Producing Your Curriculum Vitae

Part of my job as a Gardens Consultant is the recruitment of suitable applicants for senior positions, usually, but not exclusively for Private gardens. On occasions, I am called upon to find people for the more ‘commercial’ type of properties, with a corporate owner other than a private individual, and I carry out a wide variety of roles within that job.

On occasion, I am charged with carrying out the whole process, including writing the job specification, placing  advertisements in the market place (not always obvious sites such as magazines or LinkedIn, but using my personal contacts and knowledge, and arranging the interviews.) Literally everything, from taking my client’s brief to making the appointment – including setting the right rate of pay, terms and conditions. This is particularly important to me, as I can make the right choice of person for the right employment package – tailor made recruitment!

Being so privileged affords me a fairly unique opportunity to monitor, at first hand, some of the mistakes that are made when following a simple prescriptive formula usually adopted by Employment Agencies. (At least one Specialist firm – English Country Gardeners – uses more than one standard formula, and recognise the need to be ‘flexible’ in their approach. This is not commonplace!) This methodology demands that the applicant is encouraged to submit their curriculum vitae as the first point of reference for the Agency staff (or others responsible to hiring staff). This takes the form of a list of dates and records the employment and educational history of the individual.

This proscriptive form of c.v. is far too restrictive for my liking. How can one person ensure that their c.v. stands out from the others? Remember, you are filling out one c.v. The person looking through the applications is only human, and sifting through maybe hundreds of c.v. forms is very tiring – especially when one is trying hard to be fair to all. Many good applicants are placed in the ‘bin’, unfairly perhaps, but that is a fact of life.

In Stage Two, we will be looking closely at the Job Interview process, and ensuring that you take a lead in controlling that meeting. However, in order to get through to the interview stage, your first point of contact with your potential employer is that of your curriculum vitae. How can you make it attractive and INTERESTING? How can you ensure that you are placed on the INTERVIEW pile and not in the bin?

You will of course, have to record all relevant information, commencing with your name, address, contact details including telephone (a land line is important, as it shows ‘stability’ in the eyes of the reader), include LinkedIn (but perhaps not Facebook or Twitter as they are not ‘professional’) and any website details. You are not obliged to state your date of birth –
that is up to you! It helps if you  indicate your status as a driver, including any convictions as applicable, although this may not be a job requirement.

In reverse order i.e commencing from today, list your employment history. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A FULL EMPLOYMENT RECORD, YOU MUST EXPLAIN YOUR GAP. If you can account for any gap in your employment record, it may be because you were moving house with your parents, spent six months plant hunting in the Amazon or working as a Volunteer at ABC Estate, to further your skills base. As long as you have a feasible reason for the gap, it is not an issue.

The number of jobs you have had may be taken as an indicator. How the reader interprets that record will depend on your age and career progress, which will be related to the job opening available.   This is always a tricky area, as some jobs will require a steady and reliable track record – say one job in the last thirty years, whilst such a feat may be admirable, others may see that steadiness as a negative, as you may not be receptive to new ideas. Unless you can clearly demonstrate career progress in that one job, you could be unfairly thought of as being too stuck in your ways or ‘institutionalised’.

You should then enter your academic record, listing the schools you attended and the most relevant awards (do not write down every A level or GCSE, only the top/most important ones). Other qualifications that will be of great interest to the reader will be those that are relevant to the industry. I have to say, I value Membership of The Chartered Institute of Horticulture (MCI Hort or FCI Hort will certainly guarantee an interview with me) along with Full Membership of The Professional Gardeners Guild as being more attractive than any other academic document. This is purely a personal observation and is not intended to belittle any other qualifications.

Once you have scheduled all relevant information, and completed the ‘standard c.v’ – a draft form is available on the internet – the most important factor is your PRESENTATION.

A neatly typed c.v. is obviously the number one consideration. It is the additional material that you may wish to add that will encourage the reader to promote you through to interview stage. For example, under the heading ‘Other Interests’, I can assure you, I am not interested whether or not you enjoy ballroom dancing, walking or eating out. What I am keen to find out are your practical interests. Koi keeping, geology, biology, poultry keeping, mechanics – anything that may be of practical value to the employer are far more interesting!

Your presentation should be made in A4 form, preferably with a clear plastic cover, with your name printed on the top right hand side, EVERYTHING IN TRIPLICATE, with a hand written covering letter included somewhere near the front  of the pack. This will provide the reader with a better idea of your personal skills.

Always remember that your c.v. is the first point of contact with your prospective employer. Any positive  impact that you make at this stage will be extremely valuable and essential in getting you through to the Interview.

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