CV & Cover Letter

CV 

What is a CV - types of CV

CV stands for curriculum vitae, which is Latin for 'course of life'. It is a summary of your experience, skills and education. In the USA and Canada it is known as a résumé - this is the French word for summary. – Google definition

Basically a CV is the first form of contact that you will have with an employer. This will determine whether or not you are accepted for an interview. A CV will hold relevant information on what skills you hold, qualifications you have, work experience or previous jobs, as well as a section of information regarding you as an individual.

When producing a CV there are some vital things that you need to include and make sure that they are accurate. You should NEVER lie on your CV because this is the first form of contact you will have with an employer.

There are many form of CV that take place in today’s world, CV such as professional, creative, electronic, academic and so on. 

The main focus is going to be on a professional and creative CV this is due to me focusing on these two due to my professional practice for university.

According to Google the definition of what a professional CV is. ‘A summary of a job applicant's professional experience and educational background, along with other relevant information regarding the candidate's qualifications’.

As stated above a creative CV is imaginative, and innovated approach, with a use of judgement and awareness of what you would assume would be appropriate when applying for a company-based job.

How exactly do you write a CV? If you don’t have a CV or want to improve on your CV here is a few tips on exactly what you may want to include. Tips on ways to gain an idea of how to produce a CV

·        Look at other people CV

·        Make notes on what exactly is presented

·        Look on the internet

·        Look in books

·        Ask for advice

·        Make sure you have all the relevant information needed

·        Look how to write a personal statement

How exactly do you write a CV? If you don’t have a CV or want to improve on your CV here is a few tips on exactly what you may want to include.

Tips on ways to gain an idea of how to produce a CV

•       Look at other people CV
•       Make notes on what exactly is presented
•       Look on the internet
•        Look in books
•        Ask for advice
•        Make sure you have all the relevant information needed
•        Look how to write a personal statement

How to write a professional CV

'A ​short written ​description of ​your ​education, ​qualifications, ​previous ​jobs, and sometimes also ​your ​personal ​interests, that you ​send to an ​employer when you are ​trying to get a ​job’ – Cambridge English Dictionary meaning.

Above are two example of a professional CV. Looking at these two different professional CV’s should enlighten you on exactly what a professional CV looks like. 

A professional CV is the first impression that you make of yourself to an employer when applying for a job.

Did you know an employer would look at your CV for about 5-7 seconds and that is it? So first impressions count. If so, you need to catch the attention of the employer straight away. Below are just a few helpful tips that I have found while scrolling through the Internet, they give you the information you need.When writing a CV I basically took all the advice on the previous pages and added my own information.

My professional CV will be placed on the next few pages

Jessica Marie Poulter Walker

3 Wheatley Road

Hardwick

Stockton on Tees

TS19 8PB

Jessica_walker_10@hotmail.co.uk / 07584755444

http://jessicampwalker.wix.com/jessicampwalker

Personal Profile

I am currently studying at Cleveland College of Art and Design for a degree in photography and I am due to graduate with a BA Photography Hons in July 2016. I have had the opportunity to exhibit my work at the House of Blah Blah as well as volunteering for the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust and Stockton Riverside College. These opportunities and placement has enabled me to develop and practice not only my photographic skills but also valuable and key transferable skills. I consider myself to be an enthusiastic, motivated and positive person who likes a challenge. I can work on my own initiative as well as in a team. I am a hard worker who learns quickly and who is dependable and a trust worthy person. I am flexible and adaptable when learning new skills and taking on responsibilities

Once graduation for Cleveland College of Art and Design I am aiming to progress onto a PGCE course in 2017 to become a teacher of Art and Design either in Secondary School or at College level. In the mean time I am going to volunteer in a secondary school and a college to determine which course of interest suits my abilities and to decided whether or not I will become a college tutor or a Secondary School teacher. 

Key skills

·       Excellent communications Skills

·       Problem Solving

·       Extremely Creative individual

·       Confident working with others as well as using own initiative

·       Flexible and adaptable

·       Time Keeping

·       Always strive to do the best

·        

 Education

2013 – on-going:                                             CCAD (Cleveland College of Art and Design)

BA Photography

2010-2013:                                                      Stockton Riverside College

BTEC Extended Diploma in Art and Design L3

BTEC Art and Design L2

EDI Functional Skills Mathematics L1 + L2

EDI Functional Skills English L2

2005-2010:                                                      Our Lady & St Bedes Secondary School

GSCEs (B-D) including, English, Maths, Science, drama, French, RE and Art and Design

Employment History 

September 2014 – On-going:             CCAD, Hartlepool             Student Ambassador/Warden

Duties Include

-       Representing the University on Open Days and UCAS Events

-       Showing future students Accommodation

-       Campus Tours

-       General Enquiries about the university

-       Responsibility for over 50 students

-       Providing Counselling to Students

April 2012 – November 2012:            Sports Direct, Middlesbrough  Retail Assistant

