Tips & Hints for Better Covering Letters, CVs & Interviews
From what we've seen in the recruitment process and sitting on interview panels, we reckon about 85% of people get lucky when they get a job.
And by lucky, we mean the 'chance, accident, coincidence' type of luck, not the "luck is when preparedness meets opportunity" & 'the harder I work the luckier I get' types of luck.
They get lucky because by accident rather than design their experience just happens to match enough of what the employer is looking for. This generally isn't done by planning or conscious thought, it just fortunately happens that way because the job they're going for is similar to their current one.
That's OK if your current role happens to be [very] similar to your new one, but this isn't always the case. And it regularly isn't, especially if you're looking for a promotion, or moving to a different agency or organisation, or where you have to demonstrate transferrable skills that may not immediately be obvious. That's why people often fail to even get an interview. Relying on 'luck' isn't really a strategy!
Most people talk about examples of what they do in their current role, often writing/talking very good answers and with great results to prove how good they are at it. However, the example they have given is not so relevant to what they'll be doing in the new role, and consequently they're unlikely to even get an interview let alone get the job. I'll give you an example:
Let's take the Communicate Effectively at an Adept level in the NSW Public Sector Capability Framework. The first point is "tailor communication to the audience", which let's say you do a lot of in your job & is also asked for as a capability in the new role you're applying for.
From experience in your current role, you talk about how you tailor your communication to the people you deal on the phone & face to face, how you take great care not to use any agency specific acronyms & language, saying what you say in plain, easy to understand English, how you 'keep it real & down to earth', & you round out with a great result about how you regularly get people saying thank you & sending complimentary emails to your boss because they appreciate your down to earth style & the easy to understand way you say things, & how your boss regularly gives you the more difficult cases to deal with...
However, what they mean in the new role by "tailor communication to the audience" is how succinct your briefing notes need to be, how well you will use agency-specific language & terminology in your internal reports & how you'll be extremely polished & even a little guarded in talking to senior external stakeholders & briefing the new director.
So, if you don't find out exactly what they mean in the new role by Communicate Effectively at an Adept level, and "tailor communication to the audience", then you're at risk of missing the boat. You may have that experience, and what you do may be very similar, but if you don't talk about it in the context of the new role, then you're not going to get 'lucky'.
So, the key thing to remember is to make sure you put the capabilities you're being asked to demonstrate in the context of the new job - what that means in that world, not in yours.
Once you understand that, then you can look at what you've done & angle what you say & tell stories about those things from the perspective of the new role, not your current role. That way you'll have more of the "luck is when preparedness meets opportunity" luck than the 'chance, accident, coincidence' type of luck.
JOB APPLICATION & INTERVIEW SKILLS
Southern Cross Coaching & Development are recognised experts in the field of Job Application & Interview Skills in the Public & Private Sectors. We've had great feedback & results from courses across the board, from non-management staff including specialist field staff to middle managers to very senior Executives (including Chief Executive level).
"Trainer's knowledge & practical, informal approach provided immediately implementable solutions" Chief Executive, NSW Government Agency
About the Job Application & Interview Skills Program
Over 4000 participants have graded this course, on average, 90+/100 (4.5 out of 5). Practical, easy to understand job application and interview skills that give you the best possible chance of getting a job in the Public & Private Sectors. Executive version available. Every course is customised for each particular organisation & tailored to every group wherever possible.
This course has been widely presented to 4000+ State (NSW & QLD) & Federal Public Sector participants across country & metropolitan NSW, including: NSW Department of Premier & Cabinet, WorkCover NSW (NSW SRWSD), NSW FACS (inc. Housing, ADHC, Businesslink, FACS Royal Commission), Department of Veterans' Affairs, Department of Education & Communities, NSW Police & Fire Brigades, NSW Office of Environment & Heritage, NSW Parliament, Commission for Children and Young People, QLD Transport & Main Roads, NSW LRCSSL-SS plus many others.
"The best CV/interview course I have attended" Participant, NSW SRWSD
What does the course cover? The course can be tailored to each organisation's exact needs.
- Understanding the Public (& Private) Sector selection processes & what they mean for your application
- NSW Government GSE Act 2013 compliant - explains the new, post-GSE Act process to participants
- How to effectively apply for almost any role/job. Includes:
- How to apply under the NSW Capability Framework & QLD Government Capability Leadership Framework (can be adapted to any State or Local Government). Covers most application methodologies.
- Covers applying for a job in the Private Sector
- Tools to use when writing an Expression Of Interest and/or limited length/word count application
- Covering Letters (including Targeted Questions for NSW Government)
- A range of skills to improve your interview techniques (Public & Private Sectors)
- Practical behavioural interview skills, techniques & tools to answer questions
- Overcoming anxiety & nerves, making a good first impression, what to wear, etc
- Referees - selecting & getting the best from them
- How to prepare a Best Practice CV/resume that works (Public & Private Sectors)
- Includes developing CVs for Private & Public Sector applications
- Includes a soft copy best practice CV template for all participants
- All skills are equally applicable to the Private Sector
"I have attended other similar courses, but I feel I got much more out of this course. The speaker was highly articulate, made the subject matter interesting and highly relevant." Participant, NSW OEH
Who should go on the course?
Anyone who wants to learn practical and easy to remember techniques to do better job applications & interviews. From frontline staff to Senior Executives, all will benefit.
From those who haven't applied for a job for a long time to those who think they're OK but who want to brush up on their skills - all will benefit from this course.
"Southern Cross Coaching & Development delivered the Job Application and Interview Skills course several times to our staff at NSW Businesslink. Feedback from participants from all courses was excellent. The facilitators know their content and provided great examples that people could relate to. I learnt a lot from the course that I will share with my colleagues." Organisational Development Specialist & Participant
Please contact us to discuss what you might be looking for & how we may be able to help or more information:
Call: 0430 180 555 61 or (0)2 7901 5618 - you will need to dial 02 even if you are in NSW as this is a VOIP number
Simon Smith founded & runs Southern Cross Coaching & Development Pty Ltd ( http://www.southerncrosscoaching.com.au ).
SCC&D has a team of 15+ qualified coaches & trainers and is one of the very few organizations that offers a 100% money-back guarantee^ around their coaching & training. And we have never had to refund any money since we started in business in 2006.
SCC&D can look after most of your Executive Coaching & Training, Emotional Intelligence Coaching & Training, Business Coaching & Sales Training and Career Coaching & Training needs.
We have a unique, proven Coaching Matching Matrix to match coaches to coachees - and we have never got a coach match wrong since we started business in 2006.
SCC&D has been coaching in Public & Private Sector organisations and SMEs since 2006, so has in-depth experience of organisational coaching (Career Coaching, Executive/Leadership Coaching, Emotional Intelligence Coaching, Resilience Coaching, Business Coaching, etc). Prior to that, the Founder, Simon Smith, was Business Development Manager for a national coaching organisation.
^ The only conditions are: providing participants attend voluntarily, our invoice is paid on time, & in-depth feedback is given if the guarantee is invoked as to what we could do better next time.
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