Writing an effective CV can be daunting and requires time and effort, but following a few simple guidelines will make the process a lot easier and make your CV a lot more effective. Certain format guidelines I shall discuss further will dramatically increase any candidate’s chances of being shortlisted.
When starting to write your CV, the most important thing to remember is that most recruiters and hiring managers receive many CVs for every position advertised. Due to resource constraints, many hiring managers will only glance at a CV for three to six seconds before deciding whether to shortlist a candidate or not. As a result, you must make your CV as concise and easy to read as possible, while also ensuring you are tailoring your CV to the job.
Many people use one generic CV for all the jobs they apply for. As a consequence, they rarely get shortlisted because they are not tailoring their CV to the specific job in question. Unless you are a 70/80 per cent match for the role-specific requirements listed in the job description and have clearly shown this in your CV, it is unlikely that you will be shortlisted for an interview.
Make sure you are a match
It is imperative that your CV is a match and is tailored to every specific job you are applying for, so you cannot apply for many jobs with one CV. This also means that you would have to spend considerable time studying and analysing the job description. In doing this, you will get a chance to identify past tasks, projects, skills and competencies that you currently possess, or recently acquired, demonstrating that you are a good ‘fit’ for the job.
One of the most common mistakes I have encountered while reviewing CVs is that many people have great achievements and successes and fill up their CVs with these. This is pointless unless these achievements demonstrate that you are a match for the job.
It is important to mention your successes but unless they are a match to the job, they should not take up most of your CV.
Important points
Here are some important guidelines to follow when writing a CV. A CV should:
• Be in reverse chronological order, starting with where you are now. I would also advise that your education is listed first followed by your work experience.
• Never be longer than two pages.
• Never contain personal pronouns e.g. ‘I’, ‘we’.
• Never contain reflections or long explanations e.g. ‘I learned a lot’ or ‘I enjoyed working there’.
• Contain bullet points that start with e.g. ‘managed’, ‘liaised’, ‘designed’, ‘developed’.
• Each bullet point should be one line, and on rare occasions, they can be two lines.
• Provide honest reflection of what you have achieved and what you can do, so don’t lie.
• Show yourself in your best light, so don’t criticise yourself or others.
• Not be accompanied by a photo, unless the company specifically asks for a photo.
• Not be accompanied by a cover letter unless the company specifically asks for a cover letter.
• Have correct spelling and punctuation, don’t forget to proofread it and have a second pair of eyes proofread it.
• Previous jobs should be broken down through operational tasks.
• Should contain a skills section, with evidence of how you acquired these skills.
Further enhancing your CV
For many people working in complex jobs e.g. software developers, scientists, engineers or work in areas such as finance, research or health where the language is very specific to the area, it may be difficult for people outside those areas to understand previous jobs or projects.
Therefore, it is important that everyone, particularly recruiters and hiring managers, can understand what you do and have done in the past. I would, therefore, advise you to ask someone who is not in your area to ‘proofread’ your CV or get your CV reviewed privately.
Writing a CV for the first time can be daunting but many private practitioners such as guidance counsellors or recruiters can review or write a CV for a fee.
Once you are happy with your CV, I would then suggest that you use the detailed information from your CV and put it up on your LinkedIn profile to enhance your brand, but also to attract more recruiters and possible opportunities.
