That is, if by ‘rain’ you mean an absolute torrent of public outrage being aimed in your general direction and which, having caused the termination of the NOTW now also threatens to derail Rupert Murdoch’s plans to take over BSkyB. So, pretty heavy rain then.
And what was it that brought the self-proclaimed ‘Britain’s biggest selling paper’ to its knees?
Well, it was just that. Sales. That desire to sell more than your rivals, at almost any costs, which caused the ethics to be lost somewhere along the way.
One thing that you can’t fault them on however is that ability to sell themselves. Everyone reading this blog will have a different opinion on the quality of the journalism and how relevant the stories are to their own lives and agendas, but when it comes to the ability to self-promote the NOTW and other News International publications have proven to have few who can (or could) touch them.
Many of you will regularly meet clients and hand over sleek, professionally put together promotional material which will testify to why you are the best firm to instruct. Working together with your marketing team you have produced an enviable document/presentation which intimates that you are the people to do the work, and that the client might as well cancel meeting all of the other lawyers who are potentially in line. You are that good. Oh yes.
Yet startlingly enough when it comes to putting together a CV that ability to self-promote somehow seems to go completely out of the window. We are regularly in conversation with senior level lawyers and partners who produce a résumé for us which tells us absolutely nothing about them, their work, their expertise nor how they could add value to a potential new employer.
And let me tell you; a legal recruiter’s time is extremely valuable. Unless it is a retained search then essentially a legal recruitment consultant is working on a no-win no-fee basis, and hence has to prioritise exactly who they should work on behalf of and to what extent. We have always prided ourselves as being a legal recruitment consultancy which goes the extra mile, which means that we don’t just sit here and wait for roles to land on our desk. We go out there into the market proactively and confidentially to source opportunities for strong candidates that we may be working with, usually at the expense of others who we have to judge may not have as much to offer.
The curriculum vitae that you produce is probably the most valuable tool that you have in terms of finding that next role. Therefore you owe it to yourself that your CV does as good a job to sell you as possible. Here’s how.
1) Make it clear. Who you are. Where you work. Where you previously worked. What type of work do you do. What type of clients do you act for. Where you went to university.
2) Be explicit. Not in a Christian Bale on the set of ‘Terminator’ kind of way, but focus on the type of work that you do and elaborate on this. If your description of your most recent relevant role doesn’t take up half-to-three-quarters of a side of A4 minimum then there’s not enough in there.
3) Don’t be explicit. Think about what’s really relevant. If you are a newly-qualified lawyer then the fact that you spent three months on a placement at Clifford Chance during your summer break before the LPC is useful to know. If you have around 30 years PQE working with leading national firms and billing £600k per annum for blue-chip clients then it’s not quite so important.
4) Name drop. But don’t name drop. Don’t be afraid to talk about notable matters that you’ve dealt with, particularly if they are reported cases. Perhaps include a couple of lines about how each progressed and what the result was. But be confidential; your client may not wish to be named and have it banded around the market how you reached a particular resolution or what they were accused of. Also bear in mind that your future employer may not want to hire someone who will disclose the entire client base at the drop of a hat.
5) Don’t keep it to two sides. For crying out loud, don’t keep it to two sides. In the words of Baz Luhrmann ‘If I could offer you only one tip for the future...’...... he then went on to rattle off some twaddle about wearing sunscreen, which is decent advice admittedly, but when it comes to getting a job it’s not as important as making sure your CV says as much about you as it needs to. If you’ve handled a range of corporate matters including five mergers worth £3bn, nine acquisitions of £12bn+, assisted with the MBOs of eleven FTSE 100 PLCs and also assisted one client who successfully purchased the moon then are you really going to sit there and work out which ones are least important just to save on one extra side of A4?
6) Don’t keep it two sides. There you are, you’ve been told twice now.
7) Understand what your CV is. It’s not a bit of paper with your name written on it and a basic career history:- we could get that from LinkedIn. Your CV is a tool to get you to interview. If you are going for a role doing commercial IT which requires outsourcing then you need to need to make sure that your CV says that you have done outsourcing. It may not be a partner who is shortlisting, so whoever is measuring your CV against the job spec needs to be able to tick each part of the criteria against your CV.
8) It won’t ‘do’. Your CV, if starting from scratch, should take you upwards of an hour to get right, and to get all of the relevant information on there. If it’s taken you 15 minutes then throw it away because it’s rubbish.
9) Be proud. Talk about your achievements. Don’t feel bad about being accused of ‘blowing your own trumpet’. In fact forget the trumpet - get a whole brass band in if you’re that good.
10) Make more than one CV. Only if its relevant to do so, but if you are a commercial litigator who also does property litigation and would look at opportunities in both then have a CV for each; one which lists your prop lit first and at some length, and the other which covers the basics of your comm lit practice but makes it clear that property if your no. 1. Then produce another which flips this around and incorporates your prop lit into you general experience, and ensure that the appropriate CV goes to the right vacancy.
So that’s it. Your CV may not be the News of the World (although hopefully more truthful than some of the stuff they reported over the years) but invest the time and effort in getting a document which ‘sells’ you and your experience and your chances of securing that interview will increase enormously. If you are unsure then speak with your recruiter about your CV and how it is best structured; after all we are the experts in this matter from years of wading through the good and the bad (and the ugly!)
To discuss general careers advice, including opportunities in your location and how best to construct a CV which will get you that job, speak to one of our specialist consultants on 0121 233 5000 / 020 7649 9094 or visit our website www.vgcharles.com
