I can help review your CV FREE (my little gift back to society).

For confidentiality purposes, I suggest you exclude your address and Bio data when sending your CV to me. When I return it to you, you can simply input it.

Deal?

Send your current CV to the email at the end of this message and also include the type of job or industry you look to work in.

Oh and a little about me: I'm Nigerian, schooled in the UK and now back working in Nigeria working as an Internal Auditor. I've been looking for my little way to give back to society.

What led to my idea to review your CV? Yesterday I was at work and decided to look through my email sent box. I noticed my first ever CV and it made me laugh so hard.

It was a very horrible CV. Luckily at my university, I had access to a career adviser. I had never worked before and had no idea what I should put on my CV. She reviewed my CV and from a one page document that in her opinion 'told employers that I lacked skills and shouldn't be employed', she was able to give me very good pointers and I had a lovely 2 page CV.

I eventually got a job and worked for a few years in the UK before returning to Nigeria.

Your CV is a picture of your career; it sells more when it is beautiful.

I have helped several friends with their CVs and from what I have come to notice, there are lots of people out there that need help. The typist at the business centres usually copy and paste whatever they like which may not accurately reflect all your skills.

So, lets get started.


****MODIFIED TO ADD THE FOLLOWING****

Use the following links to do some work on your CV before sending in for review. They contain the before and after pictures of CVs as well as notes to CV reviews I've done for individuals whom I'm sure are members of this forum.

Writing a CV When You have Zero Work Experinece - http://www.thekrine.com/blog/writing-a-cv-when-you-have-zero-work-experience/

Illustration: Creating a More Effective CV (Part 1) - http://www.thekrine.com/blog/illustration-creating-a-more-effective-cv-part-1/

Illustration: Creating a More Effective CV (Part 2) - http://www.thekrine.com/blog/illustration-creating-a-more-effective-cv-part-2/

Illustration: Creating a More Effective CV (Part 3) - http://www.thekrine.com/blog/illustration-creating-a-more-effective-cv-part-3/


Send your current CV to info@thekrine.com and also include the type of job or industry you look to work in. Ensure you do some work using those illustrations (examples) above because if you don't I'll be able to tell and return your CV to you with a message referring you to the links.


It is FREE. Don't forget to tell a friend and don't forget to help a friend.

Could you post examples?

The good, bad and ugly?

With tips and corrections.

Thanks a lot.

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. A very common 'CV killer' is the act of merely stating skills without showing activities you do that demonstrate those skills.

For example, I have worked on several CVs with a Skills Section followed by bullet points of things like 'Good listener, team player, excellent communication skills' .
Anyone can write these skills. A good CV will instead state activities that utilize these skills. It's like an evidence.
(I've used the blue ink to highlight this on a CV for a person without work experience followed by that of a person with work experience)

Don't give the excuse that you have never had a job before. You can use you experience in other activities to complete this section of your CV.

Before landing my first job, I expressed my team work and communications skills using activities as follows:

Team Work
1. Group work assessment with team mates undertaking a research on mergers and acquisition. Meetings with team members which required collaboration in working towards common target.
2.     Member of the football team at my University. I was team captain for 2 out of my 3 years on the team (note that with this item I also am conveying to a prospective employer that I have experience and skills required to be a team leader and manager which is a key skill)

Communication – Verbal and Written
1. Gave a 25 minutes presentation followed by a question and answer section to an audience on a topic  – Mergers and Acquisition, do the Benefits Outweigh the Drawbacks.
2.    Volunteer student tutor for various study groups for first year students
3.     Prepared a 5,000words essay on Corporate Governance which highlighted various corporate failures and the development of the Combined Code (note that I have also showed here that I have research skills)
(if you wrote and defended a dissertation as part of your university degree, you can include that here)


You would expect someone that already has some work experience to easily portray his/her skills. I have seen people with several years of work experiences fail to express their skills properly.

As an example, if I wanted to let a potential employer know I have skills in report writing, I will be doing myself no favours by simply doing a bullet point stating 'Excellent report writing skills'.
Instead, at the section where I list my work experiences, I will state some of the reports I prepare. I can do this by stating, 'Preparation of monthly management reports for the company directors'.

