Cape Town - Research indicates that as much as 80% of first impressions are created online before a candidate is invited to a job interview.
“When applying for a job, Google is the first approach by the interviewer, and this has become known as your Google resume or CV,” says Clare Reilly, Marketing & Sales Manager at Eiffel Corp, the accredited reseller for microlearning company Grovo in Africa.
"The first two or three pages of any Google search are important as to how you present yourself online. LinkedIn ranks well on Google, so it’s important to pay attention to your picture and how you present yourself to a potential employee."
Reilly used a few of Grovo's thousands of microlearning videos to find tips to set your CV apart from the crowd and help you clinch your dream job.
And to help you further, IOL has partnered with Eiffel Corp to offer you a chance to win a seat on Grovo.
Grovo makes it quick and easy for people to learn new skills using bite-sized video lessons that cut through the noise and make learning stick.
Winners will have access for 3 months to 2000+ lessons at the touch of a button. See details below.
"Your resume or CV should answer the question – can you do the job? But it’s important not to just transfer your traditional CV online. The traditional CV is usually formal and devoid of personality and personal branding and you are essentially selling yourself as a commodity," says Reilly.
Your online resume requires a paradigm shift – you don’t want to be a commodity. You want to communicate your uniqueness and show your difference because online is where most hiring decisions are being made.
When submitting an online resume or CV there are now two audiences – a human and a search engine. Although power verbs are compelling and important, nouns and keywords are even more important, you should also use language that helps the search engine to figure out who you are and deliver those results to the recruiter.
"You want to differentiate yourself with the recruiter and so your personal experience needs to be extractable by machines so that you can be indexed and show up on search results," says Reilly. "The use of technology by HR and recruiters will increase as technology becomes more affordable."
Some practical tips when applying for your dream job:
- Digital platforms are the new work landscape, so it’s important that your CV can be uploaded into a digital context.
- Always save your CV in a PDF format and plain text format, where the file extension is .txt.
- Avoid fancy formatting as plain text can easily be garbled when converting. Keep your document simple and stylish.
- To up your chances of landing your dream job also have an online version of your CV uploaded.
Strategies for job search keywords
When searching for a job, if you can identify the best keywords for your job search, you will locate those jobs and put yourself in the best position to be hired.
- Make a list of all the things you’re looking for – job title, experience level, geographic area. For example, if you’re looking for an admin job in Cape Town, your key search works can be administrator, admin assistant, Cape Town. Once you enter these terms into the search engine, more refined search options will appear.
- Repeat the searches with new terms that emerge and the perfect job might present itself. Be sure to take some of the terms and language from this advert into your CV and online resume. This way your application will stand out which will increase your chance of employment.
To enter the IOL/Eiffel Corp Grovo competition all you have to do is:
Send us one practical tip when applying for your dream job. Send an email with your name, phone number and the answer to [email protected], using Grovo in the subject line.
Competition Rules:
The IOL/Eiffel Corp Grovo competition will run for five weeks until July 6. Two winners will be picked per week.
IOL is 100% committed to protecting your privacy. We use the information collected to enable you to enjoy the prize draws on the website. When you enter a competition with us, we ask for your name, email address and mobile number. We use this information to manage the prize draws. We use email addresses to notify winners to let them know they have won a prize. We use the mobile numbers provided in order to contact the winner and for prize delivery. Competitions are only open to people residing in South Africa.
The winners' names may be published on our social media pages.
Employees of Independent Media, the sponsors & their agents, or any company associated with the competition & their immediate families are not eligible to enter. • Prizes are not transferable or redeemable for cash. • The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. • Receipt of entries will not be acknowledged. • The entrant accepts that entry to the competition does not constitute a contract or any form of legal commitment between the entrant and IOL.