Ex-Military Candidate's Resources  

One of the most common inquiries when writing a CV is, how to write a profile introduction. 

It can be a challenge to transmit concisely and powerfully our personal qualities and traits; that's why we collected a series of words that will help you build a description of yourself, your skills, activities and achievements throughout your career.

Power Words: Personal Description

Power Words: Actions

SOURCE: Career Transition Partnership (CTP)

  Ex-Military Candidate's Resources  

There are skills that every employer is looking to find, no matter the industry or job position; these qualities are also known as "soft skills". We gathered for you the 11 most common and important ones:

Effective communication.

Employers seek candidates who can listen to instructions and act on those instructions with minimal guidance. They want employees who speak, write, and listen effectively, organize their thoughts logically, and explain everything clearly.

Computer and technical literacy:

Almost all jobs now require an understanding, ranging from basic to advanced, of computer software, word processing, e-mail, spreadsheets, and Internet navigation.

Problem-solving/Creativity:

Employers always want people who can get them out of a pickle. Problem-solving ability can aid you with making transactions, processing data, formulating a vision, and reaching a resolution. Employers need the assurance that you can conquer job challenges by thinking critically and creatively.

Interpersonal abilities:

Relationship-building and relationship-management are high priorities with many employers. These skills confirm that a candidate can relate well to others, both co-workers and customers.

Teamwork skills:

The ability to work well with others while pursuing a common goal is a long running favourite of employers. But so is the ability to work with minor supervision.

Diversity sensitivity:

In today's world, cultural sensitivity and ability to build rapport with others in a multicultural environment is highly valued by employers.

Planning and organizing:

Workplace life requires prioritizing and organizing information. Employers value people who, metaphorically, dig a well before they're thirsty.

Leadership and management:

Leadership consists of a strong sense of self, confidence, and a comprehensive knowledge of company goals. These are qualities that motivate and inspire, providing a solid foundation for teamwork. Employers continue to look for assurances that you can, in some way, either make money for them or save money for them. Skills useful in saving money are universally desired, including by the non-profit organizations.

Adaptability and flexibility.

Nearly half of employers in a recent survey gave a high rating to "openness to new ideas and concepts." They also like candidates who can work independently or as part of a team, changing gears when required, whether multitasking or adapting working hours and locale.

Professionalism and work ethic.

Employers seek productive workers with positive work ethics who stick with challenges until they meet them.

Positive attitude and energy.

The last to be picked and promoted are candidates who show gloomy outlooks and emotional immaturity. Exhibit a sunny outlook and energetic, organized behaviour.

SOURCE: Career Transition Partnership (CTP)

  Ex-Military Candidate's Resources  

What is a CV?

A curriculum vitae, often shortened as CV, is a written overview of someone's life's work records. It outlines where you excel and shows what you can offer.

 Do
• Make every word count.
• Spend a considerable amount of time refining and improving your CV.
• Get someone you trust to read through your CV and provide feedback.

Don't
• Use poor grammar.
• Make spelling mistakes.
• Make statements you cannot back up.

 Introduction (Profile)

• Explain who you are. Describe your key attributes.
• Highlight what you have to offer and have an impact.
• Capture the reader's attention.
• Your CV is your choice and needs to reflect you accurately in a positive way.
• Consider using 3rd person instead of 1st person to keep your CV concise.

Key Skills (education and qualifications)

Select 4 or 5 keys skills of your ex-military career that are general and transferable:

• Articulate each skill in a short paragraph which builds on the introduction.
• Always provide an example of an achievement that demonstrates the skill.
• When the Key Skills and Introduction are combined the reader should have a clear picture of who you are and what you have to offer.

Don't forget to visit our article with Key Skill examples that employers want!

Experience

• Outline your experience to validate everything you have said in the Introduction and Key Skills.
• Use positive power words. What is a power word?
• Ensure power words have meaning for you and you are confident you know their meaning.
• Use bullets to highlight what you did and when you did it.
• Consider highlighting the start of each bullet point in BOLD.
• Make the experiences chronological putting the most recent first.
• Reduce the details as you go down the list, employers don't need to know about your full responsibilities of peeling potatoes in a cafe in New Zealand on your gap year.

