When it comes to CV’s and cover letters, the one size fits all approach tends not to be the most effective strategy. The competition for jobs is intense in today’s environment and job seekers need to be able to tailor their CV and cover letter for the particular jobs and industries they are targeting.

If you can successfully tailor your application and show the employer that you are suitable for the job advertised, your chances of gaining an interview will dramatically increase. Here are four key points to help you achieve the perfect tailored job application.

Read Carefully

This may sound simple however it is important; make sure you read the job advertisement carefully, noting the key skills and experience asked for. Ask yourself which of the skills and experience stated in the job advert do you have, and ensure to incorporate them into your CV and cover letter.

You will be surprised by how many job seekers just read the job title, salary and location before applying. Remember, the more relevant your CV and cover letter is to the job advertised, the more attention it will get from the recruiter or employer.

Do your Homework

If you are targeting a particular company, sector or industry, do as much research as you can on that particular subject. Some questions you may like to ask yourself include; what is the current economic climate for the company or industry? What are its major opportunities and challenges? What are business experts saying about the company or industry? Can you find a company or industry report online?

Make sure that your cover letter communicates to the reader that you are informed about the company or industry. An astute recruiter or employer will recognise that you are knowledgeable on the subject and this will no doubt, contribute to you gaining an interview.

Tailor your Personal Profile

A personal profile is a small paragraph (usually 3 or 4 lines) at the top of your CV which gives the reader a general overview to who you are and what experience you have. This is one of the first things an employer will read, so make it short, concise and relevant to the job you are applying for.

Tailor your Key Skills Summary

A key skills summary is a detailed yet succinct list of your significant skills, experience and achievements. It usually sits just below your personal profile and is the second part of your CV that recruiters and employers will read.

This is an essential area to tailor for every job application, as it is quick and effective. Be sure to include your most relevant skills and experience which link directly with the job advert concerned. This is also an opportunity to hand pick your significant achievements which are related to the job, company or industry you are applying too. If this section is written well, the recruiter or employer is certain to read on for more.

If you do these four simple things, it will improve your chances of success and gaining an interview. After all, in many cases you only get one shot at it, so make it count.

Applying to jobs, however receiving no feedback or little response? Frustrated that your CV may not be getting the attention it deserves? In the current job-hunting climate with high volumes of applicants for each job, getting your CV noticed is becoming increasing more competitive.

The Engineers CV may be able to provide an insight to this answer. As a professional CV writing company, their consultants are often asked why they think a CV isn’t being noticed by employers and recruiters.

What better way to answer this question than to ask engineering employers and recruiters directly? We have spoken to the people with hiring authority at leading engineering employers, and asked them what the most common reasons why a CV may not get noticed. Here are their top 4 reasons:

• An Engineering Manager at an Automotive Manufacturer said; “The most common reason I discard a CV is because someone has mismatched the criteria for the position they applied for, or, key relevant information is just missing.”

• 92% of the engineering recruiters we asked admitted; when a candidate mass-email’s their CV to them (i.e. coping in other recruitment companies or employers), they are less likely to read the CV. They usually treat this type of email as spam and will not take the time to seriously consider your details.

• 87% of the engineering recruiters we asked revealed; when a candidate mass-applies to every job they are recruiting or advertising for, they tend to instantly discard their applications. This is primarily because they cannot be perfect for every job and come across desperate. This perception of desperation also creates doubt around candidate’s engineering abilities.

• An HR Manager at an Engineering Consultancy said; “If we receive a long, irrelevant and overly-personal cover letter explaining every reason they’ve ever left a job; or; a letter highlighting insignificant details; this usually goes in the bin.”

These points are just some of the common reasons why your CV may be not be getting noticed. If you find yourself applying for numerous jobs and not progressing; you may want to consider contacting the recruiters directly and asking them why you didn’t get shortlisted, after all you have a right to know the status of your application.

Furthermore, you may want a professional CV writer to review your CV and suggest improvements. The Engineers CV offers a free CV review for engineers and engineering professionals. For more information visit http://www.theengineerscv.co.uk

Claims by rival bidder Alstom that the bidding process was flawed, have been rejected by the high court. Alstom had argued that Eurostar in effect shifted the goalposts during the competition by awarding a contract to Siemens that contained substantial differences from the original tender.

Justice Mann found there were no grounds for Alstom to claim that the tender was “ineffective”, Alstom had also exceeded the time limit for bringing the claim to the high court.

This comes just a few weeks after the new Thameslink contract was awarded to Siemens, ahead of close rival Bombardier.

Bombardier have announced plans to cut 1,400 jobs after it lost a £1.4bn government contract to the German rivals.

Bombardier is currently in the news for losing out on the £1.5 billion contract for building the new Thameslink rail fleet.

Despite this set back, they have been recently been awarded the contract to replace the signalling across areas of the London Underground network,  specifically on the Metropolitan, District and Hammersmith & City lines.  Carrying 1.3 million passengers a day, the lines comprise of 40% of the total underground network and carry 25% of total passengers.

Announced in June, the work is due to cost approximately £354 million and will take seven years to complete. Bombardier have indicated that it was the largest contract they had won for a signalling project.

The technology that Bombardier will be supplying is their CITYFLO 650 ATC system, which has been successfully introduced on the Madrid Metro,  while ongoing projects include this system being implemented in Saudi Arabia and Brazil.

The seven year installation phase will be followed by a two-year warranty period and then a ten-year maintenance contract.