You’ve seen an advert for your dream job at the charity or organisation you’ve always wanted to work for, but how do you get on the all-important shortlist? A good CV is your ticket to the interview. It should be well written, easy to follow and individually tailored to each job you apply for. Here’s a guide on how to achieve a perfect CV for any voluntary sector position.
Sell yourself and your drive for the cause
Perhaps easier said than done for modest Brits, but selling yourself is crucial says, Matthew Page, head of human resources at the mental health charity, Mind. “It’s good to treat a CV as if it’s an advert on you,” he says. “Think about what sells you as a person, it might be a particular qualification, or perhaps your personal attributes.”
Showing what your drive for the cause is – whether this is from a personal experience or simply a deep interest – is also important. Page says: “Passion, drive and leadership are good to highlight. The voluntary sector can’t survive without these qualities.”
Get the basics right
“You might be surprised that a lot of people don’t pay attention to the basic aspects of a CV. Getting the charity name right [in personal statements or covering letters] is a good start,” says Eleonora Orlowska a key worker with youth charity, Young Futures. Spelling and grammar are also important and candidates should ask a friend to look over their CV before they press send. Orlowska adds: “Check how readable your CV is in terms of layout and structure. Don’t have different fonts or use bold and italic too much. You don’t want the person to have to fight to read the information you have on there.”
Focus on impact
“The sector has traditionally overvalued experience and undervalued potential which is what we’re trying to address,” says Amy Pettipher, programme manager at Charityworks, a graduate programme for the not-for-profit sector. “To overcome this when you’re listing out your experience – whether that be work or voluntary – you should avoid simply listing tasks you did.” Focusing instead on impact and the individual contribution that you had. “If you’ve had impact, the tasks you carried out to achieve that are implied,” Pettipher adds.
Highlight voluntary work
Don’t undersell your volunteering experience as it’s often something that HR managers look out for. Lai-Har Cheung, HR manager at National Council of Voluntary Organisation says: “Any knowledge and skills you have acquired through volunteering needs to go on your CV. It’s as important as paid work as often it can make you stand out. If you’ve learned how to manage teams for example by doing some voluntary work, it shows a different side of your skills.”
Tailor your CV to the person specification
When writing about your previous experience, bring relevant skills which match the person specification to the top of each job description. It may seem time-consuming if you’re applying for lots of jobs but in a competitive market, it’s crucial to make life easy for recruiters who have to read hundreds of CVs for each vacancy. Cheung adds: “[Rearranging your CV] means you’re stopping the person having to search to find lines that match the person specification.”
Be specific
Talking about specific key achievements will help recruiters get a picture of what you can actually do. It’s particularly important for fundraising roles. “Talk about exactly how much money you’ve raised year on year,” says Neil Hogan, deputy managing director at Charity People, a recruitment consultancy for the sector. One danger is being too general especially about big numbers as it can look like you’re exaggerating. Hogan says: “If you’re very specific about what you’ve done then it will be obvious you’re not making it up. It’s more tangible and recruiters can ask questions around it.”
Highlight your influence
This is particularly important for campaigning roles. Kamran Naqui, senior HR adviser at Greenpeace says: “Highlight where you’ve influenced and persuaded stakeholders in previous roles. From a campaigning point of view this is vital. Drawing attention to previous volunteer activism is a good way to show your enthusiasm for the organisation.” Something else to highlight is any online campaigning success, Naqui explains: “What we might look for is how a candidate has used digital media to get a campaign’s message across or get people active in a cause. It’s another edge to have.”
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