Launching a new career

Applying fora new role after long-term employment requires a strategic approach in order to effectively present your strengths and convince potential employers.

Based on our experience, we would like to address some important points from our point of view.

Cover letter and CV

Conception of the CV

• Structure your CV concisely.
• Clearly outline your career path, tasks and roles, even within a company, to emphasise your progress and adaptability.
• Emphasise your most important qualification profile visually (in colour/bold/italics).
• Focus on the essentials. But do not sacrifice clarity.

Self-presentation

• Focus even more on your successes, knowledge and skills that are relevant to the position.
• Emphasise your soft skills that underline your personality and strengths.
• Avoid internal company expressions and abbreviations that may have different connotations and/or may not be understood by outsiders.
• Focus specifically on the benefits and added value that you can offer future employers.
• Clearly present successes in the company to the outside world.
• Mention your date of birth in your documents.
• Use a current and reputable photo in your application.
• In most cases, recruitment consultants are not experts in your field. Only use as much technical jargon/industry knowledge as necessary and as little as possible. This may also apply to the company's HR department if you are applying directly.
• Communicate gaps clearly and ask others how you can present them successfully. Activities that you can mention here are, for example: Time off; Professional development; Volunteering; Time to find the right fit; Sabbatical.
• If you consider yourself overqualified for the position, go into more detail about your motivations in the cover letter.

Further training and qualifications

• Focus on current further training.
• Emphasise further training if it is highly relevant to the position Application documents
• Make it easy to recognise which company you have worked for and when, even if you have held several positions in one company.
• Use neutral, general wording.
• Create contemporary documents with a cover sheet, summary, cover letter and CV. The cover sheet and summary can also be omitted for very clearly arranged materials and electronic applications.
• Include only the 3-5 most important references and certificates and offer to submit further documents and reference contacts if required.
• Update the date of your CV if you have included it.
• Send your documents as a PDF and name your documents (for example: surname_resume, surname_coverletter)

Before the interview

• Be open to analysing your strengths and weaknesses and at the same time show your potential for continuous improvement.
• Be aware of your strengths and successes and make sure you can formulate them in a way that is understandable to outsiders.
• Prepare well and keep the content of your application in mind. You can rehearse the interview in front of the mirror or with people you know in order to gain confidence in the situation.
• Think about questions about the role and the company in advance to show your interest in the interview.
• Do some research about the company and your interview partners.

During the interview

• Communicate clearly and concisely to make your profile clear.
• Emphasise your ability to innovate and show how you can contribute to a positive exchange.
• Use examples to emphasise special skills and qualities
• Take advantage of career coaching or have your CV reviewed by a recruitment consultant.

Successful preparation for a new job or application requires not only professional skills, but also a skilful presentation of your personality and strengths. By taking these tips into account, you can optimally prepare for your application and increase your chances of being successfully hired.

Of course, we would be happy to accompany you on your way to a new professional challenge.

We would be delighted to hear from you.