Struggling for CV ideas now it is time to go back to work?

One word of advice I would always give to anyone writing a CV is once you have written it just check how many paragraphs begin with the word I - as someone who read them in latter years it started to become a pet hate of mine. If you want to avoid that happening in your CV a good tip is to start the the paragraph with a quality you have:-

Rather than say I am an organised person and I have ....and I .... well you get the picture

Try

As an organised (wo)man with a mature approach to work I have ......

You haven't said you're older but you have said your approach is mature but you have also said you are organised before you even start on the I part

Read the list of essential criteria for the job - if it is essential then you MUST have it and you probably do but not necessarily in the way you see it.

In the next few posts lets have a look at some common ones and see whether you have those skills and how you can display them to show you at your best

Excellent team working skills with the ability to work collaboratively and co-operatively with colleagues.

This is one you have in bucket loads.

So you now have to show them what you did generally and then give an example that will prove to them that you have those skills

Provision of full time care for someone with complex and multiple disabilities requires a mature approach and requires complex team working skills within a multidisciplinary environment. As a full time care, my role was to establish my mothers needs, plan carefully the care that I could do and establish what professional support was available to access should I need assistance. While for the most part others were assisting me, I learned new techniques to support those who assisted me and thereby shared the load.

I was part of a team of carers for my mother that included a range of disciplines from consultant surgeons through legal professionals to domiciliary care and it was essential that the timing of meetings and visits was well coordinated so that every person in the team felt valued.

Keeping the lines of communication open was essential for this and much of the liaison was conducted via email diaries or by telephone so it was essential that I kept an electronic diary to ensure I did not double book or miss appointments which would have been costly and also would have let others down.

NOW give an example

Ability to organise and plan own work.

Again easy peasy if you handle it right

In the role of carer, organisation, planning and structure is critical to the day to day function of the role. Planning for the care of someone with dementia means that you have to be able to adjust your daily routine at a moment's notice so it is important that when planning your work you also prioritise the work in a way that will allow some flex.

In this role I devised a base plan of duties that needed to be done and when they had to be done by on a spreadsheet so for example Medicines had to be checked administered and recorded at very specific times so these were high priority on my list and coded in red - they were not movable in any way. Equally important were hospital appointments which were held monthly but with different teams that could mean 6 or 7 appointments a month. In my planner I placed coloured bands so that when I was arranging appointments I knew I had slots available with travel time included and space for sudden changes in plans on arrival. I am proud to say that no appointment was ever missed despite unexpected changes requiring further X-rays examinations etcetera.

While more mundane chores may seem less important I recognised that others were involved in these processes too and they also need to be valued. To meet their needs, I made very specific arrangements and alternative arrangements so that access to the house could be gained in order for domiciliary work to be continued as per contract

When plans had to be changed suddenly through illness or accident I had the email addresses of all the people involved in my mothers care so that I could keep them in the loop with regard to the current situation and any change to existing plans.

In addition I also recorded all my care and that of others so that I could review it regularly and make improvements. One specific case following a domiciliary losing a key (which resulted in a requirement to change locks and provide new keys) involved me using key pad locks on the doors so that trusted staff could gain access to the house without the worry of lost keys.

Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to ensure effective communication with a wide range of contacts both internal and external to the Corporation.

OK so immediately you think eeeeeek I don't work in a corporation and this is a specific ploy to see whether you are thrown by it. DONT BE

You have had to take on board a whole host of information that allows you to understand your LO care and their needs as they have changed over time. You have had to maintain records of tel numbers that change seemingly every other day and have had to be authoritative to people who you never thought you could be that way with so say so. Conversely you have had to stay calm and supportive to your mother who NEEDED you to be her mainstay her protector and to handle others coming into your house so you have a range of skills and approaches that you can use to exemplify your skills here

An essential role of the Power of Attorney and full time carer is to ensure that all parties involved in carer are kept fully informed of plans and changes to plans as well as access to all or part of the records kept and in a timely manner. To meet this need I kept records of all people involve and their full contact details. Since these change regularly I also updated them and reviewed them monthly for currency. When using email I was careful to encrypt confidential emails or password attachments and sent the password via a separate email. In this way confidential information is managed appropriately.

