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If you have followed the news in the Architecture Journal magazine this week, you may have noticed that Architecture Practices expect to hire less staff for the next few months and may even make cut backs with redundancies.
Curated content, insights and opportunities to accelerate your career in Architecture, Design, Development and Real Estate to the next level.
Architecture CV Resume Bootcamp Session - One-On-One Livestream Special
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[00:00:00]
Stephen Drew: Hello everyone. Evening all. Evening all. Grab the wine. The beer. Could be a diet coke, whatever you want. Strap in. You're gonna get that CV ready. That portfolio, you gotta dust up. InDesign. We'll see. All will be revealed.
Hello everyone and thank you for tuning in. It's an interesting week. I was reading the news. They were talking about the fact that there are less roles on at the [00:01:00] moment within Architecture. Unfortunately, I think that bubble that we were in post pandemic of, there were job shortages. That's gonna change a little bit.
There's still gonna be loads of jobs around. However, the competition is gonna get a little bit heated up and those beige cvs, they're not gonna cut it anymore. And I constantly get questions, which I do love about cvs. But it's time to get serious and we are gonna get serious together. So I hope you've got the attitude ready and you can fire any questions that you have towards me in this one-on-one special.
Let's forget that it's a live stream. Let's pretend it's me and you in the room in a virtual room online. No one else here. It's just me and you talking. Now, don't send me any confidential questions cuz I don't wanna. I don't want to go for that on the livestream, but what we're gonna talk about is focusing on that Architecture, [00:02:00] CV that Architectural resume.
The most important document that there is when you're sending your application, if you think of the portfolio, which is really important, goes for all your projects, that's great. It's a very important supporting document, but it's the CV that is gonna be the one that everyone reads first. They're gonna open up that email, and as long as that email's somewhat, okay, they're gonna click that CV or resume first.
This is the Architecture practice I'm talking about. They're gonna open it up and if it's a load of rubbish, they're gonna click it. Bennet and delete it. That CV is the most important document. If the CV is then good enough, they will open up the portfolio. So it is vital that it is right. And guess what?
Most CVS and resumes that I see are that amazing. I will give you a really worst case scenario, but I go through all these [00:03:00] templates, all this stuff. I'd see people's cvs and over the years I've seen what works and seen what doesn't. So if you will together, we will go through some examples. Now, I can't show anyone cvs.
I could show mine from a few years ago, but it's really old. If I get a few comments, maybe that's something that I can do. What I can do though, which may be a little bit easier in the short term, is I will. Bring up some templates that you can Google online. If you type in Architecture templates you can find a lot.
Now, unfortunately, the bulk of them are pretty rubbish, but if I tell you why I think they're not good, then I talk about some that are good and I'll tell you about how I would go about doing a CV. Then maybe you can still borrow pillage all the good bits that I say and apply it in your search completely.
For free. If you think it, if think what I'm saying is really useful, then I don't know, you can share it or [00:04:00] whatever that, but for the time being, be selfish. And so all this information up. So without forever ado, I'll go on Canva and it's oh Canva. I don't practice Architecture anymore. I used to, but it was a long time ago.
You should be on InDesign. So that's the top tip number one in this bootcamp session. If you're not on InDesign or you're in Photoshop or you are in Word, what are you doing? You are an Architect. You are better than that. You studied all those years. You are amazing with graphic design. You can do InDesign.
So first rule is load up InDesign. Now I'm gonna break that rule straight away and I'm gonna load up Canva, but this is me. Okay? So here is an example of the epitome of a terrible CV. Okay, now I'm gonna bring it up. I'm gonna zoom in and all this stuff, and I just thought this was so brilliant that I would bring it up the first one because this is what this is what the definition of an Architecture [00:05:00] CV is in Canva, right?
And if you send this off to any Architecture practice in the uk, I guarantee you will get deleted so fast. That they, you're gonna get whiplash. So there's so many things wrong with this CV. Now, the first thing that I want you guys to do is not be seduced by putting these crazy backgrounds on all this stuff.
You want to trim this out, okay? You don't want crazy, weird things in the background. It ain't gonna work. Okay? So delete all that nonsense. Probably best for you to start with a blank InDesign document, okay? White background. Just start there. It's a lot easier. Don't get too crazy yet. We're gonna build up from that.
Okay? The next thing I would say is photos. Now. We have to be really honest about the world that we live in. People have biases, positive biases, and negative biases. The reality is when you send a CV [00:06:00] to an Architecture practice, chances are there are good Architecture practice. However, what we don't wanna do is for any biases to creep in at all.
So chances are, Probably better to delete your image. Oh, there you go. You got, I got like a beautiful sunny day in the background. Probably wouldn't put that on either. Look how much dead space is there. Don't put images in, if in doubt. Don't put them in now. This is an absolute rubbish CV. Don't worry. I've got one or two good ones coming.
You just gotta persevere with the video and then you'll see them. But I just want a go through. A few way, a few of these things don't work. The next thing that I thought was awful with the CV, let's bring up Chi as well. Our our very believable Architect from that picture. And I'll tell you the other thing that I think is really wrong.
If you think about the whole size of this document here, let's zoom out a bit again. Look how much space is filled with this absolute gunk, right? You're gonna get [00:07:00] loads and loads of f there's loads of fella, there's not much killer in here. You wanna be really concise and accurate and start populating the page with a legible font.
