In recent weeks the Irish financial services jobs market has shown some signs of life, but there are still significantly more people chasing a comparatively small number of positions. Competition among candidates for the available roles is the toughest it has been in years and jobseekers therefore need to adopt a different approach applying for new positions. Chief among these is tailoring your CV to the new environment.
Be specific A typical misconception is that a CV should just list day-to-day tasks, but employers want to know not just what you've done in the past but also that you can do what they are asking for in the future. Try and match each requirement of the job specification to a specific skill-set or past experience. In the current climate you need to tailor your CV to fit each job you’re applying for. Don’t assume that your job title will tell a prospective employer enough about your capabilities. For example, a ‘fund accountant’ can represent a broad remit and ‘fund administrator, ‘transfer agency’ and ‘shareholder services’ can all be interpreted as the same. Unless you are specific about the details of your role, it can be hard for employers to differentiate between your CV and another candidate. If you’re a fund accountant, for instance, information such as the value and type of funds, size of the team, and your level of involvement in various stages of the administration to financial reporting process are crucial. Similarly, for obvious reasons, individuals who can demonstrate profit generating or cost-saving skills or who can bring with them valuable client relationships are highly sought after in the current market. If you were involved in reducing costs, to what extent was this successful? How was this measured? Can you put a currency value to it? A future employer will be much more interested if you can demonstrate the step-change in project savings that you were personally involved in. Get to the point A well-written CV should highlight to an employer exactly what they need to know as early as possible. Ensure they know you have just the right background by summarising exactly when, where and how you’ve demonstrated the requirements of the role in a ‘profile’ section near the top of your CV. This section should be concise - about 50 words in length - and also include your funds experience and length of time working in the industry. Explain, don't omit Having gaps in your career history can cause some candidates to be nervous but as long as you explain them clearly you should avoid any negative queries from prospective employers. For example, if your role was made redundant and there is a subsequent gap in your career history, include a quick explanation such as, ‘Due to restructuring, this position was no longer available’. Employers understand that over the past 12 month there have been increased levels of restructuring within the industry and so more jobseekers will have this feature in their career history. Likewise, if you have taken time out to travel, list the places you visited as it could be a good talking point with a potential employer. Letrecia Tippett is regional director of Irish financial recruiters Premier in Dublin View this article on http://news.efinancialcareers.ie/newsandviews_item/newsItemId-19924 |