Depending on your field/industry, an employer may want to know you have 'working knowledge' of some softwares. Stating that you went to a certain computer school doesn't give enough evidence of such skill (except it is an entry level role).
Instead, at your work experience section, you can convey this by stating 'Update of accounting records using Peachtree' . Now this employer will understand I have an understanding of accounting softwares and also possess IT skills.


If you can send a CV for review I can pull out more pointers and over time, post more points here.

Cheers

^ Nice points! Thanks a lot!

We'll work on getting that post out of the spambot asap!

Anyone in the house ready to send in the 1st cv for review?

I just hope u'll still be here when i'm about to search for jobs so that u can review my cv

Hi, thanks for your response and I do look forward to receiving your CV soon.

Your response has led me to another important tip about building your CV and career. This advice is mainly for current students but jobseekers may also find it useful.

A common question employers ask during interviews is – 'What have you been doing?' Yes, they understand that finding a job is not very easy but employers don’t like to hear  ‘I’ve been looking for a job’. Yes, they know you’ve been looking for a job like the other millions of youth out there BUT what have you been doing with all that extra time you have on your hand?

You gain extra points from being creative. I sat in with an interview panel looking for ushers for an event. This job was to pay nothing more than N5,000 for the 2 day ushering duty and we had up to 43 candidates show up for this interview. About 90% of them were graduates that had completed their NYSC! Shocking, but that’s how bad unemployment is biting.
One girl that really caught my attention was tired of just distributing her CV, she started baking snacks and marketing properties. Her story was very encouraging. She ultimately wanted a job as a marketer and had started brushing up her skills by marketing properties. Also, she had done several ushering jobs and was easily selected to manage the ushers for this event. Her creativity made her interview the longest because it was very interactive - there was allot to talk about.

The truth is that YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE LOOKING FOR A JOB and therefore you need to set yourself apart. Your skills set you apart.

Now what is my point?
1. Identify your career path
2. Identify the skills you need to develop you career
3. Creatively come up with ways you can develop those skills

and just like that you will have something to talk about on your CV and at your next interview.

As a jobseeker:
1. For a start, please get it out of your mind that you need connections before you can get a job!
That mindset will discourage you. Skills set you apart, not just connections.

2. Get busy. Build your skills. Students, please find something extra to do - volunteer a few hours every week to get some experience. It isn’t all about money and I’m sure most people have had that point in a career where they accepted a job not because of how fantastic the pay was but for the skills and experience such jobs added to their CV. Don’t depend on your Industrial Training or NYSC postings alone. Where I work, NYSC candidates with more skills are preferred.

There are several things you can do, as a student or jobseeker, to build your skills. Have you ever considered volunteering? Yes, volunteer. Work without payment and get your skills developed.

I will do a post on career paths, skills and creative ways of developing those skills.


All the best!

^^^^ hi i have sent my cv to ur email address, and have been waiting for reply for ages now, pls check ur mail. I need ur assist urgently as i have to send my cv out as soon as possible. Thanx

Hello dear,

Many many many apologies. I kept my eyes on this post and just realised there are 12 CVs in my box waiting.


I have responded to 3 and will get through all before 10AM tomorrow (saturday). Apologies. I'm responding from oldest to newest. Please keep an eye on your email.

Cheers

Hello Guys,

I guess you've received your CVs (all 12) by now. If you haven't checked, I advise you do.

I am compiling [b]notes [/b]on some issues that reoccurred in the CVs I've just reviewed. That way, you can review your CV yourself and help your friends too.

I just received 2 more CVs this morning. I will respond to these soon after I have posted the [b]notes [/b]as promised.


Cheers

I promised to post notes on some points I drew from the CVs I've reviewed so far. I will post my take on the following drawn from my opinion on some of the CVs I've looked at:

1. Career Objective
2. State of Origin, LGA, Religion
3. Clarity of CV
4. NYSC and Industrial Training work experience
5. Professional Qualification and what to include under Education and Qualifications


1. CAREER OBJECTIVE

Do you really need one? Most of the ‘career objective’ I came across while reviewing the last set of CVs were really NOT Career Objectives.
Infact, they bent towards the side of Personal Statements.

A Career Objective is NOT [/b]the same a Personal Statement.

I am not a fan of the Career Objective section. Removed mine from my CV ages ago.

However, I noticed that most people prefer having the Career Objective section on their CV so I decided to do a quick research on it.

