Improve your CV
CV Writing - First Impressions Count!
A CV needs to be well-presented and targeted to the position applied for - Did you know recruiters form an opinion and base their decisions on a CV within 30 seconds - This shows how important it is to take your time and pay attention to detail.
1 - Create the right impression
One of the most important aspects of a writing a CV is presentation. A regular recruiter can pick out key aspects of a CV and get a good initial impression of the candidate by just scanning a CV. This is before deciding on whether to review the CV in more detail and perhaps take the application to the next stage. A well-presented CV makes it so much easier for a recruiter to find the information they are looking for. If it takes time to search for the information, a recruiter is likely to get bored, reject the CV and move on to the next candidate for consideration.
A good CV will be pleasing to the eye and easy to read. Clear titles and plenty of space makes a CV look more balanced and professional than something with poor headings and crammed with information. Perhaps get a second opinion regarding initial impressions, readability, layout, content and mistakes. A friend can help with reviewing a CV.
2 - CV writing content
It is important to be selective about what to include in a CV. Review the relevance of each piece of information, whether it makes a constructive point and adds value to a CV. An overloaded CV is boring and unreadable. A short concise and well-targeted CV is much more effective.
Do not try to justify negative aspects relating to your CV. As previously mentioned, a CV should be an effective personal marketing document. Use positive language to sell credentials and customise the CV to the job description. Employers like positive, proactive people and will tend to ignore CVs with a negative approach. If there has been a real negative experience, sell it as a positive by saying how you overcame this weakness to improve.
Work experience is best presented in reverse chronological order so that the most recent roles appear first. Employers tend to be interested in what candidates have done most recently in terms of job roles. As a general rule, cover the last 10 years work experience or last 3 or 4 roles in some level of detail depending on what candidates have done. Anything beyond this, only do a summary. Education becomes less relevant over time. Make sure skills, training, projects and achievements are up to date and relate to recent experiences - include separate sections by grouping together similar attributes if necessary.
Most importantly keep your CV simple. CVs must be easy to read and confined to two pages - Most occasions do not require you to go to a third page, only do this if there is a need to detail useful training or an IT skills profile, a good CV is merely an insightful introduction about you and what you have done rather than becoming a life story. Simple headings, layout and presentation often work best. Unless targeting a specific recruitment community where there is a high degree of specialisation, avoid jargon, which can be confusing - Instead, use specific and relevant terminology that matches the job description or target roles.
Part of presenting a well-constructed CV revolves around sentence construction. Sentences should be well-articulated, concise and to the point. A well-written and articulated CV comes across as more professional, and also demonstrates good written skills and a good level of education - ultimately helping to create the right impression, as opposed to a CV that is heavily worded and is not so easy to read!
Being factual and honest is paramount - Recruiters will check the integrity of a CV at interview and through gaining references. Experienced recruiters are able to seek out inconsistencies and can pick up when candidates are over-exaggerating their experience and achievements. Any uncertainty regarding the credibility of a candidate is likely to mean instant rejection.
3 - Attention to detail
As previously mentioned, recruiters can spot inconsistencies. Part of testing the integrity of a CV is making sure details are accurate. You should be able to verify what you have put on your CV - recruiters are likely to check when seeking references.
Spelling and grammar is one area of concern for many recruiters. Not only does it highlight a lack of attention to detail, it can show inadequate written communication skills. CVs should always be checked carefully for errors - there is no second chance!
Common Mistakes
Too long - As previously mentioned a two-page CV is the ideal length with one page being acceptable for less experienced people. More technical professions, such as medical or IT, can be longer than two pages but these are very much the exception to the rule. The CV should be clear, concise and easy to read, a handy tip is the use of bullet points to help achieve this.
Including unnecessary information - Too much detail will end up simply boring the recruiter! If the information does not have a positive impact on your CV - don’t include it - for example including the months in the career summary and your grades at GCSE level!
Using a Key Skills Section - Thee use of a key skills paragraph is becoming increasingly unpopular - evidence of your skills should be highlighted in the Career History, and a Profile at the top of the CV should be used to summarise these.
Including references on a CV - Referees tend to only be contacted in the latter stages of the recruitment process so it is therefore not necessary to include them on the CV.
Too much personal information - Some people have the tendency to include too much personal detail such as marital status, health etc. Including a date of birth is no longer necessary following recent anti-discriminatory legislation. It is also not important to include detailed information about your activities and interests; a simple list will suffice as these can then be elaborated upon at interview at the recruiter’s discretion.