To get your dream job it is enough to send the CV yourself. Sometimes, however, it is not enough – then you need to think about other additions to the CV, which will be able to convince the recruiter. Apart from the CV, what can you attach to the application? We have 7 proposals for you.
1. Cover Letter
Not new right? The cover letter is required by most employers, although not read by everyone. Very often, candidates simply copy the Cover Letter from the Internet and make cosmetic corrections in it. Another method of improving work on the Cover Letter is also one letter, a bit impersonal in expression, addressed to everyone. Both forms work quite average – the fact of unwillingness to take the time to write the Letter is all too apparent. Therefore, if you decide to write a Cover Letter, it is better to write it from scratch, match it with the job offer and check if it is error-free.
2.Portfolio
For some professions – such as graphic designer, artist, designer, architect or programmer, the work portfolio is the most important element of the application – often more important than the CV. The portfolio can be delivered both as an attachment (e.g. fragments of code in .pdf or several graphic works collected in one compressed folder). However, it’s best to have your portfolio available online and only send a link to it.
The portfolio should be:
- rich,
- full,
- cross-cutting,
- current,
- showing competences;
3.Reference
Your internship tutor was so delighted with you that he was in tears that there is no vacancy for you? He gave vent to his despair by preparing you wonderful references ? Attach them to your CV. When deciding to send a reference, remember a few rules:
- files cannot be heavy, so check how much they weigh before sending and reduce or compress if necessary;
- do not send references very old, if you do not send newer ones at the same time – they may suggest that you did not do so well at work at present;
- if you have many, do not send more than three references – no one will read anyway;
- also choose the references that relate to the job most relevant to the job you are applying for;
4. Certificates
Certificate of completion of courses or language certificates are less and less often found in the form of attachments to the CV. Usually, information about having a certificate / completing the course is included in the CV, but we do not add a certificate as an attachment. However, there are situations where it is desirable. When? Mainly when the employer requires a specific authorization – e.g. Assessor certificate, language skills at a certain level, being after the course of conducting projects using the Prince method, etc. If we send the certificate as an attachment, we make sure that the scan is not too heavy and at the same time a legible certificate. We also do not attach certificates from small trainings (type 2 hour customer service training).
5. Presentation
Some candidates send presentations . You can send such material about yourself, but … you always have to have an idea for it. If we decide on presentations, let’s make sure that:
- bring in new data (e.g. she talked about our aspirations and personality traits)
- had a purpose (e.g. presenting our portfolio or even presentation creation skills)
- it wasn’t infantile (we don’t place butterflies or fancifully penetrating slides)
- did not repeat the data from the CV
- she was not artificially pseudo-fun (your and your recruiter’s sense of humor may vary and not always what is funny for you will be fun for him – it’s best to show presentations to several people of different ages and with different attitudes to us and ask them if what they saw made them laugh or annoyed).
6. Info-graphic
The fashion of recent months is info-graphic, which is a non-standard presentation of your achievements and skills in the form of graphics and charts.
You do not need to be a graphic talent to create an infographic – just use one of the free programs that allow visualization through the infographic. Remember, however, that the infographic should be both legible and include data that was not included in the CV. It also cannot completely replace a CV.
7. Video on Youtube (Vimeo etc.)
The last of the proposals, which, however, can be extremely useful to us. We attach the video wherever freedom of expression and presence matter. It is also a non-standard method of interest of the recruiter, allowing you to present yourself almost live. However, we do not attach the movie when we are unable to maintain freedom in front of the camera, we have a speech impediment or we do not know what to say (we do not have an idea for house advertising and as a result we go back three by three). To avoid the viral effect and become a laughing stock of the internet, it’s safer to block access to the video.
When attaching various documents and options to your CV, do not overdo it. First of all, you must not:
- send weighing 6MB (and more) email
- attach several (and certainly not all) suggestions
- attach information that takes the person reading time, and adds nothing to our application (e.g. presentation or infographic without any additional information)
- attach materials that may lower our chances of being invited to an interview (e.g. poor presentation, Cover Letter with errors, a YouTube video where we are unprofessional)
Thank you for reading