It isn't too small, it isn't too delicate, but it's not too big. It's not too chunky. We don't want chunky monkeys everywhere, but we need something which is right. And to me, this is just, I don't know, doesn't really work. I'm on that theme. I'm gonna do a little diversion for a second because. Let's go back out.
Now, maybe what we should have told Chidi when she set up this Architecture resume is she's gotta think about the Architecture practice that she's applying for, okay? And what I think would be good for us to remember throughout this bootcamp session is that when we're deciding about the fonts that we're gonna use, and I'm telling you I don't like all these backgrounds, have to think about the Architecture [00:08:00] practices that you're applying for and the kind of places that you want to work at.
So what do I mean by this? Say now, David Chipperfield, if you close your eyes like a zen session here, if you close your eyes and you imagine David Chipperfield architects, do you see this CV? Do you see this resume? Do you see that picture and everything work in? And then ringing up this person?
Probably not. David Chipperfield really cool stuff. P r p architects, whatever it is, whether it's commercial ultra design. Do you think they're gonna open up this resume? Probably not. And the other thing about that as well, when you look in at an Architecture practice, like for instance, I brought up your Pascal and Watson now.
Say now you wanna apply to Pascal Watson. Great company, cool Transport. You are interested in all that. Think about the website. What does it look like when you go there? Is it elegant? Is it sleek? Is it minimal? How do they work with all that stuff? And what do they value in their [00:09:00] graphic design?
Interesting. Now, I don't think Pascal and Watson are gonna have any cvs like this, right? So I want us to start thinking about speaking the Architectural practices languages, cuz that's what really I think is gonna resonate. Of course you're gonna add your own individuality and you're going to showcase your ju seir and your individualism.
But we have to speak in the conversation. The best way to get along with someone is to ask questions that they're familiar with or speak their language. And in a CV that graphically. Should mimic a little bit of something they're familiar with. That's true, isn't it? You get into a conversation, sometimes a bit of common ground, mutual ground opens up the conversation and graphically that same principle applies.
Now, if you're thinking, what the heck are you talking about? Let me break it down for you. And you can do this online. If you Google an Architecture practice [00:10:00] and you type in PDF or brochure or design and access statement, all this stuff, you are gonna see these documents that these Architecture practices make.
They pay for graphic designers, they have marketing teams, they have their taste profile. They go for it for years and years. And you could find stuff like this online. So for example P R P. It's a great Architecture practice that I do recommend a lot of people should check out cause it's a good place to work.
Now, p r p, this is an old brochure, but the principle still remains if you look at this document, which is online and you can browse through it. So I'll zoom in a little bit, but the point is the way that P R P is designing these sheets, laying out the graphic design is a language that they've spent a long time mastering and it evolves.
And this is an old document and you can try to find the new one. The point is though, look at the way [00:11:00] that this Architecture practice is present in their documents. Okay. And do you think it would be worthwhile starting to lay out sheets? Like this. So in the portfolio, this is a very good example of what translates into a portfolio, but equally in a CV, is that graphic design.
Is that layout. Do you put the sprinkling of images in there? And you can do, but start thinking about how that Architecture practice graphically communicates. Because a CV is a vehicle to get you an interview and you need to speak a little bit of their language. You need to say a few of the right things in there, touch upon the software on all that cool stuff we're gonna talk about, but they're gonna add that two, three second impression.
It's like Tinder, the algorithm. People swipe to the left, swipe to the right, can't remember now which way it is. I think it's right if you like them, but if you don't, You swipe to the left and [00:12:00] off they go. And you do that based upon the person's picture and maybe a little bit about what they say.
And a CV, unfortunately, in my opinion, in my experience of 12 years is exactly the same. So what do we do with this? I'll give you another example. Okay. So may very sexy buildings beautiful stuff. This is a document which I found online. And look at this graphic design. Ooh, off the charts.
And okay, I'll calm down. I'll stop scrolling too much. But there we go. It's a beautiful document and the graphic design is bang on. Okay? This is a document that they've done, but check out this layout. Now, when we come to portfolios next week, or whenever we do, we're gonna go through this again with a tooth gum.
Cause I think we can get some principles. But if we just think about the graphic design, the bold, the text, the layout, the elegance. That's gonna really probably resonate to May if you put things in there. [00:13:00] So poor Old Chi or CV is probably not gonna get an interview at May. Now I was browse earlier and these things have a lot more work, but I want to give you one or two examples that I didn't think were also very good.
So for this like one, some, I see a lot of cvs like this. It's just not really doing much for me. I don't know if Alex May would like this CV. I don't know if they would reach out. Don't know if they'd invite for an interview. This getting a little bit closer graphically. I know it's a bit zoomed in, but hear me out.
His first impressions, it's a little bit more elegant, all this stuff. Okay, not sure. Let's bring up another one. Okay, now we're getting closer to the graphic design layout of May. Okay. I'm not too sure I would do a graph, a great background, but this is the point. There is individualism. There's no right way, there's no wrong way.
There's just ways which tend to work better and ways which tend to resonate with certain kind of Architecture practices. Now, [00:14:00] Drew fis, graphic designer. Now again, these are not real TVs, they're templates. I think that has a closer chance and first impression to getting them. And the reason I'm deucing that is knowing the Architecture practice, going on the website and seeing the documents that they produce this base TV is probably a bit closer.
