Tag: CV

referee

The Do’s & Don’ts to consider before choosing your referee for your CV

Posted on | by Excel Recruitment

Who you choose as a referee could put your job offer in jeopardy. Our Director of Grocery Retail Recruitment, Nikki Murran, outlines the Do’s and Don’ts to take into consideration before you give your prospective employer contact information of who you decide to speak on your behalf. 

Before my life as a recruiter, I worked in retail as an Area Manager for one of the large discounters for over five years. This week I received a phone call asking for a reference for a Store Manager who worked in my district 15 years ago. Whilst I remember him well, and fondly, I did wonder if I was the best person to give this reference all this time later. I know I would not like to be measured now by the 15 year ago version of me! My management style has evolved, my emotional intelligence has been fine-tuned and I am a lot less easy to overwhelm!  

It got me thinking of some Do’s and Don’ts when it comes to reference checking that I could share this month.  

Do be honest – starting with your CV. Make sure your CV is accurate, including dates and titles. Don’t be tempted to exaggerate or overstate – it will come out, if not during the interview or reference stage then certainly when you start your new job! Most employers appreciate honesty and would much prefer to invest in training to cover any skills gaps rather than a candidate trying to blag their way through an interview for a role they are not ready for. Dishonesty is usually easy to detect and will lead to immediate rejection from an interview process.  

Don’t give referees whom you did not report to. I can’t count the number of times candidates have supplied a colleague’s details rather than their line manager – whilst this is usually done without malice it comes across as otherwise. Consider which of your references can best discuss the traits and qualities you possess that directly relate to the job you are applying for. 

Do make your ex-employer aware you are providing their details and that they are comfortable speaking on your behalf. For example, I remember talking to a referee who didn’t remember the candidate and another who was shocked to have been used as they had finished up on awful terms. Before you submit a reference list to a prospective employer, it’s a good idea to contact each and give them an update on your recent career and the role you are applying for. For example, if you are applying for a job that involves a strong focus on fresh foods you could highlight this and remind your reference of some relevant success you had in their business. This is likely to make for more engaged referees willing to speak on your behalf.  

Do make sure your referees are contactable! It goes without saying, but if you haven’t flagged to your referee to expect a call they may not answer or return in a timely manner putting your job offer in jeopardy! Make it easy for an employer to speak to your references by providing clear contact information for each individual, including the person’s name, phone number and e-mail address. You might even note the best time of day to reach him or her. 

So what about Do’s and Don’ts when you are the one conducting references on a prospective employee? As a recruitment agency, we always carry out thorough reference checks on all our candidates, but what about when you are recruiting directly? Our advice here is to make sure when contacting a referee, you have a list of questions ready that are relevant to the role the candidate is being considered for. For example – are they reliable, trustworthy, good with customers etc.  

You should highlight the role the candidate is being considered for as well as a quick update of where they have worked since they left the referee’s employ. This will give them a better framework to base the reference around. 

We also always ask if they would recommend them for re-employment. It requires a definite response so it usually gives a fairly direct assessment of their opinion of the candidate!  

Finally, it’s also always worthwhile to determine why a candidate left their previous role as it can give some understanding of what motivates or de-motivates them.  

For more information call us on 01 814 8747 or email nikki@excelrecruitment.com. You can view all of our live jobs here.

CV mistakes to avoid

Don’t make these CV mistakes: Part 3

Posted on | by Editorial Team

In the final installment of his three-part series our CEO, Barry Whelan, outlines eight more errors to avoid so that your CV doesn’t speedily land in a recruiter’s rejection pile.

Excel Recruitment is 20 years old this year, so we have been recruiting for quite some time and over those years, we must have seen every CV mistake there could be! When it comes to CVs, first impressions last and whether it is a candidate or employer’s market, a large part of our jobs as recruiters is to filter CVs. On average, each recruiter only spends seven seconds scanning a CV to make the decision on whether to delve deeper or not. It is vital to avoid the mistakes that could mean the difference between acceptance and rejection.

Here are our final eight major errors to avoid:

Not filling in gaps

All the jobs you’ve listed on your CV need accurate dates, and you should avoid leaving any gaps unexplained as this is an immediate red flag for recruiters (I always ask, somewhat dryly, was the gap a spell in prison?). Gaps can signal that you’re unreliable, lazy or not detail-orientated. If gaps exist, explain them. Whether you took the time out for travelling, illness, maternity leave, a gap year, or just for some time to yourself, make sure you explain this clearly and honestly. If you were to make it to the interview stage, it’s very unlikely that the employer would ask you about it anyway.

