV doesn’t have anything on it relating to the last year or so, a potential employer will look at it and think that it hasn’t been updated. Then they will think that it hasn’t been updated because you aren’t that interested in finding a new job or that you can’t be bothered. But when they think like that then it will be far harder for you to find a job, so make your CV work for you and make it up to date and relevant.

Even if your CV is up to date but you are still not being short-listed for interviews, then perhaps you need to look at changing the style or layout of the CV. There are lots of different layouts available on the internet, so make sure that you try out different styles and formats. Then use the one that seems to bring you the most benefits.

If you have updated, changed the style of the CV and still aren’t getting any interviews, then don’t despair, it may just be that you need to ‘beef up’ your CV to make it look more exciting. Do not lie, but ask a friend to read it and give an honest assessment. Ask them to identify areas where they think you are not coming across as strong or places that may need elaborating or even cutting down. Then you can either streamline your CV to make it more readable, or add to it, to display all your skills and attributes!