subscribe: Posts | Comments

You are currently viewing: CV CovLet & Interview

CV CovLet & Interview

exit sign

This block and all its associated tasks will be about helping you get out of your studies at University into the type of post and career that you have in mind.

It may well take us most of the semester – because it is a big task and the recruitment and selection processes you will find yourself ‘up against’ continue to change dramatically….. and you will have to respond accordingly.

We will be considering questions such as:

  • How (and why) are recruitment and selection functions changing so very rapidly (what is going on from the employers’ side?).
  • How will the above changes alter the way you will search for job offers and prepare to apply for them?
  • The significance of the job offer and paricularly the Job Description and Person Specification: how might they help you with
    • covering letter writing?
    • CV production?
    • interview preparation?
  • What role does the covering letter play in the process [and not just in the international, English-speaking market]? You will be asked to produce a covering letter for a particular post of your choosing).
  • What makes a great CV?  You will produce one for the particular job offer you have selected.
  • How to prepare for interview and the art of interviewing and being interviewed.

NB1.  I promise that this will be NOTHING LIKE what you are likely to have been taught (or have done before).  This is for two reasons: you are no longer looking for a ‘little, part-time summer job‘ (and no longer just waving a BAC certificate, but a Degree/Masters), and HRM (DRH) are changing recruitment and selection processes to make them more Economic, Efficient and Effective.   This has significant implications for YOU!  I aim to give you opportunity to develop and ‘stretch‘ your professional English capability and vocabulary in this conext, but also to enhance your prospects of securing employment whether it be in an English or French-speaking organisation.

NB2. You will discover that the hallowed French 1x page CV is dying and dying fast at degree & Master’s levels and beyond because it simply doesn’t help to differentiate candidates (which is the whole purpose of selection!)…. it is set to become very much more like the international English-speaking approach.  Don’t even bother starting by translating your existing French CV or ‘lettre de motivation‘: it won’t work.  Using standard CV format ‘templates’ is likely to be more of a constraint (preventing you from giving what the employer wants to see) than a time-saver.

NB3.  Beware of uncritically accepting and adopting quick online ‘fixes‘ that you see online (standard covering letters and CV templates). Often they simply don’t work, most of your competitors use them (so you all look the same – the employer can’t differentiate between candidates)  and they can restrict you terribly in terms of the limited space that is devoted to certain areas (especially languages, ICT and skills developed).  The point is that YOU are NOT standard … neither is the particular post concerned…and nor is the way you, uniquely FIT/MATCH their requirements.

Before you read on, two points to surprise and motivate you:

  • Research from the BBC in Dec 2018 suggested that 85% of CVs are never even looked at (much less ‘read’).… Q. Why?  …. Because the covering letter was not attractive: ‘ugly’ / poorly set out, no idea of paragraphing, poor use of space, errors in punctuation, spelling, grammar, expression, failure to abide by the ‘conventions‘ of a professional business letter, little attempt to match the candidate with the JD & PS and failure to proof-read inter alia.  You surely see the message here……?    For the potential employer, if that is the way you present yourself when you have a  lot to gain (the post!), then will you ever take as much/more care writing when there is less in it personally for you – just a communication with a colleague, subordinate, boss or client…?  The employer won’t bother reading the CV because he knows all he needs to know already….. the applicant isn’t interested and motivated enough to present his/herself well!
  • Getting a job is NOT like the Olympics…. there is NO Silver Medal (ditto Bronze): you have to ‘Go all-out for Gold‘ – so there is no point being half-hearted and just throwing together a quick letter or doing  standard letter and CV for each post you apply for: it just won’t work!  You have to go at it 100%  (99% won’t do if there are 100 candidates – there’s bound to be one who is better than you who will get the post!  So, to put it bluntly: ‘You’re in it to win it – or you’re not in it at all’!

What will we be doing?

  • You will learn about the critical role of Job Descriptions and Person Specifications (from the recruiter’s point of view) and learn how the best candidates are expected to respond to them.  My video on the subject. 
  • You will search online in the English-speaking market for a post you might like to do after L3 and download a copy of the job offer with Job Description (JD) and Person Specfication (PS).  NB. Do NOT just look at Recuitment Agency websites – they very rarely give you full detals of the post (if they told you the employer contact details , you would by-pass them and go direct to the company offeing the post)
  • You will use the JD and PS to construct (in your best, professional English) a CV bearing all the ‘hallmarks’ of excellence which has every chance of being positively received and will enhance your prospects of being on the ‘To Be Interviewed‘ pile!  I have a series of Videos here: CV Forms and choices  +  Traditional CV approach  +   New Approach to the CV   +  Ten Tips CV
  • You will use the JD and PS in order to analyse your degree of conformity with the employer’s requirements and how you can prepare simply structured, precise and concise answers to inevitable interview questions. [NB. Another 85% coming up – this time a positive one:  I firmly believe that 85% of interview questions are entirely predictable once you have analysed (honestly) how you stand in relation to the employer’s requirements as specified in the JD & PS.  Knowing this, you can walk into the interview relaxed and with considerable confidence which will be noticed by interviewers].  My Video:  Going into the interview with confidence
  • You will be interviewed for the post by one of your colleagues, with a third person acting as ‘rapporteur’ to give feedback to both interviewer and interviewee.  I will also ‘sit in’ on some of your interview to give you my opinion and detailed feedback too…   Hopefully this acts as a rehearsal (répetition) for the ‘real thing‘. [NB these three roles will ‘rotate’ – you will play ALL of them provided time permits].

I have other videos on the subject in addition to the ones linked above: they are all on one page

HERE!

NB2. Each of the ‘productions’ in the above list will be assessed / marked

I will give you specific instructions on the required format and submission dates of assignment components as we work our way forward and I can appreciate the speed with which we are dealing with things.

Final NB. A further warning if you will.   There is a lot out there online in the way of CVs and covering letters and flashy-looking templates … please do NOT be tempted by simple copy-pastes: they will almost certainly NOT help you: your task is to match YOU and your unique experience, education and personal capabilities to a specific post with highly- specific requirements.  That relation between YOU and the particular POST is utterly unique!  Trying to quickly borrow someone else’s words or approach will NOT work!  You will have to appreciate that each and every covering letter AND CV will have to be unique!

Anybody found to have copied and pasted from other sources will be heavily penalised!

SO: this is the context in which we will be working to use and enhance your English more effectively and impressively than ever before.  It will mean extending your vocabulary and your ability to communicate orally and in writing within a particularly formal context.  I am hoping/trusting that you will take this very seriously as it is about learning the art of job application: the entire concept is predicated upon something that must surely have significant value to you…    That’s my challenge – I am looking for you to respond as it is entirely in your interest so to do….

T Jan 2023