Interests and Achievements

• Use this section to stand out about the type of person you are.
• Highlight what more you can offer beyond that of other candidates, do not just use it to fill space.
• Consider things that are not related to your work such as charity/community work, volunteering etc.
• This section is optional and could also be used for Education and Qualifications.

General Advice

• Add page numbers and your name to the bottom of each page in case they get separated after printing.
• Put your name address and contact details at the top of the first page. (If you are willing to relocate state this as location may be what is stopping you from getting a job).
• Add in social media references such as LinkedIn.
• You do not need to state your age or marital status.
• When adding your Email address have a sensible Email address preferably consisting of your name, Avoid adding email address like the following; the-jagermeister-legend-69@hotmail.com.
• If you are currently in employment or still serving, avoid using your work email in case potential employers try to contact you and you have already left service or no longer employed by that company.

 SOURCE: Career Transition Partnership (CTP)

As a company, we pride ourselves on our ability to help others and place tremendous emphasis on environmental sustainability, community support, charitable fundraising and providing our talented team with an environment to flourish within.

With that aim in mind, this week we started an exciting partnership with the charitable organisation Toilet Twinning.

We will support two specific charity initiatives alternately for every candidate placement we make above certain invoice value. EllisKnight International will, therefore, sponsor a toilet twinning on behalf of our clients for placements made from August to October 2020 and February to April 2021.

We're enormously excited about our partnership with this fantastic charity!

What does Toilet Twinning do?

This is a campaign that raises funds to support Tearfund's water and sanitation work around the world. Specifically, it helps provide clean water, proper toilets and hygiene training to some of the world's poorest communities.

• Alongside the certificate, you receive a photo and its GPS coordinates.
• You can choose which country your toilet is twinned with.

Toilet Twinning COVID-19 response

Just before lockdown, on 20 March, we launched Tap Twinning to help fund our global Covid-19 response. For a £60 donation, you can currently 'twin your tap with a tippy tap overseas' and so help spread public health information, train communities in hand hygiene and improve their access to water and hygiene products such as soap.

 "Water and sanitation projects enable families to build a toilet, have access to clean water, and to learn about handwashing and other hygiene principles."

Why toilets matter – Toilet Twinning.

 What needs does Toilet Twinning address?

The exist because of stinking stats such as these:

• 2 billion people still don't have a safe, clean toilet.
• 785 million people don't have clean water close to home.
• A child under five dies of disease linked to dirty water and poor sanitation every two minutes.
• Diarrhoea kills more children in war zones than war itself.

(Sources: WHO, Unicef.)

Their impact:

Some 140,000 toilets have been twinned to date, which equates to about 840,000 people in 45 countries being given access to safe sanitation over the past ten years.

You can twin your toilet and taps too!

For more information, please visit the Toilet Twinning website:

• What they do
• Get involved
• Contact Toilet Twinning

Follow their journey: Facebook | Twitter.

60 seconds with Monica in Zambia – widescreen from Toilet Twinning on Vimeo.

Process

1. Download, complete and send back the 'Job Advert Form' to recruitment@ellisknight.com.
2. An EllisKnight Director will contact you to confirm receipt and to confirm the details.
3. Your advert will 'Go Live' within 24 hours of you submitting the form.
4. There is absolutely no commitment to engage with EllisKnight for any paid recruitment in the future.
5. Your vacancy will be advertised on the EllisKnight website - job board page, branded with your company logo.
6. All candidate's applications will automatically be sent to the email address you put on the Job Advert Form.
7. It is your responsibility to carry out the necessary compliance and background checks for any candidate you are looking to employ.
8. As there is no recruitment fee and we are not sourcing or representing the candidates, any candidate you recruit via your advert will not be eligible for the EK Rebate Structure. 

EK Additional Offerings 

 If you require additional services, we are able to offer the following:

During these difficult times, people all over the world have joined together to help and support each other. Still, it is a reality that the sector is currently struggling.

