How to write a Blooming Good Resume (CV)
Never send a CV without a cover letter!! This will provide you with the ideal opportunity to introduce yourself in a few short paragraphs. The cover letter will be used to briefly outline your skills, qualifications, experience and availability aimed at enticing the employer to read your CV. A good start is to know about the company you're applying to. To be able to compile a targeted cover letter you will need to know about the company, including: their products, history and their culture. Personalising your covering letter in line with the company you're applying to will show your interest in the job.
As with a CV, accentuate on the positive aspects of your experience - do not make any negative comments with regards to past employers/jobs etc. Concentrate on highlighting your main selling points. By attracting the reader's attention in the cover letter you stand an increased chance of having your CV read. Ensure that your CV is up to date, is honest and correct and is informative but concise. If possible, why not rewrite it with the job application in mind?
How do you write a CV?
Your CV is a personal sales-pitch aimed towards securing you an interview. Did you know that the majority of candidates fail early on in the recruitment process because of their CV? It takes too long to read, lists non-essential information and does not reflect their main selling points.
Please find below a few useful pointers for writing a CV:
How many pages should a CV be? Generally, most CVs should be no more than 2-3 pages in length - this can vary within different levels of experience. How do I tackle gaps in employment? At some point, most people will face unemployment, redundancy and various other reasons for gaps in employment. The first (and most important) thing to remember is - DON'T PANIC! If you are going to compile your own CV and you have gaps of a few months in your CV - don't lie; consider listing just the years. You will, however, need to detail specific dates in your application form. Where do I include personal information? A common mistake to make with your CV is to list all your personal information: height, weight, place of birth etc. This information is irrelevant and will take up much-needed room for other, more relevant information. It is a good idea to include your date of birth, nationality, marital status and if you hold a driving licence at the bottom of the CV - not at the top! What makes a good CV? Keep it simple, uncluttered and in an easy-to-read font (on plain white A4 paper) Keep it free from unnecessary details (e.g.: don't write lines upon lines for your interests!) Keep it free from spelling/grammatical errors - maybe ask someone to proof read it Check your personal details - sound obvious but it does happen (wrong phone number etc) If you have a job spec - match your CV to this to ensure you have included relevant skills ...but what should my CV include? Education details - you don't need to include all your qualifications from 10 years ago. State your most recent qualification(s) and briefly cover older, less relevant ones Work experience: most recent first and go backwards Key skills/areas of expertise: such as IT skills or languages Extra-curricular activities if relevant to job being applied for!! It would be ideal to include your mobile telephone number. There is a good chance you could miss a call if not at home. Also, and again, this sounds obvious - make sure you have a professional message on your answer phone - you never know who could call! When emailing your CV, please take your email address into consideration. We regularly see CVs with email addresses along the lines of "lovedoctor@emailaddress.com" or "sexylady123@sillyemail.co.uk" - this will not help present a professional reflection of you. Consider obtaining a free email account from Hotmail or Yahoo and keep job application emails separate from personal email. If you are sending your CV by post, ensure you use an A4 envelope and do not fold your CV - by the time it gets to it's destination it could look a mess. Don't forget - having a CV designed professionally is far more beneficial than compiling your own so contact us today to discuss how we can help. CV writing mistakes: Spelling mistakes: It is a proven fact that around 50% of CVs contain spelling mistakes. This easy mistake will make you seem careless and could also distract the reader's attention from the content. It may be worth considering asking a family member or a friend to read your CV and check for mistakes.
Jargon: When writing your CV you may believe that using industry-specific jargon is a good idea and that the person reading your CV will understand it but using acronyms without explaining them can be confusing to the reader and may deter someone who is not familiar with them.
Qualifications: A common mistake in a CV is to detail all your academic history - even from 10-20 years ago whilst also listing all your grades! This is not necessary. On a graduate CV or someone with limited employment history it may be useful but for others, just briefly cover your qualifications - detail your most recent achievement and list older ones. If you have vast employment experience spanning many years, the chances are a recruiter will not even read your qualifications.
Employment: When compiling your employment history there is no need to provide the address of your employer - all you need is the company name, your job title and the date you started work and finished work with them. The you can talk about your duties and achievements in each position.
Hobbies: Your CV is a personal sales tool. Any available space on a CV is limited and you want to use it to sell your skills and experience effectively. Everyone likes reading, listening to music, keeping fit and socialising with friends, so unless you have done something special - and relevant to the job you are applying for - leave it out!
Too many pages: All too often, employers will receive CVs that are too long! A good CV should be no more than around 2-3 pages (for graduate or more executive positions this may vary). The more there is to read, the less likely it is that all your skills and qualities will be noticed. Try to decipher between what information is relevant to the job you're applying for and what is not.
Unnecessary information: As stressed in the facts above - when compiling your CV, try to keep all the information relevant to the job you are applying for. Unnecessary information will take up much needed space which can otherwise be utilised for other, more important reasons to help persuade the reader to continue with your application.
Another common mistake people make when writing their CV is including their reason behind leaving previous jobs. Examples of these can be, "I got bored" or "I didn't get on with the manager". Obviously, this is not necessary, will make you look negative and will decrease your chances of being included on the shortlist.
