Episode 22: So You Want to Make an Emirates CV?
Making a CV or resume is a daunting task for anyone.
This is especially true if it’s early on in your career, or if you’re applying to one of the most selective companies in the world! That’s why in this blog post I teamed up with my friend and Professional Recruiter, Vernon. As a recruiter, it is his job to look at people’s CVs all day every day and to help them secure jobs that fulfill them and help them move forward in their careers.
In this video/ blog post, we discuss:
Common CV / Resume Mistakes
The First Thing a Recruiter Looks For in a CV
How Long A CV Should Be
What To Do About Gaps in your CV
How to Tailor your CV to a Company Like Emirates
The Most Important Tip for Making Any CV
Remember to sign up to my newsletter below to get 3 resumes you can easily customize yourself.
When you share your email, Vernon shares two of the best resumes he’s ever seen as templates, and I share my personal CV template with all of you - for free!
If you watch the video to the end, you’ll also find out tips I personally used on my resume to get the job with EK as Cabin Crew!
First Things First: Common CV / Resume Mistakes
If you think the person on the other end of your CV is a robot, you would be wrong. No matter how professional or corporate the job you are applying for is, the person looking at your CV likely wants to see a beautiful piece of work that was created with attention to detail. The biggest mistake most people make is not looking their CV over to ensure that:
All the margins are aligned and in place
The fonts, dates and text is consistent all around
Your CV is free of spelling mistakes
It looks clean, neat and organized rather than too wordy or busy
Next? The First Thing A Recruiter Looks For
Although you may be the most kind, interesting person in the world, a recruiter might not care about your personality in the beginning of your resume. This means that putting your hobbies or personal details about you at the start of your resume likely will not help you very much.
The first thing a recruiter looks for, besides a resume that shows attention to detail and is nice to look at, is your work experience!
Show your work skills and experience first, and make sure they feel confident about you as an employee before you discuss yourself and things like your personal interests. It is great to include hobbies in your CV but maybe save them for the end of your resume and only share the ones that are important for the job you are applying for.
For example, after sharing your experience in customer service, luxury retail, hospitality or as cabin crew for other airlines, then you can mention that you love to hike, travel and cook French cuisine!
It’s great to have interests and hobbies and include them in your CV, but be sure to share your work experience first.
So…How Long Should A CV Be?
The reality according to Vernon is it depends on your experience and on the job you are applying for. If it is too long, most likely the recruiter will take a look here or there, but they may not read it all. Most CVs for a job like Cabin Crew at Emirates are 1-2 pages on average. Even if you have many years of relevant experience, try to find a way to keep it concise and clear.
Okay, What To Do About Gaps in your CV?
There are many acceptable reasons for gaps in your CV: A family emergency, a sabbatical (taking deliberate time off), or an illness for example are all acceptable reasons. No matter why there are gaps, be sure to handle it well!
For example, I share in the video that I worked as a professional Executive Assistant for many years. In my CV there is a gap of experience at one point because I stopped working as an EA and became a flight attendant. During this Intime as well, I was handling a family emergency which was my father’s passing. So, there was a career change and also a family crisis to discuss in my interview.
No matter why your CV might have gaps, the most important thing is how you handle it when asked about it. Be clear about what happened, but don’t dwell on it. Share what the situation was briefly, but emphasize how you handled it proactively and what your intentions are for the future. Showing you can handle challenges when they come is impressive to any employer. They don’t need the personal details of your life, they only need to know how it affects your job from now on.
Tell me then.. How To Tailor a CV to a Company Like Emirates?
In the video, Vernon shares that his biggest tip when creating your CV for Emirates or for any job, is to research the company first. Really look at their website. What are they about? Who do they work with? Are any of their values the same as yours? What do they stand for? What colors do you see?
This is not only good for you since you will find out whether you are really interested in working for them, but it will also help you have more to discuss during your interviews and will help you pick up on key words to add to your resume. For example, can you name the values that Emirates stands for? Are those words or others similar to them included in your CV? If not, you might want to add them in.
Here are the values for Cabin Crew in case you don’t know them:
Professional, Empathetic, Progressive, Visionary, Cosmopolitan
Look up these words. Get familiar with their meanings. Include them in your CV and interview responses. Reflect on how you embody these values. Have examples ready!
Show the recruiters why you’re already the perfect fit!
My advice… What Is the Most Important Tip for Any CV?
My advice for you is your CV should give you confidence. You should finish that CV and show up the day of the interview 100% sure that they should hire you.
If you really made your resume beautiful with attention to detail, including relevant experience and hobbies, did your research online and tailored your CV and your answers to the company’s values, then you’ve done all you can.
You can attend your interview with peace. This is the real gift a great CV can give you.
Like an actor preparing for a role, you have done all the work ahead of time.
Now all you need is to show up and shine!
For more tips
If you haven’t read my blog post on acing your Emirates Open Day in 2023, check it out here!
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Best of luck to you and remember - dreams are supposed to come true!