Before going into the Career Objective bit let’s get the Personal Statement issue out of the way.

[b]A personal statement is simply an About Me. It tells the employer who you are and what you can do for them.



Now back to Career Objective

Here are some hints on Career Objective I found from about 5 websites put together. (please google career objective if you need further information. There are loads of free samples out there)

A career objective, as it pertains to your curriculum vitae, is a statement of purpose which targets a specific job within a particular industry. It should provide clues as to why the candidate might be suitable to work in his/her target industry.

So for example:
'To apply my five years' experience in personal training, and master's degree in sports psychology, to a role as physical education instructor.

From this example we can note the following components of a Career Objective:
Target industry/specific job – Physical Education/instructor
Why is this candidate suitable for this job? – Has five years experience in personal training and a master’s degree in sports psychology.

Career Objective functions to offer a rationale for the submission of your CV to the recipient, by defining the job you want to acquire, and highlighting the qualities that make you ideal to attain it.

So, in simple terms a Career Objective states:
- The job being applied for (eg instructor)
- The industry (eg education)
- Qualities that support your goal (eg qualifications, previous work experience etc)


Hints and Tips for Compelling Objectives

-Stay short and sweet. About two lines is all you need.

  - Be specific, but not exclusionist. Stating that you want to work as a computer programmer is fine; stating that you want to work as a computer programmer specialising in relational databases coded in XML is restrictive in the extreme, and may prevent you being considered for any other computer programming position.

- Don't use the 'I' word when the 'My' word will do. 'I want a job in retail sales' sounds egotistic and confrontational; 'To use my accounting and customer care skills in a role as retail sales manager' is more restrained, but no less persuasive.

- Ensure that what you say in your objective is born out by the content of your CV, and vice-versa.

More examples of career objectives:

For an entry level accounting position:
• A position in the accounting field where excellent analytical and technical skills can help to improve the company's profitability.

If you have two years experience:
• A Data Entry position where skills in spreadsheet development and troubleshooting can improve efficiency and enhance profitability.

If you are changing areas of employment:
• A position as Assistant Engineer where construction knowledge, high mechanical aptitude and commitment to safety can contribute to profitable operation.

If you are a creative worker:
• A Graphic Design position where advanced graphic and creative skills will produce a quality product for agency customers.


Career Objectives are quite limiting and may have to be edited each time you need to send you CV for a job (to adapt to the position you are applying for).


More notes (2-5) to follow.



Cheers

^ keep 'em coming, we'll get them outta the spambot asap!

All 5 at once, if need be.

Nice work!

I covered Career Objective in my previous post. Now I will cover the remaining.

(It's quite a long one sorry guys)


2. State of Origin, LGA, Religion
3. Clarity of CV
4. NYSC and Industrial Training work experience
5. Professional Qualification and Education & Qualifications




2. STATE OF ORIGIN, LGA, HOME TOWN, RELIGION etc
I am one person that likes to get a job based on my skill. In fact I once had an argument with my mum for editing my CV, removing my home address and putting her office address there as C/O Her name, Manager etc etc. I just felt the CV screamed (this is my daughter and I am the Manager of xyz). I was reminded that this is Nigeria so I shut my mouth and left the rights of editing my CV to her and her ways.

However, I was outraged that she included my LGA, State of Origin and even Hometown and Date of Birth on my CV.
What I’m trying to say here is simply….your skill can take you to great heights; much greater heights than you LGA or state of origin or your reference. YES THE REFERENCE ISSUE - I have noticed that people with the most horrible CVs tend to use big names as their referees. STOP IT!

Work on your CV, show off your skills properly. Be careful about revealing things that do not add to your skills. Some recruiters are really picky. Some are tribalistics, they zone employment. Some are picky about religion etc.
Some people are NEVER invited for interview. Their CV always get chopped off. I advise you work on your skills. You may have skills but your CV may have failed to show them. When sending out your CV, your first aim is to get called for an interview.

