Great story. Great CV. Great performance.
No, I’m not going to start with, “Once upon a time” although I am keen to get you up and running with your story. If you’ve worked with me already, you’ll know how much emphasis I place on you understanding and being able to tell your story. Swimming certificates aside, unless you have your sights on sports coaching, you need to understand the experiences which got you to this place. And where you want those experiences to take you. Let me explain.
Yesterday a friend suggested that my quest to get job seekers engaged in storytelling and even being the heroes of their own stories reminded him of the opening lines from David Copperfield, “Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show” (Dickens, 1849). Naturally, my ambition is to help you to put yourself at the centre of your story (rather than anybody else). After all it’s you I’m hoping to help in this difficult job market. It’s time to own your own future.
There’s much to read and watch about creating CVs – disappointingly not all of it constructive. Put a dozen or so commentators in a room together (socially distanced of course) and you may get some consensus. If you know me already, you wouldn’t expect me to follow the crowd, would you? My starting point is always your story. Be clear on what you’ve achieved, as well as your strengths, understand what you could do next and hey, presto, you have the beginnings of your story. Now we can begin to consider how to present it to your audience. A CV begins to emerge, and our starting point is not your profile, that comes later.
I tend to include some reference to (Albert) Mehrabian’s communication model in my skills workshops and coaching. Participants may forget the psychologist’s credentials but remember the content of his study. Armed with the knowledge that just 7% of what we communicate to others is the message we want to convey, 38% comes from our tone, intonation and volume, while 55% consists of our non-verbal behaviour, we need to work on your delivery (performance) as much as your content. And yes, you’ve remembered – always practise out loud.
I’ve mentioned before that your CV is your shop window and I’ve encouraged you to make sure it sparkles. A confusing or crowded layout and spelling mistakes will have the same negative impact as poor intonation or off-putting gestures! It’s time to give your message the best opportunity for success. A great CV which tells a strong story will help you to stand out from the crowd. Let’s talk about how I can help you.
Your CV is your shop window … make sure it sparkles