CV Tips – Curriculum Vitae Action and CV Power Words (UK tekst)

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CV Tips – Curriculum Vitae Action and CV Power Words

cv power wordCurriculum Vitae Action Words:

Action words are used to put extra power in your CV. These words are words that put that special something into your CV, and can make it stand out from the crowd.

It is important that you show yourself as being determined and in control by using these action words in your wordings and phrases. They work well when you describe what you have achieved in your Career

  • Accomplished
  • Achieved
  • Acquired
  • Addressed
  • Administered
  • Advised
  • Analysed
  • Approved
  • Arbitrated
  • Arranged
  • Assembled
  • Assessed
  • Assisted
  • Attained
  • Audited
  • Bought
  • Budgeted
  • Built
  • Calculated
  • Captured
  • Centralised
  • Changed
  • Checked
  • Collected
  • Combined
  • Completed
  • Composed
  • Conceived
  • Conducted
  • Consolidated
  • Consulted
  • Contacted
  • Contracted
  • Controlled
  • Converted
  • Coordinated
  • Corrected
  • Corresponded
  • Counselled
  • Created
  • Cut
  • Decreased
  • Defined
  • Delivered
  • Demonstrated
  • Designed
  • Detected
  • Determined
  • Developed
  • Devised
  • Diagnosed
  • Directed
  • Discovered
  • Distributed
  • Documented
  • Doubled
  • Drafted
  • Edited
  • Eliminated
  • Employed
  • Encouraged
  • Engineered
  • Ensured
  • Established
  • Estimated
  • Evaluated
  • Examined
  • Expanded
  • Exposed
  • Extracted
  • Facilitated
  • Forecasted
  • Formulated
  • Founded
  • Generated
  • Guided
  • Handled
  • Identified
  • Implemented
  • Improved
  • Improvised
  • Increased
  • Informed
  • Initiated
  • Initiated
  • Inspected
  • Inspired
  • Installed
  • Instigated
  • Instituted
  • Instructed
  • Interpreted
  • Interviewed
  • Introduced
  • Investigated
  • Judged
  • Launched
  • Lead
  • Lectured
  • Led
  • Liaised
  • Located
  • Machined
  • Maintained
  • Managed
  • Marketed
  • Modernized
  • Monitored
  • Motivated
  • Negotiated
  • Observed
  • Obtained
  • Operated
  • Organised
  • Performed
  • Planned
  • Prepared
  • Presented
  • Processed
  • Produced
  • Programmed
  • Promoted
  • Provided
  • Published
  • Purchased
  • Recommended
  • Recorded
  • Recruited
  • Redesigned
  • Reduced
  • Reorganised
  • Replaced
  • Represented
  • Researched
  • Resolved
  • Restored
  • Reviewed
  • Revised
  • Scheduled
  • Selected
  • Served
  • Sold
  • Solved
  • Specified
  • Standardised
  • Started
  • Stimulated
  • Strengthened
  • Structured
  • Studied
  • Supervised
  • Supplied
  • Supported
  • Surveyed
  • Tested
  • Trained
  • Translated
  • Uncovered
  • Upgraded
  • Used
  • Utilised
  • Verified
  • Widened
  • Won
  • Wrote

The Comoto Team

 

Comoto‘s aim is to become “The Central Place” where you can create, clone, copy, manage, backup and distribute your CV and Cover letters fast and easy. To create your first Comoto CV, signup for free and just add your data (or use one of the many easy import features), pick one of our special designed templates, preview your CV and finally export to your favourite format (.DOC – .PDF – .PNG) or publish it in a Web Profile (Public/Private). Now you are ready to have full control of your CV. Notice other unique features – like multiple CVs – a few clicks and you can create a CV targeted for a specific job or Export to many different formats.

Target CV to the job you want – and get it! (UK tekst)

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Target CV to the job you want – and get it!

Your CV is probably the most important part of your application to get the job of your dreams. The cover letter will be the place where you convince the recruiter/headhunter/company to read on, and read your entire CV.

A very good idea will be to target every job application with a tailor-made target CV, if you want the job of your dreams, the employer should also read a “dream of a CV”.

The basic principle of your CV is to target it to the job:

  • Be sure to cover the most important job skills, qualifications, and experience in your CV.
  • Be certain that most parts of your CV relates to the job you apply for.
  • Use the same skills, experience, and qualifications description as in the job ad.
  • Ensure that your previous experience is clearly and relevant to the job application.

This is a lot easier to do when using Comoto, you can have several CV in the system and specialize them to the current application.

You have the basic material available from your basic CV (maybe your LinkedIn profile), and then you should just adapt that material to the wishes to you dream job.