I only include  my state of origin, LGA etc just when a recruiter specifically requests. The personal data on my CV is simply:
Suname
Firstname
Mobile (GSM)
Email
Date of Birth (which I only started including since applying for jobs in Nigeria)
Nationality (which I only started including since applying for jobs in Nigeria)

Some information should be provided only on request (in my opinion)

When I sent my CV to my career advisor back at university, this white British woman quickly circled my nationality. She told me what I wanted was a job and my CV should tell my recruiters to employ me. She said by including my nationality, an employer was immediately aware I was not British and will wonder if I had the rights to work. Your skills tell people to employ you. Things like State of Origin, Religion really do not have anything to do with your employable skills.

Now my own experience with these
Months after my career advisor looked at my CV, I was applying for another job. I was in my second year of university. I got a call for an interview BUT the recruiter immediately sent me an email.
She understood I was a student in accounting but was abit confused by name. My name wasn’t an english name. Infact I’m Nigerian, my first name is Nigerian my lastname is Italian. I hadn’t included my nationality on the CV I sent her!

Why was she confused? If I were British or European then I had the right to work in the UK. But she couldn’t tell what country I was from cos I hadn’t given her that information.
Now, this confused state of mind gave me the opportunity to explain to this recruiter that even though I was a ‘foreign student’ who was Nigerian, I have the right to work up to 20hrs per week. This job needed someone to work 15hrs per week so I was good.
This recruiter was unaware that I was a foreigner, she was also unaware of my right to work as a foreigner and I had to reply her email with a link to the Home Office website for her to read up that I had rights to work and didn’t require a work permit. She later told me she liked how I fought to get this job.

Now can you imagine what would have happened if I put Nationality: Nigerian on my CV. I wouldn’t have been invited for this interview. She would have simply come to the conclusion that I was Nigerian and NOT British/European and therefore did not have the right to work in the UK.

After graduation I had another experience. This had to do with my age. I was 21 at the time but just due to identity theft issues I decided not to put my age on my CV.  If you know about identity theft, you’ll know age is very sensitive information. However including my age on my CV would have cost me a job. I had applied for a job as an Accounts Assistant. I received a call from the recruiter, turned out to be the owner of the company. It was an impromptu phone interview. This man was so blunt and just when I thought I had the job he asked ‘How old are you again’. I said 21 and he said ‘No I’m sorry I can’t give you this job, it was someone like you that messed up my accounts last time and ran away. You young ones’.

I started to fight for this job again. Luckily this job was similar to the job I had while at university so I explained and explained and explained how good I was at accounting. He wasn’t event concerned that I was a graduate in accounting. This man’s concern was that I was similar age with his previous accountant who messed things up and quit.
He finally invited me to the office to see the accounts. The last accountant was more of an office administrator. Filing bills and invoices whether or not they’ve been paid. Monies the company was being owed by customers had not been chased etc.
He left me at the accountant’s office and walked out to take a call. Now as someone who was coming from a well organized accounting department of a company, I started picking out invoices and checking them against records in the accounting software. I could already see the mess he talked about. The records were not updated. He walked in and had to stop me saying he told me to just look and I had already started working. Made me laugh. I went on to tell him of monthly reports I could prepare for him and how I could run the accounting section.  Of course I got the job!

Now it is not every recruiter out there that has the time to give an applicant such a chance to prove what they can do. Infact I think he had not received allot of response to his advert and perhaps I was one of the few to reply.

And one final experience
During the interview for my current job, I recall my employer paused, looked at my CV then at me and ask…are you Igbo? She was an Igbo woman. Of course I am not Igbo and I told her I wasn’t igbo. There was a brief silence afterwards. But I had already blown her mind with the skills on my CV and my interview (The interview got so hot that at a point I pulled out my laptop from my handbag to show her excel spreadsheets I had created for clients to use in place of accounting softwares). She was impressed.

Who knows, perhaps I may not have been invited for that interview if I had stated my hometown, state of origin etc.
All I am saying here is that things like your State of Origin, Home Town, etc do not have anything to do with your skill. You get invited to interviews based on your skills….Show your skills!


3. CLARITY OF CV
Clarity has to do with neatness, understandability etc.

Keep it simple, arrange items properly. Page layout, Bullet point style, text alignment add to how well your CV is received. Trust me, I understand it is really quite tasking to sit down and write about things you’ve done a while ago, so give yourself time. Perhaps use a day to work on each section of your CV and in a week you should be through.

As I said in a previous post, you are not the only one looking for a job. Thousands of people may have applied for that same job with you. Help the recruiters to understand your CV. Arrange it properly, choose a readable font and space things properly.

