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No automotive experience? A Guide to what to put on your CV

01-10-2019
Job seeker advice

The Motor Trade offers a huge range of opportunities with some roles such as a Vehicle Technician or Mechanics requiring certain qualifications whereas roles such as a Dealer Principal and Business Manager rely more on served experienced and specific skills.

If you are just starting out on your Automotive career, you may worry that you don’t have the skills or experience to make you stand out to employers.

Fear not, everyone has to start somewhere on their career path and employers understand this. In fact, in many cases, recruiters look beyond experience. Skills, attitude and approach are also very important when finding the right candidate for a job so you need to ensure you express these effectively on your CV in order to give the best impression and showcase your strengths.

One of the best CV writing tips is to tailor your CV to each job you are applying to. This becomes even more important when you’re lacking in Automotive experience because you’ll need to be more creative in terms of how your skills fit the job. Use the job description as your guide and include examples relating to the requirements listed. For example, if you’re applying for a Car Sales Executive role with no Motor Trade experience but you’ve worked in retail or any other sales based role then talk about this to highlight your sales experience. Work your way through each requirement and relate it to a previous work or lived experience.

Transferable skills are a core set of skills and abilities that can be used in many different jobs, sectors and industries. Employers value transferable skills and they become even more important if you are lacking in specific experience so make sure your CV features plenty of these accompanied by relevant examples. If you are applying for Dealership Sales Administrator role, employers will be looking for someone who is well organised, a good communicator and someone who can prioritise tasks. If you possess these skills then provide a tangible example of how you’ve used them with a positive outcome.

Whilst the experience section might be a little light on detail, you can maximise the personal statement section to compensate. Here you can demonstrate what makes you a great employee, express your enthusiasm as well as your personality. These personal touches will make you stand out from the competition so think carefully about what you’ll include here and remember to get the balance right between being professional and getting your personality across.

Remember that recruiters see thousands of CVs so you need to spend time perfecting yours so that it stands out!

We have lots more blogs to help you enhance your CV writing abilities including general CV Writing Tips plus, Things to Avoid on Your CV

For further advice in securing your next job contact the team at Perfect Placement. Our passion lies in helping candidates and businesses find their perfect match and we’re always happy to help!