For many today, the urgency to get a job weighs very heavily indeed. While there is still a big jobs market and opportunities through the hidden job market, i.e. jobs that are not advertised and that you can get via someone you know or other contacts, more and more the route to a job has involved looking online and submitting a resume/CV with a covering letter. Quite often the job site will show how many applicants there have been for that job and over 400 is not at all unusual …you need to do all that you can to be sure that yours is seen and marked for consideration for interview. However, does it feel for you as if you apply for job after job and get no response?

While we are being told, certainly in the UK by our government, that there are more jobs than ever before and more people in work , the reality is a different matter with far too many people chasing too few jobs, especially for the many sick and disabled who have had their welfare benefits removed and are having to chase the all too few jobs that they just may physically be able to do if that is , even being forced to look for a job does not kill them first , while many in this position have died from heart attacks and strokes , we have even those in comas being declared fit for work ….

The economy does make it more difficult to get jobs with too many people chasing too few opportunities but your resume /CV is the first and maybe the only chance you get to appeal to a hiring manager or to pass screening software  used by many companies looking for key words relevant to the job being advertised , so make sure yours is a good one

It is important that you put together a resume /CV that will stand out , and there are many online resources to assist you in doing so . These range from examples and templates for a basic generic resume /CV to versions that are job title specific. There is no need to dread having to produce a resume or CV and sit brooding over the computer screen and wasting time.

While the internet is full of resume /CV examples, your own edition is when submitted for a job, very often the first impression you will give and if it is not a good one then you will not get another chance. It says who you are and what you can offer so do not let it be obviously something copied from the internet, but there is a lot of help out there on the web and from organisations such as job clubs that often operate from libraries, job centres and work programmes and community centres.

Your resume /CV needs to be crafted to show your experience, skills and suitability for the job that you are applying for. Start with a generic basic version which will be the one that you upload and store on job boards such as Monster, Total Jobs and Indeed, this resume /CV may even get you seen and invited to apply for jobs that you otherwise may not have done, but can also be adapted for specific job roles.

Job seekers have been known to pay a lot of money to get resumes/CV’s written for them but this is not necessary with the excellent resources that are available free on the web. These include templates preventing the need for trying to format and set out the document correctly, all you have to do is fill in your relevant details in the sections provided. There are also many online resources to help with writing covering letters…make use of what is out there to help with job applications and make yours stand out. 

Valerie Hedges