CV & Job hunting Support > Jobseeker Support

First things first:  Your CV

The first step in finding new employment is getting a CV together. CV is short for 'curriculum vitae' and is a one or two page document that summarises your skills, qualifications, interests, job preferences and contact details. Most employers inspect CVs when deciding on which candidates to interview, and many will ask you to provide a CV as part of the application process.  You should always take an up-to-date CV with you to interviews, in case you need to refer to it.

If you've arrived at this page from our CV Wizard, then you'll already have an electronic (PDF) document that you can use.  Our Wizard prompts you for all the information required for a basic CV and gives you a number of hints, pointers and formats to choose from, so if you haven't got a CV yet and would like to get one up and running quickly, you can access our CV Wizard here. You can even do this on your phone!

If you want to put a CV together from scratch, there are lots of resources available online to help you.  We have basic CV Hints & Tips here on icanbea... for example and there is plenty of further help available online from services such as the DWP's Job Help website or you could just ask Google. However you decide to put your CV together, make sure that you check it through for basic spelling and grammar issues. Check out our detailed CV Hints & Tips page using the button below.

CV Hints and Tips

Finding job and career opportunities 

Once you've got your CV together, you'll want to find some opportunities to apply for.

First think about:

• The type of roles and organisations that you'd like to find
• The skills and qualifications you can offer
• The hours or type of contract you'd like
• Your location and the transport available to you

Some of these things might be indicated on your CV which should guide you on what sort of opportunities to apply for.  There's no harm in taking a plausible longshot at a role, but the more roles you apply for where your skills, interests and preferences broadly match the advert, the greater the chances of an securing interview.

Where you look for opportunities will depend on a number of factors, including how soon you need employment and how specific or focused you want your job search to be.

Remember that it's not necessarily a good idea to 'hold out' for your perfect job, especially if you need money coming in.  Temporary roles for example could provide an excellent way of earning whilst you are still looking for something more aligned to your aspirations, and another piece of experience is very unlikely to harm your CV!

It's always better to have more options than fewer options, so think about contacting multiple employers and agencies to give yourself as many appropriate options as possible.

Find out: Where to look for jobs & careers

(If you've already had a successful application and secured an interview , it's time to take a look at our Interview Tips page)

Help with finding opportunities

Additional help for 16-25 year old Jobseekers (Norfolk & Suffolk)

As part of our charitable remit, we also aim to help individual jobseekers aged 16-25 living in Norfolk or Suffolk, who would like additional support in relation to finding jobs and careers.  We can often help you to find regional vacancies and advise you on the employment process and interviews, as well as potentially helping you with your CV.

If you would like help from a us in this capacity, just send us an email with your name, contact details and confirm that you'd like to be contacted - then someone will be in touch! Any further information that you provide such as the type of work you're looking for, the sectors you would like to work in and even your CV will help speed up the process.

Consider making a Career Plan

• A career plan helps you to take steps to accomplish your professional career goals
• It allows you to match your skills against potential career paths
• You can identify your priorities in terms of finances, progression etc. and match them to potential job roles
• Develop long term objectives and devise a strategy to get there
• It allows you to identify any training or work experience that will help you reach your goal
• Template provided below for download

> Career Plan template (.docx)

Developing your plan

1. List your skills and identify careers that match your skill set
2. Check out the jobs market – latest labour market trends (e.g. Career-o-Meter) 
3. What are your career aspirations – where do you want to be in 10 years time?
4. What are your priorities e.g. Flexible working, Progression, Salary etc.
5. Set goals and actions 

Travel and Transport

Transport can be a big issues especially if you live in a rural location and it can have an impact on the choices you make. The following links provide information on the transport links in your region and how to apply for discount cards.

• Traveline - Lets you plan bus, rail, coach journeys across the country
• Trainline - Train times and bookings for trains across Norfolk & Suffolk and the rest of the country
• Greater Anglia - train tickets and times for routes across the Greater Anglia network
• Norfolk County Council - Find your transport this tool helps you to find out which transport services operate in your area.
• Konectbus - Tickets and route planner for buses across Norwich and Norfolk (App available) (Student concessions available)
• Traveline - Bus & train times plus journey planner for Norfolk, Suffolk and beyond 
• Suffolk on Board - Journey Planner
• Suffolk County Council - Endeavour Card - If you are aged between 16 - 19 you can apply for an Endeavour card which will enable you to receive a minimum of 25% discount off full price adult fares

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