Recruiters are not
terribly interested in what your responsibilities were. That just says what you
were told to do; we want to know what you actually did. Focus on your biggest
accomplishments, and quantify them as well as you can. If you just avoid doing
these three things, yours will be better than 75 percent of the CVs out there.
Going the rest of the way is about tailoring your CV to the position and
explaining the impact for your work in the most favorable light possible.
In
general, try to keep your CV to 1-2 pages in length. Recent graduates should
aim to stick to one page while more experienced candidates can get away with
using more space. If you’re still short on work experience and are having
difficulty filling a page, think about listing relevant school coursework and
extracurricular activities. Include volunteer work and the contributions you’ve
made in that arena.
Employers spend, on average, just 10
to 20 seconds looking at any one CV. A single page is enough. If you are very much skilled,
potential, possess great job qualities more, and then there is no need to
detail about them in two pages CV. You can highlight everything about your
professional path in one page CV in order to create a paramount impression over
recruiters and others who read it. If you are skilled enough, then you should
not require two pages to create a similar impression over others. The task can
be done even with a single page.
A shorter CV is generally preferred but don't remove relevant information
in order to make your CV shorter. Use as many pages as needed to highlight your
accomplishments and qualifications but set the upper limit at three pages.
A one
page CV is more interesting to read and even saves lots of time to recruiters.
Your CV should include only meaningful and vital information about yourself.
Recruiters always love those who are able to deliver them with productive
results without utilizing much of their time. A too long CV seems not only
unattractive, but also boring to read. One page CV consisting your skill
potency, employment history and core competencies is enough to draw recruiter’s
attention towards your profile. One page CV seems easier to write. There is not
much information or experienced possessed by you, or you are a fresher then why
you need more space. You can compile all necessary information about yourself
in one single page only.
The recruiter understands that you believe in delivering
important information only. A well designed CV can successfully
create your positive image in front of the recruiter.
It offers enough space to write all important information
about yourself: Single page for a CV is merely enough
to write down all important and crucial aspects of your professional life. You
can easily jot down things of vitality and focus regarding your job in one page
CV. For such reasons, there is no need to create an additional page of the CV.
Even if
you’ve been working for many years, you should try to keep your CV to 2 pages
if possible. There are exceptions CVs for academic positions and some other
roles tend to be longer and more detailed.
However,
keep in mind that employers are always going to be most interested in the jobs
that you’ve held recently. Use your space wisely to share more details about
your most current and relevant work experience and edit down the descriptions
of your earlier jobs to the bare necessities. Creating a CV of more than one
page is not only unwanted but is also a waste of time for you as well. Just
write what is required and you will be able to frame a really content rich CV
in very less time. As your CV gets longer, you may even be able to drop early
positions that have little to do with your current career path. Formatting can
also help you reduce your page count just don’t get too creative.
The
length of a CV also depends on how much experience you possess, your
achievements, accomplishments and other vital stuff you have to share. Mainly,
if you possess long term experience, then only you will need more pages to
write it down.
Sketchy job dates
One of
the main things that employers focus on is how long you worked at your previous
jobs. They are going to be scanning for dates and zeroing in on short tenures
and long gaps between positions.
Make
sure to put down, for each job, the date that you started working and the date
that you left (month and year is sufficient). If you want to include an
objective in your CV, make sure that it’s as tailored as possible to the job
that you’re applying for.
Avoid
vague statements like, Looking to apply my skills and experience in a fast-paced,
challenging environment. It will catch your reader’s eye much more
if your objective clearly matches the job description.
Too general or irrelevant
Your CV
should be focused, concise and emphasize achievements and skills that fit the
job you’re applying for. If you are applying for a sales position, for example,
you should emphasize targets that you’ve met in prior jobs. Including
percentages and numbers can be useful.
This
probably means customizing your CV for each position, especially if you are
considering more than one type of opportunity. Carefully review the job
description and then take the time to tailor your CV to emphasize the strengths and experience that are most relevant for the
position.
Including
“red flag” information
Your
goal is to land an interview by giving the employer a compelling overview of
the job skills and experience that make you a good candidate. Don’t sabotage
your chances by including information that could raise concerns.
Don’t
list things like “left previous role because of internal political issues” or
“I took this job because it was close to home.” There will be time to discuss
your reasons for leaving and taking positions in the interview.
Network
We all
know the importance of networking today. Find someone with a connection to the
company, and ask him or her to make introductions, recommendations or to pass
along your CV. When you’re referred by someone internally, there’s a greater
chance the hiring manager will give you the benefit of the doubt, despite any
red flags.
Make it keyword friendly
If you’ve uploaded your CV to a job
site so recruiters can find you, keywords are very important. Job titles
and job buzzwords will help a search engine pick out your CV from the pile.
Use adequate whitespace
Make sure that your CV is legible and appropriately spaced. A CV with a lot
of words jammed together is almost impossible to read. Likewise, a CV with lots
of empty space and too few words looks flimsy and unimportant. Your goal should
be to have an adequate mix of white space and words.
Your CV is Only Your Marketing Tool
Your CV
is your marketing tool that you utilize in order to get hired by a company. So,
just like a product is imbibed with its core benefits, similarly, you have to
highlight only your core skills and qualities in the CV. You only have to
highlight what all vital skills you have, to serve the company and how your
past experiences and present strengths can make them secure more productivity
gains by hiring you.
