Hello, and welcome to this 2nd episode in a small series I’ve called: “Professional Development - Job Hunting and CVs”.
In the previous episode (the one I called “Keep Your UN Career Open - Look for Jobs”) I talked about the importance of staying open to new opportunities. Regularly looking at vacancies and applying. You can find that episode at www.barbarakandersen.com/8.
In that last episode, I also promised that I would share some guiding principles on CV writing, but while preparing for that I realised that there’s an important point I wanted to bring up first.
And that is:
Why you should always have an updated CV.
So, here’s a short episode on that.
The thing is, I’ve yet to meet a person who told me they enjoy CV writing. And I know that I certainly dreaded that task myself for many years.
Maybe you recognize this situation:
You have been in the same job for the last good many years. You made an effort when you dusted off your CV for the application for the job, you’re currently in. And then you were relieved to leave the CV at the bottom of your drawer once you had signed your contract. And it has stayed at the bottom of your drawer ever since.
There was that situation a few years ago where somebody mentioned an interesting job you thought you ought to apply for. You were very busy at work at the time, but you decided you’d still give it a shot.
But then you had to work late on the day of the application deadline. And when you thought about the updates you needed to do to your CV, you entirely lost steam – and confidence. And you decided that you just didn’t have the time (and honestly, you couldn’t muster the energy) to make the application. And so, you didn’t.
Or maybe you recognize this situation:
You applied for a job recently because it sounded really interesting and was a good match for your skills. And, lately, you’ve been feeling that it’s about time to move on.
But you were so busy with work and so exhausted when you came home in the evening that it was hard to really put in the necessary time to update your old CV.
So, in the end, all you had time and energy for was to add a paragraph about your current job experience and then throw in some keywords from the vacancy announcement. Hoping that it would still catch the eyes of the people doing the long listing.
As you finished your CV with tired eyes shortly before midnight, you suddenly remembered that you learned in a seminar once that it’s important to write something about your key achievements in your CV…
But you were so tired that you just knew that either the CV was going to be sent as it was – or you were not going to make it.
So, you sent it off as it was. Hoping that the recruiters would still be able to spot what a hardworking and competent professional you are – just right for the job. But not actually feeling super professional in terms of the application you’d just made.
What’s the problem?
Well, the problem is that when your CV is not updated, that means you’re not ready to apply when an opportunity suddenly appears. And most times these opportunities are unexpected. It’s rare that we see great job opportunities appear on the horizon with plenty of time for us to get ourselves into gear and take half a day off (or more) to prepare.
And the thing is, that when you can’t or don’t want to share your CV at short notice, that can unfortunately also leave you feeling a bit unprofessional.
Read the full show notes at www.barbarakandersen.com/9
Hello, and welcome to this 2nd episode in a small series I’ve called: “Professional Development - Job Hunting and CVs”.
In the previous episode (the one I called “Keep Your UN Career Open - Look for Jobs”) I talked about the importance of staying open to new opportunities. Regularly looking at vacancies and applying. You can find that episode at www.barbarakandersen.com/8.
In that last episode, I also promised that I would share some guiding principles on CV writing, but while preparing for that I realised that there’s an important point I wanted to bring up first.
And that is:
Why you should always have an updated CV.
So, here’s a short episode on that.
The thing is, I’ve yet to meet a person who told me they enjoy CV writing. And I know that I certainly dreaded that task myself for many years.
Maybe you recognize this situation:
You have been in the same job for the last good many years. You made an effort when you dusted off your CV for the application for the job, you’re currently in. And then you were relieved to leave the CV at the bottom of your drawer once you had signed your contract. And it has stayed at the bottom of your drawer ever since.
There was that situation a few years ago where somebody mentioned an interesting job you thought you ought to apply for. You were very busy at work at the time, but you decided you’d still give it a shot.
But then you had to work late on the day of the application deadline. And when you thought about the updates you needed to do to your CV, you entirely lost steam – and confidence. And you decided that you just didn’t have the time (and honestly, you couldn’t muster the energy) to make the application. And so, you didn’t.
Or maybe you recognize this situation:
You applied for a job recently because it sounded really interesting and was a good match for your skills. And, lately, you’ve been feeling that it’s about time to move on.
But you were so busy with work and so exhausted when you came home in the evening that it was hard to really put in the necessary time to update your old CV.
So, in the end, all you had time and energy for was to add a paragraph about your current job experience and then throw in some keywords from the vacancy announcement. Hoping that it would still catch the eyes of the people doing the long listing.
As you finished your CV with tired eyes shortly before midnight, you suddenly remembered that you learned in a seminar once that it’s important to write something about your key achievements in your CV…
But you were so tired that you just knew that either the CV was going to be sent as it was – or you were not going to make it.
So, you sent it off as it was. Hoping that the recruiters would still be able to spot what a hardworking and competent professional you are – just right for the job. But not actually feeling super professional in terms of the application you’d just made.
What’s the problem?
Well, the problem is that when your CV is not updated, that means you’re not ready to apply when an opportunity suddenly appears. And most times these opportunities are unexpected. It’s rare that we see great job opportunities appear on the horizon with plenty of time for us to get ourselves into gear and take half a day off (or more) to prepare.
And the thing is, that when you can’t or don’t want to share your CV at short notice, that can unfortunately also leave you feeling a bit unprofessional.
Read the full show notes at www.barbarakandersen.com/9