Over the years I’ve seen a lot of CVs and have noticed patterns in people’s attitudes and approaches to writing their CV. However, there is one issue that stands out above all others and it manifests itself in the conversations I have with prospective customers. Their typical questions are often along the lines of: “Can you make my CV look better?” Or: “I need my CV to be more eye catching.” While many often ask: “Can you make my CV look more professional?” Now you might be wondering what is wrong with these questions! The point is, they focus purely on aesthetics. What a CV looks like is of course important, but it’s completely secondary to the content of the CV. A nice looking CV full of waffle is going to be less effective than an average looking CV with great content. What makes your CV effective is providing compelling evidence that you have the skills and experience to do the job you’re applying for. The CV must capture your ‘value proposition’ and ‘value-added’ skills that are aligned with the ‘hot’ skills in your market place. Too many job seekers are unaware of the ‘hot’ skills employers are searching for and resort to listing behavioural traits such as working in a team, working under pressure, and having good communications skills, etc. When we write CVs we make a point of researching and defining the ‘hot’ skills that are in demand in each profession. We also spell out how these skills might benefit a future employer if they were to hire you. We make sure these skills are pushed in the CV and backed up with tangible evidence. For example:

• If you work in marketing you may want to talk about your ability to create low-cost, recession-busting marketing strategies that deliver superior return on investment (ROI).
• If you are an operations manager, your skills might include being able to lead cost-rationalisation programmes to reduce cost and drive profit.
• If you are an HR manager you might highlight the fact that you can develop robust succession planning and performance management frameworks to drive superior workforce productivity.
• If you compare these with the behavioural traits we mentioned above, they are clearly better aligned to the market place and much more powerful. Understanding what the ‘hot’ skills are for your industry and ensuring they are included in the content of your CV is paramount to success.

Matt Craven is Managing Director of CV & Interview Advisors. Matt has seven years’ experience in the CV writing industry. For a free CV appraisal visit the CV & Interview Advisors website. Photo by Laffy

NCFE LEVEL 2 CERTIFICATE IN INTRODUCTION TO CABIN CREW Within the travel and tourism industry, cabin crew still plays an extremely important role within the airline sector and great emphasis is still placed upon finding the perfect candidates for this demanding and extremely rewarding job. With this in mind the course has been designed to provide students with the underpinning knowledge required to work effectively as a member of airline cabin crew and provide the tools needed to deliver the highest level of standard and service to satisfy even the most difficult passenger. This course will not only give you the opportunity to investigate various areas of cabin crew, but upon successful completion will guarantee you interviews for a position with MONARCH and BMI. THE COURSE INCLUDES: - One practical training day at Heathrow using British Airways Mock Aircraft Facility Training includes: Last flight as a passenger, doors exercise, unplanned & planned exercises, Pilot incapacitation, principles of survival, slide raft exercise, fire ground & smoke chamber and slide descent. (London & Cardiff Courses Only) - One practical training day at Manchester using Thomas Cook’s Mock Aircraft Facility (Manchester Course Only) - ‘A day in the life as a cabin crew member’ training day at Gatwick with Monarch Airlines (London Course Only) - Trainers who are also current Cabin Crew with Thomas Cook, Monarch, Thomson and British Airways THE MAIN AIM OF THE QUALIFICATION:
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The chairman of Travel Republic has revealed the company is defying the current uncertainty in the travel sector and is set to register a record £300 million turnover.

Kane Pirie has dismissed "scare stories" about the current state of the travel industry following the collapse of operator Kiss Flights and mixed results from the major players in the industry.

Some experts have predicted up to 20 travel firms could fall into insolvency over the next year or son, but Pirie believe the speculation is simply not helping - and as a result has whipped up a 'storm of anxiety'.

“We are on track for a record breaking year with over £300m of turnover. The perennial truth is, people love going on holiday and there are many strong and thriving businesses doing really well.”

Pirie revealed Travel Republic''s most popular destinations include Spain, Greece, Turkey, Portugal and Cyprus.

There are many different types of travel jobs abroad that can provide excellent seasonal work or even a full time career. A tourism job can involve almost anything from working in a bar or restaurant, working as a holiday rep or as an instructor at a resort or a camp. To find out more about travel jobs abroad, read on. Choosing Travel Jobs Abroad

• The type of travel job you choose will depend on a number of things such as your qualifications, your personal skills and attributes, where you want to work and finally, what sort of job you want to do. For instance, you may want to simply have a simple holiday and work as a room cleaner who then gets to experience the evenings. Alternatively, you could have qualifications as a snowboarding instructor and want to look for a more serious job that will further your career.

• Of course, the qualifications required to work in travel jobs abroad could vary dramatically. Bar staff, room cleaners and basic kitchen staff will not need any specific qualifications to work a travel job whereas instructors, chefs and managers etc. will have to prove their skills and qualifications.

• One thing is for sure however, regardless of which travel jobs abroad you are looking for, it is always very helpful to be a team player, to be able to work unsupervised, to be a people person with good communicative skills and finally to have confidence. The ability to speak the language of the country you are in will also make a huge difference to a tourism job.

• The salaries for travel jobs abroad can obviously vary hugely but often, even the lower paid jobs such as resort staff come with accommodation and food allowance. You can search for a huge range of travel jobs abroad here on Travel Job Search.