Those Dreaded Four Words- ‘Tell me about Yourself…’
‘Writing a CV can be one of the most difficult tasks you’ll perform in the course of your job hunt’[1]– and didn’t I know it. I was so enthusiastic about looking for a work placement in the career of my dreams and was ecstatic when I grasped the potential opportunity to undertake my placement in the drama department of a secondary school. Although, this excitement soon changed to despair when I was asked to submit a CV to the school’s head of drama. This was it, the ‘tell me about yourself’ statement, the one that filled me with nothing but heart wrenching anxiety, making me question my whole existence and what I’ve ever done with it. I hadn’t written a CV since my first waitressing job at seventeen and it’s safe to say that it wasn’t exactly the type of material that I would send to a potential placement provider. How hard can it be? Surely, I’m not that boring, I mean, how can drama be boring, right? This blog will reflect on my experience of building a CV using Schön’s concept of reflective practice. I will use his two types of reflection to explain how I felt whilst producing my pre-placement CV and on how, after gaining information on the dos and don’ts of CV writing, I will change how I produce future CV’s.
Schön’s Theory
‘Schön (1991) presented the concept of ‘reflection in action’ and ‘reflection on action’. Schön’s theory is that there are two types of reflection, one during and one after an activity or event.’[2]
(Solent University, How to think reflectively: Schön’s model, 2021)
Reflection-in-Action
The first type of reflection, ‘reflection-in-action’ is where the reflection happens during the actual event.’[3]Whilst drafting this first pre-placement CV, I was fully aware that I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I was waffling, I didn’t know what to write, where to write it or how to make it look ‘pretty’. I wanted this placement so much and I was trying too hard to impress, I knew I was, although I had no knowledge of CV writing and no idea on how to structure it never mind what to include! I knew I had to sell myself, there was a lot I wanted to do in this placement- take charge of the drama club, lead lessons etc. and I thought that this CV was the perfect platform to illustrate this- how wrong! ‘Andy Warhol said everybody gets their 15 minutes of fame. The CV is your opportunity to be in the spotlight, but unfortunately most candidates are lucky to get five minutes.’[4] Five Minutes! All of this stress for five minutes! I honestly thought that my CV would be chucked out or laughed at, but I battled on and tried my best, trying to build upon some sort of a skillset which I’m pretty sure I didn’t possess. I tried to explain the things that I maybe thought I was okay at but there was no confidence behind this CV and I was panicking because at the very most, I knew that a CV was ‘a tiny window of opportunity to sell yourself to the recruiter.’[5] I waffled on about how I had teamwork skills from a previous waitressing job and how I could cope with difficult situations because of my job as a care assistant, some of this was not all irrelevant, although, I wasn’t tailoring this CV to a teaching position- something that I am now aware I should have done. I knew that in some way I had too many qualifications stated on this first CV, and it just seemed wrong to include my achievement of a grade A in G.C.S.E. Home Economics and that I did a paediatric first aid course in fourth year (now with an expired certificate). I included it all anyway- how stupid was I.
I now know that you must ‘not bore the reader by listing every qualification you have obtained – keep it to the relevant and impressive stuff.’[6] I not only had the audacity to include an unbelievably embarrassing email on my pre-placement CV (of which we will not repeat) but I included a cheesy photo in the top right-hand corner. Why would I do that when I knew that there would be plenty more opportunities for the head of drama to see my awful mugshot. ‘The whole point of a CV is that the recruiter has a brief, factual description of your abilities, and photographs often allow recruiters, rightly or wrongly, to develop a preconceived idea of you as a person’[7], never mind the fact that it is extremely embarrassing to look back on. If it wasn’t for the week nine AEL: Work-Based Learning class on ‘Writing a CV’ I would still be none the wiser and still think that this photo was a great addition to the document which sums up my answer to ‘tell me a bit about yourself…’
‘We do not learn from experience. We learn from reflecting on experience’[8]
(Dewey, 2003, 78)
Reflection-on-Action
Schön’s second type of reflection- reflection-on-action ‘happens post-experience, and involves analysing what happened during the experience, and what the user would consider doing differently if faced with the situation again.’[9] Whilst in attendance at the class on CV writing, I learnt so much. There were so many things that I would’ve done differently in my first CV if I had have known this information sooner! For example, I most definitely would not have included a picture- as it was not asked off me, I would have changed my email address post CV writing, I would’ve understood how to lay out a CV attractively and what key information to include (not that I got an A grade in Home Economics) and I would’ve known how to tailor it around the position that I was going for as an assistant teacher in a secondary school drama department.