Another one, which is a little bit more elegant than I found in graphic design was this CV, it's quite elegant. It's quite calm, it's quite professional. It's got a little bit of space to breathe, I think. It seems quite cool. If you zoom in, you've got all the stuff that ipsum, yada. Now we're gonna go into the details of the CV, but we are just spending a few minutes on first impressions because they count.
And anyone that doesn't say a first impression counts, it must be, really desperate. And these not desperate times [00:15:00] because actually we're just saying that jobs are shrinking, so we need to be banged on. Now this CV, I thought graphically was a bit better as well. I lo that's up there with that other CV.
For me, it's a bit more elegant. Okay? Now I'm not gonna be here saying, should this go here or there? We're still talking about first impressions. That's your decision. As an Architect, I can steer you ways, but ultimately it goes to you. So let's summarize this chunk before we move on. What have I talked about here?
I give you a rambling intro with hopefully a few juicy nuggets where I talked about what a CV is. What is the purpose of a CV? To get you interviews and you're gonna get first impressions. People are gonna read this in an email inbox and they're gonna open it up and they're gonna quickly think, Ooh, does this look good?
Or, Ooh, I'm not too sure. Shall I persevere over a bit more? And the, and then the other scenario of, nah, not interested in the bin. Okay? [00:16:00] And I want you to be the one that stands out. And I think when an Architecture practice spends so many years doing their graphic design, getting all their work standing out, then you should tune in to the practices that you admire and not fully imitate, but I want you to be thinking along their language, how is this Architectural practice gonna resonate with the presentation?
Off my CV and therefore a CV like poor chi ain't gonna cut it, it ain't gonna get an interview at make, it ain't gonna get an interview at p r P. It isn't gonna get an interview anywhere else. Okay? So be the best graphically, oh, excuse me, let me bring this up. Speak the Architecture practices languages and if you're struggling for a little bit, a bit of inspiration.
Have a look at the Architecture practices you are applying for. Cool. Okay. [00:17:00] Now if anyone has any questions on this live stream, drop them in equally. If you are having a few drinks in the evening and you are watching the replay, you can put a comment. I will try my best to answer them and look at all that stuff.
Now, one or two more points about graphic design before we move on. Hopefully I've rammed that down your throat enough that you can absorb that is a few questions I normally get is oh my goodness, what font should I get? Just search on Google for free fonts. Clean, minimalistic. If in doubt, you can use hertica.
There's a few others as well. Do a bit of research into graphic design. I promise you. Getting the graphic design right at the start in an InDesign file is the right way. Don't use Canva like me. Remember I used to be an Architect. Now I'm a recruitment consultant and I run the Architecture Social for you 10 years ago where I was, it has to be an InDesign.
Okay, moving on. [00:18:00] So in terms of what should be in a CV and portfolio, do you know what? I'm gonna wing it live cuz this is what we do and we're just gonna start populating this or talking about what works, what doesn't. Now, the most important thing on a CV, apart from the initial impression is your contact details because it's a bit like dating, isn't it?
Again, I keep using this analogy, but imagine you, you see a profile that you're really interested in getting in touch with. You think that, oh my goodness, I am, I really want to speak to this person. And then you can't get in touch with 'em. That's not gonna happen. It's never gonna happen.
And you would be amazed at how many times I've seen a CV not have the correct email address, not have the correct the phone number. The phone number doesn't work. There's a ditch not working. You have to check the contact details. Double, triple, quadruple, check it. Okay. And make sure that your name is very clear, ideally in the [00:19:00] top right after the top right of the page.
And make sure that phone number and that the phone number, that email address is there, but also your home address. Now, why I think this is important, and listen, you don't need to put the postcode in on the exact road. However, if you wanna do that, you trust who you're applying to. Okay, great. But why I think it's important to say roughly where you are in the world is because people apply to Architecture practices from all over the world.
And unless the role is advertisers fully remote, probably you're gonna be working flexibly in that office three days a week. Four days a week, whatever it is. And that PR Architecture practice is gonna wanna know if you're near the area, if you can travel within an hour or whatever. And so by making it very clear where you live, that's actually gonna be very important.
Because not having the address, sometimes [00:20:00] it's like, where is this person? And I'll, sometimes I'll try to find out in LinkedIn, I'll have a little look to try and find out where that person's based. But perhaps an employer is busy and perhaps they are, and the pressure, perhaps they're lazy. Whatever it is, you need to make this so easy for people that when they look at this CV, All the information's there.
The point is, if the information's not there, you could get overlooked and you've lost that interview invitation. Life is unfortunately a little bit cruel like that, but what the stuff we're talking about now, you're gonna get all that in. You're not gonna have a problem. So make sure that your phone number super important, your email super important, and then your address pretty important is there with your name.
The other thing as well is you would put in of course, Architect, a r b qualified or whatever it is. Cool. Sometimes I think it's good to touch upon quite early in the document your visa status. [00:21:00] The reason is because I think that's very important to get the information that you have the right to work at the start.
Because if you need a certain Visa requirement, it's good that the employer knows. Equally if you have the right to remain or anything like that, or you're what's this term, settle status in the uk, great. Put it all in because then the Architecture practices know is, knows exactly where you stand.
And sometimes I think people worry that oh, if I put v the fact that I need a visa on my CV, maybe they won't interview me. And I can see where that. Chain of thought is seductive because you go, oh, hopefully they meet me. They fall in love with me, and then we can get the visa going. And actually, I've seen that situation where people go in for an interview, then the right to work in the uk conversation comes up and sometimes it can derail an interview because the Architecture practice doesn't know that.