How can you expect a recruiter to believe you are good at using MS Word when you have submitted a CV that is poorly presented? - Poor use of bullet points, uneven lines and unreadable fonts. etc

How do you expect a recruiter to believe you have good communication skills when you have grammatical errors in every sentence of a rather long and pointless ‘Career Objective’ section of your CV?

I was impressed by about 2 CVs I reviewed yesterday. They were so neat. I almost didn’t know where to start from with reviewing these CVs. If I were a recruiter, I'd have been interested in reading them. I decided to work on them much later and focus on the CVs with obvious flaws.

Then there were some really scattered CV arrangements BUT with good content - very good skills and all but things were written all over the place.
Keep it simple, arrange items properly. Page layout, Bullet point style, text alignment add to how well your CV is received. Please take the time.

4. NYSC and Industrial Training work experience
Are you a recent graduate? If yes, then your NYSC and Industrial Training work experience are of great importance. Work experience is not about how much you were paid on the job, it is about what you did. I noticed some CVs just listed the year, name of their employer and job title. No information was given on what they did on the job.
Please don’t give the excuse that you were just a subject teacher or admin assistant during your NYSC. It is still experience. These jobs require allot of skills and I suggest you take the time and draw out the activities you performed while on the job. Bring out at least 5 activities you did on these jobs.

When you’ve had more years / activities of work experience, you may decide to give just brief summaries of the less relevant employment.

My first job while at university (first year) was at a call centre. My second job still while at university was as a data entry personnel. My third job was as an admin and finance officer. After I got the job as an admin and finance officer I simply listed my first 2 jobs in summary. Then on the section with my job as an admin and finance officer, I used over 10 bullet points (yes I did allot there handling 2 companies I had to show it off). I was at an interview and the recruiter stated ‘It seems you were running these company’.

So please find the words to describe your activities and include them in your CV. This is the best way to describe your skills.

Also, it is not good to exclude previous experience. I could easily spot out missing years in some CVs. Some CVs had up to 5 years missing.

For example, if you graduated in 2001 and the next year input on your CV is an employment from 2008 to Date, a recruiter is likely to wonder what you were doing between 2001 and 2008. Perhaps you were in a job you HATED between 2005 and 2008, still include it. Perhaps you were looking for a job between 2001 and 2002 and during that time you attended some courses or trainings, include it on your CV. Don’t leave blank years on your CV please. It screams idle.

5. Professional Qualifications and Education and Qualifications
Professional qualifications show your area of specialisation. Soon as you identify your career path, I advise you search for professional qualifications that are relevant. There are loads of them out there and it is advisable to start early. Accountants have ICAN and ACCA. You can start these in your NYSC year.
ACCA is very flexible too. You don’t need to be a university graduate to qualify to register. Infact the highest scorer of the last sitting in June 2011 wasn’t a university graduate! But can you imagine the number of employers that will be willing to offer that girl a job. I think her lowest score was not below 80% (in a professional exam like ACCA!) She started working at age 16 and years later saw a career adviser who put her in the right track and instead of going to uni she started a professional qualification.

Don’t give the excuse that this is Nigeria or whatever.
 
What I am saying is that there is something out there for you too. Just take the time and figure it out. Don’t give excuses that you did not make a good grade at University or that you did not attend a university. I’m sure there are professional qualifications you can include with your OND and HND too.

(Oh and please do not list NYSC under Education and Qualification)

And one last thing, please go for trainings and courses that are relevant and in line with your career path.

If you studied economics or have a career path in finance, stating on your CV that you have a  certificate in Java or that C++ thing (I tend to see everywhere) really has no input on your CV. If you studied Computer Science or perhaps have a career path in IT then having such a certificate is great and makes sense.

My cousin recently graduated with a degree in International relations and while chatting he mentioned he was tired of sitting at home waiting for NYSC. He wanted to go to computer school for some database program or something I can’t even remember. We talked and finally he arrived at a better idea to do a French course instead. What has a course in database management etc got to do with a person with a career path in International Relations? NONE. However, a knowledge of many languages makes more sense for such a person.


Hope these few tips helped and sorry for such a long post.

Cheers

Thanks a lot!

You've given us 5 points to work on this week and beyond.