‘Schon describes ‘intuitive reflection’, which is basically being able to converse with yourself intuitively to reflect on situations and experiences.’[10] I most definitely ‘intuitively reflected’ on my first CV draft whilst in that CV writing class. Not only was I sitting there absolutely mortified at this monstrous attempt at a first CV, but I was also humiliated that this thing was my placement provider’s first impression of me- I still can’t believe that I had the audacity to let anyone else see this… never mind her!
From reflecting on this first CV, after being educated on CV writing, I would most definitely say that I will be much more confident in producing future CVs and to answer the question that I’m sure you are all wondering- yes! Miraculously I bagged this desired placement of mine and cannot wait to start in January, although, I will not look forward to facing the head of drama after what she had to endure in reading such as pitiful answer to ‘tell me about yourself…’.
References
[4] Joanne Earl, Jim Bright, David Winter, ‘How to Sell Yourself’, in How to Write a Brilliant CV, 5th edn. (London: Pearson, January 2015).
[5] Ibid.
[6] Joanne Earl, Jim Bright, David Winter, ‘Making the Perfect Fit ‘, in How to Write a Brilliant CV, 5th edn. (London: Pearson, January 2015).
[7] James Innes, ‘The 15 Most Common CV Writing Mistakes, How to Avoid Them! ‘, in The CV Book: Your Definite Guide to Writing the Perfect CV, 2nd edn. (London: Pearson Business, December 2012).
[8] John Dewey, How We Think (New York: Dover, 2003), p. 78.
[10] Ibid.
Bibliography
Multimedia
Schön Model Picture: B, Nichola, LifeLong Learning: Guide to models of reflection- when & why should you use different ones (2016) https://lifelonglearningwithot.wordpress.com/2016/05/02/different-models-of-reflection-using-them-to-help-me-reflect/ [accessed 10 November 2021]
Digital Moving Picture: Canva, You have Written the Worst CV Ever! (2021) https://www.canva.com/design/DAEwo2fax10/FJElIFqC1eqaWf6Qv4PKUw/watch?utm_content=DAEwo2fax10&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink [accessed 18 November 2021]
CV Picture: Johnson, Katy, University of Nottingham: How to write a chronological CV with little experience (2019) https://blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/careers/2019/02/05/chronological-cv/ [accessed 18 November 2021]
Quotes/References
Dewey, John, How We Think (New York: Dover, 2003)
Earl, Joanne, Bright, Jim, Winter, David, ‘How to Sell Yourself’, in How to Write a Brilliant CV, 5th edn. (London: Pearson, January 2015)
Innes, James, ‘The 15 Most Common CV Writing Mistakes, How to Avoid Them! ‘, in The CV Book: Your Definite Guide to Writing the Perfect CV, 2nd edn. (London: Pearson Business, December 2012)
Live Career, 3 Dos & Don’ts for Your CV Objective (2021) https://www.livecareer.co.uk/templates/tips/cv-tips/cv-components/3-dos-donts-for-your-cv-objective?utm_source=google&utm_medium=sem&utm_campaign=1148430132&utm_term=&network=g&device=c&adposition=&adgroupid=53334310739&placement=&gclid=CjwKCAiA4veMBhAMEiwAU4XRr2ubHjHedtB6qDmnnvr2G1RSweksbVK7h_NpnLP5xlstbNEh6XxgYRoCuZkQAvD_BwE [accessed 2 November 2021]
Read, Hannah, The CV Method: Get your CV Application-Ready, Reflective Practice – Schon (2021) https://thecvmethod.wordpress.com/2016/10/24/398/ [accessed 3 November 2021]
Solent University, How to think reflectively: Schön’s model (2021) https://learn.solent.ac.uk/mod/book/view.php?id=2732&chapterid=1113 [accessed 2 November 2021]