And then they get a bit shocked and they're not too sure how to [00:22:00] handle it. Maybe if an Architecture practice is well versed with Visa applications, it's no problem. If they aren't, then they get worried. They don't know what they're doing, all this stuff. So actually confronting issues at the front is actually better because you don't wanna waste not so much the Architecture practice there is that, but more importantly, you don't wanna waste your time.
And I think that when you make things this clear at the start, it's really useful. So that. You can be more efficient in your search. Oh, I see. I've got one or two comments coming in. Let me just check that quickly. Here we go. Theo asks a question. Let's drop this in. Hey Theo. Good to see you too, and I'm glad you're doing well.
Theo asks saw a popular Instagram account giving students advice, say they turn up to person in an Architecture studio and doorstep them to ask to speak to a director with your CV. Very interested in interjection. [00:23:00] So I think Theo with this question, live reaction to this question is I do think that can work.
Yeah, but that is like a very romantic notion of Architecture and I think that when things get tougher, probably fear. What I would encourage is doing that, but also doing volume. So I really believe in designing the CV for a few of the Architecture practices that you love. So say now we wanted to apply to Theo Jones architects, and I really wanted that you were my favorite Architecture practice.
I would do that exercise we talked about of looking at all your documents, what Theo Jones architectures has done online. I would try to tailor that up, do that CVM portfolio really bespoke for you. And then maybe I would hand, hand deliver that to you. What I've learned though in reality is you almost need to send a hundred applications to get five to six interviews and really the average of something in [00:24:00] recruitment, anecdotally I'm saying this, is that you need about four to five interviews to get an offer.
Roughly, maybe you are a superstar and you do five interviews, you get five offers, right? But me or more was like me when I was part one and part two I had to send a hundred, 200 applications. And then, or more, I think it was way more actually during the pandemic, like 400 or and not pre pandemic in the economic crisis, I had to send 400 applications to get five interviews.
The point is, right when things get tough, you've gotta do volume as well. And I'm worrying if someone is hand delivering their CV. In person. They might spend a lot of time on the tube, a lot of time traveling and not getting enough in front of Architecture practices. And what I've learned in recruitment field, where I've learned speaking to lots of people is I think you should do both.
You should do the. The, you should do the bespoke applications to your dream job. David Chipperfield may we've got up here, whatever. Cool. And then design that [00:25:00] CV and portfolio, which is more generic now. Oh, that sounds like a terrible term, but the, I do think that the CV, which can be sent out to lots of Architecture practices is also really useful as well.
Now, when you're further in your career, you're probably not gonna be sending a hundred applications, no way. If you're a senior Architect, you're probably thinking of 2, 3, 4, 5 places that you want to apply for. And that makes a lot of sense because you're really tailoring it to what you want to do.
But equally further in your career, do you knock at the door and deliver your CV? I don't think you do. If you're a director, deliver your CV in person. It's gonna be the network connections that you make and all that stuff, which is actually gonna get you the job in the CV. To summarize, Theo, I do think that you can do custom cvs to Architecture practices that you've fallen in love with.
However, I would actually send them an email and I would follow up with a phone [00:26:00] call. Don't waste your money on that ticket. Don't waste your money on the printers, especially if you don't have that money. I think you should send the CV in an email and follow up with a call where you very politely ask them if they've got it.
But what do you think in the audience and field? Let me know your thoughts. If you agree, disagree, totally. Cool. There's lots of different ways to do things. This is the way that I would encourage people to look at, but think of it as my advice, Steve's advice, and you just borrow, take steal the thoughts which resonate with you.
Cool. So let me just have a sip of water. One second. My goodness, I'm sober Joe tonight, seven o'clock. So we will power through this with crystal clear crystal clear clarity. There we go. My goodness, it must be going downhill. Okay, thanks for that fear. Really appreciate the question. So I'm gonna go [00:27:00] back to it now.
Where was I with my. Document great contact details. So make sure that's in. Should you put in a picture? Probably not. Now. The about section here I think is probably on the verge of being too long. I tend to find that some people, cvs and the about section tends to be too philosophical. And actually I do think Architecture practices need to identify who you are.
Of course the ambitions will come and you can expand upon them in interview. However, it's very good to be quite literal in the about. So I would do something like I am an Architectural assistant, part two who has recently graduated. You poor all your listeners afterwards. I'm sorry about this. You poor.
All your listeners recently graduated from the university. Of Manchester. Hooray. [00:28:00] I am currently available immediately to start full-time employment as a part two within Central, any location within Central London. Cool. Okay. You can finess out a little bit more. I'm live right now. You get the gist.
Fluent with rabbit. And one year of experience as a part one Architectural Assistant in the industry okay. That's quite factual. Now, why I believe factual about statements are really good is because it says who you are, what you are, where you are, when you are available, and why are you looking or whatever.
And the point is that if you're quite literal, then [00:29:00] people can identify if you're, they're a good fit for if you're a good fit for their practice. And actually, if you think about where an Architecture practice is, it's a business. It's a business which does beautiful buildings, hopefully. And you'll be involved as an Architect, fingers crossed if you get the job.
But you need to convince that business that you are the right person to fulfill that need. And and the way they're gonna identify that, first of all, you're gonna make it very easy for them to identify who you are, what you are, where you are, when you're available, and why you are interested in them.
