

CV expert Emma Alkirwi gives some advice if you are on furlough and need to top up your earnings.
We have had more and more individuals who have recently been furloughed seeking our guidance, particularly those from the hospitality and travel industry. Many are in management roles – despite the government’s financial support through the furlough scheme they are finding themselves on less than half the salaries they were once on. Therefore, they are now hoping to fill their time and supplement their earnings, but they are unsure of what is the best way to approach this.
Before you start applying for work, double check the furlough clauses from your current place of employment. Some employers may state that you cannot work elsewhere. While other employers may be fine with this, but you must formally let them know when you have taken a temporary role and with what employer.
Here is how to update your CV during furlough.
If you are in a different industry to the one you are applying for then you will likely need to tailor your CV to what you are applying for. The industries most likely to require temporary staff at the moment are: supermarkets, delivery driving and there is some temporary administration work available, although there are other sectors recruiting at the moment.
Improve your chances of getting head-hunted by the best flexible employers by uploading a CV and completing a profile today.
Register and upload your CV today
This section will need to be amended and tailored to what the job requires. This can include being customer-service focused, able to learn new working practices quickly, having a good geographical knowledge of the local area (for driving roles), a confident telephone manner, or experience in conducting various administrative tasks including correspondence, social media and database management. Then finish the professional profile with ‘currently seeking a temporary role due to being furloughed where existing skills and experience can be utilised’.
This allows the recruiter to see straight away that you have the relevant experience for the role and the reason you wish to apply.
Study the job advert in detail and mirror the skills required. In your current CV this may have a completely different focus, particularly if you are in a more senior role or different sector. It is important that you do not assume that the reader will know you have the skills required, but adapt this section accordingly.
Normally I would recommend showcasing your key achievements in this section, but it is important to keep this section relevant to the role. If you are relatively senior, you do not want the reader worrying that you may come into the role and try and shake things up. So, it is best to provide a short summary of your responsibilities and remove the key achievements. Although they will be very impressive and you may feel uncomfortable removing this section they are unlikely to be relevant to the role you are applying for.
After this you should now have a shorter, snappier and to-the-point CV, thereby allowing the reader to quickly offer you an interview!
Improve your chances of getting head-hunted by the best flexible employers by uploading a CV and completing a profile today.
Register and upload your CV today
With 2023 dominated by the implications of AI for work and for the world, Lucie Mitchell asks how Generative AI is changing how we work and what the... read more
A new report from Leaders Plus finds many parents are not being encouraged to progress in their jobs despite a large appetite to do so. read more
A new book by Gaia Van Der Esch looks at female leadership through the lens of seven impressive women. read more
The Pipeline's annual report finds women tend not to be in the kind of roles that secure progression to the top of their organisation. read more