Certainly our experience backs up the research quoted in their article that the majority of CV’s presented to recruiters have basic spelling mistakes in them.  This then poses the question as to whether recruiters should take it upon themselves to correct these mistakes, point out the errors to the candidate for them to correct or, perhaps more importantly, should recruiters make a judgement-call on the candidate because of the errors and not present them to clients?

The jury is out with recruiters’ responses ranging from:

“If they can’t get their most important self marketing tool correct, should we be correcting things for them?  What does this say about their general work ethic?”

to

“However, it is our role to help candidates by giving them the best feedback we can, and hopefully they’ll improve their resume and wind up getting a job.”

I make a point of giving genuine and honest feedback to my candidates but with the larger recruitment firms dealing with high volume, candidates can’t always rely on this approach.

My advice to all candidates is to check and check again your CV’s so that it really is a true reflection of your skills and commitment to finding a great job.

Explaining this in one post is impossible, so we’re going to run a series of posts on Perth’s total package to paint a detailed picture of the lifestyle as well as the job opportunities.

Take arts events, for instance. Don’t let anyone tell you Perth is a cultural backwater - if they do, they’re way behind the times.

Over the past ten years or so Perth has been confidently and quietly growing in size, diversity and presence on the international arts scene.

Musicians, artists and writers thrive here for many reasons. Artists say there’s something about the light in WA that makes painting a delight, musicians and writers say the isolation makes it easier to be completely original, photographers are inspired by the colours and spaces.

And there are plenty of opportunities for you to enjoy this wealth of artistry alongside international cultural events.

Music festivals not to be missed are the Bridgetown Blues Festival and the Fairbridge Music Festival, while photographers, artists and artisans are scattered through the Perth Hills and South West in particular, exhibiting and selling stunning original works.

Then there’s the soaring reputation of the Perth International Arts Festival.

Running through February and March every year, the festival is the oldest of its kind in the southern hemisphere. Each festival carries a theme - this year it’s The Human Family - and incorporates performances, exhibitions and workshops that involve everyone at some level.

The festival aims to engage diverse communities, both ethnic and regional, offers free events for the family and makes the most of Perth’s many indoor and outdoor venues. If you only attend one event, you’ll be hooked.

When you place your CV in the hands of a third party - usually a recruitment consultant - you place a considerable amount of trust in that person to handle your personal details with absolute integrity. Don’t be afraid to question your consultant about how your information is handled and by whom. You should expect a lot from your recruitment consultant and confidentiality should be your first priority.

At the risk of being accused of stating the obvious, you should have this conversation before you make your CV available. A reputable recruiter should always be willing to speak with you, provide some brief details of the positions they have on offer and instill enough confidence in their recruitment processes for a good working relationship to develop. Only then would I provide my CV.

So take care - know where your information is going and make sure you discuss every job with your recruiter before applying.

These are drawn from my own long experience in HR and recruitment, which taught me what gets a CV to the shortlist - and why so many end up on the discard pile.

1. Don’t use pictures - unless there’s an obvious reason for it

We received a CV from a young girl who had included a rather provocative photo of herself - she was applying for an administrative job. When we met her, we quickly realised that she was a terrific and capable girl but was suffering from the MySpace / YouTube effect we are seeing so often with Y generation candidates.

Even an inoffensive headshot is unnecessary unless there is a good reason to include it - and there rarely is.

2. Climb outside the job titles

“Grade 1 Level 2 Clerical Officer” is a job title that means precisely nothing to someone outside the organisation it applies to.

So instead, think in terms of function rather than title. What roles or functions were you performing in that job?

Remember that the person reviewing your CV already has a full-time job, and this task is an imposition on their time, albeit an important one.

In the same way a reader scanning a newspaper will decide in the first three or four seconds whether to read a complete article, your CV will be scanned quickly for relevant words and phrases and either discarded or kept to be read fully later.

So keep it simple and highly relevant to the job in question.

3. Focus on the future, not the past

By simply listing your education, work and some of your personal history, your CV remains a bland record of your life.

What’s more relevant to potential employers is where you see all this leading, and what you can do for them.

