Applying For A Job
Curriculum Vitae / Resume
Your
CV will be one of many that the company receives that week.
Therefore, it is a good idea to make it stand out, subtly, from the
rest e.g. use coloured paper, include a photo on the front page.
However, employers do not have the time to wade through long-winded
applications so you should keep things condensed and get your main
points across. If possible get all the information on one page, if
not, use no more than two. They will ask for any more detailed
information that they require if they decide to ask you along for an
interview.
You can get your CV done professionally. Recruitment papers and
probably your local paper carry advertisements from CV specialists.
Another option is to find someone with a professional CV and copy
the format. My own CV is online, see link opposite under personal
information. I have always done my own CV, feel free to copy the
format!
Doing it yourself is cheaper and not necessarily a mistake. Knowing
how to do it properly though is important. It is your shop window.
It is the only thing potential employers have, to decide if they
want to interview you. It can make the difference between getting a
good job and not getting any interviews. Suffice to say that in 14
years offshore I've never been out of work for more than a couple of
weeks, but you have to search out the jobs, they don't fall in your
lap very often.
I am not going to go into great detail on the appropriate layouts
for CVs. They should, however, contain personal and educational
information, skills profile, employment history, references and
interests/hobbies.
They should contain accurate and honest information and be free of
spelling and grammatical errors.
Your leisure time activities are of interest to employers as it
tells them if you are a loner or team worker. If your main past
times are, for example, reading, playing computer games and painting
water colours, throw in a team sport.
Covering Letter
This is also important as it catches the reader's attention and
helps them to decide whether to put your CV on the pile or to
actually read it. As with the CV, the covering letter should be
precise and to the point. It should guide the potential employer to
your particular employment wishes. A typical example would include……
Potential Employer's Address
Your Address & Phone Number
The Date
Dear Sir / Madam,
I have recently completed my basic Offshore Safety &
Emergency Training with RGIT Limited in Aberdeen and now wish to
pursue a career within the Oil Industry.
Ideally I would like to gain employment within my trade as an
electrician, however I am willing to start at the bottom and work my
way up within your organization. I am therefore looking for a job as
a Roustabout.
Please find my CV enclosed.
Yours faithfully,
Joe Bloggs
When you have created your well-presented CV and covering
letter, bought your stamps and A4 envelopes, you are then ready to
apply for a position. Also enclose a photocopy of your survival
certificate and offshore approved medical certificate.
I am reminded at this point of a news item I saw a few years back
when a particular oil company was so inundated with CVs that they
trashed all applications in brown manila envelopes and only
considered those in white envelopes with a first class stamp.
Unfair? Yes, but I've never used a brown envelope since.
Also, it's a good idea to use full A4 size envelopes so your freshly
printed CV and copied certificates are not creased when they arrive
on the desk of your prospective employer.
Find out which companies pertain to your employment goal and create
and edit an address list as applicable. Initially make contact by
sending a CV to as many companies as you can on the next page.
Alternatively you can make use of the CV submittal service from
www.rigjobs.co.uk
They charge a fee for this service, $30, but it's 100% honest, I
have tested it, it works, I even got a job offer, although they make
no guarantees of work.
I have had dealings with the people who run this site and it is 100%
honest and you will get what you pay for. The replies come directly
back to your own email address.
Most are just standard replies promising to put you on their
database, which 99% of companies will do with written applications
anyway. It's an excellent and cost effective way of getting your CV
on file with over 1,000 genuine companies.
I don't charge for the address details on the next page because some
of the addresses and company details may not be as up to date as
they might be but the ones at
www.rigjobs.co.uk are
kept up to date and the service is well worth $30. |