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Setting Career Objectives and Career Planning

July 22nd, 2010

Importance of Career Objectives

Companies adapt operating models to achieve pre-defined targets and objectives. It is also crucial for companies to plan for the future by benchmarking employee performance, developing skills, managing talent and succession planning.

Good employers usually provide the necessary infrastructure for encouraging individuals to train, develop and progress in their careers, but much of the emphasis and hard work has to come from employees themselves. This facilitates the need for individuals to plan their careers by establishing a clear career path and an effective strategy. A fundamental part of creating a career plan is having a strategic vision or target role. A career objective is essentially a clear statement of intent for reaching the vision or target job role.

Career objectives require ‘SMART’ components…

Specific: A clearly defined target role. Candidates need to be focused on achieving a specific job role or attaining a level of progression. Maintaining a clear focus on the overall objective is important, though career objectives may change slightly over time.

Measurable: Candidates must be able to monitor progress effectively by benchmarking performance against pre-defined criteria. For many, this is often done through performance reviews with line management. More senior career-minded professionals may use career mentors to outline stages of progression and evaluate performance against set objectives.

Achievable: Career objectives must be realistically achievable with clearly defined stages of progression. Objectives and action plans can be set at each stage of progression. Unrealistic career objectives can be de-motivating, unhelpful and will ultimately lead to a sense of failure. More important objectives maybe harder to achieve and will generally take longer.

Relevant: Career objectives must have a clear context by being relevant to current situations, intended career path and aligned to a planned strategy. A relevant objective gives clear sense of direction and additional focus.

Time Focused: Specifying timescales and deadlines are important otherwise career objectives may never be met. Effective career plans should have clearly defined time periods. A well-structured plan with realistic timescales ensures a sense of urgency and purpose.

Career Objectives and Career Progression

Successful career progression is often based around an effective and well-structured career plan. Achieving the overall career objective should be the final outcome of any career plan.

Career plans should be flexible enough to take into account the need to improve skills, take on board additional training, projects and development as well as fitting in the necessary time and commitment to drive forward and meet desired objectives. A skills and gap analysis is often required to identify areas of weakness to work on ready for achieving progression. Career progression should be the deserved outcome of any personal and professional improvement activities.

Career Objectives: Measurement of Success

Reaching or exceeding career objectives should give an important sense of achievement. The stakes get higher as people progress through organisations with increased management, budgetary and staffing responsibilities. Rewards can also be reaped through a higher salary, additional benefits and a higher professional profile within the company. At higher levels, further professional recognition can be gained through companies looking to headhunt for particular skills and experience.

Setting Career Objectives

Career objectives never be determined in isolation. They should always be openly discussed and periodically reviewed to ensure they remain ‘SMART’ and ultimately successful. Objectives should be written down, clarified and clearly aligned to any career plan.

Getting a second opinion through a line manager, career mentor or another career-minded professional always helps to gain a different perspective, resolve any oversights and allows for career plans to be structured effectively. Very often career mentors and line management will have established processes and resources to help people set career objectives and determine viable career plans.

Selling Career Objectives

Getting across career objectives is important. Conveying career objectives to line management will help in the creation of future development plans and a career path may result. Selling career objectives to prospective employers is also important, as this can show ambition, drive and focus when selecting candidates for job interview. Career objectives should therefore be clearly mentioned in a CV or marketing document.

CV Writing and Career Objectives

A career objective in a CV is crucial because it tells recruiters exactly what the candidate is after. It focuses the CV towards a specific job role. Many candidates fail to state what they want and so come across as rather vague. A clear, specific and carefully targeted career objective shows a statement of clear intent. This often reassures the recruiter that the candidate really wants the job, is focused on a particular career path and makes for a stronger application.

In Conclusion

Career objectives carry much weight in terms of defining a career path, a vision and motivation for success. Good career objectives will be easier to follow and understand if they are SMART – specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time focused. Objectives may evolve and change over time but must always form part of a wider career plan.