And the why, you can lay it on Thicken the interview. You could touch upon that in the CV or why you'd be a good fit. So you get the gist. And that's why I like literal abouts. If you said, I am an Architectural Assistant who is super passionate about sustainability and that's great, that's cool. But, I was passionate about sustainability ever since I was a kid.
And I [00:30:00] was doing drawings on my dining room table. And I loved working with my father who would take me on construction sites. That's really nice in information, but that's not, I don't know how that applies to my business. If I have an Architecture practice, I need to know, are you in London?
Are you able to travel to my office? Do you know Revit? Are you smart enough to learn Revit? Are you hungry for the job? Are you capable? Are, do you have a Visa requirement so that I can brief HR that we need it? All this stuff is really useful and should be in the about, and if it's not, then that question's in my mind and you haven't answered it.
I might not take the risk on hiring you or meeting you for the job. So I do think that's really important. Now, chances are moving on into the next literal thing is that. Okay, great. So this actually isn't the worst example in the world to use. So that's good experience. Experience trumps all. If you are [00:31:00] a part one Architecture assistant, yes your education's gonna be very important cuz it's recent.
However, chances are, if you are an Architect or experienced part two or whatever it is, you are gonna be your CV is gonna be reviewed on is your experience in the industry applicable. And that can get very interesting. Now, chances are, oh, this is a perfect example of what to do wrong, is that you should always put your most recent you should really put your most recent Architecture practice at the front.
Okay, so I think that you should actually, you would flip this around. This would go at this front here. So you would put this bit at the front. You would put this bit at the back. There we go. Here we go. Forgive me for moving stuff around live. The [00:32:00] mouse has a. Mind of own, oh, Theo comments about earlier about going to people's doorstep that someone who hires, I think is a very bad impression of when people doorstep and knock.
It's true Theo, isn't it? If you're busy, you're in the middle of something, you wanna be really polite to someone. But if they're there whirling, a CV in your face, and even if they're the nicest person in the world, you as a nice person, as a busy person, don't know how to deal with it. You're right.
Don't ambush people. That's another reason why you should send a CV and maybe give them a polite call later. And if they're busy, just say to them, you can call back another time. So thank you, Theo. I really appreciate your perspective on that because I didn't mention it in my live response, but that is equally a very good point.
Now, going back to the experience should always put your most recent job at the front because. Why wouldn't you? Oh, by the way, I think I can make my face bigger. Oh, there you go. It's probably too cruel. You don't wanna see me at this time and eye and this high [00:33:00] resolution, so I'll put it back. But there you go.
Sorry, audio listeners. I'm going back in the zone. Experience, you're gonna put your most recent job at the front and you, it's good that the job title is in here. It's good that the dates are in here. Be accurate with the dates. I would try though to put in the actual, like the month you were there, cuz you know, just saying 20 to 21.
That's quite vague. August 21 to now. It's much more literal. And that's the other thing is you always wanna be literal with this stuff. You wanna be as accurate as possible with the amount of information so people can work out where you were. And again, if you have a gap in your experience, rather than trying to fluff it or things better, talk about why you had that gap.
Maybe it was a difficult time. Maybe you were traveling, maybe you were helping someone out. Maybe you were taking a break. Maybe you have a family, maybe you were raising a kid. Just whack it on in there. It's fine. I have a friend that said for two years he went motorcycling [00:34:00] around the world and that was a conversation in the interview and he got the job.
If he said he didn't, if he fudged the dates, then maybe that wouldn't have come up and he wouldn't have got the job in the end. So do, give yourself a little bit of a break and you can put gaps in there. It's absolutely fine, but make sure that the order is the correct way. Make sure your most recent job is at the front and not the back, because I need to know where you've been immediately.
It's basically like going through an interview and showing you're part one. First you work at the start of the interview. It's that was great three years ago, but I want to see actually your. Most recent work, what have you been up to? Your most recent project is probably gonna be one of the biggest you've worked on with exceptions, but equally, the role that you've been on most recently.
You probably have the most experience. Therefore, let's talk about that one. And that's the other thing, and I'm not gonna type it all here because it's gonna, it's [00:35:00] probably be too much for me to write live, but you need to spend a lot of time thinking about. What you did in that role. And the same way, I was quite literal here.
I would encourage you when you write in your CV to be quite analytical and I would encourage you to be very literal what you write about your experience in, in, in industry. So if you are working at Heatherwick, for example, you should say what R A B A stages you were working on. What type of project were you working on?
Where was it based? What sector was it? Was it a residential building? Was it an education building? Whatever it is, put it in and try not to waffle. Try to be as simplistic as possible. Of course, if you're a senior Architect and you've done a lot of projects, maybe you would talk more about the project that you've done recently and your latest role and less about the others.
If you are an associate, focus on being an associate. You [00:36:00] don't need to say, What you did 10 years ago as a part two. So in the experience and make sure what I like about this is that the experience is actually near the top. Cause I think that's really important. And do get it in there and put it right at the top.
So you want to make sure this have a quick summary now that the contact details are them, the about pages there, it's not too long, not too waffly, and you want a lot of experience. Now this is where we'll get interesting as well. Education. I touched upon it briefly. You should say where you went to university.
You should say what level or grade you got. Cool. Put it in and you can say a little bit other modules or something, but that's probably all you need to go into in my opinion. Unless you're a part one, you might want to talk about a few of the modules and stuff. You've learned that. Cause you've gotta fill that page.
