Are you planning on making a career change? In our interactive workshop we hosted in February participants learnt how to present themselves in the best possible light from CV all the way through to an offer stage. Danielle Ralic from Ancora.ai, Eshan Abdoolraman from NexThink and Laura Cannon from our partner Darwin Recruitment lead the group through the maze that can be securing your next position. See below for the top tips to get from our event From Paper to Position.

1 – How to create a great CV?

Your CV is the first impression that you make with your new employer so you want it to be a strong and accurate representation of yourself that stands out from the crowd. The key things to remember about your CV are:

•       Short and to the point (1-2 pages max.)

•       Vibrant and unique

•       Relevant experience for the role you are applying to

•       Personal information and contact details

•       An easy to read format

•       Short descriptions of roles/responsibilities

•       References to professional profiles (GitHub, Websites, Portfolios etc.)

•       Duration periods of each role

•       Hobbies – to show your personality and interests

•       Roles from the last 10 years

•       A picture (for some countries)

2 – Is a cover letter for you?

A cover letter is not always mandatory or even required but for some opportunities it can set you aside from the rest. Your cover letter should not be a generic template that you send to multiple opportunities and if you are going to send this to a potential employer you should consider:

•       Keeping it short and to the point

•       Make it 100% tailored and specific to the role in question

•       Make it unique and memorable so you stand out

•       Including why you like the company and the role

•       Doing something uncommon, a cover video?

3 – How to avoid interview pitfalls?

There are often common interview pitfalls that people are afraid to fall into and unsure how to over come. Like in any pressured situation it is often hard to think on the spot so these are things you should think about before each interview and practise how to overcome.

Some common situations to think about:

•       Ensuring you answer the question

•       Always give a relevant example when explaining something

•       Show your personality

•       Research the company

•       Be interested in the business and what they do

•       Ask the interviewer questions to show interest and find out more for yourself

4 – How to navigate an offer?

Once you have successfully made your way through the interview stages the final step would be to navigate your offer to ensure you receive a package you are comfortable with.

The top tips for being successful at this stage were:

•       Be clear and open about what you want

•       Make sure you understand the full package

•       Know your worth and market values

•       Be confident and assertive

•       Set yourself a bottom line

5 – How to best hand in your resignation?

When focusing on a new role it can often be forgotten that you must hand in your notice and this can be one of the hardest parts of the entire process. With any job or company there are a few things you can do to make the process a little easier:

•       Write a resignation letter & prepare what you will say

•       Try to speak in person

•       Be complementary and thankful (try not to burn any bridges)

•       Keep it brief

•       Be assertive

To summarize, this workshop focused on making some small adjustments to be able to help you secure yourself that opportunity you have been dreaming of.

We wanted to say a huge thank you to our speakers and to all of those in attendance for being so involved and making the workshop such a successful and interactive event!

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Author: Gabriella Dymott