For example, suppose you have spent lots of time on data entry in previous jobs, but you don’t want to be performing this function in the future. Simply stress the roles and functions you are keen to hold onto. Say why you enjoyed a particular job - what roles you were best suited to.

This gives a more accurate picture of where you see yourself headed and helps recruiters and employers to map your desires onto their needs. But keep it succinct - no rambling. Read Diagnosing Zero Results for more advice, and Get to the Point applies similar techniques to both CVs and interviews.

To increase your chances even further, edit your CV for each job application. Weight the list of roles and functions you have performed in the past towards the those required in the job you are applying for.

Be honest though - you don’t want anyone to be suspicious that you are leaving out information for the wrong reasons. People Who Read Resumes makes useful reading on this point.

4. Use email wisely

When you send your CV direct to a recruiter or employer, take the opportunity to include a short, sharp email message showing why you are applying for the job. This is a very powerful way to get attention right at the start and can only work in your favour.

Once you’re on that shortlist, your CV has done it’s job.

But ask any family living in Perth where they would rather live, and there’s en extremely high chance they’ll tell you - right here! This is a perfect place for kids to grow up.

With endless ribbons of uncrowded white sand beaches, acres of parkland in and around the city, and the walk and cycleways that meander along the banks of the Swan River, there’s rarely a need to leave the metro area. When you do, the ideal destination for family holidays is Rottnest Island, just a half-hour ferry ride away - traffic-free with calm bays and clear waters for swimming and snorkelling.
But don’t just take it from us, visit this forum to interact with people who have moved or live here with children, and gain some honest insights.

We also recommend you check this blog and this site to keep up with events that have “kid appeal”.

And you can access information on government schools here and non-government schools here.

Many people looking for jobs in Perth are equally interested in quality of life, and this is certainly something the sunset city can offer.

But you need time to enjoy it. So when planning your job move, start out with two things:

1. Your wish list
2. Realistic expectations

1. What’s your ideal work-life balance?

When we interview job candidates, the desire for a better balance often appears on their “dream job” wish list.

Many are looking for a more satisfying lifestyle and/or more time with their family. If this is you, then company culture is going to be extremely important.

A good recruitment consultant will take time to understand the company culture and to discuss this openly with you. Consultants who simply want to fill the job and take the fee will more likely try to persuade you not to worry about quality-of-life issues at this stage.

Don’t be put off. Articulate your wants and needs to the recruiter, ask questions about family-friendly policies such as flexible hours and parental leave if this is important to you, discuss the company’s management style, and examine the department structure.

Are working conditions a priority for this company?  Are employees expected to work extra time?  Are their real professional development opportunities? 

Brazen Careerist, Penelope Trunk, presents a Game Plan for families wanting to have it all, which may prompt further thought and more pertinent questions.

In fact, ask any questions you like, as long as you are prepared to accept the answer…

2. Are you prepared to compromise?

Once you have your wish list and a clear idea of how the company culture maps onto it, you’ll probably be left with a shortfall. In fact, you may save yourself an interview if compatibility is low.

If the match is close, your next step is to prioritise your requirements and decide which ones you are prepared to compromise on.

By the time you get to your interview, you’ll have a pretty good idea of what benefits the company is likely to be able to offer you, and where you are able to be flexible. Many businesses are prepared to offer flexibility in return in the current climate of high employment and skills shortages.

However, if you’re not applying through a recruitment agency, you will have to uncover the company’s policies through direct questioning, so you need to be a little more diplomatic in your approach. Making Work Life Balance a Priority in Your Job Search includes advice on how to negotiate the tightrope between your wishes and the employer’s.

Either way, remember to aim high - but keep your feet on the ground.

Here are my tips for online job-hunters:

• Applying for several jobs can get confusing. Make a list of jobs you have applied for, so that when your phone starts ringing hot you will know who you are talking to and what job they are calling about. First impressions count at this point, and confusion can be mistaken for poor organisational skills or even incompetence.

• It is usually impossible to speak with either a recruitment consultant or a company representative when applying online. You simply click and apply with your fingers crossed! But if you can, try to speak with someone about the job in the very early stages of your application. Ideally you need to chat with the recruitment consultant acting on behalf of the company. This allows you to be much more candid in asking the kinds of questions that will help you decide if this is the right place for you.

