Set your CV up for success and stop selling yourself short!
CAL’s learning coaches are available to give CV success tips to all students. The coaches notice that often mature age workers fail to recognise and value the considerable skills and underpinning knowledge they’ve developed over their working lives.
Are you Selling yourself Short?
Mature age workers can de-value or perhaps not even notice the skills they’ve developed while progressing through their career and life in general. Achieving a new qualification opens doors to apply for positions that may seem ambitious at first. Sometimes it’s not easy to put your new skills into a different context that will make you stand out to a prospective employer.
In our experience there are two main reasons why mature age workers sell themselves short in their CV:
- They lack the confidence to express their skills and experience to tell the world how skilled they are
- They lack the training to transfer their skills and knowledge from one context to another and to sell their skillsets in a different and perhaps challenging or at least new context
Addressing the Gender Issue
We notice with women graduates, more than with men, that a gender issue occurs from broken work histories where women have stopped work to bring up a family or, they have perhaps taken a lower level role that allows them to manage both work and family duties.
Many talented women looking to gain better jobs or progress their careers are affected by workplace gender issues and that hampers their ability to sell themselves in their CV in the most positive light.
TIP: The important strategy here is to move through any mistaken embarrassment and ask for assistance to sell yourself in your CV in the best possible way.
Use your Maturity to Stand Out from the Crowd
Aside from a cover letter, your CV is usually the first and often the only important piece of information about you that a prospective employer may ever see. Employers aren’t mind-readers, and they often see hundreds of CVs every year. Your CV must stand out from the crowd.
Chances are your experience and commitment to improving yourself with a Diploma qualification will make you instantly attractive to an employer. Tailor your CV to meet the key criteria of the position you are applying for and lead with your strengths. Don’t make the mistake of burying your most suitable skills in the middle of your CV, make sure they are shown front and centre.
A CAL coach can assist you to recreate your CV in a way that highlights your career strengths. A modern-day CV doesn’t need to account for every year of your work life. You want to show a pattern of career advancement and practical skill application. Ensure you position the qualification you have just achieved as a hero quality that will define you against candidates who are lesser qualified.
Understand your Business Value
Mature age workers are a valued part of the Australian business workforce. In fact, many employers prefer to hire staff with strong work and life experiences.
There is evidence that mature aged workers can:
- Save a business money due to lower rates of absenteeism
- Make a business more productive by improving processes
- Bring operational improvements
- Be great mentors to less experienced employees
In addition, over the next ten years, as the Australian population ages, there will be:
- A decreasing number of young people entering the workforce
- An increasing number of older workers staying in the workforce
Mature age job seekers will find that an older average workforce age will have your CV seem like a logical one for employers to consider after all.
So, to secure the job you’ve always wanted, or to change your career, you must set your CV up for success. Be brave and have the confidence to sell your skills, knowledge, abilities and experience in your CV.