Where reports were being sent I endeavoured to bullet point the key issues. As I am aware that many see a plethora of emails some of which are sent in blanket format, I do this so people can recognise immediately that the email is relevant for them. I used bcc and cc as appropriate and adjust priority depending on the urgency.

Although I use email mainly I also follow up with texts to ensure that those who may not have access to emails are also kept informed of changes that will affect them.

As part of my role I have had, on occasion to speak with people regarding a variety of issues. Having seen a poor standard of care for my mother in a care setting I spoke immediately to the care manager and insisted calmly and professionally with supporting evidence and requested that changes to be made...they were made immediately. At the same time I needed to keep my mother calm and so using soft tones I spoke gently with her to make sure she knew I was looking after her and protecting her. Equally when dissatisfied with a doctor's opinion I asserted my mother's rights to accessing a second opinion and was glad we did because an underlying condition was found that would have been life threatening had it gone unnoticed.

I have found that politeness but with a confident positive approach most things can be achieved. Additionally I try to always have alternative suggestions in my repertoire should I meet obstacles as I know some people cannot easily see how change will be effective; something that I embraced as it was key to good care.

It doesn't match perfectly but it is damned close and shows your ability to communicate across a range of people and in a range of ways

Ability to assimilate written and verbal communication quickly

Well I don't need to tell you that you have done this every darned day of your life from checking the notes on the medication re side effects, listening to doctors nurses accountants etc and acting on their wishes/instructions. Doing your own research and coming up with potential solutions that you can put in front of people. There are lots of examples you can use

Demonstration of the ability to work under sustained pressure and to tight deadlines.

Hmm do I need to mention this one at all? You need to explain the repetitive nature of dementia and the sustained pressure that that alone can place upon you especially in getting people to do what you need them to do like eat, take meds, stand sit get dressed go to the loo and how that really comes into effect when you have to get to appointments. Again perfect planning and prep essential so you can find a whole host of examples (don't mention toilet say personal hygeine)

A flexible, pro-active approach to work including the ability to prioritise and re-prioritise to achieve successful outcomes.

Well you have covered this before but a second example wouldn't go amiss

Ability to work on own initiative.

Ability to deal with sensitive information with discretion and to maintain confidentiality at all times.

Again covered before but give additional examples just to be sure you nail this

Excellent IT skills including working knowledge of word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software packages, preferably Microsoft Office Word, Excel and PowerPoint.


Now if you don't have these you will need to get themMost are easily acquired and I suspect word is already under your belt but don check your work for spelling errors and don't use spell check.

Years and years ago when doing some research into sexual norms I asked 4 groups questioned and then compared and contrasted my results. I didn't check properly and was surprised by my tutor's comments when he wrote hmmm an interesting but unethical way to conduct research!!!! What could he mean then I realised that I had used auto correct and it had turned grupo to group but gropu to grope so I had said When I moved from Group 1 to Grope 4.... very very embarrassing!

By the way if you can say yes to all of the above then you can be a PA to a Middle manager

Arriving for a job interview at a museum of natural history, there was a long wait in reception, so looking over the upcoming events was expected.
One of the first questions (re: The Peter Rabbit exhibit) was: "What do you think of Peter Rabbit?"
Short pause, but what do they want to know? I couldn't let the pause go on any longer, so, answer was:" I think he was a very bad bunny".
Still wondering to this day why I was hired.

Thanks for starting this post Jude. It will help to have a life after caregiving for so many. It is remarkable that after using all those skills for so many years, you can then teach them, an excellent career!

Send if you had said that to me I would have hired you too. Who would want to employ a total nerd to a post that requires the human touch. When you might be talking to kids then the human touch is critical and they can ask the weirdest questions.

My Curriculum Vitae is called a RESUME for my purposes. My husband explained that to me.

Jude, lots of good advice. I appreciate the time you spent posting this for us. Do you mind if I copy and save it in my career file?

SendMe, I believe that a CV is equivalent to a Resume in the UK (and possibly other countries), while a CV in my experience is used in the US as a resume for someone in academia, or a field in which publications are noted.

Ah sorry peeps - Dumb Brit here and we don't separate the two a CV is a resume and a resume is a CV - While a resume is usually only page or two -- a curriculum vitae could be very long if you have done a lot especially got a host of qualifications written articles, had books published etc and are affiliated to a load of organisations

The trend is now however to put down the RELEVANT ones which shortens it a lot

I have written over twenty books for academia but I only mention the relevant ones

I belong to a range of organisations as affiliate or full member but only mention the ones that have any meaning to the job I apply for

I think I have about 10-15 different style of resume/CV that I use regularly but watch for those nasty little job adverts that say state everything or state relevant .....
They will throw your application out if you haven't done what they asked.

