In the film Any Given Sunday there is a famous motivational speech delivered by the Head Coach of the Miami Sharks, Tony D´Amato played by Al Pacino, to his players before they take the field. In the speech D’Amato emphasises the cumulative significance of small improvements in each area of each play. He concludes that both ¨life and football are games of inches¨ and when you pay attention to those small details and add up all those inches gained by doing so that makes the difference between winning and losing.
A little dramatic? Perhaps however if we apply D’Amato’s analogy to the employment world it does bear fruit.
The clues to what a company is looking for are everywhere. They will tell you explicitly in in the job description. They will tell you implicitly on their website, in their advertising and in their communication.
And yes! It can be frustrating. Yes, it is tempting to use the same CV for every application and to leave fate in the hands of the Gods.
However if you really want to maximise your chances of landing that position then you need to tweak your CV for every application. You need to search for the clues that tell you exactly who the company is looking and position yourself as much as you can as that person.
You need to add up the inches to win the game.
A lot of people have a problem with this and it is very understandable why. We were brought up not to show off and draw too much attention to ourselves and as valuable as those lessons may be in business it’s often a case of the squeaky wheel getting the grease. So park those inhibitions at the interview door and let the world know how great you are: starting with your CV. If you are still not convinced here is a relevant article encouraging you do just that: sell yourself.
Knowledge is power.
The business world has a lexicon all of its own that you have to recognise and know how to understand.
So here is CV skills lesson one.
The skills we place on CVs are broken down into two main categories.
Hard skills are the technical skills necessary to do the job. For example if you are looking for a job as a marketing manager your hard skill list would include search engine optimisation skills, digital marketing skills and computer literacy skills. If you are a bus driver it is the ability to drive a bus safely and competently with the necessary sense of direction. If you are a tennis player they are necessary technical and physical abilities required to play the game at a professional level.
It is important that the hard skills relevant to the position are clearly highlighted on your CV and that you keep abreast with innovation in your industry and keep your hard skills up to date. Nowhere is this more relevant than the fast moving world of technology.
Soft skills are the desirable qualities people possess which are not directly learned but rather acquired through life experience as a result of the individual’s natural aptitudes.
They can be broken down in different ways but here’s how I have chosen to do it:
Emotional intelligence: EI is the ability to recognise our own and other’s emotions and react to them in a manner which is appropriate for the environment we find ourselves in. In essence it is our ability to manage our emotions and feelings so that we can still interpret information we receive rationally and act accordingly.
The ability to communicate clearly and effectively is always high on employers´ desirable skills lists and while it may seem paradoxical if everyone is speaking the same language effective communication in a business can be the difference between success and failure.
For communication is more than the mere accurate relaying of information although this too is a highly important skill, it is also an ability to motivate and encourage, to make workers feel valued to deliver criticism with tact and to be assertive in a diplomatic manner.
Although some will have a natural ability for creativity and/or critical thinking they can be trained. Often people who do have the flair for either do not realise it.
For example we often think of creativity only in terms of artistic pursuits: writing a book or painting for example. However, in the workplace creativity often involves thinking outside the box to find novel solutions to problems.
Critical thinking is the ability to make judicious use of the information at hand to perceive the truth of a situation and therefore be able to make better decisions.
Once you have decided which skills you possess that are most relevant to the job you must think about how you are going to list them.
Today, depending on the individual design you have chosen for your CV, it is not unusual to have a section devoted to skills which aims to grab the reader’s attention by advent of their relevance and position in the CV. The top left or right corners are standard.
If you choose to have a skills section part of your CV it is important you give examples of how you acquired or used the skills you are claiming to possess.
For example rather than merely saying Leadership you must back it up with some life or career examples.
For example a person seeing a first position straight out of college might resort to non-career based examples of how they gained and demonstrated leadership qualities. Leadership: I was the captain of my school’s rugby team and was elected as class representative during my time at college. These two experiences have given me insight into how to manage, lead and inspire people working with me towards a common goal.
You may not always have everything a job description is asking for but that doesn’t mean you might not be a good candidate. Often the skills which enabled us to perform in one career can be utilised in others. So use a little wit when writing seeking to attract the attention of a potential employer or even get past the software that will eliminate your CV if it doesn’t require the necessary skills. A teacher who wants to leave education and enter the business world may not have a perfect knowledge of search engine optimisation however standing in front of a classroom of teenagers everyday will have developed his/her presentation, diplomatic and leadership skills.
Written for CareerJunction by Mark Dempsey.
