Our latest research tells us that recruitment agencies do not get a look in compared to job boards and direct applications to specific jobs and organisations.
After a month of asking jobseekers what they do once they are happy with their CV / Resume, we found that 45% choose to upload it to a job board and make online applications via their systems. 39% apply directly to company opportunities and lagging way behind is the option to use a Recruitment Agency with only 12% taking that route.
There will always be a market and desire to use Recruitment Agencies especially within certain specialist industry sectors so it really does come down to what kind of jobs are being applied for. Many jobs can be found on job boards so it is quick and easy to make job applications online in this way where the CV/Resume can be saved within a users account. On the flip side of this though, some companies will never publish their vacancies on job boards or even enrol an agent, so direct applications to companies would be the chosen avenue.
Where have you found the most success when applying for a job? Tell us here.....
Latest findings have found that 26% of people have applied for more than 10 jobs in their job search process.
32% had not applied to any so far, 16% only 1 job, 12% had applied to between 3 and 5, 9% had applied to 1 or 2 and finally 6% had applied to between 6 and 10.
Are you someone who will apply to as many jobs as you possibly can, copying and pasting your application one after the other? Or do you carefully hand pick the jobs and companies and ONLY apply to those you feel you are 100% suitable for and those jobs you really, really want?
Our job board allows you to save up to 5 tailored CV's/resume's into your account. This allows you to tailor your application accordingly and really help your chances of being invited to an interview. We always advise our jobseekers to apply to jobs carefully and tailor their applications to each and every job role. It makes the jobseeker look more professional and interested in the company and role and most certainly increases the chances of taking the next steps in the process.
If you require any help with your CV or Resume, please do get in touch with us. We have a great partner who can help :)
Have you ever lied on your CV?
We are pleased to say that in our latest study, an amazing 86% of people have NEVER lied on their CV. Obviously, we wanted to see 100% as the result but it is apparent that some individuals feel the need to change their profiles/history etc in order to find themselves a new job.
6% said that they had told a big lie on their CV and 8% just a small white lie. Unfortunately, even though it is a small percentage, there are still some that feel they need to make such changes in their CV.
So, what, we would like to know are people lying about? It is their age? How long they were employed for? If they took a break? Job titles? Education history? References?
Advice at TipTopJob is not to lie. Is the risk worth it? If you get found out it will definitely cost you the job! If there is something you feel you need to explain, then explain it to the employer/recruiter so you are open and honest as this will be received much better than a potential lie.
What are your thoughts on this? We would love to hear.....
Latest research discovers that 44% of jobseekers have only ever put their CV together, just the once. Does this tell us that many jobseekers only compile their CV, apply for the one job and then are lucky enough to be offered it? Wouldn't that make job hunting easy!
Further to this, 34% have created somewhere between 2 and 5 CV's when applying for a job. This relates to the CV being varied according to the similar but different roles being applied for at the same time.
13% have created more than 10 CV's - WOW! And 9% have put together between 5 and 10 CV's.
So, how many have you done? Have you found that you are re-creating many CV's so you only ever send one CV to one company? This is how we advise jobseekers to go about their job applications to ensure they are really targeting their applications according to the job and role. So if this is YOU, well done and keep it up!
If you require some advice on putting together a new CV, head over to our Career Centre on the website. It has plenty of great articles to help with many topics surrounding CV writing.
Results are as follows:
- Only once = 44.4%
- twice = 14.5%
- 3-5 times = 19.5%
- 5-7 times = 6.4%
- 7-10 times = 2.4%
- >10 times = 12.9%
Writing a CV that will sell you to a potential employer can seem like an overwhelming task – summarising your entire life on two pages, whilst blowing your own trumpet but not sounding arrogant can be a challenge. But fear not! CV Knowhow have put together their ten top tips to bear in mind when writing a CV. You’ll soon have an enviable CV that will support your job search, give you confidence and enable you to take the next step in your career.
