Career Goals — Capturing the Perfect CV and Cover Letter! :)
We’ve all stared at this blank document wondering where to start! Have you ever been tempted to ChatGPT it? I know I have…
Recently, I had to prepare a CV and Cover Letter and upload them to the University of Manchester’s Career Connect tools for feedback. Now it’s time to reflect on this experience.
The Process
The first step I took to prepare my latest versions was to look at previous ones, however I found these weren’t up to standard. Therefore, I decided to look at the examples provided to see what I could improve. I used templates for guidance on structure. The main concern I had prior to this was how to tailor it to the job I’m applying for. I learnt this was a more specialised approach to take, rather than leaving it generic, and found looking at job specifications and mentioning those qualities was beneficial. Previously, I didn’t think to explain how specific modules applied to the role, rather than just stating what I’m studying. This time, I made sure to include any relevant skills and interests, so I come across as well-rounded. Overall, I found the Career Connect upload process easy, and feedback clear.
The Feedback
My scores were 49% (Cover Letter) and 56% (CV). These showed a decent effort but room for improvement, as expected for my first attempt. Strengths included structure as it was a good length, professional, with no spelling errors. So, I scored highly in brevity (96%) but still need to work on impact and style. This involves using numbers to quantify achievements so impacts are noticed. I also learned I need to remove personal pronouns and start lines with action verbs. I do agree with the feedback and it has made me question the way I construct these documents, leading to new modes of thinking. Overall, this attempt was better than ones from first year that I hadn’t ran through checkers, demonstrating improvements in itself and proving these tools are valuable.
The Future
I found the feedback useful, especially since it provided improved examples and a line-by-line analysis. Next time, I’ll use the sample lines for inspiration. A key tip given was to demonstrate how my values and goals align to the company’s mission. Therefore, I’ll use the Target my CV device to tailor to a job description so I can illustrate hard skills. Both my documents were more tailored than before but using this feature will enable me to get past automated screeners and increase interview rates. I realised I’d overlapped some of the information in both documents. Therefore, now I won’t repeat information and I’ll remove filler words so it’s easier to read. This is because I’ve learnt employers don’t spend long looking at a CV before they move on so I need to show I’m concise so they can gain a quick understanding of my accomplishments. On reflection, I’ve concluded this preparation is beneficial as it’ll help my future career goals for when it matters.
