Back in October 2020 (before Covid-19
lockdown #2 and the never ending election) I offered up ten CV clinic spots to
help in a particularly worrying and rubbish year for job seekers.
I love helping people realise
their potential, have loads of experience interviewing and recruiting and knew
I could make a difference as an impartial thought provoker so knew I was going
to enjoy it. Little did I realise how much.
LinkedIn delivered and in the
end I spoke to 15 amazing people about their hopes and dreams and the work they
want to do. Job seeking is a multi-faceted beast and having a standout CV is just
one, albeit very important, part of that. This is what I learnt…
1. Simple changes
can make the world of difference.
If
you think of your CV as simply a business case for why you should get the job then
everything that goes in - and especially in the first half of the first page -
will be enriching that case. Your phone number and email address isn’t going to
get you the job so move it to the bottom of page two. They’ll find it when they
need it. Getting your top skills and proudest achievements – that match what
they’re looking for (see point 3 below) - to the top of page one under your
profile statement is your number one priority.
2. Save the soft
behavioural skills for interview.
Your business case needs less of the fluff and more of the technical skills and
competencies that will prove you can do the job. We’re all passionate, hard
working and great with people and you can demonstrate this at interview but
first you need to get shortlisted.
3. You will amend
and adapt your CV for every single role.
Yes, really. Don’t think that because you’ve spent hours perfecting it that you’ve
ticked one thing off your job seeking list. You will have to mirror and match
the key words from the advert and job description every time. Key words are
also what Applicant Tracking Systems use to scan and filter CVs before a human
ever sets eyes on them. The number of people who were shocked by this fact was,
quite frankly, shocking. It’s time to beat the bots people!
4. Make your CV
flow and easy to read.
Before I even
read a single word I could see what we could do to improve the formatting for
every CV I looked at. It’s about balance. Choose bolding, underlining or
italicising but don’t do all three. Use one type of bullet point throughout.
Line dividers can also help. Less is more and all that. And don’t expect anyone
to hunt around for that really amazing thing that you did halfway down page
two. If it’s that good put it into the skills and achievements section to give
it the credit it deserves.
5. You’re all too
modest.
Your CV is a sales pitch.
Open up the thesaurus and use the most powerful verbs and adjectives that you
can find. Get into the detail. Use facts and figures to back up your claims. ‘I
achieved 35% growth in my category’ sounds so much better than ‘Successfully grew
my category’ don’t you think? If you balanced a big budget, how big was it? If
you’re an expert in nurturing multi-functional teams, then list out all the
disciplines! Store this information and update your CV as you go.
6. Take the
credit!
‘But I’m a team player,’ I
hear you say, ‘There’s no I in team, Emily.’ Modern workplaces need us all to work
in teams but this recruiter isn’t looking for a team they want an individual
who can do what they say they can do. So use active sentences – ‘I initiated…’,
‘I designed and delivered…’, ‘I project managed..’ – to give yourself a voice that
positively reinforces all the amazing things you have achieved.
7. Two pages for
the win.
Please put yourself in the
recruiter’s shoes. I’ve had to wade through 200 CVs before now and it’s hard
work. Which is why the first half of your first page is so important. Chances
are the rest will just be skimmed over. If you do have more to say, a portfolio
to share or academic papers to list then update LinkedIn or build a personal
website where you can lay it out in all its glory. For your CV highlight the
ones that are most relevant and reference your digital home.
8. Unconscious
bias is a thing.
A number of people
were worried that their age was stopping them from being selected. You can help
yourself here. If you want to include some of your early experience because it
is relevant for the role but gives away your age then remove the dates and put
them succinctly under an ‘Early career’ title. And if you’re reading this and
you’re a recruiter then get someone to take away as much identifiable
information as possible. Your perfect and highly experienced candidate might be
the person you never notice because of your unconscious bias.
I could go on but that’s for
another time.
This is now a thing for me. After 15 conversations I realised
that I needed a shorter term offering because not everyone needs or wants
coaching. Sometimes a quick injection of tangible support and positivity at a
time when doubt and fear is setting in is all you need and that’s what I’m here
for.
If your CV needs updating find out more about working with me here
or join the wait list for CV Club
If you enjoyed this post here are some more
How to use the STAR acronym to prepare for interviews
How to be more confident in interviews