Hope you'll be on hand as the questions flow in?

mycvclinic:

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. A very common 'CV killer' is the act of merely stating skills without showing activities you do that demonstrate those skills.

For example, I have worked on several CVs with a Skills Section followed by bullet points of things like 'Good listener, team player, excellent communication skills' .
Anyone can write these skills. A good CV will instead state activities that utilize these skills. It's like an evidence.
(I've used the blue ink to highlight this on a CV for a person without work experience followed by that of a person with work experience)

Don't give the excuse that you have never had a job before. You can use you experience in other activities to complete this section of your CV.

Before landing my first job, I expressed my team work and communications skills using activities as follows:

Team Work
1. Group work assessment with team mates undertaking a research on mergers and acquisition. Meetings with team members which required collaboration in working towards common target.
2.     Member of the football team at my University. I was team captain for 2 out of my 3 years on the team (note that with this item I also am conveying to a prospective employer that I have experience and skills required to be a team leader and manager which is a key skill)

Communication – Verbal and Written
1. Gave a 25 minutes presentation followed by a question and answer section to an audience on a topic  – Mergers and Acquisition, do the Benefits Outweigh the Drawbacks.
2.    Volunteer student tutor for various study groups for first year students
3.     Prepared a 5,000words essay on Corporate Governance which highlighted various corporate failures and the development of the Combined Code (note that I have also showed here that I have research skills)
(if you wrote and defended a dissertation as part of your university degree, you can include that here)


You would expect someone that already has some work experience to easily portray his/her skills. I have seen people with several years of work experiences fail to express their skills properly.

As an example, if I wanted to let a potential employer know I have skills in report writing, I will be doing myself no favours by simply doing a bullet point stating 'Excellent report writing skills'.
Instead, at the section where I list my work experiences, I will state some of the reports I prepare. I can do this by stating, 'Preparation of monthly management reports for the company directors'.

Depending on your field/industry, an employer may want to know you have 'working knowledge' of some softwares. Stating that you went to a certain computer school doesn't give enough evidence of such skill (except it is an entry level role).
Instead, at your work experience section, you can convey this by stating 'Update of accounting records using Peachtree' . Now this employer will understand I have an understanding of accounting softwares and also possess IT skills.


If you can send a CV for review I can pull out more pointers and over time, post more points here.

Cheers

Wow, well done@mycvlink. Are you an M&A analyst? Mhen, one of my 1 to 3-year goals is to get into a front office role, say M&A, at a major bulge bracket.
My CV approximately follows your format and my background is not poor either. However, I have only been getting interviewed for middle and back office roles at major BBs. Imagine that!

As you know, it is very competitive to break into a front office role. A certain forum member once advised me to get into a middle office role and then work my way up to a front office role, but people in the middle office say a middle office role is pretty much like a closed loop! Considering this, do you have any counsel for me regarding how to break into a front office role at a major BB?

Sorry if my question is not centered around the topic at hand. I will be jocund to hear your views.

Truly yours,
T22.

I'm actually a little confused by this question. I'm not an M&A analyst and although I dont have the exact knowledge of how it works in your sector, I thought to give it a try.


I bumped into a forum where some investment bankers were discussing the classification of their roles and there appeared to be a conflict. So perhaps the issue could be your description of a front office, middle office role etc. I should look for a way to get the link to you. I don't know if I'm allowed to post links here but I'm certain your answer may be in there.

Cheers

tanimola22:

Wow, well done@mycvlink. Are you an M&A analyst? Mhen, one of my 1 to 3-year goals is to get into a front office role, say M&A, at a major bulge bracket.
My CV approximately follows your format and my background is not poor either. However, I have only been getting interviewed for middle and back office roles at major BBs. Imagine that!

As you know, it is very competitive to break into a front office role. A certain forum member once advised me to get into a middle office role and then work my way up to a front office role, but people in the middle office say a middle office role is pretty much like a closed loop! Considering this, do you have any counsel for me regarding how to break into a front office role at a major BB?

Sorry if my question is not centered around the topic at hand. I will be jocund to hear your views.

Truly yours,
T22.

1. You can post links, so that we can all benefit

2. His email address is on his profile

Yea I visited the his/her profile soon after sending my original reply and sent the link. It is:

http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/jpmorgan-ib-risk-bonuses

There are a mix of comments in there but work through it and you should see some points.

