Your CV matters. Besides your Cover Letter, the quality of your CV is the only thing between you and the shortlist.
I’ve chaired countless interview panels and shortlisted from hundreds of CVs and applications in the HE Sector where I work. Over the years I’ve received some fabulous quality documents.
However, I’ve also received more than my fair share of dreadful ones. These applicants often have experience within the sector or institution, but you would never know that, judging by the quality of their CV.
Some common errors include:
- Putting CV at top of the page– just put your name in larger letters and bold
- Size matters. 10 pages is my current record. Longer is not better. Those of us shortlisting don’t have time to devote to reading a thesis
- Failure to tailor your CV to the specific job role, suggesting little motivation for the job
- Spelling and grammatical errors
- Cluttered layout. Dates and headings are not aligned. Different fonts make your CV look unprofessional
- No LinkedIn link– or your LinkedIn profile isn’t not up to date
- Date of birth or a photo. These are not required for UK CVs
- Relevant skills and experiences are missing. Maybe you have them, maybe you don’t. If it’s not explicit I’ll assume not
- Use of colour, graphics and tables. These may look fancy- but a CV presented in an unconventional way will disrupt the recruiter’s gaze. It can be harder to find the information you’re looking for.
- Mixing tenses. Your CV should be expressed in the 3rd person and in the past tense. It represents your achievements to date and so looks back on what you’ve done
- Over-use of superlatives. Quantify or qualify your achievements so they speak for themselves. No need for further embellishment
- Too much descriptive text. Punchy bullet points starting with an active verb are more effective
10 tips on how to make sure your CV stand out for the right reasons.
- Keep your CV to 2 pages unless the instructions are for one page
- You may choose to include a profile underneath your personal details. This should demonstrate what you can do for the organisation and the role and be no longer than 2-3 sentences. But a profile not essential
- Tailor, tailor, tailor. Include a section at the top after your personal details entitled ‘Relevant Skills and Experience’. Pull these through from the roles you’ve held so they stand out
- If in doubt, take it out. For each point you’ve included in your CV ask yourself ‘why is that relevant?’
- Make sure your value to the recruiter stands out. Do the skills and experiences you’ve listed clearly illustrate your ROI? Will the skills you have save them time or money? Increase efficiency or productivity? Improve systems or procedures? Enhance services to customers?
- Update your CV and LinkedIn profile at least once a year or whenever you change job roles. Make sure they complement each other
- Unique skills. Does your CV showcase any unique skills that could be useful to the recruiter? These may give you an edge over the other applicants. E.g. advanced technical skills, relevant courses or qualifications
- Personal interests. Do include these at the end, especially interests that contribute to meeting workplace criteria. Any passions create potential talking points
- Career breaks– At the end of your CV, if you have had a career break you could state this under a heading ‘Planned Career Break’ with dates. Don’t add any other info. If you are on a career break currently you might add that following a planned career break you’re seeking to return to employment or change direction.
A final tip
If you’ve never been involved in the shortlisting process, why not offer to help out? You’ll learn a great deal from simply reading through others’ CVs (good and bad). Viewing CVs from a recruiter’s perspective is a sure-fire way to improve your own.
Image: DALL-E.
