One of my pet hates when helping clients in their job search is the distinct lack of transparency regarding salaries.  Job advertisements invariably invite you to click the "Apply Now" button and you're expected to upload a targeted CV, cover letter and perhaps answer detailed competency questions - all before you even know whether the job is in your salary range.

Another of my pet hates is when employers ask you to specify your salary expectations.  Why?  Is it so that they can save money if your expectation is lower than theirs?

To compound it further, candidates then expend considerable effort preparing for interviews where they are still kept in the dark on salary level.  Certainly in the UK, it's not considered de rigueur to raise the important issue of salary during the first interview; it's something you discuss at second interview or, worse, you wait until they make an offer.  So you could go to a huge amount of time and effort only to learn, ultimately, that the salary is not even in your ball park.

In my opinion, this lack of transparency contributes to pay inequality - especially since there is a general consensus that women often underestimate their value and ask for less than men. 

So, instead of the government pushing for audits to establish disparities in remuneration, why don't they push for transparency in job advertisements with salary levels being disclosed at all levels?  If they could just do this simple thing, which would take no effort at all, it would save candidates, recruiters and employers from wasting time reviewing applications and conducting interviews when they're all on different pages anyway.

Salary transparency... let's have more of it please.

Barbara Patrick, Professional CV Writer and Career Coach
Compelling CVs, Berkshire, UK

To set up a call, please email: mail @ compellingcvs.co.uk

Always happy to talk.

If you keep sending off the same CV for every job advertisement, you're unlikely to meet with success.

Read and analyse the job advertisement, see what key skills and experience they are seeking, and make sure that your CV is a good match - not just through interpretation but in exact words and phrases.

Although your CV still needs to make sense and read well, it needs to be specifically targetted to match each job vacancy advertisement.

If the job ad specifies Advanced Excel, make sure you include those exact words in your CV - remember you need to actually be advanced in Excel - no BS please...

If the advertisement specifies that they want someone with excellent organisational skills, then include those skills on your CV.

Prioritise your skills on your CV to match the priorities of the job advertisement.

Start off with one good CV.  Save this as the Master.  Then copy, edit and save each adaptation under a new file name.  This takes a little time  but it really pays dividends.

The same applies to cover letters.  These should "match" the job advertisement.  Don't just rehash your CV, address the advertisement - identify with their requirements - be the perfect match.  Tell them what excites you about the role, why you're interested, what you could bring to the role but make sure you're letter isn't all "me, me, me".  Talk about the company and how you think you would fit in and contribute to their goals.  It helps to check out their website and to read the advertisement fully before responding.

Good luck with your job search!  Get in touch if you need help.

If you thought it was difficult condensing your CV into 2 pages, how about condensing it into 140 characters?  Impossible, you might think, but the recent phenomenon of #twesume might just be the answer you're seeking.

By posting your skills and availability on Twitter and including the hashtag #twesume, you may just attract employers and recruiters.  Basically, you post a short tweet about your availability and your skills, include a link to your LinkedIn profile or your online CV. You can even link it to a short video on YouTube or a short clip on Vine.  The options are endless.

You'll need to include the hashtag #twesume and, of course, you'll still need a strong CV and LinkedIn profile, but tweeting your resume certainly can't do any harm.

So log into Twitter today and check out #twesume. 

And don't forget to let us know if you'd like some help compiling your CV or LinkedIn profile.

Good luck in your job search!

by Barbara Patrick
Professional CV Writer and Career Coach
Compelling CVs
Reading, Berkshire

When I write a CV or Cover Letter for a client, I generally like to see the job description or the type of job for which they're applying.  This is usually provided in the form of URL links to vacancies posted on online job boards.

More often than not, the job posting gives some details of the skills required and the type of person they are seeking but the location might simply state "London" (big place) and quite often there is often no indication of salary.   So for a fairly senior "sounding" job role, the salary cold be £15k or £45k - or some other figure.  You're basically left in the dark.  This is particularly prevalent when agencies have posted the job vacancies.

So, armed with this appalling lack of information, you are expected to take a leap of faith, click "Apply Now" and upload your CV and personal details into the ethernet, quite often applying for a job that doesn't meet your salary expectations or that has an impossible commute.  Worse, you may never receive an acknowledgement or find out who the employer is, and we often hear that the job vacancy don't even exist!

Why can't there be a "Full Details" button that actually states:

• the size of company - number of employees
• the type of company - industry sector, private, public, international, family business, etc
• a clearer indication of location - eg Camden, Hammersmith as opposed to "London" - so you can properly consider the commuting time and cost
• details of salary range - so you don't waste your time
  

I acknowledge that this doesn't apply to all job postings, but I do come across it far too often.

Does the "Apply Now" button fill you with despair?  Having to divulge so much personal information based on so little knowledge...  it's tough out there...