An Outline of the basics in a CV is seen below:

Professional Summary

The prof. summary is the part where you describe your overall motivation. Here you should describe that the current job would fit into your career choice. This is should show the employer that this job is the next step on your career ladder.

Skills

Skills are mostly seen as keywords in a job add; they are essential criteria’s that you have to have to fill this position. It is not a question if you have them all, most people don’t or just barely, but you must include all the required skills as much as possible. Highlight the skills where your expertise really supersedes the demands highlighted and mention the rest.

Work Experience

Your former work experience needs particular care and you should try to reuse some of the skills or goals explained in the job ad. Explain you experience very concise and clear, write the roles and tasks you had. Be sure to use the same wordings as in the requirements for this job.

Use several examples, and where it is possible show how your skills where developed and refined through your previous work experience. Make it extremely clear that you have gained extra expertise through your previous experience.

Achieved goals

Goals that you have achieved on top of your work experience for each job description are extremely positive, it shows that you aim for the goals the employer puts up and that you are dedicated to the relevant tasks. Try to use examples that are related to the new job application if possible.

Educations / Qualifications

A lot of job ads describe a certain set of required qualifications. You should try to provide qualifications that meet these requirements. Sometimes you have similar qualifications, try to convince them that they are good enough. Either do it by email beforehand so that you are sure that your qualifications are good enough. This also gives you the opportunity to have a talk with the employer before you send your CV.

Your qualifications need to be direct and to the point, and if the employer describes them very details, you do the same. Make it look like you’re obviously qualified and the best choice for the job.

As described above it is not that hard to make your CV targeted to the job your applying for. Using Comoto to do this is very easily, you have the opportunity to have several distinct CV’s and you can change them and have as many as you like in your portfolio. You can even make them online versions, so that you can refer to a link if you talk with an interesting person.

11 steps to a successful CV (UK tekst)

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11 steps to a successful CV

Your CV is like a showroom; it should display your qualification to recruiter or head-hunters as they skim your CV. How do you make them choose your CV? And how do the recruiters / head-hunters turn a pile of CV into just a few CV’s, including yours?

Follow these eleven simple tips to ensure your CV is among the few left when the recruiter goes back to his customer and says “I just found the perfect match!”

1. Find the type of CV wanted

The first thing you should do is to find out what form and style the company wants for the CV or what form and style is normally used in your line of work. Is it a two-pager, is it chronological? If you don’t know, then just call the recruiter and he/she will happily guide you.

2. Keep it concise

Your CV should be short and to the point, leave out unnecessary filling. Recruiters don’t want to spend a lot of time on reviewing a long CV – if you send them an encyclopaedic drilldown of your life to date, they won’t find the information they want. Keep it short and to the point and save the details for the interview.

3. Target your CV to the job

Take the time necessary to adapt your CV to each position you apply for. Get some background information on company and use the keywords in the job ad to find out which skills you should use and which you should leave out.

4. Personal statement

Tie your experience and work history to the vacant position so that the recruiter / head-hunter can see the connection between why he should choose you. This is best done with a brief personal statement to be sure the recruiter / head-hunter sees the connection.

5. Leave out gaps

Recruiters’ don’t like gaps – if they spot a gap they will either dig deeper to find out what is this al about (more work for them) or they will just go on to the next in the pile of interesting CV’s. If you have a gap, make a positive thing out of it, give them extra experience or another twist on the gap.

6. CV must be up-to-date

Be sure that your CV is always up-to-date, especially if it is an online CV it must always be up-to-date. Regardless of whether you’re actively job seeking, every time you gain some experience or otherwise have information for your CV, make the changes right away.

7. No mistakes and misspellings in your CV

Don’t let the recruiter / head-hunter dismiss your CV just because you made a mistake or misspelled something. Many recruiters / head-hunters see these types of mistakes as severe. They say “If you can’t even spell right or made stupid mistakes, you probably haven’t even read the CV after you wrote it.” Use a spellchecker on the text and have someone you trust, proofread it to get a second opinion.

8. Only the truth and nothing but the truth

Never ever tell a lie in your CV as many recruiters / head-hunter use references and their network to check the facts of your CV. If you tell a lie and it is discovered afterwards it is a reason to dismiss you and nobody wants that. Many times any inconsistencies are also discovered in the job by a simple Google search or at the interview and there it will be probed if they find any “lies”.

9. Remember numbers and facts

If you can – it is always a good idea to back up your achievements with numbers. Writing your work experience and achievements, don’t just tell the recruiter you increased profit; show them how much: EBIT increased 78% over 2 years, with a growth rate of sales on 30% over the same period.

