[This article was provided by Career Consultancy Services who have
10 years experience producing high impact targeted CVs.]
Introduction
Getting to the interview stages involves impressing a
potential employer with your CV. This article describes the common mistakes
people make when writing their CV and offers some advice and guidance. For a
thorough explanation of CV writing please read our article Writing the Killer CV. Tips on interview techniques can be found in the
article How to Pass an Interview.
Who gets the job offer?
The person who gets the job offer is not always the best
person available for the job. They are the best person available at knowing how
to get offered a job. To get a job offer you need to get an interview, and to
get the interview you need a good CV. The people with the best CVs will get
interviewed, not necessarily the best available people.
So, here are, in my opinion, the most common mistakes made
when writing a CV for a job:
Far too long
If a CV is more than 3 pages long then everything on the third
page and beyond is unlikely to be read. If the agent filtering the CVs has 200
to get through, you get bet your life they aren’t going to want to read an
essay on your life story. “Well, it all started when I was born….” :-)
Yawn, yawn.
Keep it to a maximum of 3 pages.
Too many sentences
Sentences on a CV contain superfluous words. They take longer
to read than clear, well spaced bullet points. For example, which of the
following below is quicker to read?
This:
On this project we made use of the.NET Framework and utilised
all the main namespaces. We used an intercepting filter pattern which we hooked
into ASP.NET to implement user level functional security for the 5000 users.
Model View Controller was used to connect the pages to the middle tier which
was written in C#.
Or this:
-
ASP.NET, C#, .NET Framework.
-
5,000 users. Functional security.
-
Design Patterns: Intercepting
Filter, Model View Controller.
When CVs are scanned the reader cannot be bothered to read
sentences. They want to pick out the keywords to see if the person has the
experience and expertise required. This is one reason why I’ve made bold the
important parts so they stand out to the person scanning the words. They also
take up less room than sentences.
No Expertise section
Without a summary of your skills the reader needs to read the
whole CV and pick out the skills themselves. This is a real headache and will
guarantee your CV to be put either in the bin or the bottom of the pile. If the
agent has 200 to read for one placement they only need to find 10 good
candidates from the initial scan of CVs. Make sure yours gets chosen by showing
clearly you have the skills required.
Not targeted to the role
Each time you send your CV out it should be targeted directly
to the position you are going for. I’ve known people to have 10 versions of
their CV depending in the type of role they apply for, and each time they still
tailor the CV for the exact role.
Find out as much as you can about the role before you send
your CV. And if they want ‘..an experienced fire eating nutter…’ you write on
your profile ‘Experienced fire eating nutter blah blah blah’.
You may have five years lion taming experience and be the best
lion tamer in your area, but that isn’t very impressive if you are going for a
fire eating job.
No profile
If your CV does not have a profile that says precisely what
you are then the reader is going to have to guess by reading your CV. And
because they do not have time to read the whole thing you will probably go into
the ‘read if got time pile’.
Make sure have a profile on your CV, and ensure it is tailored
the position. Here’s an example for a senior lion tamer position for a global
circus:
Enthusiatic
LION TAMER with 10 years experience
gained with leading circus acts across the world. Extensive experience teaching
and mentoring junior tamers. Now seeking rewarding and challenging position
with major circus.
Again, notice how I’ve made bold my professional title so it
stands out.
Education on front page
For example, if you have 10 years experience, don’t put your
education on the first page. It is not as important as the recent experience
you have.
If you have only been working for a couple of years, then it
might be worth putting education in the expertise and achievement section, but
still put the main section at the end. But don’t waste valuable real estate on
that front page.
Generally you will find that for apprentice type roles there
will be a request for degree only or 3 A Levels for example. In that case your
profile should read “Degree educated…etc etc.”
Too much detail of Education
If you have 10 years experience no one cares that you got a B
in history years ago. List them as a one line summary, but keep the degree on a
separate line. For example:
-
2:1 in lion taming from Circus University, Nutsville.
- 3 A levels, 10 G.C.S.E’s.
One exception is if you are a graduate looking for a position
and you have little or no experience. If you have studied courses that are
relevant to the role and can show some transferable skills then it is worth
going into detail. For example, if you were applying for a lion taming role
which involved training others and feeding the animals then it would be worth
going into more detail:
-
2:1 in lion taming from Circus University, Nutsville.
-
Tamed 8 lions over course of 3 years.
-
Taught and mentored lion taming for last 2 years.
-
-
Studied the diets and mating habits of lions.
No achievements section
This is the section that is missed out most on CVs. This
section is more aimed at the potential employer rather than the agent. Having a
good achievements section can put you above the rest who don’t.
Achievements state the measurable benefits you provided to
your clients that justified your pay check. They are things you did that saved
time, saved money, made more money, won more, and so on.
It demonstrates to the employer that you are commercially
focused rather than someone who just ‘does stuff’ regardless of the outcome.
This area is discussed in more detail in my article Writing the Killer CV.
To much use of ‘I’
Too much use of the word ‘I’ can appear self indulgent and
does not appear as professional. Remove the use of it entirely. Use action
words like designed, improved, completed, or initiated.
Closing Comments
Writing a CV well involves getting inside the head of the
people who are going to read it. The front page should convince the reader in
no uncertain terms that you are the best person for the role.
After that you have the interview stage to get through!
Further advice on interview techniques can be found in the article How to Pass an Interview.
Good luck with your job hunting.
Published: Thursday, June 05, 2008
© 2008 All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.