Leaving out helpful information

While you don’t want to include a whole load of irrelevant information in your CV, you also want to make sure you don’t leave out anything that could potentially help with your application. Many people think it’s not a good idea to add the jobs they had while at university, for example. However, these types of jobs are often great for gaining soft skills such as teamwork and empathy. All our recruiters consider soft skills highly important, and these jobs also demonstrate work ethic.

Making it too technical

This is not industry or role specific. You should keep in mind that the person who gives your CV its initial read through may not necessarily have knowledge in your specific job area or be familiar with complicated industry terms. Therefore, you should try to make sure that you avoid using too much technical jargon. When listing your previous work experience, it may also be helpful to explain who each company is. They may be well known to your contemporaries, but a recruiter might not know why working for them is impressive.

Including a headshot

While including a headshot on your CV is standard in some parts of the world, in Ireland it’s not needed. Unless you’re an actor, it’s best to leave out the headshot, otherwise it will just make potential employers think you are egotistical or don’t have a good grasp of workplace professionalism.

Using an unprofessional email address

How many times have we seen these! Ticklytoes99@… You know who you are! (Honestly!). Some of us have made a quirky email address at some point, but it’s not a good idea to use it for work purposes. Your potential employers are unlikely to care that your email address is super-original or funny; they’ll be more interested in seeing that you understand the importance of professionalism.

Poor choice of file name

Please don’t just ‘save as’ and end up with a CV called ‘CV template’ or ‘CV first draft’! When the time comes to send your CV, be sure to use a polished and positive file name. Your potential employer will be able to see the file name in the attachments, so show how you are detail-orientated enough to have given the file a suitable and professional-looking name.

Not being cautious with social media

We advise including your social media links as a way to add another layer of depth to your application, providing more transparency in allowing potential employers to get to know you. However, if you do choose to add these links, make sure there’s nothing that portrays you in a bad light. Take the time to go through your pages and ensure there’s nothing embarrassing and if need be, change your privacy settings.

Not sending a cover letter

Always, if possible, send a cover letter. While you should aim to make your CV as complete as possible, you still need to add a cover letter for each application. It may seem like wasted effort, but avoiding it is a mistake. It’s your chance to go into more depth about your skills and experiences, and to show a little more of the ‘real’ you.

Please email info@excelrecruitment.com for more information or call 01 871 7676. You can check out all of our live jobs here.

CV mistakes to avoid

Don’t make these CV mistakes: Part 1

Posted on | by Editorial Team

Our CEO, Barry Whelan, featured in this month’s edition of ShelfLife magazine discussing the most common CV mistakes that candidates need to avoid. See what he had to say below:

In the first part of a new three-piece series, Excel Recruitment’s Barry Whelan outlines the CV mistakes to avoid if you don’t want to scupper your chances of securing a great new job before you’ve even set foot in the building.

Excel Recruitment is 20 years old this month, so we have been recruiting for quite some time and over those years, we must have seen every CV mistake there could be! When it comes to CV’s, first impressions last and whether it is a candidate or employer’s market, a large part of a recruiter’s job is to filter through the large volume of applications received. On average, each recruiter spends seven seconds scanning a CV to make the decision on whether to delve deeper or not. It is therefore vital to avoid the mistakes that could mean the difference between CV acceptance and rejection.

In this three-part series, I will outline the top 25 common errors we find regularly on the CVs we receive.

It’s too long!

Given the short amount of time that a recruiter has to look over your CV, it’s a good idea to keep it to the point. Most HR professionals suggest keeping it under two pages to ensure it gets a proper scan. If you have enjoyed a long career this might sound challenging, however, it’s helpful as it allows you to make sure that every sentence counts, helping to sell you to potential employers.

It’s not long enough

Similarly, having a CV that is too short and doesn’t contain enough information isn’t a good idea either. While a one-page resume is often seen as being ideal, we opt for CVs in Ireland as opposed to the one-page resume. You don’t want to start trimming off important bits of information to squeeze everything onto one page. This could mean missing out on the chance to tell your prospective employer about relevant achievements. While you might be able to impress them with this information in an interview, you have to make it to that stage first.

