A CV surgery held at the Postdoc Centre, University of Cambridge on 29 March 2017

1. BLOGGING FOR BEGINNERS
CV workshop
Cambridge Connect – 29 March 2017
Simone Castello
• Using social media
• Top tips from recruitment consultants
• Hands-on practice: one-page CV
• Q&A

2. Launched in 2003, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network
online. It is a great platform for finding people, recruiting staff and
discussing industry topics. Some stats (2014):
• Over 313 million members in over 200 countries, 23 languages
• 67% of LinkedIn members are located outside the U.S.
• Over 39 million students and college graduates
• Over 3 million firms have Company Pages
• Members are sharing insights and knowledge in over 2 million groups
• In the second quarter of 2014, mobile accounted for 45% of unique visitors
How to use it:
•Create a profile
• Share presentations and write articles to make it more interesting
• Sign up to job alerts
• Connect to recruitment consultants
• Ask for introductions: i.e. HR personnel, managers, etc.
USING SOCIAL MEDIA

3. BLOG YOUR WAY IN
• A blog can be useful to build a portfolio of your work.
• You can write articles, post photos or discuss any topic that is
relevant to your chosen career.
• Blog posts can be shared on LinkedIn, Twitter and other social
media channels. If you are building a personal brand (as artist,
consultant, etc) it is a recommended way in.

4. TIPS FROM RECRUITMENT CONSULTANTS
• Customise your CV for each job – it’s hard but it pays off
• Too many jobs send a negative message – only mention what is relevant
• Consider a skills’ summary at the top of the CV where the keywords from the
job advert are highlighted for easy selection
• Cover letters are only read at the first selection stage, be brief and do not
spend too much time on them. Only 9%* of line managers see them
• Do not abuse the pronoun I, use you when you can. Addressing the company
and showing them how they could benefit from hiring you can secure an
interview for a competitive job
• You have 6* seconds to impress – less is more
• Read the job description and advert carefully. Use keywords from them and
give examples of your skills that are relevant
*Figures collected at recent CV workshop by Career Ambitions
• Visit the company’s website to get a
feel of how they communicate to
customers and use that tone of voice
• Visit the websites of competitors to
give you an idea of their challenges
• Only 35%* of jobs are advertised,
research companies you like and
send them an unsolicited CV.

5. TIPS FROM RECRUITMENT CONSULTANTS CONT.
• Think of the reader (recruiter, HR, Manager, Agency…), make your CV
relevant and real. To which I would add three Rs: research, rewrite,
retarget (find out about jobs, rewrite your CV regularly and retarget it to fit
different industries)
• 60%* of readers scan read, only 40%* want to see detail – less is more
• If you are writing generic statements in your CV, you won’t stand up, for
instance “I process payroll records” does not tell a potential employer how
good you are at it and how you would benefit the company. Give examples of
your achievements and skills that matter to the company advertising
• Again, if a skill is not mentioned, do not include it. Keep it relevant, this
cannot be stressed often enough
• Last but not least… and this is from me: the one-page CV is powerful!
I like indeed.co.uk as it collects
jobs from most websites and offers
free job alerts
*Figures collected at recent CV workshop by Career Ambitions