• Make informed choices about where you list your CV.With the prevalence of new online job boards, the option to upload your CV and register to have suitable job opportunities emailed to you is very appealing. But remember that your current employer might access your details too!

• Make sure your personal information is not on display. We recently viewed a CV listed on a job board and among the applicant’s personal details were his tax file no and bank account numbers! Of course we contacted him immediately and advised him to delete this information pronto. He could have found himself the victim of identity fraud – or worst still, he could have lost his life-savings.

We were interested to discover some statistics about job searching recently, which suggested that most job-hunters expect to find their next position via an online job board, with recruitment agencies coming in as the second most likely source, and newspapers third.

However, in our experience, newspaper ads are more successful for company’s filling positions than online ads. This suggests to me that clever job-seekers are still checking the paper as well as searching online.

So don’t dismiss newspaper job sections as old hat - they have real benefits and avoid the pitfalls listed above. And if you let a good recruitment agency search both online and print media on your behalf to find the perfect match for you, you are far more likely to end up in your dream job.

When a quality candidate comes their way, they have to move quickly - and many are throwing caution to the wind, offering disproportionately high salaries and promising perks that wouldn’t normally be on the radar for the job in question.

It’s tempting - but beware of jumping at this kind of offer. You may find yourself in a job you can’t handle, under the pump, or even in danger of stalling your career. And when the job market returns to equilibrium, workers sucking up high salaries with inadequate skills will be the primary target for cut-backs.

This is where both employers and job-seekers need to be more intelligent about recruitment.

Throughout my recruitment career, around 85-90% of the candidates we have placed in jobs were already employed, and recent statistics back this up, with almost 90% of employed people regularly researching job opportunities.

While there is a genuine skills shortage in certain areas, companies are also - thankfully - getting better at retaining their staff with good working conditions. So although they’re looking, they’re not leaving.

This makes recruitment trickier. But offering a high salary and flashy perks might attract someone to a job for the wrong reasons, when the most important factor for those deciding to change jobs is quality of management, according to a recent survey.

This means that employers who genuinely look after their staff will be more successful not only at staff retention but also at attracting good quality candidates in the first place.

We are still filling all the jobs on behalf of our clients by placing the emphasis on mutual matching.

This means the interview process has to be two-way - you need to be sure that the company you are applying to is able to offer the management qualities you want. Ask your recruitment consultant plenty of questions before you apply and beware of relying too heavily on online job boards.

A management style that includes flexibility, trust and a genuine concern for staff conditions needs to be entrenched as part of the company culture, and not a temporary strategy to attract candidates. Because when the equilibrium returns, and it’s no longer a job-seekers’ market, it will be too easy for your employer to pull the rug from under your feet.

On a positive note, if you endeavour to become cross-skilled, and keep your expertise current, you can safely vote with your feet and move on if management style becomes unacceptable.

1. The ideal climate

Perth’s Mediterranean climate means temperatures rarely drop below 9C in winter and hover in the 20s and early 30s during summer with low humidity. Rainfall is concentrated in the winter months, but tends to come in waves of a day or so, followed by clear blue skies for the next few days. So it’s very rare to see several days of rain in a row and there are plenty of crisp clear days of respite.

2. A safe, clean environment

Perth is one of the safest (and cleanest) cities in the world. The crime rate is low and traffic is relatively calm compared to other capital cities. Getting into the city, down to the beach or out into the hills is easy and quick.

3. Beautiful beaches

If it’s beach life you’re after, this is the place. Even eastern-staters have been known to gasp at the vast stretches of empty white sand along the Perth coastline and beyond. The beaches don’t get crowded, the Indian Ocean is warmer than the Atlantic, and the coast is within easy reach of any suburb - half an hour to the beach is a long journey. And the stunning Margaret River region is just three hours away.

4. Seductive shopping

What makes the shopping special in the Perth region is the plethora of local artisans and designers selling gorgeous clothing, textiles, ceramics, wood and metalwork, furniture, jewellery, artwork (including indigenous art) and more. Local designers rent space in the Colonnade, Subiaco, with more established designers taking retail space along Hay Street and in Claremont. Craft outlets are everywhere, but more concentrated in outlying towns such as York, Pemberton and Margaret River.