The organisation, Probono Economics/Civil Society Media, released a survey, from 28 and 29 April 2020 on a 433 sample size, to monitor the impact COVID-19 has unfolded over non-profit organisations. See below for a summary of the findings:

• 92% of charities expected Coronavirus to harm their ability to meet their objectives over the next six months.
• 39% said the most significant negative impact of Covid-19 is social distancing and their ability to deliver their services.
• 31% claim that the pandemic had affected their ability to fundraise.
• 57% have had to reduce their activity in a significant way. Finally.
• 44% have experienced a significant depletion of financial reserves.

Paul Morgan, Director of Fundraising and Communication at Naomi House & Jacksplace, speaks about the challenges faced during these tough times.

To help Naomi House & Jacksplace, please donate through their website or better yet, create your own 2.6 challenge and choose them as your preferred charity.

What are the latest initiatives to help the charity sector?

The Charity Commission for England and Wales had registered by 2018 183,795 charities. To be able to cope with the demand, some organisations have launched initiatives such as "The 2.6 Challenge", one of the most popular in the UK.

What is EllisKnight International doing to support our communities?

 EKICC – Where Charity and Recruitment go Hand in Hand.

A brand new charter to pledge EllisKnight International's commitment to supporting our local community and our service offering to support all registered charities: https://www.ellisknight.com/ek-charity-charter

During these challenging times, we have all been through different mental stages. It doesn't matter if you are still working, in furlough or unemployed; it can be so difficult to get motivated, focused and thriving. It certainly hasn't been easy.

However, if you feel like learning something new or upskilling yourself, we conducted a research of fantastic free courses by leading companies that can be helpful to upgrade your digital skills and/or make your home office more comfortable and productive.

GOOGLE

• Plan Effective Meetings.
• Communicate Effectively at work.
• Manage Project Communication.
• Use Digital Tools for Everyday Tasks.
• Connect and Collaborate from Anywhere with Digital Tools.

MICROSOFT

• PowerPoint for Windows Training.
• Excel for Windows Training.
• Word for Windows Training.
• SharePoint Online Video Training.
• Outlook Training.
• Office Cheat Sheets: Includes Office downloadable guides for Windows and Mac.

UDEMY

• Best practices for working remotely.
• Beginners guide to getting organised.
• Time Management Mastery Course - Enhanced Productivity.
• Concentration and Focus: The Principles of Deep Work.

LINKEDIN LEARNING

• Managing Stress for Positive Change.
• How to Manage Feeling Overwhelmed.
• Balancing Work and Life.

Do you have any questions? or feedback? Would you like us to write about a particular topic related to job-hunting?
Please don't hesitate in getting in touch with us:
info@ellisknight.com

As a recruitment consultancy, we sift hundreds of CVs daily from entirely different industries: Marketing & Digital, IT & Cybersecurity, Office Support, Finance & Accountancy, Motoring & Automotive, Hospitality & Catering, Property Management, to name just a few.

Therefore, we decided to give you a few recommendations for writing a resume, that can apply to any industry or career level.

Professional Profile. We understand it can be challenging to summarise in a small paragraph all your education and professional experience.

Therefore, we advise you to take your time and make this section relevant to the job you are applying to. Highlight the skills and experience that you have and match them with what the company is specifically looking for, which leads us to the next recommendation: keywords.

Keywords. Most in-house HR departments and employment agencies use specialised recruitment software. When you upload a CV, it will most likely be "scanned" by the software and reveal itself when the recruiter creates a search with specific keywords that match your CV.

What is a keyword? A word that describes the content of your CV; for example, I am looking for a Digital Marketing Executive, and the company I am recruiting for requires specific skills from the candidate: SEO, SEM and Emailing Campaigns. The recruiter will first add in the search those skills (keywords), and the resumes that show up will be the ones selected for further consideration by the consultant.

Format. The simpler, the better. Surprisingly for many candidates, sending your CV in a Word format, without any tables or frames is a great option.

And what about the creative industries? Easy! Attach your portfolio in a PDF or link. It will look neater and organised, plus the Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) will be able to scan your Microsoft Word CV, and you'll appear in most searches.

