CV’s and selling yourself – getting it right and hitting your target.

_{Munashe Chitima, Bloomfield Tremayne}

Generally speaking, we often tend to think of CV’s or Resumes as brochures, a calling card that represents you and your work. Whilst this document has changed over the years since its inception, some key things still resonate today and remain critical when developing a great CV, and that’s what we’re here to run through today.

Ultimately the main goal of a CV is to sell you and your skill set in a clear and concise manner. You can certainly add bells and whistles to make it stand out, but it’s crucial you ensure those bells and whistles don’t distract prospective employers from analysing your work and education history.

The unspoken reality of a CV is that it is a sales pitch. Essentially, it’s you in a few pages or less selling your skills and experience to another studio, so it’s imperative to put yourself in that mindset. Ask yourself what skills do you have? What do you have to offer that any other candidate doesn’t? Have you worked on cooler projects? Have you led large or small teams? Do you know other software? Can you bake a mean cake…If so we are hiring! Asking yourself these questions helps, can help you highlight what separates you from the rest and ensure you stand out.

When we interview prospective candidates, we often ask a range of questions like these to assist them to better understand their skills and to clarify and articulate what they actually do. This can prove to be very valuable; I once had a candidate who thought their duties within their office were stock standard, but they actually had one key duty which made them very much in demand in the market and led them to a $10k salary increase! Whilst this doesn’t happen every time, it does highlight the importance of understanding your skills and experience within your profession.

So to break it down, these are the key criteria you need to consider when pulling it all together:

Formatting

When crafting your CV your need to think about your target audience; who you want them to be and who they might actually be, as they’re not necessarily one and the same! When you submit your CV for review it could pass through a range of different stakeholders, from an HR Manager, to a Studio Director/ Principal or an Associate. It may even land in the hands of the Project Leader to whom you could be reporting to, so it’s important to ensure you format it in a way that’s easy for all stakeholders to read. Keep it clear and understandable. While you can still use industry terminology, no one wants to read an overly technical academic paper so keep acronyms and jargon to a minimum.

Do’s and Don’ts

It goes without saying there are some Do’s and Don’ts. The first do is to make sure you can be easily contacted. Ensuring you have your name, mobile number and email on your CV and in the footer/header, so an employer can easy give you a call straight away if they’re interested. If you are moving interstate (or willing to move) be sure to highlight this with key dates of when you plan to be in town.

Don’t include things like your date of birth. Whilst it is illegal for an employer to discriminate against a candidate due to their age, you don’t want to create an unconscious bias against your application.

Do’s and don’t of photos – we are often asked whether a photo should be included on a resume. Honestly, it’s up to you, however, if you are wanting to do this, think very carefully about the image you select. We would of course say, keep it professional (no beachside holiday shots) and don’t use a poorly lit headshot taken in an office hallway or bathroom on your lunch break. Just remember, the old saying ‘a picture tells a thousand words’ has never been truer in this instance.

Keep it Simple

I enjoy the titles of Chief Entertainment Officer (CEO) and His Fresh Prince of Recruitment, but let’s be honest, no one knows what they really mean. So having job titles like Master of all things Revit for a BIM Manager won’t make much sense either. Ensuring the use of standard job titles removes confusion, titles such as Architect, Interior Designer, Draftsperson and so on are standard and simple, they give the reader of your CV a quick clue as to what your general duties entail before they decide to dig deeper. It also means that if you’re posting your CV onto platforms such as LinkedIn or Seek, you will be more easily found in keyword searches.

Apples and Oranges

In order to be successful in today’s competitive job market, it is imperative that your CV showcases your relevant skills and experience. Each entry needs to be carefully planned out with the goal of highlighting what makes you unique from other candidates who are applying for same positions within similar studios. Including both professional accomplishments as well any extracurricular activities may enhance your profile (such as additional courses, eg Passive House Certification), will also serve to differentiate you from the pack. Ensure you include where you studied, dates you attended, honours and awards received, additional languages etc. It is important you organise these from most recent to oldest.

Of course, whilst it goes without saying, we’re going to say it! Never claim a degree you don’t have or say you worked somewhere you didn’t! Also, personal information (not to be confused with contact details) is optional. It is against the law for prospective employers to ask questions about age, marital status, religion, sex, race, or health status before hiring, however, it is important to disclose your working rights and indicate your citizenship or visa status.

Now into the weeds….

Right, we’ve covered some basic do’s and don’ts, job titles, formatting, work status and more, so it’s now time to get into the body of your resume, articulating what you actually have done and can do in a professional capacity.

Firstly, it’s critical you outline your professional experience starting from your last job/current job and be sure to include dates of employment (month and year), name of employer, location and your position. Then include a detailed description of projects that you have worked on including the location, scale and dollar value of the projects and then list exactly what your duties were for each project.

Describe your reporting relationships, team structure, and the numbers and duties of people you have supervised. Do not assume that everyone knows who your previous employers are, you need to describe them: “furniture manufacturer” or “small design office”, for example. Potential employers should not have to guess what you did or where you did it. If they have to, they won’t.

As a general rule, describe the positions according to the time you spent in them and based on their importance to your career. If you had a wide range of responsibilities but only want to retain some of them in future jobs, talk about those you wish to continue in more detail. If you have held several positions of equal importance, simply balance the information accordingly.

It is helpful to put yourself in the position of a person looking to hire someone and tell him or her what they need to know about your work experience to enhance your own candidacy. Clearly indicate your status if you have been freelancing or working as a project consultant. List temporary/ contract employment if it’s relevant to the position you seek. If you undertook longer term contract roles these should absolutely be included, as it demonstrate consistency of work.

Recent graduates should describe participation in professional situations appropriately describing them as summer, part-time or freelance experiences. If you have travelled or had long periods of unemployment, include these dates and detail what you were doing during these periods.

Sounds obvious but…

A couple of final do’s and don’ts on the content of your resume:

• Don’t talk about yourself in the third person. Need we say more?

• Do keep statements professional, relevant and factual. Your feelings and challenges experienced on projects or in a role can be discussed in interview.

• Do be objective. If resumes are too subjective, they can overtake the relevant aspects of what a prospective Employer is seeking. Long lists of self-stated personal attributes and characteristics and life stories are again best suited to a face-to-face interview. (if relevant at all!!)

You did it!

Putting together a CV can be a challenge but we want to make it easier, and having worked with thousands of candidates over the years, we want to use that knowledge to support you.

Every resume and Candidate is different but these foundational tips apply to everyone, no matter the background or experience. Have fun putting together an awesome CV, and if you need further assistance, feel free to reach out – we’re here to help and would love to hear from you.

We can also provide you with a basic CV template that covers all of the above and might help further to set you on the right path. Get in touch with Bloomfield Tremayne to request a copy from your office of choice!

That’s it from me, your trusty Chief Entertainment Officer and friendly Consultant, Munashe!