Picking the wrong design

We often see this with candidates going for creative jobs such as graphic designers, marketing candidates or fashion candidates. It’s a good idea to make sure that your CV is designed in a way that reflects the type of job you’re applying for. For example, if you’re applying for a position in graphic design or the creative arts, it could work against you if your CV is dull and uninspiring. However, the difficulty is that Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) used by all large recruitment companies, cannot import your CV into their system or work with it easily. Creative design is good, but only within the traditional CV format.

Strange font choices

The font you choose for your CV can also have an impact on your chances of scoring a job interview. Extravagant font options look unprofessional and make it difficult for recruiters to scan through your writing. There are some fonts that resonate particularly well. A recent study found that people associate Times New Roman and Arial with stability, while Courier New and Georgia represented maturity and Segou UI was the most persuasive font!

Poor formatting

You want recruiters to be able to read through your CV with ease, so using the right formatting is essential. A CV with large blocks of text is very visually unappealing and to be honest, time stealing. This may result in busy employers not being willing to look through it all. Make sure your CV is tidy, with short paragraphs and enough spacing between them. Bullet points can also be helpful when listing things like qualifications or results.

Poor use of colour

Adding a splash of colour to your CV won’t hurt if you’re applying to jobs in the creative sector or less conventional companies. However, you should be controlled in your use of colour. Only use colours in headings and avoid garish or hard-to-read colours such as yellow. If you’re looking for jobs in more traditional firms or industries such as banking and finance, it’s a good idea to stick to black and white.

Grammatical or spelling errors and typos

If I had a euro for every time I read a store manger CV as opposed to manager… Well, I would have a spare 10 grand! While this is an obvious one, it’s so important. A CV that’s littered with typos and spelling mistakes essentially tells a recruiter that you haven’t taken the time to proofread your writing and therefore you don’t really care about the job. Always go over your text and check for errors and use spell check or free tools such as Grammarly to look for grammatical mistakes. It may also be a good idea to get someone else to read over your writing to make sure you haven’t missed anything.

If you wish to read the full ShelfLife Magazine May 2022 Issue, you can do so by clicking here.

 

CV Keywords

CV Keywords – What you need and what to avoid

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Keywords, buzzwords, jargon. Whatever you call them, we here at Excel, see hundreds of CVs every day and know how important it is that certain words make an appearance on your CV, and that others are avoided.

The Good

Verbs

Verbs or ‘doing words’ are crucially important to your CV as they quite literally explain what you have done and the (positive) impact you have had with past employers. Using words such as managed, delivered, improved, reduced, negotiated, planned, supported, trained or resolved all show that you were an active employee in past positions and will quickly make an impression, hit the ground running in a new role and immediately be an asset to a new employer.

Job Titles

Don’t underestimate the power of the Ctrl+ F function and be careful when listing your previous job titles. Don’t just list random words and don’t invent a jargon-filled title to inflate the importance of a previous role. This is the one place on your CVs where it pays to keep it simple. If a recruiter is looking for a quick overview of your experience, they may search for specific job titles. To make sure you’re what they are looking for, look at the specific job ad you’re applying to. If it lists ‘Sales manager’ experience, don’t miss out by listing you last role as ‘Executive Team Lead, Sales’. You might think it sounds more impressive but it could mean your CV is overlooked.

Numbers

Get specific and don’t be afraid to discuss the nitty gritty of your successes. Use tangible examples of your achievements in previous roles rather than meaningless jargon. For example, “This increased profit by 2%” or “this led to a reduction in overheads from £23,000 to £17,000 per year.” However, as with everything on your CV keep in short, neat and concise and don’t go overboard.

The same goes for your education and training, everybody lists their common education history but don’t forget to list specific industry or technical training. Make sure that you list computer systems and tools you are proficient with by their industry-recognised name e.g Photoshop.

….. And The Bad

According to a survey by Career Builder, there are some words that employers see as pointless and just don’t want to see on your resume. There is nothing particularly wrong with them and they all mean well, but some phrases are just so overused they do nothing to distinguish a CV from the rest of the pack. Below are the words you should think twice about including on your C.V

  • Best of breed
  • Go-getter
  • Think outside of the box
  • Synergy
  • Go-to person
  • Thought leadership
  • Value add
  • Results-driven
  • Team player
  • Bottom-line
  • Hard worker
  • Strategic thinker
  • Dynamic
  • Self-motivated
  • Detail-oriented

Remember, first impressions count, so be a self-motivated, dynamic, detail orientated jobseeker who is results driven, thinks outside the box and invests in a Thesaurus.