1. Start with your contact details
It’s amazing how many people omit this basic information! You could have the best CV in the world, but if a recruiter can’t get in touch to call you for an interview there was no point in writing it at all. Include your town and postcode, telephone numbers (landline and mobile) and email address. You should also consider adding a link to your LinkedIn profile, so that the recruiter can look at your online presence to find out more about you (and hopefully notice all the endorsements and recommendations you no doubt have!).
2. Write in reverse-chronological order
To make a great first impression, your most relevant skills, responsibilities and achievements need to be the first thing a recruiter reads. Structure your career history so that your most recent job is at the top and goes further back in time as you progress down the CV. The same rule applies to your education section. There’s no point starting your CV with qualifications you gained 20 years ago, if you can wow the recruiter with recent success in your chosen career.
3. Target the CV to a specific role or industry
A powerful CV is always focused on a specific job. If you try to cover all bases, you’ll end up looking like a Jack of all trades and master of none. If you’re targeting a few different roles, then unfortunately that means tailoring your CV to each one. If you have a person specification for the job, cross-reference your CV with the specification to ensure you’ve demonstrated how you meet their requirements exactly.
4. Write in the third person
A CV written in the first person (I, me, etc.) comes across as quite basic. It’s also quite repetitive to use “I” on every other line. To look more professional, try to write in the third person. Not only is this best practice when writing a CV, it keeps the CV impersonal and enables the recruiter to focus on what you’d bring to the business.
To read the full article, please CLICK HERE >>>>>
If you are currently putting together your CV but struggling to know where to start, we have a great article to read over in our Career Centre, titled "How to write a good CV".
A well-presented CV is vital in your search for a new job. It will not get you the job, but a good CV makes the difference between getting an interview and your application being thrown in the bin. With your CV being one of many, recruiters will only read it for a short space of time, so it is extremely important that it is structured clearly, with your best selling points presented in a logical manner and the most relevant information readily identifiable.
Everybody writes and presents their CV as they like, there is no right or wrong way. However, with these words of advice we will help you produce a clear and concise CV that will increase your chances of being invited for an interview.
The first part of the article addresses the Content of the CV. To begin, prepare a list of your key competencies and skills that your employer will be looking for. Be analytical about yourself and identify your main selling points that differentiate yourself from competitors. Head over to the article here, to see the list of content areas.
Then it goes onto the Structure & Presentation of the CV.
We hope it is a useful article for you and at least helps you get started on putting it together.
Do let us know if you would like to see any specific career-related articles from us.
Over the last month we have been investigating the likelihood of jobseekers using CV and Resume Writing Companies to review and re-write their CV's/Resumes.
We first looked into how likely people were to using them. It was a close call with just 10% difference between people saying "never" and others saying "definitely". In fact there was a small difference between Never, Maybe and Definitely looking at the illustration between the options below.
28% said they would never use a professional CV / Resume Writing company, 32% said maybe and 40%, definitely. We are safe to say that there is a market for such companies to help those get their CV / Resume's up to scratch.
Following on from this analysis, we looked into why people would decide to use such professionals. 44% clearly felt that they would do a better job than them - whether this is true or not is another story. This could simply be down to a lack of the individuals confidence rather than their actual ability. 38% just did not know where to begin when reviewing and re-writing their CV/Resume so needed some direction. Finally, 18% did not have the time to re-do their CV/Resume and so would choose to use the professionals. With people being so busy and rushed today and longer hours being worked, this reason is definitely a deciding factor for many.
So once you have made the decision to use an external professional, how do you decide which company to use? It is always a good idea to shop around and see which company is suitable for you and works within your industry and location. It is also a good idea to go on recommendations and potential partnerships of businesses who recommend their services. Here at TipTopJob, we currently recommend Get Interviews which offers services within the UK, the USA and Worldwide. They offer a FREE CV / Resume review in the first place before purchasing any of their services. You can read a little more about CVGetInterviews here and GetInterviews here.
