CV Advice

In this day and age, we receive all sorts of weird and wonderful documents as part of the recruitment process.  Despite what many people think, CV’s are still essential to the application.  In many cases they create your first impression to us, and for the client.  It is therefore essential to get the CV right to give yourself the best chance to get an interview.

Some CV’s we receive are very well prepared and job seekers have clearly spent time and effort getting it right.  There’s still the odd tweak required here and there, client requirements are always diverse, and we’ll help you to match the CV to the requirement as much as possible.

Other CV’s however, appear to have been cobbled together in 10 minutes with mistakes littered all over.  We even receive television manuals, directions, blank templates, bank statements etc. where job seekers have uploaded the wrong documents – please take some time to ensure your CV is accurate and you’re sending the right information out.

CV Checklist

• Put your name, location and contact details on the CV (you’d be amazed how many that don’t
• List your academics and grades – we fear the worst grades are not listed
• Do not worry if the CV needs to be more than 2 pages – anything 2-4 pages is fine
• List your roles and education in chronological order (most recent first)
• Where possible, use bullet points to keep your duties, skills and achievements clear and concise
• Use the same font, size and colours
• Sell yourself, what did you achieve?  What are you proud of?
• Do not assume the end client understands your sector or duties – are they clear?
• Are you using any specific terminology, does the outside world know what this is?
• Don’t just keep adding new roles to an existing CV, it can soon become a mess.
• Reduce the duties of older roles as they’re not always relevant.
• It is good to see the journey you’ve taken though so don’t completely remove old positions
• Explain any gaps or shorter roles, was a position temporary or a contract, did you travel?
• CV’s don’t need fancy colours, pictures or designs; they can detract from the content.
• Keep the CV simple, make it easy to read as clients may only have a brief look initially
• Take a step back from the CV, how does it read to someone who doesn’t know you?
• Check the CV and keep checking it.  Can someone else review it?
• There’s no point adding interests such as socialising, reading, cinema etc.  
• Add unique or genuinely interesting hobbies, or simply leave off
• Review the CV every 3 months, I personally think a CV should always be a working document

We’ll always provide CV guidance advice and help.  There’s no need to pay for CV advice, any agency worth their salt will help and there is so much information available online.  We’re not here to do it for you though, let’s work together!

When your CV is all shiny, new and pristine, ensure all the relevant job boards and agencies have this latest version.  You’ll be surprised at how many job seekers are still applying for roles with outdated documents (or TV manuals).

We know this is all a pain, but it really is a critical part of the application process.  Why rush it?

The CV is essential so don’t neglect it!