CV and interview skills

Plenty of commercial companies out in cyberspace wish to flog services for CV writing and interview skills. Many offer tasters or titbits which they hope will lure you into getting out your plastic and parting with a few pounds. CV Masterclass (http://cv-masterclass.com) is typical of the breed—a few nibbles about what makes a good or bad CV, a service offering to look over your CV and help you write a covering letter, and an inspired section warning surfers about the cowboys in this field. There are four archetypal bad CVs—the “functional overkill CV,” the “traditional CV,” the “aggressive modernisation CV,” and the “table template CV.” But the rub is that you have to fork out £9.95 ($18; €15) for the perfect CV that hopefully will land you your dream job.

Career lab (www.careerlab.com) might be helpful if you have never given any thought to the subject whatsoever. Most doctors, however, might find statements such as the following trite: “Don't be afraid of doing what others don't”, or “Anyone who tries something new and different but not idiotic has an advantage.” This US site suggests drafting a reference for your referees and sending them your CV, saving them time and effort. This might guarantee you a good reference the other side of the pond, but here? On the other hand, they do offer a practical solution if you are asked to send a CV to a prospective employer when you haven't got one.

Refining the search to “medical CV” was more helpful. www.medical-interviews.co.uk was full of good, practical advice pointing out that recruiters rarely read beyond the first two pages and stressed the need to exclude everything but essential information. For example, you don't need to include your hepatitis B status or whether you have a driving licence. You are left wondering whether there really are people who need to be told that listing “drinking with mates” as a hobby is not going to enhance your employment prospects. This site repeats the statement that communication consists of 60% body language, 30% delivery, and only 10% content. This only goes to prove that if you repeat anything enough it becomes a law.

The real find was the impressive London Deanery site (www.careers.lon.ac.uk), which includes a poor résumé and the same information well presented; an example of a job specification for a specialist registrar job pack listing desirable and essential qualities; examples of the sort of questions you might find yourself answering; and topics used in oral presentations—“Why I enjoy Latin American dancing,” “What I can offer this organisation.” A lot of thought has gone into the construction of this site and it is refreshing that so much helpful information is given freely. It's a good place to start rather than finish your search, but nothing I found compares with a good textbook.