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Top 50 Recruiter Survey (2010)

May 12th, 2010

Importance Of Good Resume Writing: Securing Job Interviews

Going into a New Year and re-engaging in your job search activities, it is worthwhile remembering the significance of writing an effective CV. Essentially, a well-written, professional looking and targeted CV will create the right impression and have a greater chance of securing a job interview.

Right at the beginning of 2009, the UK’s leading executive website undertook a survey with the top 50 recruiters It found that more than half (57%) of recruiters still considered the CV as the single most important aspect when applying for jobs and securing interviews. Source: Experteer, Jan 2009

Review and Plan Ahead For 2010

So before sending out further job applications and resumes, it maybe worthwhile reviewing your CV and check for any updates. CVs need to be constantly updated, so it is important to include any new experience, skills, training and education undertaken. See CV writing help. Also, the fact many candidates have taken a career break during the recession will not be considered as a gap in employment. Sometimes it is good to take time out, so do not be afraid to mention a career break if necessary.

If unsure about your career direction or focus, it is important to devise a plan and stick to it. Planning and writing down career motivations, objectives and career paths often restores confidence, gives more direction and enables candidates to target their job search activities. There is a wealth of information and advice out there to improve resumes and open up opportunities for increasing chances of securing job interviews. Use resources like the Internet (relevant blogs and websites), feedback from recruitment consultants, speak to careers advisory services and visit local libraries.

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CV Templates: CV Writing Help

May 12th, 2010

How to Choose a Good CV Template. Advice on CV writing formats and CV layouts.

CV writing is a very subjective topic, meaning there are no right or wrong answers to writing a good curriculum vitae. Each person’s individual circumstances are very different and the best approaches for writing CVs are very much open to debate. So, where do candidates start when seeking sound advice and looking for a good CV writing template?

The best advice would be to evaluate different resume writing resources such as books, the Internet and even review other people’s CVs. Visiting your local careers service for advice can also help. This is to formulate an idea of CV writing best practice before applying these principles to writing your very own CV or choosing a good resume template to follow.

The next stage would be to look for good CV examples and an effective CV template that works for you and your circumstances. A good CV template should allow a candidate to create the right impression (looks good), structure content effectively and avoid common mistakes found in many CVs.

The alternative is to design a resume template yourself. Candidates must be careful not to over-complicate the design, undermine a clear flow and structure as well as leave the CV without a professional finish. Very often candidates are not selective about content, they leave untidy headings and use bullet points too much. Therefore, choosing or designing the correct CV template for your needs is very important and must not be under-estimated.

CV Design – Designing Your Own CV Template

Choosing and creating the design of your CV takes a lot of time and attention. Whilst it is useful to gain ideas from what other people have done and look at examples, the very best CVs are written by the candidates themselves or in collaboration with professional CV writers or career coaches. Seeking professional advice is a worthwhile option if you are having difficulties writing your own CV.

Directly copying a CV template is not always the best solution as it is not always tailored to the needs of the candidate. So, the best way to start writing a CV is to simply define the content, headings and structure of the CV. The overall CV template and ideas regarding the exact CV design and CV layout should be only a final consideration. It is amazing how the look and feel of a CV changes from start to finish.

To help define the CV format, write out what you are looking to include in a CV under certain headings and sub-sections. It is important to edit the content for each section or heading and make sure it is focused on a targeted job role or career objective. After this, place each heading in a logical format or structure and check it to ensure there is a natural flow of content and each section does not seem out of place and leads nicely to subsequent areas of the CV.

Once you have some kind of draft, print this out and look at ways the layout, presentation, look and feel of the CV can be enhanced. This is where getting ideas or examples of CV templates comes into play. Ideas on fonts, headings and how to present certain information like skills, achievements, work experience and education can be given. It is worthwhile trying to learn from different examples and try different things until you are happy with the final result. This process takes time but getting it right will save time and resources on job hunting as a better CV will create a better impression with recruiters.