5. World-class wine

Talking of Margaret River, who hasn’t tasted a drop of vino from this fertile part of the world at some time in their lives? There are several wine subregions within the wider Margaret River area, with lots of cellar doors dotted around the rolling countryside. New boutique wineries are springing up all the time, not just here but further south where cool climate wines are thriving.

6. Untouched wilderness

Western Australia is one of the few places in the world that contains true, untouched wilderness. The 1000km Bibbulmun Track winds through pretty bushland, along jagged coastline and through the forested valleys of the south. The wide icing-sugar beaches of Esperance are a joy for four-wheel driving, with nearby national parks harbouring some sheltered camping spots and bushwalks with ocean views. A short flight north and you’re into the clear warm waters of the Ningaloo Reef (heaven for divers), the dramatic gorges of Karijini (backdrop to Japanese Story), and of course there’s the Kimberley region, where large tracts of land and coastline remain unexplored even today.

7. Booming economy

There’s no doubt that the WA economy is strong and is likely to maintain this strength for the foreseeable future, thanks to our rich resources sector, our sustainable tourism industry, a building boom and an ideal climate for entrepreneurial start-up businesses. Perth is crying out for talented candidates to fill the plethora of jobs in small and large businesses - the perfect time to hunt for your dream job.

To find out more about Perth lifestyle go to the Experience Perth website. And This Perth Life is a great little site with a blog to keep you up to date on events.

There’s nothing dreamy about having a job. In fact, nightmares are dreams too, and I have certainly heard some nightmare stories during my recruitment career.

So how can you change what you’re stuck with – your job – into something much more fulfilling – your dream job?

Assuming you’re not in a position to consider a complete career change (a subject for another blog post), your best option is to look for the same job in a different organisation. So how do you avoid going from the frying pan into the fire?

It’s often easier to talk about what you DON’T want but harder to describe what you DO want. Daydreaming is a good place to start, as psychologist Susan Bernstein suggests, but take your daydreaming seriously. Try stretching your thought processes out from your ideal job title to describing the function you really enjoy performing in an environment you would particularly thrive in.

Ask yourself these questions:

• What makes you feel good about your job?
• What part of your job do you like?
• Do you like the people you are working with?
• Do you feel valued by your employer?

Once you have your answers, it’s important to understand why you feel this way.

It’s likely that your answers to the first two questions will tell you what you’re really good at - because this will be the part of the job you enjoy the most and what makes you feel good.

The next two questions will help you determine the ethos and type of organisation you would like to work in - the kinds of people you would like to work alongside and how you would like your employer to value and recognise your contribution.

Apply these criteria when considering a new position and you’ll be on your way to determining the difference between your next job into your dream job.

For more inspiration on matching your job to your desires, “Success” Should Not Mean “Management” is a great article with lots of food for thought, and What’s the Essence of What You Want is an inspirational piece from “Occupational Adventurer” Curt Rosengren.

Before I started my own business I had found my dream job. My title was PA to the Managing Director for the major manufacturing division of a multi-national organisation. Working closely with senior management, I was also involved in many aspects of forecasting and strategic planning issues, performance management, professional development and HR issues, and quality assurance. I organised many events and conferences working to a budget in excess of $100K. Our enormous export business required me to organise and host many visits from overseas clients and my opinion was sought on many other areas of the business.

This was surely a dream job for a career-minded PA, right? But if I told you that this job was in a brick factory, where I had to regularly clear the brickdust from my desk and negotiate my car around the potholes in the driveway to get to my office, you might re-think.

So what was it about this job that made it a dream job for me and kept me there for nine years? It certainly wasn’t the physical working environment.

Every year was a growth year for me professionally. I worked alongside the most amazingly committed group of people all working to make the business successful and in an organisation that recognised and valued their people.

Oh and by the way, my boss regularly thanked me for my contribution. Even after the most stressful of days, I would drive home feeling good!

A ‘dream job’ comes in all guises – learn to recognise what makes you tick and then go out and find it.

Dream =

Vision – daydream, nightmare, hallucination, delusion, trance
Fantasy – pipe dream, castle in the sky
Aspiration – wish, goal, hope