Another option can be to upload your 'fancy' curriculum and give the alternative to the company or recruiter to contact you if they need the Word format; this can be a great pretext to get a call from the recruiter and have a chat about the position.

Dates of employment. Always write the correct dates of employment and education on your CV. If for any reason you have a work gap, don't worry, explain further in a cover letter or email. These dates need to be accurate to match your profile on LinkedIn.

Video interview. Now more than ever, companies are embracing video interviews. As part of EllisKnight International's digital transformation, we've been using it for almost a year and a half as a vital and mandatory part of our recruitment process.

The benefits? Saving transportation money, reducing the time to hire and is more likely to be chosen by the employer as we are showcasing not just your skills, also your personality. Read here Video interview preparation: top tips.

Be perseverant. We all have been in the stressful situation of applying for a new job, could be as a graduate, looking for your next career move or a redundancy, etc. Do not get demotivated; invest at least an hour of your day getting organised and updating your CV. Need help with this process? Consult our "How to get a job quickly" blog article.

Good to know... 

Information regarding your references, photo, marital status, hobbies or date of birth is totally optional on CV (references are usually necessary only once a job has been offered); you are in your right to not include those personal details.

Practical advice when applying on Jobs on Facebook.

Facebook has recently launched its very own job board. We've been using it for a while and made an interesting finding: most candidates apply without uploading a CV or filling up the Facebook built-in application form.

Always take time to fill up the application form or upload your CV with a brief paragraph of why you should be considered for the job. Additionally, we always attach a link, in the job description, to our website where you can register and apply for as many vacancies as you wish.

Helpful resources

• Do you require help with the whole document? Please download our pre-made CV in Word format. Just fill it up and start applying!

Download CV template 

• Don't miss out this phenomenal free online course "Writing a Resume" by Linkedin Learning. The course targets US candidates; yet, has valuable information and tips that can be applied anywhere in the world. It also contains a "European Resume Design" section that can be of your interest.

It depends on numerous factors and situations; although it can be a subjective question, we want to guide you with simple steps you can follow to achieve it.

First of all, you need to acknowledge that this process requires you to be organised and perseverant. Having that in mind, we designed a printable handbook for you to help you track your job-seeking process:

The EllisKnight Handbook: "How to get a job quickly" contains useful checklists and worksheets that will help you to get organised and ready to start your job hunt:

• • → Career goals worksheet.
  • → Job seeking checklist.
  • → UK job board list.
  • → Job application tracker.
  • → Video interview checklist.
  • → Face-to-face interview checklist.
  • → Notes.

Recommendations:

 Sit down, get comfortable and get a cup of coffee; then think about your objective. What do you want? Some people might be seeking a new challenge and to climb further up the career ladder. Some, on the other hand, might just be looking to gain more experience in a particular field; others might need an industry change or even a complete career change. 

Once you have a clear idea of the path you want to take in your professional career, write it down.

 Build or update your CV. If you don't have one, download our pre-made template in Word format. 

If you already have a CV, take your time to review details: can you shorten it to two pages maximum? Are you enlisting the skills you gained on your last job? Are you personalising it for the job you want? Please read "Writing a great CV: Six key recommendations" for more details.

 Personalise your Cover Letter. Try to personalise all the cover letters you send to your prospective employer; this shows a significant interest from your part.

 Brand yourself online on Linkedin. First of all, why Linkedin? Most companies have a Linkedin profile; recruiters make candidate searches there, and you can apply directly for jobs as it has a built-in job board.

Keep your profile updated and get active on it, expand your connections, reconnect with people you've worked for and get some recommendations from your previous employers.

The benefit of this social media channel is that you have the control of how you want the recruiters to see you and the chance to showcase your Certificates, Diplomas, voluntary work and endorsements. Let's say it's an interactive CV.

 Register on Job Boards. One of the most annoying things when applying for jobs is registering on too many websites, as it takes a lot of time to do so.