Lots of CV examples have over-complicated designs and over-use of bullet points. Others have traditional layouts and are very much out-dated and out-moded for use today. For instance, designs use old fonts that are not very clear and some templates suggest including referee details on the bottom of a CV. With the advent of data protection, security of personal information and spamming through marketing campaigns it is unwise to give details of your referees to unsolicited third parties (unless vetted and requested specifically by an employer with a serious job offer on the table). These are two basic elements that people should consider when looking for proven CV examples. There are many other basic flaws candidates should consider, so be clear about the choice of CV template.

So, What Makes A Good CV?

A well-designed CV should have a good personal profile (tells recruiters what a candidate has done at the top level), include some good skills (telling recruiters what you are good at), any achievements (what a candidate has particularly excelled at) and to provide evidence of suitability through credible work experience and training. Education is also a good barometer of how candidates learn and show future potential.

A good CV will also avoid many of the flaws previously mentioned. A good test is to seek approval and feedback from recruitment consultants, a career coach or someone who has experience at dealing with recruitment or management.

CV Writing Examples – Attention To Detail

A lot of thought, time and attention to detail should go into every producing a good resume. The focus should be on producing a well-presented CV and quality personal marketing document that considers the strategic elements of candidates (often missed), career aspirations and how candidates fit into a wider context of the job market. This allows CVs to target specific job roles, skills, career goals and recruiters for optimal results.

We hope you find this article and advice useful.

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Professional CV Writing Companies

May 11th, 2010

Better CV Writing Companies

Most recruiters acknowledge the CV or resume is the single most important aspect regarding the recruitment process. Writing a CV can be a difficult and uncertain process. So what are the options? A useful investment in a career can come from choosing the right resume writing company to write, coach and take the lead on producing a worthwhile and marketable document.

Effective CV writing requires a lot of time, research and attention to detail. A competitive job market means candidates need to market themselves even more effectively. Recruiters are becoming far more selective, so it is even more important to stand out from the competition, get noticed and create the right impression with a good personal marketing document (CV).

Candidates often consider choosing a resume writing company to create a professionally written CV, with the objective of saving time and boosting job search (job interview) prospects. The question is whether it is a worthwhile investment.

Looking at the market place, there are a whole range of different resume writing companies (guide) out there. Each offer a choice of services and different price points, so finding a reputable company can be like a minefield. Many candidates are obviously motivated by price and so will naturally favour CV companies with a lower price positioning. Other companies charge an exorbitant rate for a CV. Realistically, there would be no perceived additional benefit of paying more unless comprising part of a comprehensive career mentoring package.

The idea of getting someone else to write your CV can be a little daunting, but clearly beneficial. A balance must be struck between price and quality, so it is important for candidates to look at customer testimonials and examples of work to gauge the level of expertise and personal attention given to customers. An alternative is asking friends, associates or recruitment professionals to recommend good resume writing companies.

A good benchmark for deciding on a reputable CV or resume writing service is whether sufficient guarantees are in place. Having sufficient guarantees in place often shows a level of confidence in terms of quality, personal attention and grade of service. It may also be worthwhile checking whether supporting career resources offer sound advice, thereby indicating whether the resume writer knows what they are talking about!

Good Resume Writing Companies

So, what can candidates reasonably expect from a good resume writer? In conclusion, a good CV writing expert will provide a good return on your investment by producing an impressive personal marketing document based on the following…

– Identifying the needs and aspirations of candidates
- Carefully researching job roles and understanding individual requirements.
- Clarifying candidate career motivations and career objectives (gives important direction and focus)
- Customising CVs according to experience, skills and qualities
- Targeting CVs to specific job roles and wider career objectives
- Creating a good impression through a balanced, neat and professional CV layout.
- Offering clear guarantees and good services for a fair price.

It is important to consider all options and to seek professional careers guidance or reputable third party advice before making any decisions regarding your career. Good luck with your choices!

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