Your CV is your “Career Passport”
Janice Mckenry, Director of JEM Childcare offers some top tips for presenting yourself to potential employers and some vital information surrounding safer recruitment in the sector.
Your CV is with you all your working life and ideally should be kept to two A4 pages and up to date. Most CVs are now uploaded online which is a public domain so it is important that the information reflects you for employment and not giving away personal information nor information that is not up to date, together with information that is irrelevant or could be detrimental to you getting a job.
Your CV is who you are, your career history, your qualifications.
A simple guide for successful employment, what is needed to help you on your career journey.
CV Essential information
Always put your full name, address should be location and postcode only, your email address – ideally this should be your name – this is more professional, your mobile number – voice messages need to be suitable, employers may not call you back if it is a jokey one or offensive.
Profile - this needs to be a short summary about you and also your career to date and for the future, your objectives, aims and future goals. Potential Employers can learn a lot about the person you are from the information you add in here.
Next should be all your employment history, ideally start with your current employer. For each employer you need to
- start and finish dates (month and year)
- the Employer and your current job role -
- brief summary of what you do - in Early Years ideally this should include
- size of the setting and whether a group or independent setting
- what age group you work with and if you have experience in other age groups
- your progression in your setting
- your responsibilities eg: how many team you are responsible for
- Ofsted Inspection Outcome
Next - Qualifications
- Secondary / College qualifications including dates attained
- Childcare Qualifications including dates attained
- Additional courses eg First Aid, Safeguarding
Finally Additional Information
Add here a brief on your interests, whether you drive, if your DBS is on the Update service.
CV Non- Essential Information
In this age of identity theft, it is advisable not to add your full address, your National Insurance number and Referees names, addresses and phone numbers (do you have their permission to advertise their details?).
Also you do not need to add your job description from your contract of employment nor all courses you have been on especially is they have been updated.
Covering Letters
Covering letters are usually sent together with your CV when you are directly applying to an employer for a specific job role letting the potential employer know why you think you would be suitable for this role.
Application Forms
For “Safer Recruitment” – especially in Early Years, Agencies will require Application Forms to be completed, this supports your CV and gives specific information on DBS, travel, salary, safeguarding and health questions, any disciplinary issues, together with consents for references.
All providers will also require completed Application Forms as part of your contract of employment and some employers require these to be completed prior to interview as these form part of their interview process.
It is important that ALL information given on an application form is true and accurate. If you give any information which may be found to be false, misleading or you deliberately omit any relevant details you may find yourself not being offered an interview or when employed you can be dismissed on these grounds.
Tips
- Always keep your “Career Passport” up to date – sending a CV to a prospective employer that is not up to date can say a million ‘wrong’ things to an employer
- Spelling and grammar – use ‘spell check’ before finalising your CV – mistakes in spelling etc will be noted by employers
- When adding any new employment to your CV make sure you change the date to reflect your previous employment
- Email addresses and phone voice messages – nothing silly, rude or offensive – this will reflect on you
- If you are unhappy about something in your employment – DON’T put this on your CV
- Social Media – lots of potential Employers will look you up on social media so be mindful of your profile and comments
- References: these should be a minimum of your last two employers, some employers will require more. References are requested from potential employers and therefore you do not need to put anything on your CV
So every success for the future with your “Career Passport” in hand and on the desk of your next potential employer.
W: http://jemchildcaresolutions.co.uk