10. Layout / design matters

Use a CV template that is in line with your profile. Marketing people can make something very chick and creative, but please if you are an accountant please choose a CV template that signals the right things. It all depends on the sector and what is normal, don’t use the design to make you standout in a negative manner.

11. Remember to use sector specific keywords

Today CV’s are many times online profiles, or CV’s that will be put into a recruiter / head-hunter internal IT systems for indexing and searching capabilities. These systems make use of keywords to search for, just like Google like specific keywords recruiters do so to. Make the keywords 100% aligned with the vacant position and also have some extra in there that can be the extra something to make you stand out from the crowd.

CV Checklist – better safe than sorry (UK tekst)

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CV checklist

This is a CV checklist to be sure that the right information is in your CV. Certain types of information must be included to give you the best possible chance, getting through to the important interview. A lot of recruiters / head-hunters are increasingly using online CV databases to search for potential candidates; including the right type of information will guide them to your profile. Below you can see a checklist you can use to be sure that you are in the game to get the job of your dreams.

Personal data

 This is the standard data about you as a person; name, address, phone numbers, email address and soon. You might also wish to include details about your nationality, age and driving licence, it all depends what country you live in, for instance in the UK it is not advised to write ones age, due to age discrimination.

Education

 Include information about your education, this includes your education but also if you have had some courses or seminars of an educational nature. Specific skills IT knowledge, languages skills and try to state which level it is on (basic, intermediate or advanced level). You should also include keywords used in the job ad for the position your interested in because recruiters will use keywords these to filter CV when searching in databases.

Work experience

 You should list your work experience in reverse chronological order with the most recent most recent experience first. Use keywords to describe your experience, do it in a positive languages, using the right keywords for that sector and finally highlight your key achievements.

Skills

 A section on your major skills can be used in some areas, these skills are skills acquired through you work experience and will typically be skills where you have achieved good results ore skills that you want to use in the future. The idea here is to show what you have learned in your work. Education is one thing, but the skills acquired when working is also extremely important.

References

 It should not be necessary to have all the details on your referees in your CV, but you should state the basic information and that details are available on request. If you already have asked a former colleague if he would like to be a referee for you, then you can disclose his details, but if not always remember to get the permission to use them prior to handling over the contact information.

Hobbies

 You should persuade the recruiter / head-hunter with your skills, experience and education. But sometimes it can be a good thing to show the recruiter / head-hunter that there are other things in life than work. Being a “whole” person resting in yourself can be achieved by disclosing your Hobbies or other interests. It gives a more complete rounded picture of a candidate.

This is just meant to be a mere idea of a checklist, sometimes regional practises or special rules in a special sector can apply, in that case use your common sense and use this list as a guideline and use your own checklist as well.

Comoto uses the CEFR standard for language proficiency (UK tekst)

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Common European Framework of Reference for Languages – language proficiency

In 1991 the Swiss Federal Authorities held an Intergovernmental Symposium in Rüschlikon, Switzerland, on “Transparency and Coherence in Language Learning in Europe: Objectives, Evaluation, Certification”. This symposium found that a Common European Framework for languages was needed to improve the recognition of language qualifications and language proficiency to help teachers co-operate, eventually leading to improved communication and cooperation generally in Europe.

Development of language proficiency

As a result of the symposium, the Swiss National Science Foundation set up a project to develop levels of proficiency, to lead on to the creation of a “European Language Portfolio” – certification in language ability which can be used across Europe.

Levels

The Common European Framework divides learners into three broad divisions which can be divided into six levels:

A Basic Speaker

A1 Breakthrough or beginner

A2 Waystage or elementary

B Independent Speaker

B1 Threshold or pre-intermediate
B2 Vantage or intermediate

C Proficient Speaker

C1 Effective Operational Proficiency or upper intermediate
C2 Mastery or advanced

The CEFR describes what a learner is supposed to be able to do in reading, listening, speaking and writing at each level.

Level Description
A1 Can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type. Can introduce him/herself and others and can ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, people he/she knows and things he/she has. Can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.
A2 Can understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment). Can communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters. Can describe in simple terms aspects of his/her background, immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate need.
B1 Can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc. Can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken. Can produce simple connected text on topics which are familiar or of personal interest. Can describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes & ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans.
B2 Can understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialisation. Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party. Can produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.
C1 Can understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts, and recognise implicit meaning. Can express him/herself fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Can use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Can produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organisational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices.
C2 Can understand with ease virtually everything heard or read. Can summarise information from different spoken and written sources, reconstructing arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation. Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations.

