How to have an impressive CV
This section will teach you how to significantly
improve your CV, as a recruitment agency we see numerous CV's both
good and bad and we know what works. This section will help
you to decide which is the best format to use and you will learn how
to produce a personal profile with meaning, create an impressive
achievements section, career history and how to list your interests
and qualifications.
10 Quick CV tips
1: Make a first draft, write down your
current job title and list all the things you are responsible for on
a daily, weekly or monthly basis along with any key projects you
have been involved with, try to prioritise them. Now think
about the skills you used to do these things. Finally try to
think about what you have done which made you most proud, did you
bring in the biggest deal for your company or resolve a technical
issue that others were unable too? These questions should get
your brain into CV writing mode and give you the key points to
include.
2: Chose the format, think about what you
have written down so far, what you have been doing, what you want to
be doing in the future and make a decision. 95% of you will
probably be best using the chronological CV format, unless perhaps
you are a consultant who has been self employed previously.
3: Keep it relevant. Nobody is really
interested about the part time job you had in a stables when you
were 14 when you are now 42 years old! (unless you are applying for
a job in a stable again that is). Always focus on the most
relevant topics in the most recent jobs. Typically the detail
on jobs your reverse chronological order, will get smaller the
longer ago you were there.
4: Keep it brief! No employer wants to
wade through reams of paper in a CV, if it's too long it will most
likely be filed in the bin. We recommend a 2 page CV, maybe
you could stretch it to 3 at a push, but you are going to have to
have something worth saying if you do!
5: Mind your language. Try to include
positives not negatives, employers like words such as achieved,
responsible, generated, they do not want to hear about the customer
you lost or the project which went wrong. Also watch the
jargon, just because you know what SQL, MMS and a BP are, doesn't
necessarily mean an employer will, especially if you are looking for
a career change.
6: Include lots of facts, this is your
chance to talk about what a difference you made to the company
"increased sales by 20%" or "reduced response times on the helpdesk
by..."
7: First impressions count. You may have lovely hand
writing, but nothing is as easy to read as a nice standard typeface,
clear bulleted points and good use of white space on the page.
8: Do not lie. If you weren't the
Sales Director don't try to claim you were. Don't exaggerate
your achievements, if you worked as part of a tem on a project then
say so, most employers are looking for good team players anyway.
If you lie on your CV there is a good chance you will get caught out
at some point.
9: Check your spelling. Even if your
skills are just what the employer is looking for, bad spelling may
stop you from getting to the interview stage and getting the chance
to prove it. Read it through a few times to check for
grammatical errors, run it through a spell checker and ask someone
else to have a look.
10: Check your own references. Firstly
its a courtesy thing if you are going to offer someone's contact
details out for them to be contacted. You also want to find
out what they are likely to say about you, and be sure they are
still on that number or at the address you have.
11: Don't mention money. Keep your
current salary to yourself for now (unless you are asked, of
course), you don't want a prospective employer to discount you at
this stage, just because your salary is not what they have in mind.
12: Your CV is to get you through the door,
if you bear this in mind all the way through the CV writing process
you stand a much better chance of getting the interview. Try
to stand in their shoes for a moment, if you were going to employ
you what are the skills you would be interested in? What are the
achievements you would be most impressed by? And, what would be
likely to put you off?
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