Lazy Sunday is happening right now. I was suppose to be doing a photoshoot today with my friend and a model but the model had to drop out at the last minute. So after admitting defeat and accepting that I wasn't going to get hold of a different model who would suit the criteria I decided to shift my priorities. You see makeup for me currently is more of a hobby. I collaborate with other newbies to build up our portfolios for future career moves. I have been in the beauty industry for nearly 3 years now and I've been a qualified makeup artist for 6 months. Work for me has been mostly temporary jobs to fill the time and pay the rent. As you'll remember from previous posts I wasn't born with a brush in my hand. The last 12 months haven't been fulfilling career wise. I'm at the stage where I feel like I could climb walls or start collecting cat ornaments unless I find a full-time job soon.
After several applications, some taking hours to complete, and several posted and emailed CVs I am still no closer to seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I have decided to go back to basics. The first step in the process of getting a job... the CV. I was staring at it and thinking if I had to read this would I care? It looked bland, structured and wouldn't be out of place in a filling cabinet. Perfect if I want to be forgotten easily. Where's my personality? Where's my USP? My skills and experience alone isn't going to tell the reader who I am.
What is a Unique Selling Point (USP)?
It's that something that makes you different to everyone else. When starting a business it's the first thing you have to discover otherwise what's the point in starting. You may have several unique selling points like being a people person, caring, creative, plays a trombone. I ask you to go away and write down everything that makes you unique. It's a great confidence booster.
That brings me back to mine. My USP isn't within my work experience or my education. For me it's all the things I have taught myself, life lessons which have served me. How do I show that in a CV?? Well for starters the boring layout had to go, it's ridiculously dull. I opened up PicMonkey and started from scratch. I had a look around online for some ideas and also what I had to include -
Must Include for potential employers - Name, Address, Experience and Education, Contact details
Did you know that most employers skim read CVs? What they are looking for are the above info and key words. These key words are normally within the job description itself so do your research. If they can't find those within the first 10 seconds then you and your hopes are thrown onto the discard pile. Don't use a photo. Our eyes are drawn to photos hence why Pinterest and Instagram are so popular. If you add your face to your CV however then the reader will miss important facts on your CV. Remember they are short on time and skimming. You can use colour but keep it simple, too many colours may look unprofessional unless your a graphic designer.
So here it is my finished CV. I managed to condense it onto one side of A4 after omitting all the junk and adding bullet points instead. Doesnt it look better! If you had to choose between reading the CV on the left and the CV on the right if you only hand 2 minutes to spare which would you choose? I hope this inspires you to review your CVs and good luck with your job hunting.
So here it is my finished CV. I managed to condense it onto one side of A4 after omitting all the junk and adding bullet points instead. Doesnt it look better! If you had to choose between reading the CV on the left and the CV on the right if you only hand 2 minutes to spare which would you choose? I hope this inspires you to review your CVs and good luck with your job hunting.
Hugs 'n' Kisses
oX Wendy Xo
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