Otherwise you don't really need to talk about much about your university other than the grades you [00:37:00] got when you went to them, what year, and that's it. So after like this is probably enough to be honest. That's all I would look for when reviewing a CV, so that's absolutely fine. Now, soft skills.
Let me just grab a quick glass of water here. And good chance for anyone to put any questions in.
Soft skills, software, soft skills, hard skills. My goodness, not sure where all that is. Software. Software, for better or worse, ain ain't going anywhere. Everyone uses computers. An Architecture, people are drawn and that's a great skill that you could put in there, model making or something.
Elsewhere. You can put that in, but the most important one is gonna be your software. So I think I got one or two examples elsewhere, which I thought was quite bad. And I'll show you why. So this one, expertise. Expertise and [00:38:00] Architecture. That's not specific. Let's see. Do awards. I could touch upon that later.
So software and skills. Okay, I found one of them. The bars. The bars are deaf. Now I call these, the bars are deaf. This is for languages. Let's imagine this is software. Okay? So bear with me. Blue Peter style. I have not done this. I wouldn't have lasted one minute and blew Peter, cause I've done nothing earlier.
Doing it on the spot. Okay, that's one. MicroStation. Cool. So this happens all the time. Or the worst is when I don't even see the software's name. I see a software logo. Now I know what a Revit ah, looks like, but maybe the employer does. But same. Now I send this to you and this CV, and I've got Revit, big bar, AutoCAD, bit of less bar [00:39:00] MicroStation, big bar as well.
Now, that could mean that you think you're really good at it, but at the same time, I've got no real understanding of what that means. 70%, 80%. Who are you to judge? Who am I? Who are you? Do you know what I mean? How can you ascertain that information? It's very vague. So what I always encourage people to do is to talk about the software and then you want to say the amount of time that you've used it in industry.
If you really want, you could do advanced or something, but I would just go one year. Plus, and then two years plus can be two years, I should say. Plus is ambiguous. Actually, I'm correcting myself life. So Revit one year, MicroStation two years, whatever it is. MicroStation is a dying breed.
Now, I'm sure my age, but you would put it in like that because now I know that if you use Revit for one [00:40:00] year, and hopefully within that year, you've learned a few things. That is much better for an employer to work out where your competency level stands than the bar. Do you get what I mean? If you don't get what I mean, put it in the comment and tell me you're wrong.
You love the bars. Now I've when I'm in conversations, I'm always trying to get an idea of how long people have used the software. If you ever spoken to me in recruitment, they say, who are you? What are you, where are you? When are you available? Why are you looking? What level of software? What level of revenue have used, how long have you used Revit for?
It's much more revealing than saying I, how, do you think you're good at Revit? Yes. It's not very, it's not very insightful. That's the key word. You wanna be as insightful, [00:41:00] as impossible. And actually by saying that you've done Revit for two years, it's gonna be much more insightful than the bar.
So there we go. Let me go back. To the, that's the wor. This is the worst CV. The worst CV. Oh, I'm getting comments in. Nice one. Thank you. That's very kind of you. Very you indeed. Thank you for the comments. Cool. Alright. Moving on. Moving on. Probably gonna have one more than one sheet. Let's touch upon that really quickly.
I think one to two sheets is absolutely fine if you're in the start of your career. Part one, part two, part three, one sheet's fine. But you've done more experience in the industry. Two sheets is okay. Three sheets is going on a little bit, but maybe. Okay. When you're in four sheet territory, you're basically a portfolio.
So try and keep the CV one to two sheets. Try to keep it under one to two meg, be megabytes in size because if you're gonna send it to an Architecture practice, You probably wanna aim to get your CVM portfolio under 10 to 15 [00:42:00] megabytes in case they've got some systems or their emails have limits and that can be a pain.
Oh, nightmare. Unfortunately it does happen and I guarantee you if you try and touch a nine megabytes CV with a 25, 30 megabyte portfolio, woo. It can be the best portfolio in the world, but no one's gonna see it cause they never get it in the air inbox. So try to keep one to two sheets, maybe three if you're seen the Architect or something.
Next one down or I like about this. So expertise. I have no idea what that means. It's a bit of a filler thing. Expertise. Architecture. You can, you could talk about your expertise in your experience. I'm an expert on building hotels cuz I've done it for 10 years. You know what I mean? That's your expertise and I can deduce that from your experience.
Software though. I can't really read that from the timeframe you're in a practice, so do spell that out. The other thing I do think is very good to put on a CV [00:43:00] is your languages. For example, I work with a few Architectural practices, which do international projects, and if you speak Mandarin, that would be great because they would lap it up.
They would love it. Mandarin speaking, Architect amazing. Equally I've got, I know one or two Architecture practices which speak, have projects infra in France, in Paris, and of course if you speak French, then that's gonna be advantageous. So saying how much you can speak speak languages can be really useful and I.
Don't, we could put time periods, but actually by saying native or conversational or experience for languages is gonna be good enough. I think that really helps. And of course, if it was your first job in the uk, you really need to get on your level of speaking English. If you're trying to get a job in the UK, in London, you need to say [00:44:00] how much you speak English and don't worry too much if you're not fluent because there's so many amazing architects that have even conversational English.
But it's good to put that in there. And also then it kind of braces. It's for the interview. So they don't expect that you're fluent in English, so that actually when you go there, it's something that you can, work with. And they know what they're going into in the interview. They've invited you in.
It's in your portfolio and you can be proud of the level of language that you are on. And of course you'll only get better the more you do. It's a temporary thing. Just don't be phased by that. Put it in, don't panic about it, but good to mention your level of experience with speaking different languages.
