What do employers look for?

Employers look for evidence that you have the skills and qualities needed to perform well in that role. Depending on the vacancy, the recruiter could be looking for specific qualifications, experience or specialist skills, which indicate levels of motivation and competence and enable you to perform well. These competencies are particularly common for the major graduate employers who are often looking for your potential to develop, rather than your existing knowledge.

TRANSFERABLE SKILLS
The competencies or transferable skills that are particularly popular with graduate recruiters include:

• communication - ability to communicate orally, in writing or via electronic means in a manner appropriate to the audience
• teamwork - being a constructive team member, contributing practically to the success of the team
• leadership - being able to motivate and encourage others, whilst taking the lead
• initiative - ability to see opportunities and to set and achieve goals
• problem solving - thinking things through in a logical way in order to determine key issues. Creative thinking is also useful
• flexibility/adaptability - ability to handle change and adapt to new situations
• self-awareness - knowing your strengths and skills and having the confidence to put these across
• commitment/motivation - having energy and enthusiasm in pursuing projects
• interpersonal skills - ability to relate well to others and to establish good working relationships
• numeracy - competence and understanding of numerical data, statistics and graphs.

For further information on competencies, refer to What do Graduates Do? Employers often have set criteria they are looking for when selecting applicants. These could be laid out clearly in the person specification for the job or be identifiable from the job description, vacancy advertisement or organisation’s web pages.

PRESENTING THE EVIDENCE
Your primary concern should be to present evidence of the skills and qualities that the employer is seeking. This could be in the form of your academic projects and achievements, responsibilities during work experience or voluntary activities, tasks in societies or management of sporting activities. The key is to match the evidence in your application to what the employer wants. Recruiters want to read about the skills/qualities that are of interest to them and their selection criteria.
When examining your past involvements more closely, perhaps consider:

• What is it exactly that you have done?
• What were you responsible for?
• What were the outcomes?
• How did you achieve success?
• Is there evidence of ‘how’ you have demonstrated relevant skills?

Putting together an effective CV

Although the term ‘curriculum vitae’ literally means ‘course of life’, your CV is about much more. In addition to outlining your life and experiences to date, your CV is a marketing tool to demonstrate your suitability for the job in question. Prospective employers approach CVs from the perspective of:

• Does this CV demonstrate evidence of the skills and qualities I am looking for?
• Does this individual stand out from other applicants?

Personal details
Keep this section brief, no more than a quarter of a page. Ensure you are easily contactable at the address given and if necessary include termtime/ home addresses with dates for availability at each. E-mail addresses are useful. Choose one that your mother would approve of!
In or out?

• Date of birth is usual but not mandatory.
• Nationality is not mandatory but can be useful, particularly to clarify your ability to work in a country. International students may wish to use this section to clarify their work permit status – see our example chronological CV. Although some international students choose not to include nationality on a CV, some UK employers do not recruit non-EU nationals who need work permits and may even screen out applicants at a later stage of selection if not previously disclosed.
• Marital status, gender and health status are not included unless specifically and legitimately requested for this post.

Personal profile/career objective
If you use a profile, keep it brief at three or four lines maximum. Use it to demonstrate your career focus/current aims and perhaps evidence of two or three main strengths and where they were developed. See our example CVs for details. Avoid generic skills statements like ‘good communicator, team worker with strong analytical skills’.
Profiles are optional and the information could alternatively be adequately covered in your covering letter.

Education
Usually stated in reverse chronological order, with your most recent experiences first, back to your secondary level education. Include dates, the name of the institution and town. Full addresses are not required. Integrate your education and qualifications into one section. Think about the relevance of the information. Summarise GCSEs but market your later education more fully and using language that an employer will be familiar with. Suggestions include a list of relevant modules, information about projects and dissertations undertaken, average grades to date or predicted result and/or skills developed. For example:

• data analysis, interpreting statistical information and the ability to use relevant computer packages
• teamworking, communication and presentation skills developed during group projects
• creativity, initiative and design ability for artistic studies.

Experience
All experiences count, whether paid, voluntary or shadowing. Aim for reverse chronological order with rough dates to illustrate how long you were there. Focus on your responsibilities, achievements in the role and illustrations of where skills were used or developed. Try to give yourself a job title and use terminology relevant to the post you are applying for or that shows commercial awareness.
You may wish to create a separate section for experiences particularly relevant to the post you are applying for. Example headers include ‘relevant experience’, ‘technical experience’ or ‘legal experience’. Similarly, as your experiences grow, it may be appropriate to summarise some experiences together.

