A project is done and you are wondering what is next in line for you? Are you looking for a job transition and a new employer?
Co-Founder and career expert Johanna Kerber lists down some applications tips, tricks and traps in this article and tells you how to perfect your CV.
Resume – also known as “CV”
Finally: you have found a vacancy or project that you like and you decide you want to apply for the position. The first step is sending out your resume, curriculum vitae or “CV” for short. “The CV determines the applicant’s first impression to the company”, says Johanna. “It is of crucial importance to not even make the slightest mistake to increase the human resources’ and specialist departments’ interest in you from the start!”
Next step: your video profile!
CVs, video profiles and interviews are our recruiting specialists’ fields of expertise. DreiKreis will provide years of experience and excellent contacts. Our recruiting experts review your career development in personal consulting and explain to you how to present your experience convincingly.
The technical focus is essential
“We receive a lot of CVs from candidates, many of which benefit from our consulting. Quite often neither abilities nor experiences are broken down in a structured manner, so the CVs fail to give the readers a good impression”, Johanna says. The career path and professional emphases need to be visible at first glance. “We revise about half of the CVs we receive, along with the applicants.”
What makes a good CV?
The reverse chronological CV
Your personal data, the position you apply for and your mastered technologies should all be found in the header. A reversed chronological CV follows after that. This means that the current employer is listed first, the former employments follow in reverse. The period of time on the left-hand side, on the right-hand side the occupation (e.g. “software developer”, or “software architect”), next to it the company, below a comprehensive but concise description of your professional activities and the technologies applied.
After the professional experience make sure to list your education, meaning your degree course and your school education lastly.
Exception: entrants who have little or few work experience. Entrants should start the list with their education first, followed by internships, or similar work experiences.
Description of the professional activities
“HR read the latest professional experiences first. If you list school education first, you could lose the interest of your CV’s readers. It is important to describe the work experiences thoroughly to make sure your future employer assesses you correctly.”
The description of the professional activities is of great importance, explains Johanna. These should be as short as possible but as long as needed. Don’t lose yourself in unnecessary details – candidates should make sure to give the readers just enough information to judge their suitability for the open position.
5-8 lines for each position are usually enough, list your activities in bullet points!
Soft skills play an important role
Besides the expert qualification in IT soft skills play an important role as well. Be aware of the position you apply for! Depending on the position, a different set of skills might be required. While a project manager needs to have traits such as flexibility, team spirit and leadership qualities, a software developer should be thorough and have high analytical skills.
At the end of your CV you might list your hobbies. It is up to you if you want to include your private life into your application. Johanna explains: “Some find hobbies interesting and are happy to discover conversation starters within the application. Others may prefer to focus on career details. Which leisure activities the applicants partake in doesn’t matter – there is no right or wrong!”
The professional video profile
DreiKreis will help you to avoid mishaps! During a phone conversation our experts and the candidates review the application material, dig deeper through uncertainties, tease out any lack of information.
After the first conversation the candidates are invited for a meet-up in our office, after which they have the possibility to film a professional video profile, which is sent to the future employers along with the CV.