Resume Tips – Not too Long, but neither too short – CV length (UK tekst)

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Not too Long, but neither too short – CV length

How long should a perfect Resume be? This is always a tough question. Different experts give you different answers regarding CV length, and it also depends on the job you are applying for, and the expertise the employer is asking for. Some experts would say a one pager is the perfect length. Unless you have few skills and experiences to share and are new to the job market other experts say this is too small for a Resume.

A rule of thumb would be to have just enough information in there to give the employer enough information to want you to come to the job interview, and then you can give more information or just more detailed information. Read the job ad and all the skills or experience they ask for should be in your Resume if you have these skills/experiences. Be honest and don’t oversell yourself.

If you are for instance in the medical or science area a Resume can be very long. Resumes of 40-50 pages have been seen, with all relevant information about the skills, experiences and project you have made. Try to summarize, but include the most obvious things. It is better to write a smaller Resume and tell more at the job interview than to make the employer/recruiter fall asleep reading your Resume.

When using Comoto, it is easy for you have multiple Resumes of different length, just include everything you know and use only the specific things when you create the Resume for the job of your dreams.

CV Tips – Spell Check (UK tekst)

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Spell Check

One thing you should do before you send your CV/Resume, is to make sure you give it a spell check. You can use build in version in your word processing software.

After you have done this spell check it, have someone else read the CV. Just to make certain that you haven’t given wrong information or to ensure that the text is readable and easy to understand. A spell checker can easily give you a wrong “security” in the sense that it doesn’t check for wrong words used in a sentence. It is also important that you get a second opinion on your wordings and the way you write things.

Leave your CV/Resume alone, and read it again after a while to be sure nothing slipped your eyes. As your CV could be responsible of you getting the job of your dreams it is better to be safe than sorry.

In our application at Comoto we are constantly working to improve the services, and one project in our pipeline is to include a build in spell checker in Comoto, we will give you information when this has been finalized.

The Comoto Team

Comoto‘s aim is to become “The Central Place” where you can create, clone, copy, manage, backup and distribute your CV or Resume and Cover letters fast and easy. To create your first Comoto CV / Resume, signup for free and just add your data (or use one of the many easy import features), pick one of our special designed templates, preview your Resume and finally export to your favourite format (.DOC – .PDF – .PNG) or publish it in a Web Profile (Public/Private). Now you are ready to have full control of your CV or Resume. Notice other unique features – like multiple resumes – a few clicks and you can create a Resume targeted for a specific job or Export to many different formats.

3 different types of career changes and how to do it ! (UK tekst)

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3 different types of career changes

Why would you have to change your current job?

There are 3 main reasons normally used for changing you career.

  1. Involuntary career change
  2. Normal career change
  3. Major career change

Involuntary career change

As it says – “Involuntary” – it is out of your hands, you might be the one making the decision to make the career change, but it is what you could call a “force majeure” or a “greater force” decision. Below you can see examples of this:

  • Your new job was not as agreed in the contract
  • Redundancy caused by merger, acquisition, takeover
  • Redundancy caused by outsourcing to more competitive countries/companies
  • Redundancy caused by loss of market share or position
  • Conflict with new management after a merger or takeover; there is simply not enough chemistry between the new parties who needs to work together

“Involuntary” career change demands the best of you and your network. Sometimes it is frustrating and you would say “Why me!”. But the only thing that works in that situation is to start to plan the changes ahead in a rationally way. Before the situation becomes unbearable for you start planning your next moves and try to focus on the future instead of the past. Use you past positively and make your CV the best CV around. Activate you network and have all your listening antennas up and ready to tune in to possible opportunities. If you manage to get through this hard period of your life, you will get some valuable experience of ”change management” that would be an asset to a new employer and you can certainly talk about having coped effectively with crisis!

Normal career change

The most common career change scenario you probably already have experienced is that you believe and wants to have a better job with more rewards within your line of work. You are unsatisfied with your current employer who has for instance in salary and bonus issues dragged his feet and maybe a new company offers you more for your line of expertise. The first thing you should do is to take control of your CV and make it updated and exactly right for your next job. Then start networking, scanning for possible jobs, begin approaching agencies and headhunters. What you need is an up-to-date CV and a perfect cover-letter that explains what you are trying to achieve, and why you think you are ready to do a career move. These should be prepared before you make actually contact with any new employer or headhunter. This also needs to be done for you to be sure why and what you want and not just take the first available position you find. Have a look in our other Comoto CV Tips to get some ideas on how to write the perfect CV and remember to target your CV to the actual job at hand.

