Many people believe there are no jobs in Ghana because they have been unemployed for a long time. But the problem may not be the unavailability of jobs. The problem may be with your CV.
Merely scribbling your name on a document with a few hastily crafted info about you does not make an effective CV. There is a way to write a good CV. This is how:
Albeit a CV is written BY you, it is not written FOR you. You write a CV for your prospective employer or more specifically for the role you are applying for. What are the implications of this?
Writing a Good CV
1. You shouldn’t design just one CV that you circulate around for every job application. You must take your time to redesign your CV for every new job opportunity because each job is different and has different responsibilities or requirements. So sending the same CV with the same skills sets, experiences and career highlights to different companies does not position you effectively to grab specific job opportunities. It makes you too general. Point 2 will explain this better.
2. I must respectfully point out that companies or employers don’t recruit staff merely because they want people to fill their organizations. Employees are recruited because there is a NEED in the organization and that need is often expressed in a JOB DESCRIPTION. When a company advertises that they need a person to occupy the role of Marketing Executive, they spell out specific jobs that this person will do in the company. So in crafting your CV, you must ANTICIPATE this job description and match the SKILLS part of your CV to it. This is why you must deliberately tailor your CV for each job opportunity you apply for.
3. In furtherance of point 2, when a company advertises a vacancy for the role of Marketing Executive and you seek to apply for that role, you must research and identify what the job description of a marketing executive is. Then you examine your own life, career and experiences and list specific skills, experiences and achievements that position you well to handle the role of Marketing Executive and present it in your CV. You must deliberately customize your CV to make a persuasive case for why you deserve to be hired as a Marketing Executive. Researching the role you are applying for and what it entails will enable you to know how to package yourself to attract that role.
4. Point 3 therefore implies that it is not every skill or experience that you must present in your CV. You only present those that are most relevant for the job you are applying for. If you were the 100m champion in Bankyiase Secondary School, it is not relevant for a job application for Front Desk executive. But perhaps, if you were applying for field Marketing Officer it could be because it shows you may have physical stamina to do field work. But even then you must strategically communicate it to give you an advantage.