Cheers

Hello everyone,

I promised to do a post on Career Path. Judging by the response I've received from some of the senders of the CVs I've reviewed, the post on Career Path is needed VERY URGENTLY.

The post will be up on Wednesday (thought to inform you so you don't assume my silence means I've forgotten).

Also, just to inform the senders of the 2 CVs I've received today- you'll get your CVs back before 12PM tomorrow.


Cheers

^ thanks!

You'll start a new thread for that and keep this one going abi?

No need to reply me.

Hi Yamakuza,

I was actually planning to post it here cos I mentioned Career Path in an earlier reply on this thread when I talked of developing career skills. 

(The truth is that YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE LOOKING FOR A JOB and therefore you need to set yourself apart. Your skills set you apart.

Now what is my point?
1.   Identify your career path
2.   Identify the skills you need to develop you career
3.   Creatively come up with ways you can develop those skills)

Skills and Career Path have major effects on the tone of a CV and in my response to CVs I reviewed, I tried to point out the Career Path their CVs reflected.

I can post it here and start a new thread too if you want.

Suggestions?

Cheers

I'd say it depends on if the HOW/WHY TO CHOOSE A CAREER PATH topic is going to generate a lot of discourse and can stand on its own.

If not, and its just a stub of CV Writing, then here is good enough.

doing both might be a good compromise

Both it is. (I pay more attention to strikethrough text)


Cheers

yamakuza:


doing both might be a good compromise

Gud day, i have sent my cv to ur mail for further review. Thnks

Thanks mycvclinic. I would need your guidance in handful. I made a thread somwhere about my need. I drop the link here so that you can have a look.

I see that you laid emphasis on skills. I am currently doing my HND as a Petroleum Engineering student. The only things I have done are: Took up a job to assist my neighbour, a surveyor, at a project they were carrying in 2008, In 2009 learnt website design using wordpress, I also learnt how to promot websites to gain popularity and traffic and sell products-web marketing. In 2010, I took up a job to sell wines. Can I include these in my CVs? I also know how to make electronic books which publishers can use to sell their books in soft copy. This are what I have done. Currently, while in school, I am in charge of a school fellowship as an usher and choir member. I am also a member of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the Society Of Petroleum Engineers. Can Include all this in my CVs?

Hi dear,

You've asked a very relevant question.

If you read through this thread, you'll come across a reply I posted where I talked about[b] developing the skills that are relevant to your career path[/b].

I mentioned,
1.   Identify your career path
2.   Identify the skills you need to develop you career
3.   Creatively come up with ways you can develop those skills

I will not advise you to ommit these work experiences from your CV. Instead, I advise you to link the skills you developed (while handling these positions) to the skills that are essential for your chosen career path.

I'll need you to work through this with me. What are the essential skills for a career in the Petroleum Engineering field. I know Numeracy is one. What are the other essential skills for a career in Petroleum Engineering?

Soon as we identify these skills, we can create a skill based CV for you to reflect them.

I'm waiting for your response.

Cheers

2sexy:

Thanks  mycvclinic. I would need your guidance in handful. I made a thread somwhere about my need. I drop the link here so that you can have a look.

I see that you laid emphasis on skills. I am currently doing my HND as a Petroleum Engineering student. The only things I have done are: Took up a job to assist my neighbour, a surveyor, at a project they were carrying in 2008, In 2009 learnt website design using wordpress, I also learnt how to promot websites to gain popularity and traffic and sell products-web marketing. In 2010, I took up a job to sell wines. Can I include these in my CVs? I also know how to make electronic books which publishers can use to sell their books in soft copy. This are what I have done. Currently, while in school, I am in charge of a school fellowship as an usher and choir member. I am also a member of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the Society Of Petroleum Engineers. Can Include all this in my CVs?

Here is the link to the thread. Kindly have a look and reply here. Thanks

www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-813786.0.html

As a petroleum Engineer, It is expected that one should understand how oil wells are drilled,cased,perforated and completed for subsequent oil production. It is all expected that one should know how oil is transported from the well-head or christmas tree (after drilling), separated from other impuritiest which it came with to the surface, up to the flowstation and terminals before being taken to the refinery. It is expected that while on the Job, one is also safety consciouse to prevent injuries and hazards. Therefore, all safety rules are obeyed. It is also expect that one know how to operation of drilling and production mechanism, being able to read charts or graph and interprete them is another. etc. Hope I answered your question well. If not please state. Thank you for your time. God bless.

