Is
your Curriculum Vitae:
TARGETED?
We
all know how irritating it is to receive endless
"Dear Occupant" junk mail.
Employers
feel exactly the same way about the job
applicant who starts a letter with "Dear
Sir/Madam" and then drones on about
education, training and work experience that are
completely irrelevant to the employer's needs.
Do you really want to work for
this organisation?
Do you really want this specific
job?
Are you really suited to this
kind of work?
Have you found out enough to be able to answer
those questions?
If
your answer to these questions is a resounding
"yes," then make sure that
your enthusiasm comes across in writing.
If your answer is "no" then
DON'T APPLY!
Really
- save yourself the time and effort and just don't
apply. The job market is too tough, too crowded
and too uncertain for you to be banging out CVs
in the hope that one of them will land you a 'drinking
money' job.
Remember
this and remember it well - every time you apply
for a position, you are up against someone for
whom this is the dream
job. The job that they have been waiting for all
of their lives ... If you are not really
committed, you don't have a chance of beating
that person.
So
ask yourself some hard questions
and get serious before you apply ...
For
more on the subject of representing yourself in
writing, we also have some thoughts you might
find useful on the topic of cover
letters and submitting an application
form.
And
here's an extract
from Where's My Oasis? that discusses
many of the mistakes we see people making at the
written stage.
