June 5th, 2020 at 10:11 am
Writing your first CV after graduating or for graduate jobs can be tricky, especially if you’re looking for your first professional position.
With the Ghanian job market, fresh graduates are rarely considered for top management jobs. This means that as a fresh graduate, straight from University of Ghana or any other university in Ghana, your next best option is a graduate trainee program.
These programs are themselves very competitive with thousands of graduates entering the job market each year. Your CV could be the barrier preventing you from jumpstarting your career profession through job training. Hence for you to stand out, there are various disclaimers you should explore while writing that CV for those positions. It could be
CV Writing Don’ts for Graduate jobs
1. Don’t use a generic CV for all applications
The graduate jobs are there to train you into a good professional in your area. Hence, they are not keen on your experience but rather the skills that you are bringing on board.
Don’t be afraid to shuffle things around on your CV with each job you apply for. Have a relevant employment/experience section on the first page of your CV so the employer can see that you have really thought about the position you are applying for and how it directly relates to your previous experience if any.
Key point to take home is to ensure that you tweak you CV to match the various requirements of the companies you are applying to.
2. Don’t include unnecessary personal details on your CV
You are straight from school we understand. And you are most likely desperate to get into the next phase of your life. However, giving your potential employer unnecessary personal details, that are not relevant to the position you are applying for is not part of the bargain that gives you the job.
Stick to the professional CV writing format offered by CV writing services companies.
3. Don’t waste space on a personal statement
Instead of personal statements, use the space to write a career summary; three or four lines outlining what you want to do as a career and why.
This is both different to the norm and helps you show some focus on what you want to do. The internships are looking to build your professional skills. Hence focus is key for employers when recruiting graduates, as too many applicants have no idea what they want to do.
Plus focus and direction is still not common at this stage for fresh graduates. Stand out!
4. Don’t be irrelevant
Tailoring your CV to make it relevant for the job you are applying for is something most jobseekers looking for graduate jobs sometimes overlook.
Most employers don’t have long to read your CV, so don’t include irrelevant information like the title of your final year research unless it is relevant.
Instead, describe some achievements and skills which you used when writing it.
5. Don’t overlook your campus responsibilities and achievements
It can be useful exercise to write the body of your CV using these phrases “I was responsible for …” and “my achievements included …”. Even if you don’t use those exact words, it will help you avoid process descriptions like “I attended numerous meetings to plan the Graduation” — and instead demonstrate what you were responsible for and what you achieved, however little.
Finally,
Continuously keep improving and upgrading your graduate CV as you continue searching for a job. Corporate Staffing Services offers a free CV template which makes it easy to customize and offers a range of additional benefits over a traditional CV, giving you more control over who is viewing your CV and instant feedback from recruiters and hiring managers. They as well offer CV writing services to ensure that your CV hits the recruiters’ attention at a glance!
By Juddy Moraa