I’ve applied for a job! Yes, a real one, with contracted hours and wages and everything – even a holiday allowance.

And it was terrifying!

I haven’t had to apply for a job for nearly thirty years, and the idea of creating a CV and writing a covering letter was daunting.

Fortunately, there are templates available on Word, so off I went. Education: well, that was easy, until I came to professional qualifications. Do they go in with education, or elsewhere? And, after thirty years or so, is my accountancy qualification even relevant?

Skills was next. I was stumped. Writing down all one’s skills seems like blowing your own trumpet. None of us wants to appear big headed and so claiming excellent presentation skills, interpersonal skills, organisational skills and so on, looks like arrogance. Still, it had to be done. I took a deep breath, tossed away humility and did my best.

Then work experience. Actually, when you run your own business, as I did for twenty years, you have to do everything. You are Marketing Director, Sales Director and Finance Director. You are Head of Contracting, Delivery, and R&D; you do everything. But how do you put all of that down in just a few sentences?

Lastly, they wanted a profile – a quick paragraph to introduce myself. In desperation, I phoned my best friend and asked her to describe me. In her previous role, she used to process job applications and knew what was appropriate. Words like energetic, conscientious, committed and enthusiastic were all gainfully employed in this section.

Mostly, it seems, you are tailoring your experiences to what the job calls for. This job is coordinating volunteers, so they want experience of volunteer work. You can be sure I mentioned Moodscope.

Yes, the process was terrifying, but it did make me feel good about myself. Before I started, I was thinking that I was not really qualified to do anything. I wasn’t even sure I would be able to do the supermarket job my daughter does. By the time I clicked the submit button, I had a long list of things I can do and am good at.

Then, just five minutes later, I spotted a spelling mistake on my CV! Memo to me – always leave it for a day and then come back to it; you never spot all your errors the same day, no matter how many times you reread it.

A lot of us feel as if we’re not worth much and don’t have much to offer. I would encourage you to start listing your skills. If necessary, ring a friend and ask them what you’re good at. Are you a good organiser? A good listener? Can you cook or sew or knit? Are you good at interpersonal relationships? Are you a good gardener? Can you do accounts?

It’s amazing how many skills and talents we have once we forget to be modest and start to be honest.

I hope you come up with a long list of your own.

Mary

A Moodscope member