CV mistakes you really don't want to make

Writing your CV can be a difficult task, but it's always important not to lie or make silly mistakes that will ensure you get overlooked for that precious job.

Despite it being a career no-no some workers do make silly errors - and even try to get away with some quite audacious lies.

Jobs site Careerbuilder has collected examples of the most ridiculous embellishments and mistakes  found on resumes.

The 15 best are below...

• Applicant claimed to be a former CEO of the company to which they were applying
  
• Applicant claimed to be fluent in two languages - one of which was pig Latin
  
• Applicant wrote "whorehouse" instead of "warehouse" when listing work history
  
• Applicant's personal website linked to a porn site
  
• Applicant introduced himself [in the cover letter] by saying "Hey you"
  
• Applicant vying for a customer service position gave "didn't like dealing with angry customers" as the reason for leaving her last job
  
• User name of applicant's email address was "2poopy4mypants"
  
• Applicant claimed to be a Nobel Prize winner
  
• Applicant claimed to have worked in a jail when they were really in there serving time
  
• Applicant who claimed to be HVAC certified later asked the hiring manager what "HVAC" meant
  
• Applicant said to have gotten fired "on accident"
  
• Applicant claimed to have attended a college that didn't exist
  
• Applicant for a driver position claimed to have 10 years of experience but had only had a driver's license for four years
  
• Applicant's reference was an employer from whom they had embezzled money and had an arrest warrant out for the applicant
  
• Applicant's stated job history had him in three different companies and three different cities simultaneously

Trainer Bubble provide training course materials for trainers on the topic of, 'Writing a CV'. Visit our website at www.trainerbubble.com to find out more.

Motivation? See what you think...

Mentoring Relationship Stages

A mentoring relationship has four definable stages within its life cycle:

 

1. Getting to know each other – establishes expectations of a mentoring relationship. In the early stages, a large part of the mentor’s role involves being supportive and creating a reassuring environment for the mentee. Initial meeting agendas might include:

• getting to know each other personally
• identifying the mentee’s learning needs for career and professional development

 

2. Goal setting – establishes expectations of learning by:

 

• identifying potential learning opportunities at work and the technical and theoretical learning that might result (e.g. brainstorm possible areas of learning that relate to the development or profession as a whole, suggest useful contacts, check for other training opportunities, etc.)
• agreeing meeting schedules and ways to arrange meetings by writing a Mentoring Agreement

3. Progress and maturation – the longest stage. At this stage, the emphasis of the mentor’s role should change to that of a challenger and stimulator to encourage deeper learning and reflection. A balance needs to be reached so that mentees continually explore their limits but not to the extent that they feel overwhelmed. Emphasis should be on issues of professional development. Later meeting agendas might include:

 

• reviewing general progress and achievements to date and giving guidance on ways to improve performance and progress
• reviewing any work-based learning

 

4. End – a final meeting is essential. For many mentors it can be tempting to avoid defining the end or separation stage and to regard it as unnecessary. However, a final review session is crucial to provide closure on the relationship for both the mentee and the mentor. The mentee and the mentor are jointly responsible for providing a proper ending to the relationship.

 

This structure provides a clearly defined approach to the mentoring process. It will ensure you are both clear on the progress of the mentoring relationship and allow you to consistently review and support development.

This article is a short excerpt from the Trainer Bubble training course materials for Mentor Training, which are available for purchase from our website www.trainerbubble.com

Influencing in Groups

Influencing people can sometimes be a difficult and demanding process. People respond in different, sometimes unpredictable, ways when others are trying to influence their thoughts and actions. This is true enough in one to one situations but is particularly so in group situations. The following ideas will help you overcome difficulties when trying to influence groups.


• Setting a positive tone and modelling positive influencing behaviours


• Being yourself, without defensiveness or hidden agendas, and sharing your experiences and feelings to establish empathy.


• Describing what you see rather than being judgemental, e.g. “on the basis of what you’ve said, you don’t look to be supportive…”


• Being empathetic – showing you understand people’s situation, needs and feelings, i.e. trying not to give advice, judgements or interpretations.


• Maintaining your assertiveness, but avoiding displays of unnecessary emotion (weakness or aggression) and unhelpful behaviours, immediate counter-attacks and talking over the top of people.


• Keeping people and problems separate, i.e. recognise that in many cases other people are not just ‘being difficult’ – real and valid differences can lie behind conflicting positions. By separating the problem from the person, real issues can be debated without damaging working relationships.


• Exploring options together, i.e. being open to the idea that a third position may exist and that you can get to this idea in collaboration with others.


• Listening first and talking second – to stand any chance of influencing others you must first understand where other people are coming from before feeling you must ‘defend’ your own position.


• Focusing on getting the support of the ‘early adopters’, i.e. there will usually be a proportion of people in any group who are open to new ideas or new ways of doing things. Their support can often be influential in encouraging the more resistant to come forward, over time, in support of your views or action plans.


Recognising that people often behave differently in groups can help you, tactically, to be more effective in influencing others. Much of this is about watching and listening to group behaviour and exercising your own judgement about when to be assertive and intervene and when to sit back as discussions unfold and people exchange views or come into conflict.


This article is a short excerpt from the training material, 'Influencing Skills' provided by Trainer Bubble at www.trainerbubble.com

Train the Trainer - Our Incredible Brains

We've developed a new video to accompany our Train the Trainer training course materials. This video demonstrates the capacity for learning that our brain has and how this means we should find different methods of training people to ensure they get the most out of the learning. - It supports and is a key part of Train the Trainer course materials By Trainer Bubble. www.trainerbubble.com

We hope you like it!