Major career change

If you want make a complete change in your occupation – after having for instance finished a new education, returning after motherhood, returning from a period abroad, served in the military or you are just feed up with the sector you work in and want to make a major shift into something that you will find more interest in, this will demand all your senses and competences to do so, and especially in the case you need to do this in a rational and controlled manner. You will also need to do this as if it was an exercise or project. It is not something that cannot be done overnight or just by making a new CV and then go job hunting as you go away from safe haven and enter unchartered waters therefore proper planning is a must. You might have to do this over time and get your network working for you, but be aware not to disclose anything for people who might become a whistleblower and go behind your back. Because then a simple wish to try something new can lead to an “involuntary” career change.

Good luck in your career change

Resume Vocabulary (UK tekst)

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Resume Vocabulary:

CV (Curriculum Vitae)

 A summary of your work experience and education, used for job applications

Resume

 American English term for a Resume (typical a two-pager – often smaller than a CV)

Cover Letter

 The letter you send with your CV, with the reasons for you to apply for the vacant position with this particular company

Reference

 A formal letter from an employer, describing your character, ability and experience

Referee

 The named person who provide a reference for you

Background

 The whole of one’s education, training and experience

Bi-lingual

 Able to use two languages with equal ease

Mother tongue

 The language first learned by a person; native language

Native speaker

 A person having a specified native language: a native speaker of English

Career

 An occupation or profession, esp. one requiring special training, followed as one’s lifework

Work Experience

 Knowledge or practical wisdom gained from what one has observed, encountered, or undergone in the work life

Date of birth

 The day on which one was born, usually as day/month/year

Education

 Training and instruction at school, university etc.

Interest

 An activity outside work in which one is interested or concerned; hobby

Job objective

 The kind of work or challenge that one is looking for

Miscellaneous

 Various; mixed [e.g.: nationality, languages spoken, marital status]

Native language

 The language one first learned to speak; mother tongue

Qualifications

 The education and experience that make one suitable for a particular job

Skill

 Ability, expertness or aptitude in a particular activity [e.g.: language skill]

Training

 The process of learning a particular SKILL [e.g.: sales training]

Position

 A post of employment: a position in a bank

Vacancy

 An unoccupied position or office: a vacancy in the company

Candidate

 A person who seeks a job at a company: a candidate for the sales vacancy

Job interview

 An interview to determine whether an applicant/candidate is suitable for a position of employment

Applicant

 A person who seeks a job at a company: an applicant for the vacant position

Certificate

 A document serving as evidence or as written testimony, as of status, qualifications, privileges, or the truth of something

Diploma

 A document given by an educational institution conferring a degree on a person or certifying that the person has satisfactorily completed a course of study

Curriculum Vitae

Is a latin expression which can be loosely translated as “course of life”
Background Check Is the process of looking up and compiling criminal records, commercial records and financial records (in certain instances such as employment screening) of a candidate before employing him/her

Comotos mål er at blive “det centrale sted” hvor du kan oprette, klone, kopi, administrere, sikkerhedskopiere og eksportere dit CV og dine følgebreve til ansøgningen hurtigt og nemt. Hvis du vil oprette dit første Comoto CV, anvend den gratis tilmelding, tilføj dine data (eller brug en af de mange lette import funktioner), vælg blandt vores særligt designede skabeloner, få en preview af dit CV og eksporterer til sidst den valgte skabelon i dit foretrukne format (.DOC –.PDF –.PNG) eller skab en Web-profil (offentlig tilgængelig / privat med password). Hermed har du fuld kontrol over dine CVer. Der er desuden en række andre unikke funktioner på Comoto – så som mulighed for flere CV’er – kun få klik, og du har oprettet et målrettet CV for et bestemt job.

Comoto CV Manager er på engelsk; men skabeloner og dermed dine CVer (samt filer) er på dansk (eller de ønskede sprog- Du kan nemlig anvende flere sprog samtidigt).

Can your CV stand the LinkedIn Buzzword test (UK tekst)

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Overused buzzword – can your CV stand the LinkedIn buzzword test

Buzzwords has been around for ages, remember the buzzword bingo game, LinkedIn has examined 85 million profiles for the most clichéd and overused phrases and has come up with the “2010 LinkedIn Top 10 overused buzzwords” in LinkedIn Profiles in the USA.

1.  Extensive experience
2.  Innovative
3.  Motivated
4.  Results-oriented
5.  Dynamic
6.  Proven track record
7.  Team player
8.  Fast-paced
9.  Problem solver
10. Entrepreneurial

Can your CV stand the test of these overused words ?

Or if you don’t live in the USA:

* Dynamic – Brazil, India, Spain
* Motivated – UK
* Innovative – France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands

Remember that Comoto can help you create a fast CV from your LinkedIn profile – and help you maintaining multiple CV’s. With our unique inheritance feature in Comoto you only need to change the wordings in one place if you have the same wording/phrases in multiple CV’s.

