HOW

TO M
AG
OOD AKE
AND
CV
COV
ER L
ET T
ER

Summer Job Day

Otaniemi January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara
Career Counsellor
Academic Architects and Engineers in Finland - TEK

You want a job

What can
you do?
What do
you want
to do?

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

The employer wants a

person who
Can do the job
Fits in the
organisation

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

Job application in Finland =

CV + cover/application letter
Compliment each other
Can work on their own

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

COVER LETTER CV
INTERVIEW

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

CV

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara/TEK

A good CV is
Your personal, professional description
Concrete, concise and informative
Understood by an outsider
Easy to read with a glance

Written with a specific job and/or

employer in mind
January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

A good CV has
A date
Your picture
Your personal information

Name
Contact information address, telephone, email
Date and place of birth
Links to your professional social media profiles
(LinkedIn)

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

A good CV has your

Education

Degrees
Current/latest first
M.Sc (Technology) student
School
Year of graduation/number of study points or
credits
Major and minor subjects
Matriculation examination (high school)

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

A good CV has your

Work experience

Your title/position
Name of employer
Employment period

A short description of your company and

department
Your tasks and responsibilities concretely
- what you did
- what you achieved
- in proportion to the company

10

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

A good CV has
Verbs!

11

Accelerate, accumulate, acquire, act, adapt, add,

administrate, advise, alter, amend, analyse, anticipate,
arrange, assign, assist, audit, automate, begin, budget,
build, buy, calculate, capture, change, clarify, code,
combine, communicate, compete, conduct, connect,
construct, consult, control, construct, convince,
coordinate, counsel, customise, cut, edit, decide,
decrease, define, deliver, design, determine, develop,
direct, discover, distribute, draft, edit, educate,
eliminate, employ, ensure, establish, estimate, examine,
experiment, facilitate, finance, finish, form, found,
generate

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

For example
I worked on a software project

12

What was the product?

Who is the product for?
In which part of the project did you
participate?
How much responsibility did you have?
Which tools did you use?
Who else participated in the project?
How important was it for the company?

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

A good CV has your

Language skills
IT skills

13

Proficiency (excellent, good, basic)

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

A good CV has your

Positions of trust

14

Active participation in e.g. student

organisations
Excellent when you dont yet have much work
experience
Show that you have networks

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

A good CV has your

Hobbies

Active hobbies

Nature photography
Off-road cycling
German detective
stories

15

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

A good CV can even have

A summary of your

16

Key skills OR
Career objective OR
Professional profile

In the beginning of your CV

Must be short, concise and have focus
Avoid bullshit bingo

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

A good CV does the thinking

for the reader
Dont assume that the reader understands
what you mean
Different positions have different meanings in
different companies
Something that is ordinary for you can be
very special somewhere else
Remember you are not there to answer any
questions or explain things
Dont take unnecessary risks
17

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

R
E
T
T
E
L
R
COVE
18

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

Cover letter
Always addressed to the applied position
and/or employer
Answers the criteria the employer is
looking for
What you have to offer for the
employer

19

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

Cover letter
First paragraph Introduce yourself
Be brief
Professional perspective
Why the position and company interest
you show your motivation!

20

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

Cover letter
Second paragraph Your competence

Study the job advert

Match the positions requirements with
your relevant competence
Be concrete; give examples

21

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

Cover letter
Third paragraph You as an employee

Your personality
The way you work

22

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

Cover letter
Last paragraph Final details
When you can start
Salary request only if it has been asked
for
End salutation

23

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

Always call, if given

the chance!
Youll get ideas on
what to emphasise on
your cover letter

24

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

Five easy tips

Keep it short
Be clear about what job you are applying
for
Show that you have researched the
company
Address it to the right person
Use standard business fonts

25

January
19, 2012

www.careerealism.com

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

Applying via employers web

pages
Applications go to a database searches
with keywords
Carefully fill in the whole form
Use complete words, avoid abbreviations
Here you can tell more about yourself
attach your cover letter

26

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

Heres the beef

27

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

The employer is interested

in
Your role and responsibilities on a
concrete level
The results and meaning of your work;
significance for the employer
Who youve worked with
What tools youve worked with
The scale and proportion of your work;
comparison to other tasks

28

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

so that she can evaluate

whether
your competence
can be applied to
the job she is
offering.

29

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

More tips and information:

Aalto University Career Services
http://www.teekkarintyokirja.fi
http://www.facebook.com/teekkarintyokirja

30

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara

Thank you!

QUESTIONS?

Slideshare: heinihm
31

January 19, 2012

Heini Hult-Miekkavaara