How to supercharge your CV
By: Dan, redwigwam
Is your CV looking bare? All those years in education, yet the blank space on the experience section fills you with dread?
You’re not alone.
And you’re probably familiar with the greatly feared email – it goes something along the lines of… ‘Unfortunately we will not be taking your application further. The standard of applicants has been extremely high; therefore, we have short-listed candidates with skills matched closer the role.’
It hurts, especially when you know you’d be great for the position.
Yet your CV implies you ‘lack basic skills’ within a professional environment – such as office experience, team-building skills, and hitting targets and deadlines.
We’re fed these condescending, generic statements time and time again, even though most of us know how to work in a team, and let’s not even get started on how insulting it is when employers don’t think we could hit deadlines – we live by them!
Having a degree in your desired sector is a great start, but after graduation, it almost feels like having to begin again.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. There are many ways to build up your CV without committing to a job/career you don’t want.
Although most of us graduates would love the Fairy Godmother to appear and fill our CV with ten years of relevant experience, life isn’t that easy. But where there’s a will there’s a way. Temp work. It may not be as glamorous as the Fairy Godmother, but it’s the next best thing, eh?
There are many job roles you can try temporarily to make your CV look a little busier. There’s nothing more awkward than going to an interview and the employer saying ‘well, I thought your CV was quite short, do you have an updated one to send me by the end of the day?’ A year of temp work could resolve this awkward encounter and give you the confidence boost you need.
According to a job site, the five best temp jobs are Admin/Secretary roles, HGV/LGV Driver, Retail roles, Supply Teacher, and Warehouse Operative.
Although these five might not immediately seem ideal for the typical graduate, the roles of admin/secretary, retail, and warehouse operative all incorporate skills employers love. These include office experience, working in a team, talking to and interacting with customers, and – of course – hitting daily/weekly and monthly targets.
So, what is there to lose? The beauty is that it’s temporary. If you don’t like the role you’ve chosen, not only is it something to put on your CV regardless, it’s a perfect experience to realise what you enjoy and what you don’t.
With students loans out the window, get yourself out of the rejection slump and give temp work a go – it may be just what your CV needs!
