Basic C.V and Cover Letter Template

And its a first person narrative?   Can anyone recommend any sites with examples of these??

Some examples for you :

I am a self-motivated, highly organised and professional Executive PA with extensive experience in a wide range of roles.  I have proven skills in complex diary management, travel management and all aspects of communication and event management.  I enjoy dealing at all levels and bring a robust, but diplomatic and persuasive style to any role.  I have a motivated attitude and approach to work, with excellent problem solving skills and I am positively responsive to change.




As a resourceful and self motivated individual I possess a positive outlook and drive for achievement in my career.  This tenacity has enabled me to meet targets and deadlines throughout my career, over a span of more than twenty years.

I am a good communicator, with the ability to influence decision makers and to motivate others.  Good organisational skills have given me success as both part of a team and more recently working alone.

Having worked in a sales environment for the best part of my career I have had experiences and learnt skills which have been an invaluable resource.



A highly organised, professional Human Resources Advisor.  A
generalist with excellent communication, customer service and administrative skills backed by sound IT knowledge, secretarial skills, payroll and facilities management experience.

My CV doesn't have a personal statement (it does have a summary, which consists of 3 short bullet points at the top highlighting my most important skills.)

I would write the  narrative style "personal statement" that DuckyFuzz is talking about as part of my cover letter (if I added it to the CV I would end up repeating myself in the cover letter which is no good really!)  The only time I'd even consider adding something like that to my CV itself is if I wasn't going to have the opportunity to write a cover letter for some reason.  But even the CV's I sent to agencies only had my bullet point summary on top and it doesn't seem to have hindered my job search any.

I agree that this sounds like something that would go in a cover letter. I also think that they are very specific for a CV that you would want to send out to many different employers. It sounds like you are looking for one particular job, and I think you would get weeded out of any job that doesn't fit those exact specifications.

I would write a new cover letter for each job application and make the statement on the cover letter match the requirements of the exact job you are applying for.

The advice I recieved when I was recently updating my CV was that personal statements were ubiquitous a few years ago, but are not really that popular anymore.

Like springhaze, I have bulleted points (4) at the top of my CV under a heading called 'Personal Skills.'

Different strokes for different folks I suppose.  I can adamantly say that they are still popular in my proffession...and still extremely common and vital in the eyes of some employers....

A waffly cover letter is a massive no no.  If you need to reiterate whats on your C.V in a cover letter....then whats the point in your C.V?  It should be neat and to the point. 

Over the years I have discovered quite often that HR Directors do not read the cover letter properly, they home straight in on the C.V itself... So why waste your efforts waffling in a cover letter when the details you want to include on it should be in your C.V anyway?

By that logic, what's the point of having a personal statement at all when all that information should be covered elsewhere on the CV?   As I said before, I would basically incorporate your "personal statement" in my cover letter.

I don't know...I know you're a recruitment consultant and all, but I wrote a fairly detailed cover letter for the position that I have now but it was still fairly concise and didn't go on for ages (about the same length as those "additional information" sections of job application forms where they expect you to tell them how you fit their needs.)

The person who hired me remarked on the excellence of my cover letter and told me it really made me stand out from the crowd, showed I was very interested in the position, and demonstrated my written communication skills.  I would never send a CV to someone in application for a specific job without a cover letter.

Thanks for those Ducky!  Right now, my CV has a "professional profile" at the top underneath my contact information, and is basically just what Ducky mentions, just not so narrative.  I have the same opinions on wordy cover letters. When I was doing hiring, I would read the first line or two and then turn the page to the resume. 

I appreciate all the opinions though!  I am getting a super early start on applying for jobs in the UK and can use all the help I can get making myself stand out from the crowd

I think it boils down to personal preference I guess...some like it...some don't.  Just do whatever you feel comfy with..

am i missing something on how to use these threads or is the template no longer visible?
thanks

I don't see the first post on this thread either. I've noticed that in several threads recently. A bit annoying, really!

Ok, so I've been spending a lot of time today tweaking my CV, and this is what I have at the top before I go into my education, employment, and volunteer history:

Name
Address
Phone Number
E-mail

(In my case I think my DOB works in my favor...I just turned 21 and I have a bachelor's degree (graduated in the top 1% of my class a year ahead of schedule), was an in-person and online tutor for 3 years, became a head tutor and managed 8 tutors, and worked as an office assistant. Do you think I should put it in there or leave it out?)

Then I have a very brief personal statement and a short list of key skills:

Recent graduate seeks employment to fuse her excellent organizational skills, verbal and communication skills, and office experience.



Key Skills:
   Speak competent French and basic German
   Familiar with Microsoft software, HTML, FTP
   Able to type 80 wpm
   Accurate and detail-oriented

Do you think that is enough?

I've been sending my CV off to a couple of places but I think it could be stronger so I've been toying with it today. I'd love to do admin work at a university, a law office, a medical center, or the oil industry (Aberdeen has quite the oil industry). I'd be open to being a receptionist, filing clerk, clerical officer, tutor, working with children...I'm pretty open. I've signed up with one temp agency but I think I'll look into adding my CVs to a couple of others. I really want to start working right away!

Danke.

staticsplit, I think all that tutoring experience, etc. that you mentioned sounds great and I would certainly include it to show your leadership abilities. My work colleague made my CV up for me several months ago, but here is the basic format he used:

name, address, phone number, email, and date of birth at the top center.
profile: a paragraph explaining a bit about myself, "American citizen who moved to the UK to join my English spouse," summarises education and work experience, states what sort of job I would like to have, etc.

work experience: he basically listed every job I have ever had (and there are quite a few of them) along with a few lines that tells what my major responsibilities were, etc.

education: lists my degrees with the closest UK equivalent underneath
Example: blah blah degree, blah blah university, "Approximately equivalent to an upper second class degree in the UK."

computer skills: lists software, typing skills, etc.

personal interests and hobbies: lists what I like to do in my free time

I'm sure this isn't how everyone does it, but this work colleague is highly professional and has an upper level job, so I took his word for how it should be done. Good luck!

Thanks, Jewlz! I think I probably should add a hobbies etc bit, but my CV is nearing 3 pages already, ack!

Thanks, Jewlz! I think I probably should add a hobbies etc bit, but my CV is nearing 3 pages already, ack!

My colleague says you should really keep it to 2 pages. I put a lot of stuff on mine, but it is pretty condensed. If you want me to email you a copy of mine to look at, just PM me your email address and you can have a looksie. 

I just wanted to let you know that I got my dream job! I prepared my CV using your tips and it was the first and only CV that I had sent out! Thanks a lot for the good post.