This makes it easier for you to avoid being ruled out in the “buzzword bingo game” by using a full CV and not just your profile in a relationship database.

Read more

CEFR compared to North American language proficiency standards (UK tekst)

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CEFR compared to North American language proficiency standards

Comoto uses the European CEFR standard in language proficiency. Having more and more users from North America we are looking at the possibility to have more than CEFR as the language proficiency scale in our Resume application. Until we have finished that project we have found the table below to clarify for the users the major differences in the different proficiency standards out there.

The following table establishes equivalences between the CEFR and some North American standards. The standards compared are:

  1. The CEFR itself
  2. Interagency Language Roundtable Scale (ILR, United States)
  3. American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages Proficiency Guidelines (ACTFL)
  4. New Brunswick Oral Proficiency Scale (NB OPS, English and French only)
  5. Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB, English and French only)
  6. Public Service Commission of Canada Second Official Language Proficiency Levels (PSC, English and French only)
CEFR ILR ACTFL NB OPS CLB PSC
A1 0/0+/1 Novice (Low/Mid/High) Unrated/0+/1 1/2 A
A2 1+ Intermediate (Low/Mid/High) 1+/2 3/4 B
B1 2 Advanced Low 2+ 5/6 C
B2 2+ Advanced Mid 3 7/8
C1 3/3+ Advanced High 3+ 9/10
C2 4 Superior 4 11/12
4+/5

The Comoto Team

Comoto‘s aim is to become “The Central Place” where you can create, clone, copy, manage, backup and distribute your CV and Cover letters fast and easy. To create your first Comoto CV, signup for free and just add your data (or use one of the many easy import features), pick one of our special designed templates, preview your CV and finally export to your favourite format (.DOC – .PDF – .PNG) or publish it in a Web Profile (Public/Private). Now you are ready to have full control of your CV. Notice other unique features – like multiple CV’s – a few clicks and you can create a CV targeted for a specific job or Export to many different formats.

Do you need a fast CV or the right CV? (UK tekst)

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Do you need a fast CV or the right CV?

Need a fast CV now or a well considered and specific targeted for that one particular job you want! – by the way this is what we call a Comoto CV clone.

Seeking a new job is not just about sending the usual and standard CV you made ages ago – most of the time it requires an evaluation and maybe a Curriculum Vitae created/build especially for that particular job opening.

Sometimes you just need a fast CV, here and now because you have been contacted by a recruiter or found a job opening through your network – with Comoto it is a matter of seconds to send one of your CV’s (and if you don’t have one yet you can import it from LinkedIn or Europass in less than 32 seconds our latest tests shows).

But as mentioned most of the time you have enough time to consider and prepare the optimal strategy for the application and accompanying CV – what is important for you in the job, why are you the perfect candidate, which are the skills needed, which are the skills to emphasise – are some of the questions to ask yourself. Use an existing Comoto CV to create a clone (our word for a copy as you copy sorry clone everything – not just the text but also the structure, etc.) change and add to ensure all the considerations you have made in advance are covered – save and test several templates – which designs fits you and the situations best (if none send us your ideas) – before you pick the optimal one.

The 10 best tips for the job interview (UK)

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10 Tips for you, so that you can prepare your answers beforehand and get the job of your dreams. There is more than just sending the perfect CV or Resume and a good application. You have to prepare before you are ready for the Job Interview.

  1. Good style
    Get there on time, dress appropriately and behave as the guest you are.
  2. Think about your body language
    Think about the body language, straighten your back, give a firm handshake and look the interviewer in the eyes.
  3. Be prepared
    Remember to bring the job ad, your application, your CV and other relevant documents. Note the name of the contact person and a telephone number to be able to ask for the right person at the reception and know who you are visiting. If possible find relevant information about the person you are about to meet.
  4. Remember the gaps in your CV or Competence
    If you have some gaps in your CV or in your competences, remember that the recruiter / headhunter will ask for these gaps. Be prepared and have an answer ready for the question you probably will be asked.
  5. Know the company
    Do some research on the company, know more than just what’s in the job ad. Prepare some question so that they can see that you know more then what has been disclosed to you.
  6. Prepare for your answers  for the normal interview questions
    The question you will get to the job interview is of course depending on the job’s sector and type, responsibilities and tasks, but be sure to be prepared for the basic question, like:

