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Employability: Managing your Future Fit Career -Your CV as a Sales Brochure

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REGENT Connect hosted a webinar as part of the Employability – Future Fit webinar series (find link here). Dr Ronel Blom, Academic Dean of REGENT Business School, hosted Ms Cindy Norcott, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of two award-winning recruitment agencies, and founder and chairperson of the Robin Hood Foundation.

Ms Norcott addressed participants on the art of using your Curriculum Vitae (CV) as a Sales Brochure – a brochure that will sell the qualifications, skills and aptitudes of the applicant. So often, in a world where recruiters and employers receive hundreds of CVs, it is a competition to ensure that your CV stands out; that your CV gets picked.

Ms Norcott gave great advice – see some of her excellent points below.

  1. Care about your application – do not send out a bulk mail – personalise it for each recipient;
  2. Ensure that your formatting is neat and consistent (also font type and size);
  3. Do a spell check (and ask someone to read it through to check for mistakes);
  4. Not too long: 1 to 3 pages at the most;
  5. Insert a recent photo (but not one where you were lying on the beach!);
  6. Provide a clear profile: who you are; what you offer; and how you fit in with the organisation;
  7. DO NOT inflate your achievements;
  8. DO NOT lie about your qualifications:
  9. DO explain gaps in your CV (e.g. if, for some reason, you haven’t been employed for some time);
  10. In the South African context, ethnicity is important;
  11. In listing qualifications, list the highest first;
  12. In work experience, list the most recent first and give exact months and years;
  13. List you work achievements in the last three companies (e.g. increased profit margins);
  14. In other sections, you can list hobbies and special interests, and other work, e.g. freelance work;
  15. Think about the job requirements and tailor your CV to respond to the key requirements.

It was a fast-paced and exciting session full of pertinent guidance. Click here to watch a full webinar recording.

Please join us for our next session on 22 March 2021 at 14.00 for a discussion on Interviewing Skills. Regeister now to reserve your spot as this is a limited event.

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