Prepare your application

A curriculum vitae (CV) is your entry ticket to the job market. It’s  a hiring manager’s first impression of your professional and academic credentials and a document that provides a comprehensive description of your academic achievements, professional experience, and skills relevant to the role for which you’re applying. As you advance in your education and career, a CV can also be used to highlight your awards, honours, publications, fellowships, grants, and speaking engagements. What about language skills? In today’s globalised world, language skills are highly valuable assets! Be sure to include which languages you speak and your level of proficiency in each.

Need help getting started on your CV? 

Log in to read our Profile and CV article series on the Thomas More Career Center page and make sure to check out Costly CV mistakes that college graduates often make to avoid common CV mistakes. 

We recommend using one of the many free online CV templates such as Novoresume and Hays recruiting experts to build a stellar and neatly formatted CV.

• Pro tip: Do you have a LinkedIn profile? With LinkedIn you can display all of academic and professional achievements, apply to jobs and stand out to recruiters.

Many job advertisements these days ask applicants to submit a cover letter alongside their CV. The purpose of this letter is to introduce the candidate and briefly summarise their professional experience and educational background. You can also use this letter to expand on roles and accomplishments otherwise briefly mentioned in your CV.

A good cover letter can make the difference between a Hiring Manager reading your CV or putting it in the rejection pile. Always keep in mind that some open positions may receive dozens if not hundreds of applications. This is especially the case if the company or organisation is well-known. But don’t worry! By checking out these useful cover letter writing tips, you’ll be able to write a polished cover letter to set yourself apart.

Avoid these common cover letter writing mistakes by reading 6 things you should never put in your cover letter on the Thomas More Career Center. 

Congratulations! You’ve been invited to your very first job interview! But getting here is only half the work. Job interviews can consist of one or multiple stages, and depending on the role, a company or organisation might you to take a skills-based test. 

In the job interview itself, you’ll typically be confronted with a discussion about the role, your understanding of the responsibilities, as well as your experience, motivation and how you’d be an asset in the position. This is your time to shine and elaborate on your experiences listed in your CV and cover letter and how they relate to the position.
Getting yourself ready for a job interview may be a bit nerve racking at first, but with some preparation and practice, you’ll soon be hearing “You’re hired!”.
Log in to your Thomas More Career Center account to check out our article series on Interviews to learn more about the interview process and how to prepare.