    • Tell us about yourself?
    • Why are you applying for this job?
    • Which expectations do you have to the job or the tasks?
    • What are your strongest areas? – for instance have some concrete examples on your successes or your strongest competences.
    • What are your weak areas? – have some examples ready on what you think is hard, and how you cope with these challenges.
    • What do you expect from an employer / manager?
    • Why should we choose you for the job?
    • What are your career goals on medium to long term?
    • What are your expectations to your salary?
    • Do you have any further questions?
  7. Prepare your questions
    • Focus your question and on what is asked from you.
    • What are the most important tasks in the job?
    • Which possibilities are there for further development of your competences?
    • How is the culture in the company?
    • What do they appreciate in an employee?
    • Why should I choose this job?
    • Why would you like to work here?
    • Who will be my manager and which colleagues will I have the closet working relations with?
    • Do you have an introductory course for new employees?
  8. Avoid negative stories
    Negativity don’t sell, remember not to talk negative about former managers or colleagues. If you have had some bad experiences, try to turn it into something positive. What did you learn from this negative experience?
  9. Be present and participate on equal terms with the interviewer
    Be present, listen to the question and be honest and give them your best answer, show them that your dedicated. Newer tell a lie, it will get back to you like a boomerang.
  10. If possible offer the references
    If you decide to disclose your references, remember to have them prepared before the interview.

Final question
At the end of the interview you can always ask for what is the process going forward, will I have to take a test of some kind? When can I expect to be contacted again?

Comoto CV Funny Friday: Worst Job Interview ever….

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Comoto CV Funny Friday: Worst Job Interview ever…..

Comoto CV Funny Friday: Did you ever think about what can go wrong in a Job Interview, have a look at this interview, this must be one of the worst Job Interviews. Well, this video from Monty Python golden era with John Cleese should get a smile on all faces…

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP0sqRMzkwo

Have a Funny Friday and nice weekend, and until next week we hope for the best.

The Comoto Team

 

Comoto‘s aim is to become “The Central Place” where you can create, clone, copy, manage, backup and distribute your CV and Cover letters fast and easy. To create your first Comoto CV or Resume, signup for free and just add your data (or use one of the many easy import features), pick one of our special designed templates, preview your CV or Resume and finally export to your favourite format (.DOC – .PDF – .PNG) or publish it in a Web Profile (Public/Private). Now you are ready to have full control of your CV or Resume. Notice other unique features – like multiple CV’s or multiple resumes – a few clicks and you can create a CV or Resume targeted for a specific job or Export to many different formats.

Comoto CV Funny Friday: Office War is taking over

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Comoto CV Funny Friday: Office War is taking over

Comoto CV Funny Friday: Office War is taking over: Watch out when annoying you colleagues, you might end up in an Office War. This has to be the most extreme and best organized Office War ever seen out there.

Have a look for yourself:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVKnF26qFFM

I don’t hope they put these “Office endeavors” in their Resume or CV, if they do i don’t really know what to place it under Education, Experience, Hobbies or where should it be placed.

Have a Funny Friday and nice weekend, and until next week we hope for the best.

The Comoto Team

Comoto‘s aim is to become “The Central Place” where you can create, clone, copy, manage, backup and distribute your CV and Cover letters fast and easy. To create your first Comoto CV or Resume, signup for free and just add your data (or use one of the many easy import features), pick one of our special designed templates, preview your CV or Resume and finally export to your favourite format (.DOC – .PDF – .PNG) or publish it in a Web Profile (Public/Private). Now you are ready to have full control of your CV or Resume. Notice other unique features – like multiple CV’s or multiple resumes – a few clicks and you can create a CV or Resume targeted for a specific job or Export to many different formats.

Comoto CV Funny Friday: Terry Tate Office linebacker

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Comoto CV Funny Friday: Terry Tate Office linebacker

Comoto CV Funny Friday: Watch out when annoying your colleagues, you might end up being cornered by Terry Tate. A funny way to motivate your employees. This has to be the most extreme “Office Enforcer” out there.

Have a look for yourself:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzToNo7A-94

I wonder how he got the job, what did he write in his CV/Resume.

Have a Funny Friday and nice weekend, and until next week we hope for the best.

The Comoto Team

Comoto‘s aim is to become “The Central Place” where you can create, clone, copy, manage, backup and distribute your CV and Cover letters fast and easy. To create your first Comoto CV or Resume, signup for free and just add your data (or use one of the many easy import features), pick one of our special designed templates, preview your CV or Resume and finally export to your favourite format (.DOC – .PDF – .PNG) or publish it in a Web Profile (Public/Private). Now you are ready to have full control of your CV or Resume. Notice other unique features – like multiple CV’s or multiple resumes – a few clicks and you can create a CV or Resume targeted for a specific job or Export to many different formats.

