Career Advise

Write a good CV
How to write a good cv

Your CV is the single most important document when looking for a new job. It doesn't matter how long it has taken for you to write. The person reading it will form an opinion within 5 seconds.

Face jot interview
How To Make Your Interview a Success

Here are six areas in which you can enhance your credentials without having a Pinocchio moment during an interview - or even worse, after you've gotten the job.

Jobvacancies Profile
Top Tips for Career Development

Given how much time most of us spend at work it makes sense to think about your career and the goals that you would like to achieve within your working life.

How to write a good CV

Article by Shalinda Abeywardena | Recruitment Consultant | JobVacancies.lk


Your CV is the single most important document when looking for a new job. It doesn't matter how long it has taken for you to write. The person reading it will form an opinion within 5 seconds.

The Sri Lankan job market has become extremely competitive over the years and it is this reason why you should focus extra attention on your CV.

As well as grabbing the attention of your potential employer your CV has to impress him too. you have to show you have the necessary skills and competencies to do the job. It's a lot to ask but all it takes is a few simple rules to make sure you produce a well presented accurate and concise CV that will give you every opportunity to secure an interview.

  • Rule 1: Write it yourself
  • It needs to represent you and the language you use. You will be expected to discuss the CV at an interview and a recruiter will definitely know when a CV is not your own.

    Best way to lay out a CV is to start with your name and contact details. Your date of birth is not necessary, neither are you nationality or your marital status.

    The big question now is what comes next? This is the critical part of the CV. Some people think a personal profile is the best way to make that positive impression. Sometimes it is but 9 times out of 10 personal profiles have the opposite effect so we think its best avoided all together.

    The most dynamic section of your CV is the section that charts your key achievements. Put it first; backup your achievements with compelling facts. Don't just tell the reader you wrote and implemented an absence policy; tell them that you reduced sickness absence levels from 11% to 2.5% over a 1 year period

    Once you captured your reader's interests they will want to know where you worked so your employment history comes next. Include job title and dates and put the most recent first. Also include a description of your duties and your responsibilities. Include precise details these will make your skills tangible.

    Then come's your educational qualifications, again most recent first. Start with your most relevant professional qualification first then give the full title of your degree and then the summary of subjects and grades. These are followed by relevant training which comes in a separate section.

    The interest and hobbies section should not be under estimated keep away from boring clich's and show hobbies that can demonstrate a range of skills relevant to the job or transferable to a work place setting. If possible pick hobbies that will look out of the ordinary so you can stand out from the crowd.

  • Rule 2: Keep it brief
  • a good CV should not be longer than 2-3 pages. It should be informative but concise. Cut out any fancy complicated sentences, a good CV will highlight all your skills that are relevant to the job. Dispense those that are irrelevant and don't over describe those that are left out. Something else that shouldn't be mentioned at this stage is your current salary. We don't need to mention referees yet either.

  • Rule 3: Be truthful and accurate
  • For example: declare breaks in service. If a break was due to redundancy, state this clearly. Also there is nothing wrong with giving your self-credit where credit is due but never exaggerate

  • Rule 4: get the language right
  • Keep your CV in the 3rd person where possible. As this helps to avoid beginning sentences repeatedly with "I". Be aware of using the relevant tense throughoutand always try to use the positive words that describe your skills confidently.

    Sri Lanka's recruitment and employment experts says, it's about half of all CV's received by recruitment consultants contain spelling or grammatical errors spell checking is one way to look for errors but there are many words that slip through the net. The best type of spell check is to get a friend or a colleague to read it through.

  • Rule 5: Add the finishing touches
  • Your CV should be easy to ready and not cramped, to achieve thisthechosen font should be uniform throughout,all though the headings can be emphasised with size changes, bold lettering, underlining and italics. Font's such as "Times New Roman" or "Ariel" with size 12 gives the CV a professional air. For a more interesting font consider "Georgia" or a more classy choice might be "Verdana". Bullet point style should not be mixed and indenting should be consistent throughout.

    Like the "fourth bridge" the CV is never finished, it should always be kept up to date and of course tailored to every individual job opportunity that you applied for.