One of the most daunting experiences for you right now is making the transition from military to civilian life. Not only will it seem like an uphill battle trying to fit back into this daily life but trying to find a new career can further complicate the situation. We have put together a few words of advice when faced with the task of putting together a CV.
What career?
If you know what kind of job you are going to go for, then you are half way there. Trying to decide what kind of job you want to do is difficult and it may be that you do not just decide on one job but several options. To get to this point, you need to sit down and list ALL of the skills you have developed pre-military and whilst within the military and cross-check this list with the skills required in an array of careers. This is the time to research all kinds of job opportunities, speak to your network of friends, family and acquaintances and get some first-hand feedback to work out if it is something you may be interested in doing. It is important to invest time in reading around all kinds of careers to see if something interests you! The internet is a great place to start and there are many sites out there with great explanations of what is involved in different job roles.
More than one CV?
It is highly likely that you may be interested in several kinds of jobs so it is very common to have more than one CV. We allow up to 5 CV’s to be saved into a jobseekers account on TipTopJob so that they can be used to apply to different kinds of jobs and this is the same for other job boards. Each can include different skills and experiences that relate to the role you are applying to. Each CV needs to be kept to under 2 pages.
Skills and achievements
As someone who has no direct experience in the role you are going to be applying for, it is important to pick out the “transferable” skills that you have picked up in the military and that can be used in civilian life. Some of these skills may include team work, decision making, leadership, IT and communication. You are likely to have some good quality and varied achievements that you can use to your advantage so try to pick out those most relevant to the role you are going to be applying for.
Language
Try to minimise any military jargon, acronyms, slang etc from your CV as this can be confusing for a recruiter. If you are describing specific military terms, try to explain and elaborate. You can always ask a friend to read over your CV to make sure they understand it before applying to a job.
Personal Development Record
This is something that civilians will not have so it is a good idea to use this to your advantage. You can quantify each of the areas and be specific with what you have done, who you have managed, what you achieved, what equipment you used etc For example, say that you managed over 20 soldiers, explain that you managed a budget of over £1 million and describe a situation that resulted in saving your department over £50K.
To finish
When putting your CV together, remember to keep it simple, not too wordy and relevant. There are companies that can help you to put a CV together or provide a review on what you already have. Invest some time in getting this right as it can help you to get your foot in the door. If you are rejected for a role, always ask for feedback as this can help you to tweak the content on your CV before applying for another job.
We are delighted to inform all of our users that the size of the CV / Resumes being uploaded onto the site has increased from 750Kb to 1Mg.
This means people who have been trying to upload their CV / Resumes in error as they are too large can try again without having to omit anything.
Click here to login and upload your latest CV / Resume today. Do not forget, it is a great idea to upload a new CV / Resume regularly to make sure you are at the forefront of the recruiters minds who are using the CV / Resume database to search for suitable candidates.
If you have any questions or still getting trouble uploading the files, please do let us know.
Our latest study found that just over a third of jobseekers believe they can write their CV/Resume themselves and do not need the assistance of a professional.
On the other hand however, 39% of respondents have used a professional CV/Resume writer. 28% of these individuals were also really impressed with the outcome, saying they were brilliant and would use the service again as well as recommend them. The other 11% were not so impressed but did use the services to help them in their job searching process.
A large proportion, 27%, said that they have not used one in the past, but would definitely consider it in the future.
The professional CV/Resume writing services around are a massive support for those who do not know where to start with updating and reviving their most invaluable tool when searching for a new job. Although it seems that many find this updating process easy and are self-able, many are not and therefore these professional services come in very handy to a large percentage of the population.
Here at TipTopJob, we value these services highly and have partnered with some professional CV/Resume writing companies. If you are based in the UK or in Countries that use a CV, you can link through to GetInterviewsUK or if you are based in the USA, there is GetInterviewsUSA where they focus on updating your resume. Get Interviews offer a FREE CV/Resume review to start with so why not give that whirl now? Do not forget to let us know how you get on and make sure you remember to upload your brand new CV/Resume onto your account on TipTopJob!!!!
Results of the survey are illustrated below....