Positions of responsibility/achievements/ interests
These are all relevant sections to include and can be used to demonstrate that you are motivated to pursue other activities, have an interest in a relevant career and take the initiative to develop your involvements and skills. Again, try to focus upon recent achievements and what your contributions were, skills developed and outcomes. Employers will not necessarily spend time trying to make sense of your experience.

Referees
Two referees are the norm, one academic and one work-related, or a character referee if allowed. Give their phone number and e-mail along with their title and full contact address. Always ask for their permission first and remember to keep them informed of your career aspirations and achievements to date. If a reference from your immediate manager is not possible, perhaps use someone else in the company. If using an international referee, perhaps confirm that a fax/email in English is okay.
you are running out of space, and not explicitly requested, it is acceptable to state ‘References available upon request’.

LAYOUT
Without realising it, your CV can send out many other messages about you. For example, the accuracy of spelling and grammar and the attention to detail of layout can convey messages about your motivation and professionalism. Care taken to target, interpret and prioritise your experiences can demonstrate effective written communication and decision-making.
CVs should be two pages maximum, unless for an academic research position. Single-sided, printed 7 on quality paper and with grammatical and spelling errors ousted, your CV should aim to reach the employer in pristine condition. Watch out for American spell-checks on PCs, they can catch you out.
Employers appreciate a concise writing style. Use relevant headings, short paragraphs and bullet points effectively to enable an employer to easily navigate the information on your CV. Employers typically don’t read everything and their first glance could be only a few seconds. A complicated CV may not get a second chance.
In the main, graphics and gimmicks are to be avoided. Using tables and charts can make a CV look cluttered and detract from the information given. Overall, try to use a consistent style and format and don’t overdo the underlining and capitals. Try a different or larger font for headings and use bold for emphasis. For some creative roles, an alternative approach may be appreciated but keep it original and professional.

STYLES OF CV

1. The chronological CV
   This is the most familiar format, outlining your experiences in reverse chronological order with sections for education, experience and achievements. It is easy to organise and demonstrates how you have progressed over time. However, it may not be as suitable if you have changed jobs frequently, have disparate experiences or are looking to change career direction. (For an example of a chronological CV see pages 8 and 9.)
2. The skills-based CV
   This CV focuses upon demonstrating evidence of relevant skills. Use relevant skill headings to present your evidence - educational and work experience descriptions are kept brief. This style of CV is more difficult to organise but, if you focus on the right skills, it can show you have considered the needs of the employer. (For an example of a skills-bassed CV see pages 10 and 11.)
3. The targeted CV
   This CV style emphasises that you have evidence of the different types of experiences or responsibilities for a particular post. Targeting your CV in this way can include bringing together relevant evidence from across your education, experience, skills and achievements and presenting it effectively with relevant headings. If you have a broad range of relevant experiences, a targeted CV may be more appropriate. (For an example of a targeted CV see pages 12 and 13.)
4. The academic CV
   This type of targeted CV differs mainly in the degree of emphasis given to knowledge and academic achievements. For an academic or research career, appropriate headings could include:
   • Dissertation/research abstracts
   • Research interests/areas of expertise
   • Teaching/administrative experiences
   • Publications, presentations or conferences attended
   • Professional memberships
   Remember that your research interests should be comprehensive to those outside your field but scholarly enough to interest fellow researchers. Lastly, try not to neglect your transferable skills and a professional layout. Academic employers still require individuals who are motivated team players, can manage projects, bring in funding and communicate concisely and professionally.
   For further information on marketing a PhD effectively, see the AGCAS information booklet Your PhD... What Next? If you are a postgraduate who is not looking for an academic career, your CV should follow an alternative layout.
5. Electronic CVS
   When submitting a CV online, be aware of who will see it. Is your formatting readable by all IT packages? Will an elaborate layout travel electronically? Will a generic CV template used by an online agency be sufficiently targeted to your preferred career? Some recruiters use scanning equipment for CVs submitted online so try to consider any key criteria or attributes that may be sought.
   Try to establish the policy regarding the privacy of your personal details. Some people prefer just to submit an e-mail address or a hyperlink to their own website. There are also some bogus sites listing fictitious vacancies, which forward your CV to hundreds of employers. Look for established user protection with password controls.

