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Block 3. CV and covering letter

CVs and covering letters,

though they have served their time well, remain critical instruments in job-search.  New technologies, however, are beginning to change this as they bring new tools to bear, but for the foreseeable future you will still be putting a lot of energy into these documents.

In the UK, US and the rest of the English speaking world, however, CVs and covering letters tend to be rather different to the ‘classic’ one-page French CV (and even in France this has changed and will continue to change – as we will discuss). This is because HRM Departments have driven a quest to find the right person for the job (as finding the wrong person can cost far too much to the business).  This is a quest for information, for detail, for depth, for answers to any number of vital questions and one page, even for a university graduate, is considered FAR too brief to be able to satify the information requirement.  You are all likely to look the same on one sheet of paper too – relatively bland and featureless:

 

To have the best chance of being selected for interview and then being appointed, you need to understand how the recruitment and selection function works: what your CV & covering letter-reader and interviewer are looking for.  So I will begin by giving you a mini-lecture (CM) on this and then pointing you to a number of other files, materials and sites.

 

  • The costs of getting it wrong exercise. This is an exercise whereby you put yourselves in the employers’ shoes and address the question: what are the REAL costs of employing the wrong person.  You will therefore examine all aspects of failures and costs between:
    • the employee deciding to leave but before officially resigning
    • officially resigning and actually leaving
    • creating the material to be able to promote the post and receiving a good number of cvs (recruitment)
    • reviewing the CVs and selecting the best candidate
    • acceptance of the post to 6 months in post

 

  • Search online to find significant detail of the offer of a post in the English-speaking world which would very much interest you upon graduation. This absolutely MUST incorporate Job Description AND Person Specification.  Look for a page of information at least.

 

  • Design and develop:
    1. an eye-catching  CV (2 x full pages, word-processed and spell/grammar-checked)
    2. covering letter (1 x full page …. possibly running to 2 if you must. Word-processed and spell/grammar-checked)
      Printed copy to be handed to me in class.  I will specify deadline.
  • Produce a design for your own free, English/French business card using www.vistaprint.co.uk  (NOT .fr for two reasons: one – this is an English class and I want you to get used to website menu systems in English, and two – IF you really do decide to pay for their delivery you will find that 250 cards are free on .co.uk, but payable on .fr)

 

 

Outcomes:

This exercise is designed to produce the following outcomes:

  1. a much-extended business and technical vocabulary and grasp of appropriate expressions.
  2. familiarity with the form, content, language and role of job offers, job descriptions, person specifications etc
  3. understanding of the distinctions in formats and conventions in French and English documentation.
  4. to prepare you particularly fo Part2 of the TOEIC exam which exposes you to Business related documentation, letters etc … (if you want to go on and take such a qualification, that is)
  5. to prepare you for the next element: the Interview!