  • By following these 5 simple cv writing rules
  • Write it yourself
    Keeping it brief
    Being truthful and accurate
    Getting the language right
    Applying the finishing touches

You will give yourself every opportunity to progress to the interview stage

Good Luck!!

The truth about lying during a job interview

Article by Shalinda Abeywardena | Recruitment Consultant | JobVacancies.lk


Telling the whole truth about yourself in a job interview may mean losing a position to a better-qualified candidate. But the alternative - lying about your degree, qualifications, or experience for short-term gain - inevitably will come back to haunt you.

Still, there are gray areas in which a small fib - or embellishment - could go a long way toward helping you land a job.

Here are six areas in which you can enhance your credentials without having a Pinocchio moment during an interview - or even worse, after you've gotten the job.

  • WHAT'S YOUR REAL SALARY?
  • How much people make is "the No. 1 lie," says Julie Jansen, a career coach and author of I Don't Know What I Want, But I Know It's Not This. "I tell my clients not to embellish their salaries."

    Instead, Jansen recommends you can provide recruiters with the value of your entire compensation package - including salary, vacation and other benefits - and request a percentage increase on top of that amount.

  • MANAGING YOUR TITLE
  • It's OK to stretch the truth about your title, if your actual responsibilities are more demanding than your job implies, according to workplace columnist and speaker Alexandra Levit.

    "A lot of times titles don't tell the whole story," says Levit, author of They Don't Teach Corporate in College: A Twenty-Something's Guide to the Business World. "You might spin your title to reflect what you actually did."

  • FOR LOVE OF INDUSTRY
  • Faking a strong interest in a particular industry is preferable to telling a recruiter you're desperate for any job he or she has to offer.

    "I think it's acceptable to lie about being passionate about an industry," Jansen says. "Nobody was born being passionate about manufacturing."

  • WHO YOU KNOW
  • Drop names, if you've actually met or interacted with an industry mover or shaker. "It's a matter of degree - I wouldn't go full tilt and say [someone's] one of my best friends if they're not, because you can be found out," Levit says.

  • FIRED OR QUIT?
  • If you were let go or laid off from your last position, be honest about the circumstances if asked. Then try to refocus the conversation on your future.

    "You should immediately turn [the subject] into a positive by saying you're looking for a new challenge," Levit says.

  • NO TIME FOR TEARS
  • Even if a position seems a bit of a professional stretch, don't let on that you have any doubts about your ability to get the job done.

    "Can you imagine someone saying they're scared?" Williams says. "That may be the truth, but you don't want to hear it in an interview. Get a therapist or get a friend - your boss is not your friend

Top Tips for Career Development

Article by Shalinda Abeywardena | Recruitment Consultant | JobVacancies.lk


Given how much time most of us spend at work it makes sense to think about your career and the goals that you would like to achieve within your working life. However, when you're busy both professionally and personally, it can be hard to justify spending time on career development planning.

Luckily, it doesn't need to be a time consuming process and the benefits of clearly defined career goals are well worth it. Not sure where to start? Consider the following career development tips:

  • What Do You Enjoy?
  • Clarifying what you enjoy about your role allows you to think about what direction you want your career to go in so that you can set relevant goals.

  • Set Reasonable Goals.
  • Once you have given thought about the direction your career would like to go, make sure your goals are reasonable and can be achieved. Take into account the things you can't control and think about what steps you need to take in order to achieve your goals.

  • Make it Measurable.
  • Set time frames for your goals so that you can measure your progress over a period of time. This will help you feel in control of your career and will also allow you to reward yourself once goals are met.

  • Be Inspired.
  • Working with mentors both within and outside of your company will help keep you motivated and will enable you to receive the guidance you need to achieve your goals. If you don't currently have a succession plan in place with your current role, talk to your manager about creating one together.

  • Seize the Day.
  • Career development starts now. Once you have your goals in place, start immediately on working to achieve them. Take advantage of any resources or additional training your current company has available. If your current company isn't going to give you the opportunities you need, then it may very well be time to move on

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