Your CV matters. Some universities are starting to drop the requirement for an application form, so your CV (with supporting information or a personal statement) will become even more important than previously.
I’ve shortlisted from hundreds of CVs and applications. Over many years working in Professional Services I’ve seen some fabulous quality documents. However, I’ve also viewed some absolutely awful ones.
In this post I’ll share some tips that will help ensure your document is far more likely to make the ‘yes’ pile than the shredder.
Firstly, some common errors:
- Putting CV at top of the page. Just put your name in larger letters and bold with contact email address and phone number and a link to your LinkedIn profile.
- 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 and play ‘hunt the relevant information.’ Short listers should be able to find what they need within 30 seconds. Your CV should fit onto 2 pages.
- Having a superiority complex. Just because you’re an academic, don’t presume you’ll simply breeze into a role in Professional Services. Some of the worst CVs I’ve seen are from academic staff. You don’t need to list or append your many publications or research details-unless any are directly relevant to the post. Instead, use your research skills to good effect when crafting your CV.
- Failure to tailor your CV to the specific role suggests lack of motivation for the job. This is a common error. Your CV needs to be tailored to the job you’re applying for. To do this well requires research. As a result, you’ll find your skills and experiences align much more compellingly to the role.
- Spelling and grammatical errors. Check for errors. It’s very easy to overlook mistakes when you’ve spent a long time immersed in your document. At the very least spellcheck it. Ideally ask a friend or colleague with an eye for detail to look it over.
- Cluttered layout. Neatness makes your document pleasant to look at and is easier for those shortlisting to find what they need. Dates and headings need to be aligned. Different fonts make your CV look unprofessional.
- No LinkedIn link– or your LinkedIn profile is not up to date. Recruiters will generally check to see whether you’re on LinkedIn so it’s important to keep your profile up to date.
- Date of birth or a photo. These are not required for U.K. CVs.
- Relevant skills and experiences are missing. Maybe you have them, maybe you don’t. Unless they’re explicit, I’ll assume not.
- Mixing tenses. The bulk of your CV should be expressed in the past tense. It represents your achievements to date and so looks back on what you’ve done. The exceptions are a personal statement is you include one and your interests section.
- Too much descriptive text. Punchy bullet points starting with an active verb are more effective and express your achievements and skills more succinctly.
How to make sure your CV stand out for the right reasons.
Presentation and layout
- Skills-based CVs. Present your CV by leading with your skills and experiences. Include a section at the top after your personal details entitled ‘Relevant Skills and Experience’. Pull these through from the roles you’ve held to date so they stand out. This means you can condense your employment history and keep this section much briefer. The things you want to stand out should be on the first page at the top so they are easily found.
- Personal Details. Start with your name at the top. Ideally use 18 point font and bold. Other personal details go underneath in font size 11 or 12- no smaller.
- Profile. You may choose to include a profile underneath your personal details though this is not essential. This should be tailored to demonstrate what you can bring to the role and be no longer than 2-3 sentences. This should be expressed in the present tense.
- Font. Use a sans serif font. It makes it easier for the recruiter to read your document. Calibri is ideal. Don’t mix your fonts.
- Alignment. Create columns to ensure your headings and dates align and your experiences stand out.
- Bold. Use Bold for headings, dates and possibly your skills. Don’t use italics.
- Make it clear and easy to read. Use of templates, colour, graphics and tables may look fancy- but a CV presented in an unconventional way will disrupt the short lister’s gaze. It can be harder to find the information they’re looking for, which is annoying when you’re sifting through a pile of documents.
General advice
- Quantify or qualify your achievements. I’m not interested in what you did unless I can see in evidence of your impact. Will the skills you have save me time or money? Increase efficiency or productivity? Improve systems or procedures? Enhance services to customers?
- Less is more. For each point you’ve included in your CV ask yourself ‘why is that relevant to the role?’ If it doesn’t answer the question, take it out.
- Unique skills or qualifications. Does your CV showcase any additional skills that could be useful to the recruiter? These may give you an edge over the other applicants. E.g. advanced technical skills, project management?
- Personal interests. Include these at the end, especially those interests which contribute to meeting workplace criteria. Any passions create potential talking points.
- Career breaks. If you’ve had a career break you could state this under a heading ‘Planned Career Break’ with dates. Don’t add any other details. If you’re on a career break currently you might add that following a planned career break you’re seeking to return to employment or seeking a change of direction. This section should go at the end of your document above the ‘References available on request’ heading.
- Using AI. You can post your CV and a copy of the Job Description and Person Specification into an AI tool such as Chat GPT, Copilot or Gemini. Frame your prompt something like: ‘What’s the best way to express my skills and experiences in my CV for this job role?’ However it’s important that you are comfortable with any suggestions or improvements AI comes up with. Also check for accuracy- AI is inclined to exaggerate- so remove anything that may be flattering but which is not truthful. It can also produce quite ‘vanilla’ statements which become familiar to those shortlisting. These can give away your use of AI. Using AI is not a substitute for the thinking and consideration which needs to go into your CV. It’s simply a tool which could save you a bit of time.
A final tip
Volunteer to help out with shortlisting. You’ll learn a great deal. It’s easy to identify mistakes other applicants make and quite good fun to critique them. It’s sure as hell the best way to improve your own.