It implies that you are not overselling yourself: Since your CV is a marketing tool that
you are using to sell your qualities and skills, so what you write in it will
create an impact over others who want to buy your potentials. If you will
overstuff your CV then it will portray to recruiters that you willingly want
this job or precisely you are overselling yourself. So, don’t let recruiters
get such an impression and try to write only thing that is essential and
required.
It shows that you understand how to be brief: Taking out relevant information from
fluff and writing it down in impressive, precise format is an art, and not
everyone is skilled in it. If you are able to write only required information
in your CV and that too in an impressive manner, then this will showcase your
another skill of being precise and clear to the recruiters. Individuals who
include too much information in their CV, just to increase its length, appear
common and not noteworthy to recruiters.
Use consistent vertical alignment
When indenting text, make sure that your vertical alignment is consistent.
Use either tabs or spaces. Having a mix of tab stops or spaces in different
sections can ruin the appearance of a well-written CV.
Choose the right keywords
Many companies use automated CV filtering software that looks for specific
keywords in a CV. It is crucial that your CV has the keywords that the HR
department is looking for. Read the job description carefully and include the
details that the recruiter wants to hear from you.
Use full pages
Make each page a full page. A partial page suggests deficiency and gives an
impression that information has spilled over onto the second page. In such a
case, try to compress your CV or CV in one page. If the second page has
considerable amount of information, try to use the full page.
Make your CV clear, concise and to the point
HR managers spend less than 20 seconds scanning a CV and they might discard
your CV if they find it too vague. Make sure that your CV is concise and
pertinent. Avoid including irrelevant information. Arrange your information in
such a way that the most important points are easily visible.
Proofread it at least twice
It is hard to overstate the importance of proofreading your CV. Read your
CV twice and look out for common spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. Also
get help from a friend if possible.
Use Bulleted Lists
No recruiter has the time (and the patience) to read large paragraphs of
text describing your work profile. Instead, make use of bulleted list that
describe your scholastic accomplishments, your work experiences and objectives
in short sentences.
Prioritize your CV content
When ordering your CV sections and the items inside each section, make sure
that the important section is presented first. Also prioritize your statements
by the order of their importance, relevance and impressiveness.
Make
it look good
We live in a world where image is
everything, and that also goes for your CV. Take some time to pretty it
up... Use bullet points and keep sentences short. Use the graphic design
trick of leaving plenty of white space around text and between categories to
make the layout easy on the eye. Alternatively, get creative
with your job application!
Get someone else to review your CV
Even if you think your CV is looking kinky, it would be a good idea to get
a second and third opinion about it. We usually become blind to our own
mistakes or way of reasoning, so another people will be in a good position to
evaluate the overall quality of your CV and make appropriate suggestions.
Don't blindly copy sample CV templates
There are a lot of sample CV available online. If you are using a sample
CV, ensure that you customize and personalize it.
No slang
Your CV should sound professional. Refrain from using slang. As far as
technical jargon is concerned, the HR manager or employer who does an initial
review of a CV might not be aware of what you are talking about. A recruiter
would also not want to spend time researching about the words you that used.
For this reason, avoid using tech jargon in your CV.
Spend time on your CV, do some research
Crafting a solid CV can be a tedious and time-taking process. Take your
time in coming up with a CV. Prepare rough drafts and ask your
friends/colleagues for suggestions. While checking your drafts, focus on the
content as well as the formatting. There are lots of books, websites and tools
that provide sample CVs. Use those sample CVs as a starting point for crafting
your own CV
Accomplishment Oriented
If your CV reads too
much like a job description, then there’s a good
chance you’re doing it wrong. CV should highlight what you
did, not what you were supposed to do.
If you're going to be
emailing your CV, try to ensure you stick to very standard margins and fonts so
that your document stands a chance of arriving at an employer's in-box in a
similar state to how you designed it. Check it out by emailing it to a friend
(or even yourself) to see how it turns out. Do things like putting in the page
break using Ctrl+Enter so that it's embedded into the formatting. You could
consider putting the document into .pdf format so that it arrives in one piece,
though if you do, check the employer has software that can read the document.
Write a covering letter to accompany your CV
The
fight to write a faultless CV is still on! While some are puzzled regarding the
format and font to use, most of the individuals think over the number of pages
a CV should have. If you too are willing to write an effective CV then this
question must be juggling your mind as well.
As
such, there is no fix rule for number of pages a CV should have. This is
because while some have very less to share, there are others who have a pool of
imperative information to jot down. But if you want to frame an impressive CV
based on general conditions and rules then a One Page CV is what that is mostly
preferred by organizations and recruiters. While a two Page CV comes with the
advantage of offering you more space to write, a one page CV can bring numerous
benefits to you.
If you have lots and lots of
experience, that’s great. Maybe other employers want to know where you went to
high school, every camp counseling job you’ve held, and what you like to do on
the weekends. Your employer doesn’t need to know all of those details right
now.
Exceptions to the
one-pager: There are occasions when more than one
page is warranted. For example, if you are in the medical or science industry,
CVs are the norm. It’s expected that you will list all of your publications,
presentations at professional societies, your teaching history, etc. More than
one page is expected.
Instead of listing every detail of
experience on your CV, concentrate on your online brand. Spend a lot of energy
on your LinkedIn profile, because it’s the first place that most recruiters
will look. This is the place where you can list all of your experience with
excruciating detail. If you have a Twitter account, make sure to update your
profile with a little information about you. Along those lines, most hiring
managers are going to Google the crap out of you, so do this yourself and
address any issues you see.
No comments:
Post a Comment