Writing Attractive CVs and Cover Letters ONLINE

Aims

CVs and cover letters that spark interest are keys that pave the way to obtaining job interviews: you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Composing an attractive CV and cover letter requires you to strike the right balance between promoting your unique value to a potential employer and explicating the reasons why the position you are applying for is a perfect fit for you. The workshop is aimed at PhD candidates and postdoctoral fellows who wish to train their ability to write employment applications that could give them an edge over other applicants in the competitive job market.
Participants receive a script and slides with tips and examples to support/guide them in writing convincing, clear employment documents.

Content

• Reviewing the structure and content of various parts of CVs and cover letters for a job application
• Attending to language conventions in CVs and cover letters
• Tailoring the CV and cover letter to each application
• ldentifying and describing skills and achievements without sounding arrogant
• Fine-tuning CVs and letters to the required length
• Reviewing and customising participants' own CVs and cover letters, both by peers and the lecturer
• Attending to additional issues identified in participants' own writing

Methods

The task-based workshop will include input on CV and cover letter writing, language use and tailoring the employment application documents to the job description. A handout/slides will be distributed. Participants will work on their own drafts and review each other's CVs and cover letters. The trainer will provide advice and review participants' documents in class and after the workshop, if participants choose to submit revised final drafts for further review.

Target Group

All Doctoral Candidates & Postdocs

Requirements

Participants agree to provide written peer review for one fellow participant during and after the workshop.

About the Trainer

Dr. Riana Paola-Roos holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. She has taught English in various educational institutions in Switzerland, England and South Africa. Within the field of linguistics and language teaching, she has published and is particularly interested in Academic English and English for Specific Purposes. She offers courses in writing for publication in the Natural Sciences as well as thesis writing courses at the Language Center of the University of Basel and the Swiss TPH.

Workload

8 hours maximum

Pre-workshop preparation (1-2 hours)
Participants write, upload and bring to the workshop a first draft of a CV and letter of application that will be reviewed during the course. Having a copy of a job advertisement for a position the participant would like to apply for is also recommended, as the CVs and cover letters can then be tailored to that specific position. The lecturer analyses these first drafts to identify common issues that could be addressed during the workshop. Participants who do not submit drafts, must bring such along to the workshop, even if these are only rough drafts.

Time spent in the workshop: 5 hours incl. 15-minute break. Post-workshop: 1 hour - optional.
Participants have the opportunity to submit their revised CVs and cover letters to the lecturer for comments and corrections.

Feature

Once registration is open, applications will be collected for 24 hours and course places allocated by lot. All registrations received after the initial 24h period will be put on a waiting list and assigned on a first come, first served basis.

Course places/places on the waiting list will be confirmed by e-mail. Course registrations can only be canceled before the registration period ends (send an e-mail to grace@unibas.ch). Full course attendance is mandatory. Participants who fail to attend a course without prior notification or withdraw after the registration deadline are subject to a fee of CHF 30. In addition, participants who cancel their course registration at a later point in time, are absent without an excuse or do not attend the entire course will, for reasons of fairness, not be considered for course registration in the following semester and will be removed from other courses offered in the same semester. Please find the detailed regulations on the Transferable Skills Homepage.