Hi again 2sexy,

You've listed what I believe are some duties or functions of a Petroleum Engineer. I need you to list the core skills required for you to be able to carry out these duties or functions.

I already listed one for you, Numeracy (eg required to carry out duty of graph interpretation).

What are the other core skills?

Cheers

The Skills are:

Good People skill( relationship)

Mathematical skill

Writing Skill

Ability to keep things Organized

Ability to pay attention to small details

Computer Skills

Good Imagination

Independency.

Thank you for your time

@0p, I have forwarded my cv to your mail box. I look forward to getting a response. I would'nt mind having you as a career mentor,thank you.

Yeah, that is right. A career mentor or cousellor I would really appreciate it.

CAREER PATH

When thinking of career path, I suggest you physically imagine a path (even a bush path will do).
Now you follow a path cos you are headed to a destination.

Career path has to do with career planning.
A Career Path, like the name suggests, is like a plan or map of your career. With a career path, you are able to chart out the course of your career. The answer to questions like ‘where do you see yourself in 5 years time’ fall into your ultimate career plan.

Mapping out and identifying your career path is a key career planning tool. It enables you identify your career aspirations and then take the necessary [b]steps [/b]to work towards achieving these identified goals. These [b]steps [/b]include skills and knowledge acquisition.

Your skills and your interests have a major effect on your career path and how successful you eventually are in your career. In drawing your career plan, it is important that you strike a balance between your skills and interest.

It is impossible to function in a field without the necessary skills. Hence, for you to progress in your career journey, you need to equip yourself with some essential skills. Also, having a good deal of skills without an interest in your chosen field has a reverse effect on motivation to function in a field.

As an accountant, I have identified my career path, specialising in audit. While studying for my degree, I was already looking ahead to develop the skills and abilities I needed to build a worthy career in the field of Accounting. Decisions I was faced with included how to obtain the relevant skills and professional qualifications. At a point, I had to choose between studying for an MSc in Accounting & Finance or sitting for my ACCA qualification exams. With my career path in mind, the ACCA appeared to be a more lucrative venture for me as I wanted to specialise in audit.

Now, this decision will vary if my career path was in Management Accounting. I would have found a professional qualification like CIMA to be more beneficial.

WHAT HAS A CAREER PATH GOT TO DO WITH YOUR CV?
Your CV contains information of your academic qualifications, work experiences and skills. You can look at my CV and tell what my career aspirations or career path is.

If I send my CV to apply for a job in the Engineering field, the recruiter will not get past page one; he will throw if out!!! My CV tells a story that will only be of interest to a recruiter in the finance field.

Your CV shows your ability and capability in a chosen field.

Therefore by choosing a career path and bearing such path in mind when creating your CV, you are able to include all necessary pointers and ingredients to capture the attention of a recruiter.

Answering questions like:
- What are my skills and interests?
- In what field do I want to specialise?
- What qualifications do I need to progress in this field?

will enable you can draw up a career plan and hence build a CV which will get you started on your chosen career path.

THE CHALLENGES
Among the CVs I reviewed, I remember replying the sender of a CV to get him to tell me what his career path was. Looking at his CV, you could hardly tell the industry he was interested in pitching his career tent. From his CV, I could single out almost equal interests in Finance, IT and Engineering.
He informed me that although he had a specific career path, the challenges of the employment market in Nigeria had thrown him to different paths. I wasn't motivated to work on this CV because it didn't have a path, it lacked a story, it lacked a focus.

Question: Will you get the opportunity to explain to a recruiter (probably going through thousands of CVs) that your CV has a clash of career paths because of the job market? Probably not.


What is your Career Path? What is your focus?

Hi again 2sexy,

Can you create a CV for me. Let the CV you create highlight 4 core skills required within your field.

When you're done, email it to me.

Cheers

2sexy:

The Skills are:

Good People skill( relationship)

Mathematical skill

Writing Skill

Ability to keep things Organized

Ability to pay attention to small  details

Computer Skills

Good Imagination

Independency.

Thank you for your time