Week 11 The Art of Approach

Real Works, The Art of Approach

The Art of Approach covers the following topics:

  • What makes a great CV?
  • Opportunity Spotting and Planning your Approach
  • Researching Employers
  • Legendary LinkedIn profile builder:
  • Cialdini’s 7th Persuasion Principle: Using Unity
  • Speculative Application Planner
  • Perseverance and re-framing rejection

The Art of Approach covers familiar topics for a freelancer and at one-time cv-writer (my favourite part of this job was discovering all the fascinating backgrounds of my clients). ‘What makes a great CV’ covers the increasing use of Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) software to auto-review applications. “The use of ATSs is incredibly widespread and, if you’ve ever applied for a job directly through an employer’s website, chances are your CV went through an application system before a human set their eyes on it” (Real Works 2020). It’s an important lesson to remember, to list all your skills because it won’t be obvious to a computer and it might not be obvious to a person – something I do keep forgetting myself.

Challenge Activity

“Once you have completed as much of The Art of the Approach curriculum as you timed for, share some or all of your results from the activities in the form below. As part of the discussion, reflect on your progress through the curriculum. Consider how what you have learned from the curriculum might impact the rest of your studies. More specifically, how will you ensure that all the effort you invest in your studies aligns with your personal brand and aspirations for the future” (Falmouth University 2020)?

Legendary LinkdIn profile builder:

“I think your LinkedIn profile makes a very good first impression, with a quality profile photo and vivid background. Overall I think it’s solid and provides all the information it needs to. I think someone scrolling through it would like to see more visual examples of your work – embedding a few images might be a good idea, if possible” (Gackowski 2020).

I have begun updating my CV, LinkedIn and Social profiles to reflect my current study, aspirations and relevant experience.

Fig 1. LinkedIn Profile [screenshot] 2020

Reflection

My understanding of the Real Works and The Art of the Approach has been informed by the materials and significantly the wealth of experience of my fellow students. Our cohort has a wealth of information and experience in programming, development, management, freelancing, UX, design, illustration and I could go on.

In our unofficial chat, every week resources and notes are shared along with the insight into those those concepts from other members.

I suffer from self-confidence issues and as part of the Real Works seminar and working over the materials I am beginning to understand how far this can limit success. I have a bad habit of standing in a room and explaining why everything I do is, really, actually, not very good and a part of myself knows that’s not true or I wouldn’t be here in the first place.

List of Figures

Figure 1. LinkedIn Profile [screenshot] 2020

References

Falmouth University. 2020. ‘Week 11: Challenge Activity’. Falmouth Flex [online]. Available at: https://flex.falmouth.ac.uk/courses/872/discussion_topics/18818 [accessed 14 December 2020].

GACKOWSKI, Mikolaj. 2020. ‘Week 11: Challenge Activity’. Falmouth University Discussion Board [online] December 2. Available at: https://flex.falmouth.ac.uk/courses/872/discussion_topics/18818 [accessed 14 December 2020].

RealWorks. 2020. ‘RealWorks’. RealWorks [online]. Available at: https://realworks.careercentre.me/welcome/Falmouth-University [accessed 14 December 2020].