Although we would love to tell you this is not necessary, there is no other way to upload or update your data. Yet, we can help you with a simple tip that will save you a lot of time: write your CV in Word format on a simple design. This will let you easily copy-paste your contact details, experience, education, and any other information you need to write on the job board forms.

 Register on Recruitment Agencies. Depending on the agency you choose, they will give you different ways to communicate their available jobs. At EllisKnight International Recruitment, when you register online, you can enjoy the following benefits:

• • Jobs notifications. Sent directly to your email based on your search criteria. Never miss a job!
  • Option to upload your CV and create a profile.
  • Quick Apply. Fast and straightforward job applications using your saved CV.
  • Job application history - keep track of your previous activity and follow up.

 Set up job alerts. All job boards give you the option for 'opt-in' email alerts with jobs you are interested in apply. On top of that, on EllisKnight website, you can set it up in three simple steps:

• • Log in to your profile.
  • On the main menu, click on "Job Alerts".
  • It will take you to a form where you can personalise, with detail, what kind of vacancies you want to receive.

 Track applications and follow up. Use a notebook, create a document on your computer or create a list on your phone/tablet to track every application you make.

When you are in the hunt, is easy to get lost on job applications made directly to companies, job boards, recruitment agencies, social media, voice messages or even on direct phone calls from recruiters that found your CV. Just write the vacancy name, company, recruiter name and date.

 Tap into your network. Always make sure to let previous employers, ex-colleagues, friends and family members know you are looking for a new job opportunity. They might know someone who has the perfect vacancy for you.

 Practice interviewing. Every interview is different, but there are frequent topics that you can practice and can be applied to almost any industry or job:

• • Think about 3 strengths you have.
  • Can you list 3 weaknesses?
    • Complete the previous answer with a positive twist or how you would look to use them as an opportunity to grow or develop.
  • Think about what you would bring to the company to help achieve its objectives?
  • Do your research, know the company's industry, the service or product they're offering, who the CEO is, values and mission. Study their website.
  • Ask at least one question to the interviewer.

 Don't stop your search. It's hard to keep motivated when you have been searching for a few days or weeks, especially if you've been rejected a few times. DON'T GIVE UP!

Overall, the common factor with being successful at apply for jobs is... don't stop applying!

Dedicate at least 1 or 2 hours every day on your search, and don't forget to use your checklist and notebook. It sounds too simple; however, it will be gratifying when you see the results and feel your confidence grow as you start to make and receive more calls, replying to emails and being in control of your search and interview process.

Don't forget to download your handbook! Find it at the end of the article (below the tags section).

Do you have any questions? or feedback? Would you like us to write about a particular topic related to job-hunting?

Please don't hesitate in getting in touch with us: Send us an email to info@ellisknight.com

EllisKnight International Recruitment is proud to announce a new payment option RPO Switch ON - Switch OFF.

On this uncertain times, businesses across all industries are facing significant challenges, and now more than ever, we all need to be flexible. In that line, we are offering a recruitment service that can adjust to your company without worrying about extra fees.

What does this mean?

For example, if you would have an in-house recruitment team and, for any reason, there is no recruitment movement, you would still have to pay HR team salaries, advertising, job boards, recruitment software, between other fees.

When you choose us as your recruitment partners with the RPO Switch ON- Switch OFF payment option, you can stop your recruitment service anytime without incurring in extra fees.

Finally, when you are ready to recruit again, you just need to switch it on, and you'll be able to access again to our team of recruitment experts and many other perks:

• On-site presence as much as required.
• Access to a team of recruitment experts.
• Manage a panel of support suppliers to give greater coverage.
• Includes all advertising costs.
• Agreed KPI's and Service Level Agreements.
• 6 month guarantee linked to candidates successfully passing probation.
• Ability to manage large volume recruitment across all departments.
• Includes temp payroll service and referencing.
• Small recruitment fees in exchange for managing all vacancies as an RPO.
• Fees can be split across 12 months, not just not just on start date.

In other words, if there's NO RECRUITMENT, there will be NO COST.

How do we fill our vacancies?

We use the latest recruitment technology to ensure we contact top talent with the skills required:

Call us: 0118 3042 855 

Contact us

Need more information?