GA I posted it so anyone could take what they needed from it. I just think sometimes we don't recognise the skills we do have to use every day. Assertiveness, negotiation, encouragement - tell me a day when you didn't use all three (A lot!)
Responsibility, accountability, record keeping - again every day skills for someone who is carer and POA

Oh and just for the record try using a sans serif font like the one I am using now - it is seen as an awareness of disability compliance as many people actually find it really hard to read Times New Roman so Helvetica, Trebuchet, Arial, are far easier for them. and size 12 minimum 1.5 spaced is best

From the standpoint of someone who once worked for a firm whose office manager insisted everyone use the Times New Roman font, I can tell you that it's miserable for legal documents. It's too hard on the eyes and complicates proofreading.

Interesting that you commented on fonts. When legal firms began moving to computers (before the days when electric typewriters, or farther back when typewriters were just standard, with no electricity) firms focused on good work environment gave people the freedom to use what they wanted, although generally an Arial or Courier font was used.

That miserable Times New Roman was standard for sometime on Internet sites, and still is on some. It's an absolutely horrible font.

Back to the subject of interviewing, are video interviews becoming more standard in the UK?

I've just recently learned as well that some interviews are done by Skype for someone who's not close enough for a quick pop over to the firm for an interview.

Makes long distance interviewing a lot quicker and cheaper. Just better make sure the room is all tidy and clean before skyping for an interview!

Jude, one page? I can understand how that woupd make it easy for the employer and that is what the unemployment folks here will tell you to do. Have you ever seen a resume where the applicant goes through the laundry list of wants and then provides where this was done and then provide detail? I usually try to consolidate their wants into the cover letter and summary and objective portion of the resume.

Here the differentiation between CV and resume. The cv is a very detailed document and is often used by universities for professor situations. List almost entire work history as I am sure that in a teaching situation just about all life experiences can be drawn upon.

GA, one of the positions I applied for has been advertised on and off for two years. It has had a person acting in the interim, however. In March they had narrowed the field of sixty some applicats to two that were invited to interview. One of those lived about 700 miles away, wanted to interview, asked if the employer would buy him a plan ticket and hotel room for a couple of nights. The response? NO! I could not believe it, and this was a highly visible public sector leadership position, in a wealthy community. So the applicant withdrew. Just a sign of things to come, I imagine.

Glad, I'm wondering if it might as well be a problem with the employer, especially if it's been advertising periodically for 2 years. In my experience, those are the kind that can never find anyone who fits their criteria, or are cheap, cheap, cheap.

A short list of 2 out of only 60 makes me wonder as well about what they really want and if their standards are realistic.

It's curious...of the few corporate positions for which I've interviewed, companies that had what they felt were high standards eventually advertised again after the first hire...in one case a peculiar situation was one I decided was just too peculiar. A few months later one of the legal temp agencies contacted me about a contract position with that same company. I still had reservations. Then another few months later I read that the company was in Chapter 11.

That's happened more than once - picky companies, strange circumstances, then bankruptcy or Ch. 11.

Then there was one large company that just couldn't seem to hire. Over the course of a few years, a different legal contract agency contacted me more than a few times for the same position. I had the impression the people there couldn't even decide on hiring a contract person, which is probably why they never filled the position on a permanent basis.

GA, strange, a friend of mine is encountering the same sort of difficulty you are describing, and she too has seen the same position advertised on and off for four years now! Maybe they want cheap help, then decide rather than give well deserved raises to go on to the next contestant please.

And about a half an hour ago I received a call for an interview. It is a position I held probably 20 years ago, though it does pay a bit better now. And not at all sure how I feel about that. I enjoyed the job and the community, it was just such a different time.