Covering letters

Your CV should rarely leave your desktop unless accompanied by a covering letter as they can be a major determinant of an applicant’s success. Demonstrating your career interests and highlighting your most relevant strengths and experiences, a professionally set out letter can say a lot about your motivation and your attention to detail.

CONTENT
The following format provides a useful overview for a letter:

• Briefly introduce yourself, state what position you are applying for and where you saw it advertised. For a speculative letter, include the type of work you are seeking.
• Explain why you are interested in this type of work, demonstrating an understanding of what it is likely to involve.
• Explain why you are interested in working for this particular organisation. Demonstrate enthusiasm and evidence of research into such aspects as their successes, involvements, values or clients.
• Highlight how you are suitable for this position. Provide evidence of your key strengths by referring to experiences on your CV. Aim for your key strengths to reflect the requirements of the employer and position.
• Take the opportunity, if necessary, to explain any anomalies in your experiences, such as a gap or anywhere you do not match the selection criteria. Perhaps explain how any hurdles have developed you in a positive way.
• Indicate availability for interview.

STYLE
A professional business layout is important, addressed to a named individual wherever possible. Ring the organisation’s switchboard to request a name if necessary. Aim for one side of A4 with the same quality paper and font style as your CV. A printed letter is the norm these days, although some recruiters may still specify a handwritten one to check out your handwriting. The same rules about checking for spelling, grammar or typos still apply and probably more so on your letter. Your writing style should be formal but try not to use words that are only really found in a thesaurus.

Completing application forms

Frequently, employers prefer graduates to apply using their own application form. Many forms are now online, although some employers also use a standard template, known as a standard application form, which is available from careers services and www.prospects.ac.uk/links/SAF. The principles for marketing your skills and experiences effectively for CVs and covering letters also apply to application forms. The good news is it can be easier to determine the qualities sought by the employer from their questions. The bad news – it’s not always easy to capture the breadth of your experiences in this set template. That is where an applicant’s prioritising and concise, effective communication can be put to the test.

When completing forms, a tried and tested strategy is to plan ahead. It is vital to understand fully what each question is looking for, how to provide a spread of evidence from across your work, life and study in your answers, and note all the word restrictions and instructions. The temptation to cut and paste answers from previous forms can sometimes backfire if, for example, the question is slightly different or your career focus is no longer relevant. Employers often notice and are rarely impressed.

Do not be tempted to cut corners and send a CV as a substitute for some questions, unless the form explicitly states this as an option. The organisation is looking for you to interpret your experiences to meet the needs of the question yourself and should be able to compare applicants’ responses fairly. A covering letter is not usually required with an application form. However, if the form does not allow you to include information about why you are attracted to this career or organisation, or you need to explain any personal circumstances, then a letter may be an advantage. Take your lead from what the employer has stated is, or is not, possible.

Educationpossible to summarise key results or modules and refer to a fuller listing on a separate sheet, in the additional information box or as available upon request. If in doubt, contact the employer to confirm. Similarly, if your qualifications do not translate into UCAS points and there is no room for explanations, contact the employer to confirm how to proceed. The UCAS website has a section on the comparability of international qualifications, which may help.

Employment/work experience -list your jobs in reverse chronological order by job title. If you did not have an official job title, try to think of one that describes your position well. Full addresses are not usually required. Describe responsibilities or achievements in the role bearing in mind the skills that the employer is seeking. It is possible to group together or prioritise some experiences if space is limited. Chapter 7 ‘What makes an effective application?’ has some useful suggestions for terminology.

Interests/achievements- similar principles apply as for your working experiences. Focus upon key words that demonstrate evidence of your skills. Focus upon demonstrating appropriate behaviours rather than seeking to impress an employer with an amazing achievement.

Open questions- some forms simply have an open page for you to complete. Try to structure the space allocated using key headings in accordance with what is requested. If no guidance is given, then, depending on what has already been asked, this section could include evidence of:

• Relevant skills and qualities
• Information about your career motivation and how you have researched this career so far
• Achievements
• Extenuating circumstances