A few words on CVs

[Guest guest]

Gentlemen,

As it would be rather time consuming to answer each message, let me

express my thanks here to all who submitted their CV. We will keep

these on file and if a contract is finalized will be getting in touch

with the best candidates.

As someone who has experienced the job hunt from both the " Oh god I'm

unemployed and the rent is coming due " position as well as from a

management position, let me say a few words on CVs:

The CV is the only thing employers have to evaluate you with, and on

average, it will get looked at for less than 30 seconds. Thus, it is of

paramount importance to have a professional looking, well organized CV.

While the CV may not get you a job, I can guarantee you, it will cause

you to LOSE the chance for a job if it is not well done.

Look at it from my point of view: If you do not take enough care and

attention to produce a professional, quality resume, then why should I

believe you will produce professional, quality work for my company???

There are numerous resources on the net for advice on writing a good

resume. Even better, and something I highly recommend: go to a

professional and have them assist you. You can bring in your CV and

they will proof read it andmake it look good.

For $30-$50 they can make you look like the candidate of the century.

It is money well spent.

Some other general guidelines:

Use the Microsoft Word professional resume template. It comes with

Word, is concise and well organized. Replace the first section

" Objectives " with " Profile " . We all know the objective is to make gobs

of money. A 3-4 line summary at the start

of the resume with something like " Paramedic with 14 years experience in

emergency medicine in urban and remote settings, Spanish language

skills, computer literate, accustomed to long duration deployments in

hazardous environments " etc etc is GOLD.

This tells me the person is exactly what I am looking for without me

having to wade through the usual lies and BS people put in their CV.

Avoid big fonts, strange formattings, and gimmicky colors. A small

photo is fine. SPELL CHECK!!!!!!! PROOFREAD!!!!! I simply would not

hire someone with simple errors in their resume. It speaks volumes

about the diligence they are likely to apply to

the job.

Limit your CV to 2 pages. Several of the resumes I received are more

than 2 pages, simply due to the use of big fonts. Use the big fonts to

highlight the important stuff (Dates and places worked, degrees, etc)

and smaller fonts for the details.

Additional information can be placed in attachments. If you can't be

concise and organize your CV into 2 pages (which is pretty much the

standard) , it makes me wonder how well you will organize your work

documentation.

Send your CV in .doc format. This is the standard worldwide. Also,

convert it to a separate plain text document (no formating, such as in

Windows Notepad) so that it can easily be cut & paste into a database.

Many large employers require this.

Put your contact info at the top. Name, address, phone number, email is

OBLIGATORY!

Work experience: Most recent first. A brief summary is enough. Keep it

to 3-4 lines per job. Long narrations about what you did are

unnecessary and irritating to have to plow through.

Educational experience: Same as above

List all your professional certs and qualifications, but if they dont

fit on 5-6 lines, consider just putting the major ones and indicating

" additional certifications attached " . I really dont care to plow

through a list of stuff like

" Dealing with Domestic Abuse " training in order to find your

professional license.

Put something in that makes you stand out. An achievement or award, a

volunteer mission, even an exotic hobby. I always include " Amateur

Radio Operator " because 1)it means I am familiar with communications

equipment, and 2)There are

millions of hams in the world, and its a fairly fraternal hobby. If the

manager who reads the resume is also a ham, its more likely to stick in

his mind and be something he might bring up in the interview that

establishes a rapport. A colleague once

put in the fact that she worked with horses (shoeing, riding, etc) and

her interview for the police department consisted of half an hour of

talking about horses. The guy who interviewed her was a wanna-be

cowboy, and she got the job.

Send your CV to everyone and his brother. People who say " Tell me more

about the job and then I will send you my CV " get blacklisted. If you

are not smart enough to figure out that you want your CV to be seen by

as many employers

as possible, I DEFINITELY dont want you working for me. One individual

stated he preferred not to send references unless there was a firm offer

due to the sensitive nature of his previous employment. Thats a

reasonable request. However

" I can't tell you who I worked for because its a secret " ....just makes

me laugh while I hit the delete button.

Check and make sure your CV was actually attached to the email.

Emphasize non-medical skills you have. If you can program SAP, put that

in (I swear I remember an advert for a medic who could program SAP).

Language skills are especially important, but things like knowledge of

mechanics, electronics,

sciences, finance come in handy. I got my first medical job with a

police department as a basic EMT because I had taken a phlebotomy course

and they liked the fact that I was certified to draw blood alcohol

levels on suspected drunk drivers.

If you can provide an additional service, you will always be a more

desirable candidate...even if its something as simple as being able to

rekey locks for the client because you took a correspondence course in

locksmithing (true example of another

former colleague).

You are better off omitting something that is potentially embarrassing

or negative than lying. Word of advice: Everybody knows everybody, and

you WILL get checked on. You past employers will get contacted. If you

have any skeletons in the closet,

sooner or later they will come out.

Jim