Duties Included

-       Customer Service

-       Pricing Goods

-       Stock Take

-       Tills

-       Tidying Shop Floor

-       General Store Duties

March 2016:                                        Tees Valley Wildlife Trust      Work Experience

Duties Included

-       Photographing local events

-       Photographing Local School

-       Planting woodland (2500 Trees)

-       Assisting with small children

February 2010:                                   Debenhams, Stockton           Work Experience

Duties Included

-       Customer Service

-       Stacking shelves

-       Pricing Goods

-       Stock Control

-       General Store Duties

Hobbies and Interests

As an up and coming photographer I spend a large amount of my time photographing and organising voluntary work for myself. I have organised voluntary work that has allowed me to work at Stockton Riverside College and in March 2016 I will be volunteering with the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust using my photographic skills to capture events during the week. I have exhibited both my photography work and my artwork, exhibiting at the House of Blah Blah and Durham Cathedral. I have participated with a mural that is placed in Thornaby Library and assisted in teaching Primary School children art development when painting a mural at Tilery Primary School.

Throughout my spare time I spend time by keeping fit through swimming and also spend time expanding my photographic knowledge and skills.

References

Jamie MacDonald

Programme Leader

Cleveland College of Art and Design

Church Square, Hartlepool

TS24 7EX

Jamie.MacDonald@ccad.ac.uk / 01429 858316

Joey McGurk

Student Services

Cleveland College of Art and Design

Church Square, Hartlepool

TS24 7EX

Joey.McGurk@ccad.ac.uk / 01429 858411 / 01642 856125

How to write a creative CV

A creative CV is another form of CV apart from it is not as formal. This imaginative way of expressing who you are and what you bring to the table. It allows you to take all you skills and experience and express them through a formal but creative way. Like the professional CV you still include all the important information such as contact details, skills, work experience, previous jobs and qualifications.

Above are two example of what exactly a creative CV could look like. I personally had never heard of a creative CV before, my initial reaction was to discover what exactly one was.

 To gain a better understanding of what a creative CV is you can look either through the Internet or in books. I mostly did my research on the Internet and came across a website that help you understand exactly what is a creative CV. The website was http://www.jobsandcareersmag.com/how-to-write-a-cv-for-the-creative-industries/

My creative CV 

What to include on a CV

• ·      Contact information – name, address, phone/mobile, email address, website
• ·      Skills – creative and technical skills
• ·      Education – previous education, current education
• ·      Employment – previous employment, current employment, work experience
• ·      Refrencing – 1x academic, 1x employment
• ·      Personal Statement

If you are wondering on how to write a personal statement here are some useful tips that helped me write mine. All information found on the website http://www.theguardian.com/careers/careers-blog/how-to-write-a-personal-statement-for-your-cv

A personal statement is about you and you as an individual, this is your way of connecting with the employer. It doesn’t need to be too personal but make sure it gives brief details about yourself and your profession.

My CV show both my professional skills and my creative skills. They are both individual to me as a professional and creative individual.

Cover Letter

What is a Cover Letter?

‘A letter sent with, and explaining the contents of, another document or a parcel of goods’.

"You will need to write a covering letter to send with your CV"

- Google Definition

Writing a Cover Letter

It first came to my attention in January about Cover Letter for your CV. I have never had one before but from researching throughout the Internet and talking to professional and work guidance tutor it came to my attention that producing a cover letter with your CV allows you to make more of an impact and connect with the person reading it.

The one question that came to my mind is how exactly do I produce a cover letter. I search the Internet but came across this website that helped me.

This is a link to the website that I found https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/cvs-and-cover-letters/cover-letters

Each of the images attached are screen prints form the website situated above.

Also the website https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/cvs-and-cover-letters/cover-letters gives you 11 tips on writing a cover letter, bellow is a screen shot of exactly what they are.

To create my cover letter I looked at many different sources of information to make sure I had all of the correct information that I needed to produce this piece of work, as the cover letter goes to the recipient who may just be the one who will give you the job.

So not only did I follow the information above but also I looked at Cover letter templates on the Internet, some that looked like the ones below.

After looking and gaining more understanding of what exactly is a cover letter i had to produce two cover letters. Using the same information I produced one to go with my creative CV and another for my professional CV.

The first cover letter that has the turquoise colour within it is my cover letter. Producing my cover letter I wanted it to go with my creative CV, as I would be attaching the two documents together when applying for a job so I felt the need for them to have the same outlook and structure. Below is my creative CV and Cover letter.

The second cover letter that is places on the previous page is of my professional CV. This is not as colourful as my creative CV as both CV play a different role when applying for a job. Although I have used the same information on each cover letter this particular cover letter needed to be professional.

Below is an image of both my cover letter and professional CV

On my cover letter there are sections that are coloured red. In these sections it is where you add relevant information regarding to where you found the job you are applying for and the positions and so on. This just makes the application look more though out and that you have actually looked and gathered information relating to the job that you are applying for.