Discover The Secret of a Must Read Professional CV
First Impressions Count
All of you have heard the phrase you never get second chance to make a first impression and your CV is a prime example of this. But it’s even harder as you typically only have less than 30 seconds to impress a recruiter or hiring manager. Unlike a professionally written CV where consideration has been given to initial impact and how pleasing the CV looks, personally generated CV’s often miss the mark by just not standing out. Without impact and clarity you massively reduce the chances of getting an interview.
Today recruiters and employers are often receiving 100 CV’s for a single position. Employers and recruiters can literally see 100’s of CVs daily – will they stop and look at yours? This is why it’s so important not to fall at the first hurdle – your CV’s first page is a very important part of your selling document.
So don’t waste the front page as usually it’s the best opportunity you have to impress recruiters and hiring managers.
Ask yourself this – why would a potential employer want to hire you and does your CV get the message across easily. If it’s a recruiter or hiring manager who glances at your CV then they want to know that you have the right skills. However, they can only know that if they have read your CV so depending on your content it may be appropriate to include a summary it could be the only reason how you got through an initial screening process.
CV Length
Unless requested otherwise, you should try and limit your CV to two, or at the very most, three pages. We think three pages is more suitable for senior management and business leaders so be careful what you put in. It’s likely that if you think you think you need more then your CV doesn’t communicate who you are effectively. Remember the goal of the CV is to get you in front of potential employers.
Too Much vs. Too Little
How unfair a moment ago we said that it should not be too long and also if you are just starting out you won’t want just a single page. Remember your goal is to get a document that is two pages long maybe more if you are a senior manager with significant expertise.
CV Structure
If your structure doesn’t work you will be at a disadvantage. There could also be industry buzzwords that you should include but please don’t write a CV where you need a glossary to decipher all of the acronyms! The structure should be pleasing to the eye and not cluttered with long sentences.
Poor Language
Your wording should be concise and to the point, try to use professional and flowing language that makes the employer want to read on – but don’t overdo it, remember, it’s a CV not your own personal life story.
Visually Unattractive
The visual layout is just as important as the wording of your CV, if the employer can’t find the details they are looking for, they’ll probably just move on to the next CV. Space your CV out, clear bold headings can be useful. Be sure to use good quality paper, preferably 100gram for both your CV and cover letter if sending a hardcopy.
Your CV Is Your Marketing Tool
Why do you want a CV? – because you want an interview. Why do you want an interview? – to get a better job – it’s always the end result that is important. Once at interview stage its then up to you to impress but initially a professionally written CV that has the right skill set is more likely to get you to where you want to go then having a CV that doesn’t work!
When you put a CV in front of a hiring manager they know exactly what they are looking for. Quality, history, expertise and sometimes a financial match. That is why hiring managers and recruiters have a keen eye on your CV but given that they receive hundreds of CV’s daily, they cannot scan everything that quickly if a key skill is on the last page.
Software
CV reading software literally ‘reads’ your CV for keywords and/or phrases which could include target companies or a specialisation. As CV software becomes more innovative it’s always good to understand how the software works and what impact it will have when creating your own CV.
Basics
Most CV’s that are not created by a professional CV writing company, have missing elements. These range from inappropriate searchable keywords to e-mail addresses and contact details. Before sending your CV to a company or a recruiter make sure you have the basics right because your CV must look superb. If you forget to enclose contact details (mobile and e-mail address) you might as well forget it.
Multiple CV’s
For many people they can be perceived as having specialisms and insights that are perfect for one company and not really appropriate for others. This is where you may want to consider 2 or even 3 CV’s. As long as they still are formatted correctly you will dramatically increase your chances of getting an interview.
If you were in Sales for instance, you might be a Regional Sales Manager or a Sales Director or Business Director – fundamentally the jobs may be the same but every hiring company will want to see specific job roles/titles on a CV and if your CV is being scanned by software it’s probably looking for a keyword match.
White Space & Fonts
Structure your CV with plenty of white space for easy reading. Use either Times New Roman 12 point or Aerial 10/12 sizes. Make sure there is consistency in layout particularly when using bold in titles etc
If all of this sounds a bit daunting it’s OK because you can instruct CVCO to undertake the creation of your CV. By outsourcing your CV you will soon have a professionally created CV for your business. What we do know is that many people put off the writing of a CV for many weeks and drift! We can make it happen and in just a few days you could have your CV and potentially caught the eye of a hiring manager! Check out our deliverable’s here or call +44 (0)203 1510747 or sales@cvco.co.uk
