July 2010 www.word-smiths.co.uk

Midsummer greetings from Word Smiths

We’re taking time out from a hectic schedule to tell you what we’ve been doing in the past few months and invite you to take advantage of some great offers. We also thought you might like to read Jane's thoughts on how to create a brilliant CV.

Word Smiths has always offered CV writing, not just as part of our business writing training and consultancy, but also for friends and family. And we know that these CVs have had a great success rate – most applicants got through to interview and some were offered jobs thanks (in part at least) to our CV-polishing efforts.

In this Word Power, Jane sets out some of the principles we have learned about this important area of business writing. CV writing is a vital skill at any time – but it's particularly important now for anyone thinking of sprucing up their CV in the current climate of public sector cutbacks and downsizing.

Don’t despair, because jobs are available – even in these challenging times. The trick is to be fully aware of all your strengths and be ready jump as soon as you recognise a suitable opportunity.

In this edition

Sign up for Word Power – free audio book download
Word Smiths update
Spruce up your CV with Word Smiths’ tips and techniques
Autumn/winter open course programme

Sign up for Word Power – get free coaching & mentoring audio book download

Join the mailing list for Word Power today and we will send you a login for a FREE download of Word Smith’s highly rated audio package Coaching and Mentoring for Success. The CD edition of this proven training resource currently sells on Amazon for £24.49 – but we are offering it to you as a download completely free. Just follow this link to sign up to receive Word Power and other information about Word Smith’s courses and publications. We will then email you the login details to download the Coaching and Mentoring for Success audio files and pdf booklet.

Word Smiths promises not to sell, pass on or share your information with any other organisation. If you do not wish to receive any further email communications from Word Smiths, follow this link.

Follow this link for details of other Word Smiths audio books - Speed Reading for Success and Memory and Learning for Success.

Word Smiths update

We’ve been working with several new customers in the first part of the year. Word Smiths has:

Organised speed reading courses for a large university on the South coast of England
Designed and delivered bespoke business writing courses for a market leader in the food wholesale industry
Delivered minute writing courses to a long-established UK publishing house and to a Midlands healthcare trust
Run speed reading courses for two separate departments within a major Scottish university
Designed and delivered a proofreading course for the marketing department of a flourishing FE/HE college in the South of England
Designed and delivered copyediting courses for the editing team of a large government department
Delivered Mind Mapping courses for a leading university in the South East
Created a letter writing style guide for a newly-created government agency. This includes style guidelines, letter writing principles, a process for writing, standard letters, sample paragraphs, email guidelines and frequently asked questions
Designed websites for a playwright, an educational consultancy in Wales and a London tree surgeon.

Alongside this new activity, we continue to work with our established customers – organising training events in Mind Mapping, speed reading, memory techniques, minute writing and business/report writing.

On the publishing side, Word Smiths' long-promised fourth audio book Effective Business Writing for Success is almost completed and will be published by September.

We will be offering Effective Business Writing for Success to Word Power readers at a special pre-publication price of £10 – email us if you'd like to be kept informed.

Spruce up your CV with Word Smiths’ tips and techniques

Employers like CVs because they encourage people to present themselves in their own way. For applicants, CVs are an opportunity to work out how to persuade prospective employers that they are exactly the person required for the vacancy.

Because CVs are such a vital part of landing the job you want, it’s vital to make sure that yours will create the right impression with the people who are going to be reading it. Remember – the purpose of the CV is to get an interview. It’s not an opportunity to note down the story of your entire life. To make the right impact, your CV has to be brief and relevant.

Getting it right

A useful start in developing an effective CV is to look at examples that others have produced. There’s a good selection of books that will give you this information, or you can ask friends to show you successful CVs that they have written. This is a valuable way of identifying what you mean by a ‘good’ CV, and it will help you to set your personal standards. You should not be afraid to develop your own style – because this is what will make your CV more interesting for those who will read it.

Follow the links below if you want to see two examples of what we mean by good CVs.
Example CV1 Example CV2.

Look at the example CVs and notice the features that make them effective.

They have a logical structure:

They start with a brief overview of the applicant’s current situation, what he/she can offer an employer and her/his ambitions.
The central sections include brief relevant details about education, work experience and voluntary work. The stress is on measureable achievements and transferable skills, rather than what she/he actually did.
They finish with a short description of applicants’ interests and contact details of referees.

They make good use of side headings and key words:

Side headings help readers find the information they are looking for.
Key words convince the speedy reader that you are the person they need.
Remember, no-one is going to read through a CV word-by-word. Recruiters will skim it in no more than about 30 seconds, scanning the layout and picking up key words and phrases as they go.

They are written in plain English:

Both CVs use straightforward and unambiguous language.
They avoid using management-speak, archaic terms or stock CV phrases – these never impress.

They are short:

The CVs communicate all the major points in two pages or less.

The best way to create an impressive CV is to put yourself in the position of the person carrying out the recruiting. This will help you to make sure that you include the information that they want – rather than what you want to write.

Your CV should demonstrate both that you are the right person for the job and that you are different enough to be worth interviewing. It should be personal, engaging and professional. But remember that employers are unlikely to be impressed by a gimmicky CV presented on coloured or luminous paper or which include cartoons or family photographs.

You do not need to need to include details of:

Your marital status (this is not relevant)
Your age (your education/work history dates are enough)
Your cycling proficiency badge or your poetry reading certificate.

Get in touch for if you would like your CV – or your report, newsletter, brochure or article – tweaked by Word Smiths' ‘document doctor’ service.

Autumn and Winter 2010 open course dates

Word Smiths course brochure Get in touch with Nick to book on one of our popular open courses:

16 September 2010 – Managing Information Effectively with Mind Mapping and Speed Reading
29 September 2010 – Speed Read Your Way to Success
12 October 2010 – Effective Business Writing
2 November 2010 – Effective Minute Writing
17 November 2010 – Managing Information Effectively with Mind Mapping and Speed Reading
30 November 2010 – Speed Read Your Way to Success

Word Smiths open courses are held in Bristol, Swindon and Reading. We also offer these and other topics as in-house courses. You can download our full course brochure here (1.8MB pdf).

Open course fees are £325 (ex VAT) per delegate, with a 10% discount for two or more delegates or for places booked. Course fee includes lunch, refreshments and course materials pack.

Follow Jane on Twitter.

Read Jane's blog