The next thing, which is also very important here is references are, now I am a big believer that you should put references in the CV because it's bold. It says that you back yourself, but also more importantly, other people back you. [00:45:00] The fact that you've got other people's names in that. CV really counts and I am guilty as charged guilty of sin, of actually putting in references available upon request, which I did because I was at the time, I know it doesn't seem like it now cause I'm chatty on live streams going for it.
But I used to be pretty nervous speaking to people and, I, I didn't wanna ask about doing references. I didn't wanna bother people. You, I felt they were busy. And actually it turns out that getting references really count. And the more you do skills like that, speaking on things and getting in touch with people, the easier it does, the better it is.
And actually, if you ask for someone for a reference, you don't need to say, can you write this big reference? Just say, listen, can I put your name down as a reference request on the CV? And chances are if you've got a good rapport with [00:46:00] someone, they usually will say yes. And if no, then you know it's something that you need to work on and build more connections.
If you're starting out, if you're a student, don't panic about can reference. You should get one from your tutor. But too, as, as much as I love to, as and as much as I love academics can be very slow. So get that reference as quick as possible. And if you are in an Architecture practice if you're leaving somewhere, ask be right before you leave.
Cuz once you go, my goodness is very hard to get that reference. If you unfortunate enough to be made redundant, which does happen, years ago I've been made redundant. I've moved on from places I've handed in my notes, all that stuff I've done the combination. And actually, if you are being made redundant, then chances are the person that's made you redundant probably feels guilty, you'd hope, or they feel sorry for you.
And when typically people feel sorry for you, They're much more likely to do you a favor cause they feel sorry for you. And that is a very good time for you to ask for a [00:47:00] referend. So do it. And do it when you're in the office and get your big guilty. Make them feel bad with your big guilty face. You are not guilty. But if you're there and you've been made redundant, then they're gonna be guilty looking at you and chances are you can get that reference from them and move on to the next thing bigger and better. Why not? So there you go. I think let's have a bit of a summary and if there's any questions, now is the time to do it.
But we have covered roughly, I'll go on for a few more minutes. We'll do the hour. That's what a one-on-one session is. We have blasted out this CV. Okay? And now if this CV came across the desk still needs a lot of work. Okay. Because we've just ruled this up now on a live stream. I've taken an example out there.
However, it is infinitely better than this one already because of the core [00:48:00] concepts that I've talked about. And also it is better than this one, which isn't the worst in the world, but it's also not the best. We've started to make progress. The goal is to speak the Architecture practices language and to get an interview so you can clinch that job and you can take it from there.
I've got a comment coming in Angeline Clark. Lovely to hear from you. My goodness. That is a very cool LinkedIn picture. I definitely need to get tips from you and get a new picture as well. Do you recommend mentioning publications or articles written by yourself? Very good point, Angeline. That is a good point.
Thank you for mentioning that. There was a, the little one of the example here, which talked about awards. Okay. Awards and articles, yes, you should do. Very good point. Don't panic Angeline if you don't have them, but [00:49:00] if you do, chuck them in. This one's actually quite a good layout as well. And I'll tell you why I like it.
And then I'm gonna go into your I'm gonna go into your point, Angeline. Oh, what awards? So this one's got a clean layout. It's nicely, it's got the person's name, it's got the title, it's got the contact details, it's got education. It's got a bit of a long profile. I probably cut that in half. And it goes into the experience.
I'll definitely expand upon the dates here and then we've got the skills. But if you imagine these were software and you had a space for references, maybe you don't have all this software. Yeah, I would definitely put the awards in. I think it's great. I would put in awards, I would put in anything, publications and articles and I would put a link to them or I would highlight them, but just summarize it really.
So for example, you might say publications and you would say publications. [00:50:00] And you would put in the date of when it was published, what it was about, and if you won any awards the same. So Angeline absolutely put it in, but say now you got lots, maybe just cherry pick two or three awards which you think would be a good fit.
And then put them in and say for more information, though I have a public publications, let me know and I can send the real. But that's the thing. You don't wanna get to. How do I say monotonous? So I've seen some cvs where it's five pages long, Angeline, and basically it's like awards is a whole page and by the end of it you're there.
Oh my goodness, this is too much information. You won a little bit, you won all killer. You want no fella? Okay. If you've done one, two, or three amazing publications, I assume you can do more. So do that. Oh, and time more. I've got a little Carmen saying, put awards, bursaries, agreed. Anything you want.
Competition [00:51:00] entries. It's all really good shows that you are out there, shows that you are doing stuff. The other last thing that we could touch upon, which I do see in CVS sometimes is hobbies. Now you can put hobbies in. If you do put hobbies in though it can't be Netflix. You know what I mean? It can't be, I like music.
I like music too, but it's gotta be a little bit more substantial. So for example, if you participate in a graphic design competition or you are involved in a charity, or if you are, do a part of the chess club and you go there regularly, that's cool. You can put that in because that shows character.
That shows your passion saying that you're part of a rugby club now. Yeah, that's probably a good thing. There's one of the directors at Freely Reed, which is passionate about rugby and sports. Chances are, you talked about [00:52:00] rugby. You put that on the CV. It might come up in the interview, but at the same time, Maybe it doesn't.
So that's why hobbies I don't think should dictate the CV. But if there's a small area, it could quite compliment those awards and publications. It could fit in there really nicely. So a, let's have a little summary. Last chance for comments and questions that come in while I take a sip of water.
