In the last webinar of this unusual 2020 Elena, Delft Mama’s Human Resources (HR) Coordinator, gathered online with Delft Mama community. She shared her expertise as a certified career and business coach. Through this session she answered ‘hot’ questions regarding the Curriculum Vitae (CV).
Today’s Challenges in the CV
At first, the participants had the chance to introduce themselves and talk about their many challenges regarding their CV. Then, during the introduction Elena explained the importance of the CV. She mentioned that in the past years the CV was just a ‘1-size-fits-all’ document. It means that all former job-seekers could easily sent the CV out with minor changes and tweaks. However, nowadays things have changed. Elena depicted the modern hiring process as similar to a video game. Each game has many dungeon levels. In each level there are some additional challenges. The job seekers need to overcome them in order to go to the ‘next level’.
Automated Tracking System (ATS) for the cv
The majority the participants focused their questions on the Automated Tracking System (ATS) program. Nowadays more than 95% of the Fortune 500 companies use the ATS program (source: CNBC). The participants were very keen to understand it. Not only how it works, but also to have some essential tricks to beat it. How can they overcome it without spending too much time on each application? Elena concluded that the modern job-seekers need to be well-organized. They need to adapt the CV to each application and match the important keywords. The job-seekers can find these keywords in the job description. She suggested that only by following this structure, there is a higher chance to have the CV landed in the ‘Yes’ pile. And soon, they will have an interview.
Volunteering work in the cv?
Some participants concerned about volunteering work. How can the job-seekers use volunteering experiences to leverage the skills mentioned in the CV? Can they use these experiences to apply for more qualified jobs? Elena confirmed that being a volunteer for an organization is indeed well-perceived and valued in the Dutch job market. Adding volunteering work into the CV structure is beneficial. It will show how the candidate is improving personally, as well as donating the time to the community.
Wrap-up
At the end of the webinar the participants wrapped the session up. They acknowledged that looking for a job is also a full-time job. In addition, they need to be more aware on what prevents them for being selected for a job, and how to eliminate them in their CVs.
Want to know more about the most common mistakes in the CV (and how to fix them)? Visit Elena’s previous post here.
Biography
Elena is an internationally certified Italian career and business coach working in the Netherlands since 2008. She offers hands-on packages for mid/senior expat professionals who are looking for a job, thinking of a career shift or considering coaching to boost their career development. As a founder of the boutique agency Melly Consulting, she has a 20-year-experience in corporate Business-to-Business and Business-to-Consumer companies covering managerial roles.