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CV, cover letter tips from a careers expert

Greig JohnstonSouthern Gazette

JOBS are hard to come by, so making yourself as employable as possible is imperative in a competitive job market.

We asked Matthew Brock, a Senior Career Advisor with TrainSmart Australia, what people can do to make sure they’re properly prepared when opportunity knocks.

He said people should take the time to tailor their CV and cover letter to suit the position being applied for.

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“It all depends on what field they’re actually going into, especially with someone who has got multiple industries that they’re applying in,” Mr Brock said.

“You really want to have two or three different CVs ready, to reflect the experience and skills that are required for that Industry position.

“I think that works best, rather than having one standard email which is the norm for a lot of people.”

Mr Brock has read a lot of CVs, and feels making your resume stand out is an imperative.

One way to do that is with a section on your career goals at the top of the CV, which he dubbed a “personal mission statement”.

“I like to see what a candidate’s career goal are,” he said.

“In addition to a cover letter, at the top of a CV, I like to see what they’re hoping to achieve in their chosen profession.

“I like to see that right at the top, in two or three sentences, under their personal details.”

Mr Brock said the cover letter is of paramount importance when it comes to securing a new job.

“A good cover letter shows the candidate has taken their time to care about the quality of their application,” he said.

“Showing personality is huge – you don’t want it to read like it was written by a robot.

“You want to get a sense of what sort of candidate the person is – what kind of strengths they’re going to bring to the role.

“Confidence is a huge factor.”

As well as having an impressive cover letter and CV, Mr Brock feels training is vital to make yourself as employable as possible.

“Ultimately, we are a training company – and providing people with the relevant education and skills is extremely important,” he said.

“Quite a lot of people are coming from the FIFO sector, so we’ve been helping to guide them into courses where they can actually get the formal qualification based on the experience and knowledge they have demonstrated in their previous roles.”