CV Development

Margaret Danquah “Maggie” works for the career’s services at Univeristy of West London. She came to one of your lectures to share some very valuable information with us. In her talk she spoke about the functions of the CV, cover letter and advised us on getting an interview. Maggie spoke on skills and experience and how to sell yourself. She also spoke on the fact you need a CV for other uses apart from applying for a job such as submitting it for funding for your business, commissions, exhibitions and courses. Maggie explained that you need more than one CV when you are or aspiring to become a photographer.

A general CV which most people have. This is used to get quite broad jobs like retail work, bar work, waitressing etc..

A photographer CV is needed this is mostly for used for photography opportunities such as applying for a photographers role. Or like I mentioned above applying for funding for your business, commissions, exhibitions, your website, for some clients or for courses.

A photographer assistant / junior photographer / runner CV is also needed. This is not a CV for you to be the photographer this is a job where you are working for somebody else. Information about what else you can do should be included on this CV. The photographer may need you to edit the photos, or set up the shoot, printing. Information about what equipment and software you can use should be put on this CV also other photographers you've worked with. It's good to ensure you get across that you can follow instructions well and work well in a team on this CV.

She explained the difference between soft skills and hard skills which many of us were not aware of. Soft skills are things that most people have on their CV such as Teamwork, Time management, Punctual, communication skills. Where as Hard skills is taking a bit more about your trade. If in the photography industry like myself you'd mentions camera equipment you can use at ease, if you know how to use a studio, what type of photography you're intersted in and best at and what techniques you can use.

Universal Title

Maggie told us that your CV is the first impression of you, and it takes less then 30 seconds for an employer to decide it they’re going to consider you. Which is why it’s important for it to be well presented, put your most recent jobs/qualifications towards the top and only include necessary information. She gave us examples of different websites where you can get examples of CVs, template downloads and cover letters. Such as https://www.creativetoolkit.org.uk/your-career/here-to-help and https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/cvs-and-cover-letters/example-cvs

Maggie's talk was really beneficial to me, as we are creating our CV's as a part of this project. Before this module I only had one general CV, thanks to Maggie's talk and presentation I was able to improve the CV I'd already had. I was also able to create a photographers CV and a photographers assistant CV. All three can be found on this website.