We’ve already covered the basics: CVs, Virtual CVs, Jobs Boards and Covering Letters .  Most employers are looking to see a CV these days.  Many will insist on an application form being filled out, which does the same job, except for the trick Extra Info bit at the end.  (I’ll probably blog about that in a later post.)  So, do online profiles really matter?  If an employer receives your CV or form, do they even take the time to look you up online?  Yes.  Suffice to say, they might.

What does your online profile say about you?

Does it show you in all sorts of compromising poses, or states of inebriation?  People do indeed have the right to enjoy their down time.  However, what you make public says much about how you view yourself and how you respect others, family and friends, who may be embarrassed by your antics and words.

There have been several high profile cases recently.  The one you may be most familiar with is this:

The M16 Ambassador to the UN whose wife revealed details of their flat and children on Facebook

Of course, there are admittedly admirable, flattering and interesting cases, too:

The tweeting PM’s wife

Restrict what the public can see

If you are in the market for a change in career, my advice is to use all tools at your disposal, to keep private what could compromise your opportunities of gaining a new position.  It may matter more the higher up an organisation you travel.  It is likely that more research will be conducted into your background.

I do not feel personal Facebook profiles currently offer a professional looking image to showcase your skills.  Many people use Facebook however.  It may simply be worth limiting personal stuff to people you place on a separate Personal Friends list, and keeping basic work information (including media where relevant) open to Professional Friends list and/or the general public.  Those who look for you there will find you, but the information is strictly cringe-free.

With sites such as Twitter, you are sometimes able to make the profile temporarily private, or restricted only to those who ‘follow’ or ‘friend’ you.  This is a straightforward solution.  You need not delete your profile.  Just be thoughtful about the effect its appearance may have on a prospective employer.

Revamp all profiles to reflect the role you want

You could be very clever, and revamp the business or work sections of your online locations to reflect the role you would like.  If prospective employers are searching via keywords or industries for candidates on sites such as LinkedIn, they are more likely to arrive at your profile.

Remember, be smart.  Do not lie, and avoid exaggeration.  You could find you are asked about something that appears on an online profile that you chose to leave off the application form.  In that situation, you are not prepared to be quizzed on it.

Take your time writing about each previous role you have had.  Sites such as Visual CV and LinkedIn offer free text boxes in addition to factual space for you to highlight key responsibilities and really make your portfolio sing.  There’s opportunity for testimonials from previous colleagues, bosses and clients.  This makes for very rounded profile for a prospective employer.  I find it helps add a little something when pitching for a contract.  In addition, with VisualCV, you can add media to enhance your profile.

If you need any assistance on how to do this, leave a comment below.  Or, if there are any other topics you’d like me to hit in this series, again, drop a comment in.  Love to hear from you!

An excellently written covering letter will ensure your CV is at least glanced at.  Keep it short.  Avoid colour and exhuberant formatting.  And, pay attention to the following, crucial elements:

Addresses

• Include your address first, followed by the name, title and address of the person you are writing to.  Pay attention to the details.  Do not spell names incorrectly.  (You know how annoyed people get about that?)  Make sure you have the correct postcode.  (Look up postcodes with Royal Mail or addresses with PostcodeAnywhere.)
• Punctuation in addresses in letters like this is optional, in the sense that it is no longer required.  My advice is to avoid using it, in order to avoid using it inconsistently.
• Use one or two spaces to separate out the addresses, from the date and the date from the salutation and so on…

Date

• Do not neglect to include the date.  (This is a very common mistake.)  Use whichever format you prefer.  Wednesday, 14th July 2009 and 14/07/09 are both fine, for example.
• Leave one clear, paragraph space below the date.

Salutation and Signoff

• Dear John/Mr John Bartholemew is paired with Yours sincerely (Where you do you the name of the person you are writing to.)  It is entirely acceptable to drop the traditional comma following Dear Sir/Mr Bartholemew.
• Dear Sir is paired with Yours faithfully (Where you don’t know the name of the person you are writing to.)
• Leave one clear, paragraph space below the salutation and sign-off.

Opening and Closing Paragraph

State the reason for the letter.

• With reference to your advertisement for a Personal Assistant/Senior Developer/Part-time Accountant…

Make a call to action at the close.

• Please let me know if you think my CV matches your requirements.
• Please contact me to arrange a meeting to discuss the openings/possibilities.

Main Body

State why you think you’d be a good match for the job.

• Highlight – rather than list – your major achievements in previous positions.
• Highlight your most relevant qualifications.
• Two or three short paragraphs (two to three sentences each) should be sufficient.  Avoid using a second page.
• Use one paragraph between paragraphs.
• Avoid indented paragraphs; they are outdated.

Spelling and Grammar

• Do not make mistakes in this area.  It makes your letter difficult to read, and makes you seem unprofessional.
• If English is not your first language, then you must look it up or ask a professional friend (whose first language is English) to check it over for you.  We’ve received multiple CVs with this particular problem.  The English is so poor, we simply give up and discard the letters.

Better again, if you’re completely stuck and really can’t figure out where to begin, send in your CV and job description and we will do it for you.  You can then use this template to write additional covering letters for different types of posts.