My HR Buddy

CV-Resume “Please, help me check. What is wrong with my CV?” I have received this request time and again from job seekers who are damn frustrated with the dearth of interview invites, talk more of nicking the job. And of course, you have to understand their plight and feel sorry for them. How can they even get a job when they are not afforded the opportunity to be assessed and interviewed in the first place? (I digress briefly – Your CV is a live document. It grows as you grow. It changes as you change. It should be flexible enough to suit the requirements of a particular job opening. I have seen applications for sales roles where the career objective of the applicant reads that (s)he is “seeking an entry-level position in Finance”! Your CV is a response to an organization’s need. Therefore, before you apply for that next job, read the requirements of role and then go through your CV to see if it sufficiently addresses the recruiting organization’s needs. So, it is advisabl...

Interviewers, being (well…) interviewers, do not always need to struggle to get on your nerves, do they? It comes naturally with the territory. I am a human resource practitioner with a couple of years’ experience and I have heard many stories from the other side. To be honest, I am not oblivious of the fact that sometimes, we ask some weird questions that will leave a candidate dumbstruck and static for seconds like someone that has been struck by lightening. You begin to wonder what business we have asking the questions we ask and more importantly why. Like I said before, I have been on both ends of the table and can relate to what job seekers face at interviews. You spend the few days drilling yourself and practicing several possible questions; under intense tension, sweating in the air-conditioned room and barely keeping your heart from beating out of your chest. You think you are doing great… until one interviewer who knows nothing about the struggle just asks one question th...