CVs & Covering Letters

Introduction

Welcome to this topic on CVs and cover letters. In this guide you'll find out:

The different methods that users can use to add their CV to Universal Jobmatch How users can add their CV using each of these methods The difference between a public and private CV How users can add a cover letter to Universal Jobmatch How many CVs and cover letters users can upload to Universal Jobmatch and why

this is helpful.

Other guides within this toolkit are:

Getting Started & Registration Setting Up An Email Address

Transferable Skills Carrying Out a Work Search

Job Details And Application Saving Jobs for Claimants

Recording Activity & Messages Caseloading & Messaging Claimants

Help And Support

CVs In Universal Jobmatch

A CV (or Curriculum Vitae) is a short list of facts about an individual, their work history, skills, qualifications and experience. It is the primary way that employers will assess whether they're suitable for a job so it's essential that it is up to scratch. It's important for your claimants to spend time working on their CVs to ensure they sell themselves to employers effectively.

Universal Jobmatch allows users to upload multiple CVs. This allows your claimant to tailor their CV to match different job applications. There are three ways of adding a CV to Universal Jobmatch - building it, uploading it, or copying and pasting it

Building Your CV

To build a CV, users will be asked to fill in a variety of sections and text fields. Let's take a look at what information they'll need to include.

The title of the user's CV is important as it will be the first thing that employers see when you apply for a job. They should use it to sell themselves and describe their skills. For example, good CV titles would be 'Award-Winning Graphic Designer', or 'Experienced Electrician'.

The CV title also helps them keep track of which CV is which if they upload multiple documents.

Users can set the CV to be 'private' or 'public' - if they make the CV public, it is then searchable by employers and visible. This means it is possible for employers to 'head-hunt' them and invite them to apply for jobs.

In the employment history field users should add what they did in past jobs and any achievements they accomplished while working there. They don't need to provide full details of these, just enough to understand the main points. They should use full sentences and not bullet points.

The user's CV should include what level of education they have achieved and any qualifications they have. The dates of their education are not compulsory - their application should always be based on their skills and qualifications, not their age.

The people the user chooses to add as references may know them personally or professionally. Ideally, they would provide two references from people who work in the sector in which they are looking for work.

If they haven't worked for a while, it could be someone who has known them for a long time. It should be someone who can comment on their qualities in relation to the job. The user should ask the person to agree to this beforehand.

The additional information field is an opportunity to tell employers a bit more about you. The user should use this field to highlight relevant information about themselves that does not fit in any of the previous sections. This might include achievements, skills, or hobbies that are relevant to the job you are applying for. You may also want to explain any gaps in your CV.

Uploading a CV

If a user has already built and saved their CV as a separate document, it's easy for them to upload it to Universal Jobmatch.

From the CV section of Universal Jobmatch, select 'Upload CV'. Begin by adding the title of your CV and decide if you want it to be public or private. Then select the 'Choose file' button to find the CV file you want to upload. This will open a popup window where you can find the file you wish to upload from your computer.

Find the CV in the popup, select it and then select 'Open'. Having returned to the Upload CV section, select the 'Upload CV' button.

Your uploaded CV will now appear as a saved CV in the CV section of Universal Jobmatch.

Copying & Pasting

The final way of adding a CV to Universal Jobmatch is to copy and paste it. This method isn't as popular as the previous two methods but is also very straightforward.

From the CV section of Universal Jobmatch, select 'Copy and paste CV'. Begin by giving your CV a title and then choose whether you want it to be public or private.

Then find the CV text you want to copy into Universal Jobmatch. Copy it then return to Universal Jobmatch and paste it into the CV text field. Then select 'Create CV'.

Your CV will now appear as a saved CV in the CV section of Universal Jobmatch.

Managing Your CVs

Universal Jobmatch allows users to have multiple CVs uploaded to the site, so it's important that they manage them well. Users can do this on the main CV page which allows them to edit, print preview, copy or delete their CV. If using the CV builder, we recommend against using the printed version to issue to prospective employers due to issues with the layout in printed format.

Universal Jobmatch allows users to have up to five CVs on the system at any one time. This is particularly useful if they are looking for work in different sectors and so have multiple CVs to match. Only one of these CVs can be set as public. If they change the type of job they're looking for, they may want to change the CV that is made public.

Cover Letters

When applying for a job, users are competing against a lot of other people. It's important they make an impression and stand out from other applicants. A properly presented and prepared cover letter, alongside their CV, will help them do this.

Users should use the cover letter to sell themselves without duplicating the information contained within the CV. It is their opportunity to write directly to the employer and explain why they are the best person for the job. This should be short - no more than one side of A4 paper.

Just like CVs, Universal Jobmatch allows users to create up to five cover letters. This means they can create tailored cover letters to use as a starting point for when they're applying for similar jobs.

Each cover letter can be up to 4000 characters (about 500 words). This is the absolute maximum you'd want a cover letter to be - it should be short but to the point.

If a user has never written a cover letter before, Universal Jobmatch contains an optional template that they can then use to help them create their own cover letter. When they select this template, the text entry box will auto-fill with text that they can then edit to create their personalised cover letter.

If they're posting their application, they can also print off their cover letter to accompany their CV.

Summary

You've reached the end of this guide on CVs and cover letters. Before moving on, take a moment to remind yourself of the key points:

There are three ways of adding a CV to Universal Jobmatch - building it, uploading it, or copying and pasting it. Each of these methods is easy to do.

Users can save up to five CVs and five cover letters on Universal Jobmatch - this helps them tailor their application for each job.

Users can set one of their CVs to be 'public'. This means that employers can search it to see if the claimant matches their vacancy before they've even applied.

The title of a CV is the first thing that many employers will see - users should use it to sell themselves.

The cover letter library has a helpful template that users can use as the starting point for their cover letters.