The following is an overview of Kirsty Bidwell's presentation at the IPANZ New Professionals conference, on marketing yourself and CV writing.

Marketing Yourself and CV Writing

So let’s start by setting the scene with you. The job market is an ever-changing, volatile beast that continues to move and respond to the local economy, technology, global markets, and politics of the day. What it does demonstrate is that largely unemployment is on the rise. Things have moved since Feb 2010 and the results show that the unemployment rate has fallen to 6.0%.

Recent volatility in results from the Household Labour Force Survey suggests that these current results may not be sustainable in the short term. We expect that there may well be an increase in the rate of unemployment in the June 2010 quarter however, we do not expect it to reach the 7.1% recorded in the December 2009 quarter. We expect that the unemployment rate will remain elevated until 2011.

Add to this the fluctuation in advertised vacancies on the Jobs.Govt.Nz website where we are seeing a lot of variation. Since Feb 2010 we have seen a spike in the number of jobs advertised with a high of 359 total jobs in May 2010 which was the highest since September 2009. The figures have since dropped back to a total of 293 jobs as calculated at 21 June 2010.

On the back of that the Government (in particular the Minister of Finance) is pushing for a cap on public servants, continued fiscal constraints, and yet a demand for greater productivity and higher quality of policy advice.
What does that mean for you? It’s a volatile, competitive labour market and therefore it’s crucial to stand out from the pack. Now is the time to consider who you are and what will make the difference for you in navigating your way through the public sector ranks.

Product

So to add some private sector speak to the mix to it is critical to think about this as an opportunity to build your own brand – Imagine that you are the product.
All people, at all stages of their professional development, need to plan for their career. Planning is an ongoing process. Our skills, interests and motivations change over time as does the economy, the employment market and technology.

What are your objectives? If you aren’t clear about what’s next it’s hard to determine the steps that need to be taken to develop your brand.

If you’re a graduate or have recently been employed your challenge with this exercise is slightly different. You’ll have to sell your personal qualities, as most likely you haven’t had any experience to demonstrate your abilities. But this doesn’t mean that you can’t build your brand based on other things like extra-curricular activates or voluntary positions. If you’ve already been in the workforce for several years then you need to sell your skill set and find an environment where your talents can be used to the best advantage.

Take some time to identify your skills, aptitudes and interests by asking such questions as:

• Why did you undertake studies in a particular field?
• What do you like doing and why?
• What are you good at why?
• What aspects of your current work do you dislike and why?
• What motivates you? (e.g. money, security, status)
• What work environment appeals to you? (e.g. social policy, the
• environment, infrastructure, healthcare)

Then set long-term objectives.

• Where do you want to be in five years or ten years?
• How are you going to get there?
• What are your financial goals and are you willing to salary sacrifice for your dream job?
• What do you need to do now in order to reach these goals in the future? (e.g. do I need to do additional studies, do I need more experience or responsibilities, do I need a mentor)

In order to achieve your objectives, uncover your positive attributes and areas that need development you could do a realistic SWOT analysis on yourself.
What are your strengths and weakness especially verses others who may have more experience then you.

If you are lacking specialist skills then what strategies can you put in place to help minimise this gap. A thorough understanding of yourself and career plan will enable you to apply the other “Ps” to the greatest advantage.

Positioning

When going for a role you are competing against other people who may have similar experience and qualifications. What sets you apart from the rest? What’s your unique selling proposition?

The first port of call is your CV. This is your selling document and positioning statement. If it’s not up to scratch then you won’t even get your foot in the door, regardless of how impressive you are in person. The good news is that it’s easy to be a professional job seeker. All it requires is attention to detail and a common sense approach. A good way to think of it is to treat it like a business plan. It should be based on facts, be clear and easy to read and written in logical order.

Keep your CV under four pages, five at the absolute maximum. With up to 100 people applying for roles you’re not doing yourself justice by burying your best experience on page ten. The most detail should be in your current role and the last five years of experience. A small role 10 years ago doesn’t need as much weight as recent roles, or non-related hospitality experience while studying can be summarised rather than listed in its entirety.

Make sure you tell potential employees or recruiters like us ALL we need to know in a concise way including education and complete work history with dates of employment. It’s also good to list two-three achievements with tangible measurable outcomes that you’ve achieved in each role.

Make sure that the achievements are good for the organisation rather than for you personally. One tried and true way is to highlight what’s in it for the employer (not what’s in it for you!).

If you haven't sold yourself on the first page then it is game over and the recruiter will move on to the next resume. So your CV needs to make a strong positive impression very quickly.

A CV is little more than a personal marketing document and job hunters need to understand they are selling themselves to employers and need to market themselves like a product.

It is not about getting you the job, it is about getting you in front of the employer.

Common mistakes in CVs are often based on the first CV they wrote after leaving school and every time you get a new job you add a page to their CV which by the time it reaches me is eight to 10 pages long.

