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SELL YOURSELF WELL

Written by: Jonathan Payne

Article Overview: The most difficult CV’s to put together are those of people who have just left school, who perhaps didn’t complete school, have no tertiary education and little or no work experience. It might seem that they have very little to work from. But everyone has something about themselves which they can sell.

SELL YOURSELF WELL

It cannot be stressed enough that your CV is a sales letter. While it does contain the details of your education and experience, along with your personal details, the main purpose of your CV is to convince a prospective employer that you are the “product” which will fulfill their immediate need.

Whether you have a list of degrees as long as your arm and years of work experience at the highest level, or no experience and very little education, unless the employer believes that what you offer fits the gap they need to fill, you won’t get to the interview room never mind get the job.

The most difficult CV’s to put together are those of people who have just left school, who perhaps didn’t complete school, have no tertiary education and little or no work experience. It might seem that they have very little to work from. But everyone has something about themselves which they can sell. Admittedly your CV might not get you into the top job, but it should be able to get you onto the bottom rung of the ladder, the place where you can gain that all important concept called “work experience” and from where you can climb higher.

To write this kind of CV you need to be aware of what the employer is looking for (read the job ad carefully). You need to write your CV specifically for that position so that you can effectively use the little you have to work with to highlight the qualities you have which match the job. Never lie in your CV, but help the reader find what they are looking for easily by making sure those attributes stand out. So don’t write one CV and farm it around for everyone. Rewrite it with different emphasis for each position you are applying for. The golden rule is that your CV has to show clearly to the prospective employee why you align with their requirements – not how you almost qualify for all the jobs on offer.

Everyone has something to sell. Ask yourself why you want to apply for that job. What is it that you have that makes you think you are the right fit? Tell them that. You might not have work experience but at school you showed yourself to be a diligent worker, willing to take on challenges and always punctual. Perhaps you are a popular person. In you CV translate that into “gets on well with people, is comfortable under pressure and is ideally suited to work with customers”. In other words, look at what you have and the kind of person you are and translate that into words which match what the employer is looking for.

Not having experience is of course a disadvantage, but it is not the end of the road. Your lack of experience can be overcome if you are strong in other areas. Bear in mind that just as some people write bad CV’s, some prospective employers write bad job adverts because they aren’t careful in defining what they want. Often they will ask that the applicant have experience because that’s what everyone else writes in their adverts, not because it is really essential for the job. So don’t let the experience requirement put you off unless it is really obvious that no-one without experience could do the work. Highlight your strong points, acknowledge that you have no experience but then show them how your willingness to learn, your proven track record of working hard and so on can counteract that shortfall. Then submit your CV anyway. The worst the employer can do is not call you in for the interview. If you don’t give it a try, you definitely won’t be called in. But most importantly, hold onto the golden rule, show clearly how you do meet most of the other requirements. If you don’t do that you will be dismissed as a chancer.

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Article Tags: attributes, complete school, cv, gap, golden rule, interview room, jobs, ladder, prospective employee, prospective employer, tertiary education, top job, work experience



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Placemat / Table Top Advertising - Was curious if any of you have done anything like this and how you pitched it. Some people say placemat advertising dont work and I laugh. To say such a thing would mean no advertising works. Advertising in the form, not even newspapers can compete. We have a CAPTIVE audience unlike any other form of advertising. Everyone waits for their food while dining out and obviously rather than stairing at there silverware, they are going to read a few if not all the ads searching for great deals in coupon form or just looking it over while waiting for their meal. Billboards, radio, t.v just can compete with a advertising medium which holds a reader captive, relaxed and in a great frame of mind. Everyone I have talked to says calling businesses up is a waste of time but i can accomplish more by hitting more business than i can going business to business, plus with gas prices these days..WOW. I have put together the following scrpit for calling and I would appreciate any feedback please (good or bad)... Hi, my name is Daniel with (my business name). I got your number from the (local chamber). We are calling on behalf of the pizzahut. (NAME), the manager has an exciting new promotion going designed by us to increase local area spending. We are looking for local sponsors to advertise their business on the table tops at the restaurant for the next 3-4 months. Becoming a sponsor is a great way to show your community support and promote your business. If your interested, I will be in the area (FRIDAY). I would like to stop by and show you an example. What time works for you? maybe that is just to long. Maybe i just want to sound like a real person, a friend over the phone rather than a CAR SALESMAN so how bout this... We are calling on behalf of the local pizza hut. Crystal, the manager has an exciting new promotion designed to increase local area spending. It seems to be a poplular place to eat so we're looking for local sponsors to advertise their business on the table tops at the restaurant for the next 3 months or so. Will be in the area friday showing examples all day long to those already interested. What time works for you? Hmm, i just dont know. I would like to hit the gound running with this. They say SELL THE SIZZLE, NOT THE STEAK. Do i want to say that we got their name as a referral from, hmm, i think it was the local chamber (chamber of commerce). That might help loosin them up or maybe not. Maybe i am thinking on this way to much. PLEASE HELP! Our local newspaper charges 45 bucks a day for a black/white 2x2 ad. Needless to say radio and tv along with billboards are much more. Problem with billboards, most use a pretty graphic which then gets all the attention, you never get to look at the number or business name during your drive by and a few minutes later, out of site, out of mind. These are 350-400 to create the vinyl ad, then 400-700 dollars a month depending on location. Is it really worth the expense unless you can afford putting an ad up on 10-20 billboards? We charge $210 for 3 months / $70 monthly / $16 weekly / $2 daily. I would say we have the most economical marketing product on the market today!" or another option is $250 for 3 months which includes any radio promotions which we would plug them as a sponsor. Another option would be rather than run them for 3 months at a time. Run our placemats for (1) month at a time for $210 monthly but combine the ads in 3 different restaurant locations (same franchise of coarse). All within 30 minutes of each other. Or just do the 1st one and upsell the others for options. Wanting some feedback and opinions on it. Thanks, Daniel


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