Jude, I am so impressed that you have taken the time to post on such an important and yet difficult necessity, the CV for care givers who find themselves immediately terminated of their "full-time position". While I am fortunately able to retire when that time comes, so many have been out of the workforce for so long, that they themselves, feel rusty and obsolete, and it is so obviously not true. People feel so bereft and left behind, they no longer know their true value. But after caring for their loved ones, they in fact, are probably more qualified than most, and definitely have the drive and commitment most companies desire the most! If one is fortune enough to have enough money to sustain themselves through the grieving process/period, and a little time to recharge their batteries, I'll bet the majority of "unemployed caregivers" will make the very best and appreciative employees! Fantastic blog, and thank you for encouraging the next great workforce!

Mature care-givers (and younger ones) have borne the highest level of responsibility it is possible to have - they have been charged with the lives of their loved ones financially, spiritually, physically and emotionally - while the duties placed upon them are immense, the honour that care-givers deserve is great and some on here that I won't name but they will know who they are have gone way above and beyond the call of duty in their care-giving.

How can employers miss this? Because we don't raise it to their attention in a way that will show them our many facets and capabilities. Multi- tasking to an office worker is about keying in, telephoning and managing 2 or three things at once while having 6 or 7 on the boil in the background. As Care-givers we do that and then some as we try to juggle meetings, appointments, physiotherapy, medicine, cooking, cleaning, sanitising, laundry, changing bed linen, moving them every two hours, washing them, checking skin for tears and sheering, keeping areas creamed, that's aside from gardening responsibilities, decorating, shopping, get them to church or a chaplain in, dressing and undressing them changing them, ordering pants in time, researching what else we can do to make their lives and ours a little easier......tell me who wouldn't employ a person who is capable of all of this and then handling the final blow of the death and funeral arrangements for these loved ones? It will be the person who doesn't understand the work we do and the tireless devotion with which we do it despite all our moans and groans. We do it because we consider it to be a job we know we do well.....and that's why I started this post

GA companies sometimes don't employ agency staff because the cost to them from the agency can be extremely high. That said the cost of advertising and interviewing is much more expensive especially for the higher positions when you often need to employ psychoanalysts as well as board members and top level staff for at least a day then shortlisting and final day of interviews at which point you may still feel you have no 'fit' to the company,

Some companies think that one special person can draw the company up by its bootstraps - and yes it can happen but it is bloody rare.

Never a day went past when I didn't thank my staff for their efforts and I never ever expected one of them to make my teas and coffees We shared that - as a boss I have even cleaned the toilets when the cleaner was sick- it was necessary to have them clean and if none else was there to do it then it had to be done so the staff could have their personal sanitary needs met. They were absolutely shocked when they knew I had done it but they did know it wasn't the norm - the smell of disinfectant and antiseptics was a big clue!

Jude, companies employ psychoanalysts? For what kind of role in hiring?

My sister told me years ago that it was illegal for someone who was not a psychologist by profession to administer psychological test. I had asked her about this after I was told by a potential interviewer that she would be administering a psychological test as part of my interview. This was definitely not a high level position. I had the impression that she was someone who had an exaggerated impression of herself. The firm wasn't even a self guided one - it just handled certain legal aspects on appointment of a court.

Man, I never want to work for any company that has psychoanalysts!

Your comment on using agency staff is interesting; in the legal field, it's often preferred to hire temps as opposed to permanent staff - temps don't get benefits where as permanent staff do, and large law firms have great benefits.

Permanent staff are also more likely to be willing to work overtime and weekends. There's generally a higher level of dedication. But law is a field unto its own, far, far away from the corporate world (fortunately).

Sorry new pc that should have read psychologists but it does all thing weirs and I haven't used out how to stop it yet! I hate predictive test but on this pc haven't found out how to turn it off. I sent a mail to my friend earlier who rang me to ask about the police because it changed pc to police constable WTF? I told my daughter and she roared with laughter because she had changed the predictive to do that as she was writing something about policemen. grrrrrrrrr

Phsychological testing is used when there is likely to be a degree of animosity in the position you are taking - i.e. managers who will have to deal with unions or handle mass redundancies or who are in roles that include hiring and firing through incapacity routes. These are not easy tasks and need stable people to take them on.

In my very first managerial role I had a lovely young man that worked with me whose young brother hung himself and i handled it really badly. I was supportive and I told him that he couldn't possibly have known it was going to happen but he had a breakdown and I was severely carpeted for not sending him to a psych for assistance.

Jude - what a great series of posts. Thanks for taking the time.

Igloo if it helps just one person then I will be happy xxxx
My pleasure