Anyone, feel free to ask me if you've got a question that also you feel awkward to answer or something, you can send it to me and I can do it in another one of these anonymously. I'm happy to do them. I struggle sometimes with reply one-on-one to everyone just cause I get a lot of messages, but I will try.
Okay, cool. I think we're getting to the end of it. So I'm gonna do a summary. I'm gonna get rid of Canva. Sin sacrilegious and I'll [00:53:00] talk to you one on one. So this has been an hour. Oh, I've got one. Angeline is saying, sorry, me again. Don't need to apologize. Angeline, you are adding richness and layers to the podcast, so it's totally cool.
Do you add if you hold a non-executive director role? That's an oddly specific question. Probably you can I think know what audience you're catering to. No problem coming back after babies. Absolutely. I think Angeline, I think I would, it depends on the role. It really depends on the role. So for example, I've done a non-executive search and that of course would be really high up.
Maybe it's something that you touch upon, which is maybe not Architecture experience, but other industry experience that could work too. So where I'm going with, if you are applying to a non-executive director row or non-executive advisor role, that's gonna be worth a weight in gold. And it might be a [00:54:00] complimentary facet to your CV.
However, if you are an Architect who's applying for an Architectural role with Revit, that could really mislead the CV cuz they go, whoa, this is a non-executive director. This person is overqualified to be a, an Architectural Assistant, part two, Architect, senior Architect, wherever you are. So be very careful with that, and I think that themes into a little bit about what we are talking about today.
So to summarize and thank you, Angela, and that's an amazing question. I think know the audience, know the if there's a role online, you can work with it. If there's an Architectural practice, check out their careers pages and see if there's something there and tailor it towards that job description. If there's not, speak on the level of the role that you think you're going into, if you're looking for an Architectural Assistant role, make that very clear in the email.
I'll talk about that stuff. I'll come onto that a bit later in the [00:55:00] search in terms of approach, but CV, you have to make it very clear that the person who is reviewing the CV knows who you are, where you are, where you're available, where you are, and why you're looking. What level are you? Are you a part two?
How much have you used Revit? Where are you based? When are you available? This is the questions that employers ask and that CV needs to convey that information. It needs to be in a beautiful CV, which ideally speaks the graphical language of that Architectural practice or company. If it's got something too outlandish, which is not familiar with them, it's like the unknown.
As a person, do you stick with the flavors of ice cream that you're familiar with, or do you kind of experiment. Some people might be experimentation. No, but a lot of people will stick to that vanilla [00:56:00] or whatever it is, that chocolate cookie dough, and you need to speak that language and you need to have a chocolate cookie dough as well.
And then you both say, oh, we both like chocolate cookie dough. And then the conversation happens. And that's what a CV is, except we ain't talking about ice cream anymore. We're talking about a beautiful CV, which looks exactly like the graphic design that the Architecture practice puts in their website.
You then are gonna put in all factual, analytical, you're gonna put some substantial information about who you are, what you are, where you are, when you are, why. I know I've just said that, but I'm ramming in your f in your minds. I'm making you think about that annoying Welsh voice, which is telling you the truth, the ugly truth of reality of what people do.
People look for common interest. They feel comfortable in that. And if you've got a beautiful graphic design portfolio and CV, which looks like a little bit like the Architecture [00:57:00] practice, then they're gonna be like, wow, this person. He's one of us. She's gonna be amazing. Let's make her an offer and let's invite her for an interview.
Cool. And that's what I want you to be. I want you to be the one that gets an easier life when applying. Because looking for jobs, it's stressful and it's a pain in the ass. And I've been there, I work in there and I've done it all as the hiring manager of EPR r Architects and acr, Larry Architects.
I've run a recruitment agency and I've also been a part one and part two job seeking as well as a a recruitment associate director, whatever you wanna call me. Years ago, I've done it all different levels. So I really have gone through the process and I want you to be less stressed. So on that note, I'm gonna be ending soon.
If you found any of this content useful, do let me know. Would you like more like this? Did you find this useful? You can. As well, go to the Architecture Social [00:58:00] dot com, which I will bring up. It's useful if I have my own domain of my own website. Bear with me while I type it all out. I think I'm got a folder on the system.
So the Architecture Social is www dot Architecture Social dot com. You can go there, you can get all this free information. There's jobs, there's advice. There's free, full years worth of these guides, these videos that I've done. You might get frustrated with hearing my vice, my voice all the time, but the content is all there.
It's all for free. I'll bring up the website once more to go through. Have a look. Check it out. Make sure you go to the resources section. Make sure you go through all the guides. I've put them all here, all the stuff over the years, all the other podcasts, they're all there. It's all for free. You can pay me if [00:59:00] you really want to throw your money at me.
If you really do not wanna keep listening to these and apply everything I've said, you can pay me a lot of money per hour and I will sit down with you when we can do it one on one. But I think you're pretty good enough. Chances are you're really smart cause you've done Architecture and you've gotta be pretty smart to do Architecture.
And you can apply this. You don't need my one-on-one and then you can get the job that you want. So okay, check out the Architecture Social dot com, drop me a message and I will be back next week and we will beast out portfolios. Woo. Thank you so much everyone. I'm gonna end the live stream and have a lovely evening.
I think I'm gonna have a glass of wine, I think. I think my, I think I deserve it. See you later. Take care. Bye-bye.
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