Step 1 – Prepare a great CV

Your CV is the tool that will market YOU to recruitment agencies or potential employers. It’s almost like a passport of where you’ve been. It explains your experience, background and skills and is a great indicator of your potential. It’s the one thing you need to sort out FIRST, before employers will even offer you an interview, let alone a job. Here are some pointers to help you create a great CV:

• Keep your CV short – a maximum length of 2-3 pages is perfect.
• Make sure your headings are easy to read – big and bold headings work well.
• Bullet points are great for listing your skills, experience, and easy for the reader to follow.
• Don’t use fancy templates – stick to a plain white A4 sheet, type your CV in a word document (which you can later PDF) and use the KISS principle (which is Keep It Simple Silly)
• Use the same font throughout your CV (Sans-Serif font is a great option for example, or Arial) and use a size 11 or 12 font as this is the optimum size for easy reading.
• The layout / how it looks should be clean and neat – not cluttered with too much information crammed into 2 or 3 pages. Leave gaps / spaces in-between sections and headings.
• Make use of page numbers in the footer and also don’t be scared to add your name to the footer. If you’re unsure how to do this, ask a teacher or friend for help.
• Education and Training – include a breakdown for every educational institution you attended (from school all the way through to varsity or college). Certificates and Diplomas count here too so don’t be shy to list them. If you attended any training courses, list them and your certifications and professional memberships
• Work experience – you may not have any work experience and that’s quite fine. Just be honest and say so. If you do have some work experience, the best way to showcase this is to state the month and year you began working with the company, the name of the company, and your job title whilst you worked there. Work backwards starting with your current job first.
• Skills – list all your skills and have fun showing off. Break them into categories like day-to-day skills (making pastry, baking biscuits or breads), management skills (such as supervising staff or managing stock/purchases); technical skills (like the ability to work on a computer in word or excel, or on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram etc.) and then finally, list any extra skills you know you have (extra languages, first aid training, driver’s license etc.)
• References – usually by now you’re running out of space on your CV – so it’s absolutely no problem to write next to the heading References ‘available on request’. If you do add any references, simply put 2 individual’s names, their company and position on your CV
• If you’re a chef looking for employment, make sure you have put together your Food Portfolio as well as a great CV. Not sure what this is? Click here to find out more.

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Step 2 – Ace that interview

Every interview is different, so being prepared is an easy way to help you cope with the nerves of it all. Whenever you’re in an interview or you’re about to be interviewed, try and think that the people who are questioning you are really on your side. It’s a sure way to calm yourself down and answer your questions with ease. Here are some ways you can ace your interview:

• Get there on time. Late comers don’t make a great first impression.
• Bring all your documents with you – bring extra copies of your CV, certificates, etc.
• Dress correctly for the interview. Jacket and tie for men and skirt and blazer for ladies is a good standard.
• Research the company you are applying to by viewing them online. Make sure you know what it is they do, how well they do it and what their customers say about them. If they ask you questions about their company you will have no problem answering them – a real plus.
• Practice makes perfect – practice interview questions with friends or fellow students. Google common interview questions and prepare well for your interview.
• Offer a firm handshake and a warm smile with eye contact when you are met and greeted.
• Be likable. People like friendly and personable people. So smile and be friendly.
• Take it slow. Don’t rush the interviewer or rush your answers.
• Speak positively about former employers, school teachers and so on.
• Then finish strong by showing your enthusiasm and interest for the company you are applying to.
• Follow up with an email within 24 hours to thank them again and wait to hear your results.

Step 3 – Network up a storm

Networking with fellow students, Alumni, industry colleagues and mentors really does help to ‘put your name out there’ so to speak. It’s a way to keep up-to-date with industry news, trends and information, as well as learning about job offers locally or abroad. At the International Hotel School, we’ve always got industry personnel contacting us to ask for students to assist them with part-time work, internships, as well as offering fantastic job opportunities to our graduates and Alumni.

From part-time Event Managers to Executive Management positions both locally and abroad, we have plenty on offer all year-round. Students or graduates who would like to have access to these job openings simply need to subscribe to our career portal on our website. When job postings come in, email alerts are sent out to our subscribers so those who have signed up will have the first view of the latest jobs on offer.

At IHS, we know that the difficulty in finding a great hospitality job often lies in connecting the dots between graduating, getting a great-looking CV together and getting an interview lined up. We’re here to guide our students every step of the way, and with 93% of our graduates already in employment, we know how to get you there.