CV’s and Covering Letters

Like mentioned in the previous blog post, CV’s are vital to your application as you will already know. However, the majority, if not all, of employers will ask for a covering letter to support your CV and application and this is just as important.

If you do not know what a covering letter is, it is a letter of application to the employer. It usually includes addresses and dates like a normal letter would, however you must use the platform to introduce yourself, explain your purpose in applying, highlight your skills and experience that are relevant to the job description!

Whilst available online, I will list just a few key points that I have collated through my experience as the main Do’s and Don’ts of both.

CVs

Do’s 

• Construct and tailor your CV with your employer in mind
• Tailor your CV to the job you want
• Make it clear, neat and tidy
• Include all relevant skills/experiences
• Include all dates in reverse chronological order (most recent first)
• Be positive in every aspect – turn every experience into a positive one and explain how what you’ve learnt will benefit you

Don’ts

• Include any information which is negative reflection of yourself
• Include monetary/salary expectations
• Make your CV more than 2 pages (employers will want a short summary and not pages of writing)
• Use jargon, acronyms, technical terms
• LIE

 

Covering Letters

Do’s

• If possible, address to a named individual
• Send a specified letter (with relevant experiences) for each individual job
• Make sure information matches what the job description is looking for
• Limit to 1 page, do not exceed.
• Tell employer how you can meet their needs
• Use simple sentences, don’t waffle

Don’ts

• Rehash your CV – use the letter to highlight the parts that are most specific to the job
• Make sure spelling and grammar is up to scratch – double check!
• Be boring!
• Be Negative

 

Whilst all self explanatory, making sure that your CV and Covering Letters are good enough is essential to you finding a placement and I personally found the placement team extremely helpful for these issues and I couldn’t recommend making the most of their services.

There is plenty of templates, advice and help online for both of these so do your research. Just make sure more than anything else that every single piece of information links back and demonstrates how you’re good for the job.