These people have followed the same model that worked for them 5 to 10 years ago and haven't adapted their CV to what the market expects. So those CVs are way too long and too detailed."

The other common CV’s might be from from people who have a mixed employment background, worked in a few different industries and been self-employed.

Review, Refresh, be Real

It is common to see CVs that don't represent the job hunter too well at all. People are too close to what they do to stand back and write a CV that markets them to the best of their ability. Have a friend, colleague mentor review your CV, especially if you have been pushing it out for 12 months and haven’t had a sniff of an interview. They might see some hidden talents and successes that didn't feature in your CV at all. Also people will frequently take what they do for granted and see nothing too special in it.

And when it comes to marketing yourself, should you include a photo of yourself on the CV? It is a difficult one ... it is a judgment call on the part of the job hunter however not something we would really recommend.

It can be easy to forget that it is people who are behind the pieces of paper and a photograph could remind them it is a person they are dealing with

Among the biggest mistakes with job hunters is using an inappropriate email address such as sexy1@hotmail.

Cover Letter

Employers are busy people and often won't read every word of your CV at first. Instead, they may take 15 to 20 seconds to scan it and decide if it is worth further consideration. If you make a good first impression, employers will read your CV more closely and critically.

Send a customised cover letter with each resume you send out. Your cover letter may make the difference between obtaining a job interview and having your resume ignored. Even if an employer doesn't request a cover letter, it's helpful to send one.

Target your cover letter. Take the job posting and list the criteria the employer is looking for. Then list the skills and experience you have. Either address how your skills match the job in paragraph form or list the criteria and your qualifications.

Don't rehash your resume. Your cover letter should complement, not duplicate your resume. Expand on your resume and highlight your background as it relates to the job.

Write simply and clearly. Get right to the point and write short, targeted letters. Each letter should be one page, or less. Each paragraph should contain three or four sentences, at most.

Personalise your letter. If you can, address it to the individual responsible for hiring. If need be, research online or make a phone call to find out who the hiring manager is.

Spell check and proofread. Then ask someone else to read your correspondence before you send it. It's often easy not to notice mistakes in our own writing.

Positioning – Interview

The next stage where positioning is important is the interview (or several interviews as is often the case in public sector now). Unfortunately it’s still true that interviews count for much of the decision process. It’s important to do well in an interview because regardless of your great CV and excellent experience people will still base much of their decision on what they conclude during an interview.

Employees are looking for two major things in the first interview – proven skills and attitude. This is also a perfect opportunity for you to assess the organisation and the opportunity. And if you are interested in the role, how to position yourself to fulfill their needs. You need to research how you will fit into the employer’s environment.

Preparation is essential to do well. You can research how you will fit into the employer’s environment. It’s always good to do a background search of the organisation. Check their website, statement of intent, annual reports, and any recent publications or if they are a service delivery agency give them a call or visit one of their Branches to get a feel for their business.

In today’s climate employers don’t want to make a recruiting mistake so take away as many barriers as possible. Take the time to prepare your responses in advance. Work out how to overcome objections especially if there is a perceived skill gap. Make it easy for the employer to make a decision by giving relevant and specific examples of your proven skills and experience and how it could be applied to this role. It’s now widespread to use competency / behavioural based interviewing techniques where you’re given a situation then asked how you would respond. When answering make sure you not only say how you would take action but also why and how you’ve achieved this in the past.

The other important thing to organisation’s are looking for is passion and confidence. So in the job market you have to be the brand ambassador for yourself. Your chance of being successful increases when the employer sees your confidence, obviously values-match and believes that your appointment will be mutually beneficial.

Place

Defining your objectives and determining a position will help narrow your job search. It’s essential to know who you are targeting with your message. If you can identify employers of choice in the public sector that suit then you can maximize your chances for success.

To unearth the “place” you might ask yourself some of these questions:

• Do I want to work for a small, medium or large organisation?
• What management style do I prefer?
• Are there opportunities for advancement?
• What type of culture fits with me?

Once you’ve determined the answers to these questions you can go on the hunt for organisations that fulfill these requirements. Do your research. Find out how other people got into those organisations and if you can replicate their progress. This is a targeted approach rather than the scattergun effect. This will also help narrow down advertised roles so you are only applying to those that are relevant to you.

Price

What are the most important things to you in a job? Surprisingly for most people money is not always the top of the list. There is a trend for people to want life balance and they are prepared to sacrifice salary to get it. It’s also important to realise that while you might not be ready to forgo the dollars there may be other people applying for the same role who will take a pay cut if it’s the right organisation, team or position. If you can define what’s important to you, and what is negotiable, then it’s going to make your job search much easier.

Some of the things to think about include:

• Salary expectations
• Job flexibility
• Job satisfaction
• Job profile/status
• Opportunities for advancement
• Career path
• Professional development
• Life balance

Notes:

This presentation was a compilation of references and articles from many sources, including Ross Clennett, Steve Hart, Bnet, Recruitment Daily, NZ Herald, and others.