EL562 CV Assignment www.kent.ac.uk/careers/slides.htm Bruce Woodcock University of Kent Careers and Employability Service You can download a copy of this presentation at www.kent.ac.uk/careers/slides.htm

CV Assignment To produce a high quality CV appropriate for applying for electronics jobs. The deadline for handing in CV Assignment to the EDA General Office is: Wednesday 26th November You may lose marks if it is handed in later. CV must be done on a Word Processor.

How not to do it … I enclose a tea-bag so you can enjoy a cuppa while perusing my form I do not have any major achievements that I would consider to be of interest to this application. Hi, I want 2 get a job with U I have good writen comunication skills I want experience in a big sex practice In my spare time I enjoy hiding my horse At secondary school I was a prefix I hope to hear from you shorty

Skills gained on a Kent Electronics degree Gather and analyse relevant information from a wide variety of sources Identify and propose solutions to problems Work with others in the preparation and presentation of group work (group projects) Project management Technical skills Work independently (individual projects) Communicate with others in a clear and articulate manner Present ideas and arguments verbally in presentations and seminars, and informal discussions

How to “sell” your degree List relevant modules (plus marks if good!) Projects – especially if relevant IT skills Soft skills – evidence of teamwork, project management, problem solving etc. For non-IT jobs (e.g. banking) you would need a different CV focusing on your soft skills more than technical skills.

Work Experience Summer 2000 Sainsbury's, Canterbury Checkout assistant This job developed my ability to deal with the public and work under pressure Don’t feel you have to include every job “In addition to the above, I have held a variety of temporary jobs during school and university vacations, including fruit-picking, factory work, bar work and waiting on tables”

Interests Reading, cinema, stamp-collecting, travel Cinema: member of the University Film-Making Society Travel: traveled through Europe by train this summer in a group of four people, visiting historic sites and improving my French and Italian Reading: helped younger pupils with reading difficulties at school

Example CVs www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/cvexamples.htm Electronics CV Example www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/electronicsCV.htm CV Checklist www.kent.ac.uk/careers/cv/cv-checklist.htm

CV Marking Criteria Pleasing appearance: and clear logical layout. The 10 second quality test: hold the CV at arms length and look at it for a few seconds. Does it look pleasing to the eye? Clear structure with appropriate headings and logical development. Carefully organised. Identified sections (e.g. Education, Work Experience). At least a line gap between sections. Name in big letters at start. Normally Education before Work Experience for a student CV. Don't separate education and qualifications: try to keep all the information about a particular topic together in one place on the CV, rather than fragmented throughout. Absence of spelling, grammatical and syntax errors. Correct capitalisation Modules, projects, technical skills gained and grades (if good!) for vocational courses. Neat alignment. Reverse chronological order – most recent jobs first. Lively writing style.  Use of positive, active language. Easy to easy to read and pick out important information. Appropriately selected examples to provide evidence that you have the skills, interests and personal attributes to do the job and fit into the organisation. Describe key tasks, responsibilities and skills gained from work experience e.g. customer service skills. Concise and to the point - no more that 2 sides of A4. Short, clear phrases. Use of bold and italic to draw eye to key points. Good use of bullets. Proper bullets rather than hyphens Just one or two sensible fonts e.g. Tahoma 10 points. Not too small font sizes. Larger fonts for subheadings. No dense paragraphs - a good rule is no more than 7 or 8 lines in a paragraph. If more, separate into smaller paragraphs, use bullets or bold out key words. Interests. A broad variety? Social and active rather than solitary and passive interests? Serious commitment to at least one activity? Evidence of getting on well with other people? e.g. team sports. Independent or challenging holidays/foreign travel? Organising or leadership experience/evidence of taking responsibility?

The Covering Letter Your CV is incomplete without it! Accompanies and amplifies the CV Be clear and concise - one side of A4 is sufficient Use same font as CV

The Covering Letter First Paragraph State the job you’re applying for. Where you found out about it. When you're available to start work (& end if it's a placement) Second Paragraph Why your interested in that type of work Why the company attracts you (if it's a small company say you prefer to work for a small friendly organisation!) Third Paragraph Summarise your strengths and how they might be an advantage to the organisation. Relate your skills to the job. Last Paragraph Mention any dates that you won't be available for interview Thank the employer and say you look forward to hearing from them soon.

Web Pages Applications and Interviews www.kent.ac.uk/careers/applicn.htm Practice Interviews: Questions asked at IT interviews plus skills needed for IT jobs. www.kent.ac.uk/careers/interviews/mockivs.htm Electronics/CSE Careers Page www.kent.ac.uk/careers/electronics.htm Placements www.kent.ac.uk/careers/placements.htm Gradcracker www.gradcracker.com great site for electronics jobs and placements

Streamed Videos INTERVIEWS ON-LINE APPLICATIONS ASSESSMENT CENTRES All last about 25 minutes and are excellent! www.kent.ac.uk/careers/IntVid.htm.

2nd Year Career Plan Start to decide which job or postgraduate course you want to aim for in your final year. I will send you an email every Monday on vacation work, careers presentations on campus, vacancies etc. Get actively involved in university life so you have evidence of teamwork, organising, leadership etc. skills for your CV. Apply early: closing dates are often in December.

Bruce Woodcock Deal with all Science and IT students An adviser is on duty for short (15 minute) queries weekday MORNINGS (10.30 am - 12.30 pm) and AFTERNOONS (2 to 4 pm). You don’t need to book an appointment, just ask at the helpdesk in the Careers Service. Email: bw@kent.ac.uk

Location of the Careers Service

Careers Employability Award on Moodle Assessed by a range of quizzes and assignments Will greatly improve your career planning and jobhunting skills, giving you strategies to make career choices and will increase your chances of getting a graduate level job. Takes about 12 hours to complete On completion you will get a University of Kent Careers Employability Award to add to your CV Get 60 Kent Employability points for successful completion of the module. Search for DX_CEA in Moodle www.kent.ac.uk/careers/moodle.htm

CV Assignment To produce a high quality CV appropriate for applying for electronics jobs. The deadline for handing in CV Assignment to the EDA General Office is: Wednesday 26th November You may lose marks if it is handed in later. CV must be done on a Word Processor.

EL562 CV Assignment www.kent.ac.uk/careers/slides.htm Bruce Woodcock University of Kent Careers and Employability Service You can download a copy of this presentation at www.kent.ac.uk/careers/slides.htm