Common writing errors: Two / Too / To (UK tekst)

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Common writing errors: Two / Too / To

Sometimes mistaken and sometimes just misinterpreted.
  • Two is the number that most people get right
  • Too means also or overly.
    You like the barbecue sauce, and I do too.
    I ate too many burgers.
    These trousers are too big.     (Well, maybe not, after all those French fries.)
  • To means well everything else, according to Webster’s dictionary, to has over 20 usages. To give some ideas please see below:
    1. (used for expressing motion or direction toward a point, person, place, or thing approached and reached, as opposed to from ): They came to the house.
    2. (used for expressing direction or motion or direction toward something) in the direction of; toward: from north to south.
    3. (used for expressing limit of movement or extension): He grew to six feet.
    4. (used for expressing contact or contiguity) on; against; beside; upon: a right uppercut to the jaw; Apply varnish to the surface.
    5. (used for expressing a point of limit in time) before; until: to this day; It is ten minutes to six. We work from nine to five.
It’s also part of the famous line: To be, or not to be.
Which two/too/to is the correct one in any given situation? Well I could say “that is the question!”
The above is part of the Tips and Tricks section for CV writing on Comoto.

Comoto Funny Friday: Have you ever lied in a CV ….. CV privacy matters!

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Have you ever lied so much in a resume that you are shocked they give you the job………. take care of your CV privacy!

Cool sketch about “Have you ever lied so much in your CV that you was shocked that they gave you the job……” – remember to take care of your CV privacy!

A stand-up comedian named Christela Alonzo has lied about her work at NASA. Hope you never lie in your CV.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7-Sf_hHJYc

Have a Funny Friday and nice weekend, and until next week we hope for the best.

The Comoto Team

Comoto‘s aim is to become “The Central Place” where you can create, clone, copy, manage, backup and distribute your CV and Cover letters fast and easy. To create your first Comoto CV or Resume, signup for free and just add your data (or use one of the many easy import features), pick one of our special designed templates, preview your CV or Resume and finally export to your favourite format (.DOC – .PDF – .PNG) or publish it in a Web Profile (Public/Private). Now you are ready to have full control of your CV or Resume. Notice other unique features – like multiple CV’s or multiple resumes – a few clicks and you can create a CV or Resume targeted for a specific job or Export to many different formats.

Comoto CV Funny Friday: Top funny “Quotes” about work

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Top CV funny “Quotes” about work

Not everything needs to be so structured and planned and measured, sometimes you just need a good laugh or just want to share a good laugh with some colleagues. This is why we introduced “Comoto Funny Friday” last week with the post “Top 25 most weird interview questions“. This weeks post is our picks of the best quotes about work. Feel free to comment below or if you have some other hilarious quotes please add them.

America believes in education: the average professor earns more money in a year than a professional athlete earns in a whole week.
Evan Esar

And to get real work experience, you need a job, and most jobs will require you to have had either real work experience or a graduate degree.
Donald Norman

Anyone who can walk to the welfare office can walk to work.
Al Capp

By working faithfully eight hours a day you may eventually get to be boss and work twelve hours a day.
Robert Frost

Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits.
Thomas A. Edison

Going to work for a large company is like getting on a train. Are you going sixty miles an hour or is the train going sixty miles an hour and you’re just sitting still?
J. Paul Getty

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.
Thomas A. Edison

Nothing is work unless you’d rather be doing something else.
George Halas

The brain is a wonderful organ; it starts working the moment you get up in the morning and does not stop until you get into the office.
Robert Frost

The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.
Vince Lombardi

Common writing errors: AM / PM (UK tekst)

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Common writing errors: AM / PM

Usage of AM/PM notation has largely been replaced by the 24-hour notation around the world, but especially in written communication, the 12-hour notation with AM and PM suffixes is common in some parts of the world – be aware to avoid writing errors.

In latin AM stands “Ante Meridiem” which means “before noon or midday” and PM means “Post Meridiem” or “after noon”.

You should although avoid the expression “12:00 PM” not only  because it is incorrect, but because many people will imagine you are talking about midnight. The same goes for “12:00 AM” instead you should – to avoid confusion – correctly say 12 noon or 12 midnight to make a corrdct designation.

In the US, in formal writing it is still preferable to capitalize AM or PM, though the lower-case “am” and “pm” are now so popular they are not likely to get you into trouble. The lower-case forms are standard usage in the UK.

The above is part of the Tips and Tricks section for CV writing on Comoto.

The Comoto Team

Comoto‘s aim is to become “The Central Place” where you can create, clone, copy, manage, backup and distribute your CV and Cover letters fast and easy. To create your first Comoto CV, signup for free and just add your data (or use one of the many easy import features), pick one of our special designed templates, preview your CV and finally export to your favourite format (.DOC – .PDF – .PNG) or publish it in a Web Profile (Public/Private). Now you are ready to have full control of your CV. Notice other unique features – like multiple CV’s – a few clicks and you can create a CV targeted for a specific job.