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    CV and Cover Letter Masterclass 2023-24

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    ParthivGandhi

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    CV and Cover Letter Masterclass 2023-24

    Uploaded by

    ParthivGandhi
    2 views40 pages

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    CV_and_Cover_Letter_Masterclass_2023-24

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    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as pdf or txt
    2 views40 pages

    CV and Cover Letter Masterclass 2023-24

    Uploaded by

    ParthivGandhi

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 40

    CV and Cover Letter

    Masterclass
    Postgraduate Career & Professional Development Centre
    Pre-study careers course modules

    Creating a CV

    Selection methods

    Careers resources
    CV
    Present and structure a UK professional CV

    Learning outcomes Build achievement-focused bullet points

    Develop awareness of Generative AI


    Consider your approach

    1 Self-assessment

    2 Research/network

    3 Tailored application
    Keyword and language matching

    Highlight key words on the job description

    View company website to assess language

    Fit these words naturally into your CV/CL


    Personal profile

    • Specialist or senior position

    • Changing career

    • Highlight key skills/experience


    Education
    What to include
    MSc programme - dates, relevant
    modules/dissertation

    UG programme – dates, classification

    What to consider
    Institution ranking

    School academics
    Professional Experience
    Professional Experience

    What to Your Starting Your Bullet


    Include Point Points
    Company name Refer to job description How demonstrated these
    for skills/behaviours
    Location Use the 1,2,3 approach to
    (e.g. analytical, teamwork) emphasise achievement
    Job title and dates/months
    2-3 lines for each
    Achievement-focused bullet points

    1 What were you doing?

    2 How or why were you doing it?

    3 What was the outcome?


    Skill/behaviour: Business Development

    1 2 3

    What were you doing? How or why were What was the outcome?
    (Start with action verb) you doing it? (Quantifiable result?)

    Advised customers and …to identify exceeding weekly


    asked questions on opportunities to follow- targets by 20%, and
    their banking needs… up on leads and sell received ‘Exceptional
    additional products and Customer Service’
    services award from head office
    Skill/behaviour: Initiative

    E X A M P L E – PA S S I V E V O I C E

    UNILEVER, London, UK Jun 2023 – Sept 2023


    Marketing Intern
    • Responsible for redeveloping the intranet pages for better reporting purposes

    EE
    XXAA
    MMPP
    LEL EU 2S I N G 1 , 2 , 3 A P P R O A C H – A C T I V E V O I C E

    UNILEVER, London, UK Jun 2023 – Sept 2023


    Marketing Intern
    • Launched a newly designed intranet site for 10,000 employees in the UK by gathering
    feedback from users, benchmarking against competitors and piloting. Improved
    reporting functionality and increased page views by 50% over 3 months
    ▪ Professional Qualifications (if relevant)
    ▪ IT skills (if relevant)
    ▪ Languages
    ▪ Achievements and Interests

    Additional Information
    Additional Information

    Professional Qualifications: CFA (Passed Level 1), ACCA (Passed Applied Knowledge)

    IT Skills: VBA (Advanced), Python (Intermediate), SQL (Beginner)

    Languages: English (Fluent), Italian (Native), German (Business), Spanish (Conversational)

    Achievements and Interests:

    • UNICEF Board of Trustees (2022-2023) – communicated between the board and the
    student population. Analysed monthly accounts and made recommendations.

    • Warwick University Football Team Manager (2021-2022) – organised fixtures and


    negotiated sponsorship. Coached squad of 16 players and led team to national final.

    • Independent travel – Brazil (volunteered at a retirement home), Peru (taught English to


    school-children). Developed interpersonal and relationship-building skills.

    • Cooking (what cuisines?), reading (what genre?), member of society (how contributed?)
    Generative AI
    Generative AI

    What for Limitations Tools

    Review CV Personalisation ChatGPT

    Starting point Authenticity Teal

    Proof-read ResumeMaker

    Vmock
    Interactive, online CV
    development & feedback tool
    What next?

    Create 1 or 2 Upload into Vmock Tailor to the Job


    page* CV using Description, proof-
    MSc template read and send!

    Proof-read Book a 1:1 Careers


    meeting

    Remember it takes time to get it right – don’t delay!


    Cover Letters
    Understand the purpose of a cover letter

    Learning outcomes How to structure a cover letter

    How to source relevant evidence to include


    What is the purpose of a cover letter?

    Demonstrate your motivation and Copying and pasting content from


    interest in the company/industry/role your CV

    Highlight skills relevant to the role Creating a template to copy and


    paste from
    Express yourself clearly and concisely An overview of everything you think
    the employer needs to know
    Opening

    Make a connection to the company, and confirm the role


    you are applying for
    Examples

    “Further to my conversation with David Smith at the Bayes MSc


    Careers Fair and my research on EY’s Graduate Audit Programme,
    please find attached my CV for your consideration.”

    “Following on from my research on Citi’s Research Analyst position,


    please find attached my CV for your consideration.”
    Main body: 3 elements

    ▪ Why the company?

    ▪ Why the role?

    ▪ Why you?
    Why the company?

    What specifically interests you about the


    COMPANY?

    Demonstrate your research:


    ▪ Reference recent developments - news, awards, white papers
    ▪ Specific to the company - brand, values, strategy, clients, culture

    ▪ First-hand insight - mention any contact had with employees


    Researching company

    Social Media Resources Online


    Company website
    LinkedIn (+ alumni) 1:1 with Mary Goudge
    [email protected] Annual report
    Twitter (X)
    Business news/FT.com
    Instagram
    Library databases Trade press
    YouTube
    Professional bodies
    Glassdoor

    Source: Glassdoor.com
    Why the role?

    What are your specific


    MOTIVATIONS FOR THIS ROLE?

    ▪ Show you understand the role/department (recent activity)


    ▪ Highlight areas of interest from the job description
    ▪ Make connection with any relevant experience

    ▪ Motivation for the industry


    ▪ First-hand insight - mention any contact had with employees
    Why You?

    What can YOU BRING to the organisation?

    ▪ Specific demonstration of 3-4 key skills from the job description

    ▪ Reference work experience and extra-curricular from the past 3 years

    ▪ Speculative – what you can do for them (not what they can do for you!)
    Closing

    ▪ End your letter positively in the Example


    spirit of expectation; looking
    forward to the next stage
    without being presumptuous. I look forward to hearing from you;
    please don’t hesitate to contact me
    should you require any further
    ▪ Sound approachable and information.
    interested, but don’t overdo the
    flattery – keep it simple! Regards,
    Review

    ▪ Think from the recruiter perspective ▪ Mass produce


    ▪ Use professional language ▪ Send with the wrong company name
    ▪ Use ‘Grammarly’ ▪ Rely on spell-check
    ▪ Keep to one page
    ▪ Careers/native English speaker
    Generative AI
    Generative AI

    What for Limitations Tools

    Review cover letter Personalisation ChatGPT

    Starting point Authenticity Job scan

    Proof-read Fact-check
    Feedback
    “It can be tempting to think of
    applications as a numbers game,
    and that the best approach is to
    apply to as many employers as
    possible.
    That can cause your cover letter
    to look very standardised and
    cause errors to creep in.”
    Any questions?
    Bayes Careers Online

    Book a 1:1 Attend a View and apply


    appointment workshop for jobs

    Attend employer Access our


    events resources

    https://bayes-csm.symplicity.com/students/
    Bayes Business School
    106 Bunhill Row
    London EC1Y 8TZ
    Tel + 44 (0)20 7040 8600
    bayes.city.ac.uk

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