How to produce the perfect CV
Consider: 50% of CV’s contain grammatical errors - source Recruitment & Employment Confederation survey published January 2007 86% of interviewers think CV’s and application forms are not wholly truthful and 59% of employers say they have to withdraw job offers after receiving poor references about successful applicants – source The Guardian, July 2006. The majority of job applicants do not refine their CV’s despite having specific information about vacancies Most applicants rely on a covering letters to support applications but they rarely get read The majority of CV’s are unsuitable for the positions applied for Many applicants waste time and effort by applying for inappropriate positions. Key Points: The perfect CV can only be produced when there are sufficient facts known about a specific requirement A generic CV should be of a high quality and many of the rules will still apply. Be honest with yourself, determine essential requirements if you can’t meet them don’t apply. Put yourself in the recruiters shoes, mark yourself out of ten for positions considered. Anything below seven will fail. You need to be at least an 8 plus. Golden Rules: A bespoke CV is most likely to be successful. Get your key points across as soon as possible. Make it easy for the reader to say yes quickly. Include well defined career goals Make it easy to read. State clearly the organisations you have worked for beginning with the most recent. Describe them, define scale referring to turnover, number of employees etc. Make your CV really stand out by including logos, web site addresses and hyperlinks. Remember to highlight internal progression and promotions. Describe employer’s industry sector, size, nature of the business and how it operates and is organised. Make it as objective as possible. Recruiters tend to look for facts and figures, so use them when you can. When describing employment history focus on achievements as well as responsibilities. Include a statement on soft skills, e.g. management style.
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Ensure you demonstrate your attitude, application and aptitude. Include evidence of personal achievements that set you apart from others. These need not be work related, think about areas such as sport, music, DIY projects etc Refer to the availability of good reliable referees - be confident that they will deliver! Make sure your CV is not too long or too short. Somewhere between two or three pages is best.
Include as many contact numbers as possible including email. Don’t as a humorous email address. Produce your CV in a format which can be easily photocopied i.e. do not bind it and avoid printing both sides. Don’t rely on colour. Print it on white paper. Do not assume that everyone will know what abbreviations stand for and do not use jargon. Keep it neutral or in the first person. Writing it as ‘he did this’ or ‘she did that’ can be off-putting. Don’t leave any areas of doubt, such as time gaps or ambiguity or whether qualifications were achieved or not. These will be viewed with suspicion. When applying for specific positions where the name of the key decision maker is known include a covering letter which briefly emphasises key relevant points and tries to engage the reader through some research you have done about the person and the organisation you are applying to. Don’t rely on it though as it is possible that the letter will not be passed on to the final decision maker. As an alternative to a covering letter consider using an appendix to your CV produced specifically for the reader. Communicate as much as possible in the CV if you think this will add value. Only if appropriate include remuneration and relocation information Produce your CV with the recipient in mind. For example when submitting a generic CV to a recruitment consultancy, try to make it fully comprehensive. This will enable the consultancy to better match you to positions being currently handled and ensure that their clients can clearly see your relevant attributes without the need for a covering letter. Don’t rely on the generic CV once a specific vacancy has been identified.
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Be contactable in a professional way. Have an answer phone at home and on your mobile - make sure it has a professional message. A great CV will be of value after it has obtained an interview for you. It can help you at an interview by carefully focusing the interviewer's mind on your good points and on your achievements. It will get passed on and be referred to before any final decision is made and may well influence the package offered.
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