10 CV Tips that will turn your CV from unexciting to AMAZING
A well-written CV can help you secure a job interview for your dream job, therefore when you are sending in your CV to job applications, ensure you put your best foot forward.
Check out this post, the tips I shared can be the difference between getting your CV dumped in the trash or getting the interview. These tips will also make your CV go from dull to amazing!. I hope you find this article useful.
- Include all relevant contact information, your location (neighrbourhood/district works just fine, your e-mail address and mobile number, all correctly written should also be at the very top of your CV after your name.
- Delete the objective statement from your CV and include a career profile or career summary. An objective statement tells the reader what you want out of the job but a career profile talks about what you bring to the table, and that’s what every recruiter or potential employer is interested in.
- Utilise a CV format that works for the job you are applying for. The reverse-chronological format presents your background in an easily understandable timeline and should be used if your career progression has been steady or you have been on the same career path, you can use the functional CV format if you are changing careers or if you have gaps in your employment history.
- Ensure your CV shows that you meet the minimum requirements- education, experience, soft skills or hard skills, knowledge of particular software applications, etc.
- Optimise your CV with keywords, make sure the appropriate terms are mirrored in your CV. Not sure what keywords are or what keywords should be included on your CV? Refer to this article.
- Make sure the information listed on your CV relates to the job you are applying for. The hiring manager to whom you\’re sending your CV cares about the business challenges they are trying to solve and you want your CV to communicate that you understand the challenges and that you can resolve them, it also shows that you have the experience or skills that you have to do the job.
- Use simple and consistent formatting, ensure your CV is properly aligned, the font type is easy on the eyes and the CV is easy to read. Depending on the font type, font size 10-12 always work.
- Quantify your achievements, do not just list your job duties. Think about what you accomplished in previous years and add as many numbers and percentages as you can to quantify your achievements. How much money you saved the organisation, the sales you made, the projects you managed and successfully delivered, the percentage of the goals you met and exceeded? etc.
- Check for grammatical errors or misspellings, ensure your words are correctly spelt, use the right verb tense, if it’s a prior job, all verbs should be past tense. If it\’s a current job, use the present tense.
- Know your audience, get rid of irrelevant information that may cause bias. Information like gender, marital status, political view, date of birth, state of origin, etc. Even though they may cause bias, including this information in your CV may work in some organisations or industries. If you are applying to work in a governmental agency, your bio-data is inevitably required, if you want to work as a cabin crew, you may need to include your date of birth, gender, height, picture, etc. on your CV. Therefore, know your audience and prepare an appropriate CV for them!
These tips are designed to improve your CV and bring you more success in the job market and I hope it does just that.
This complete guide to CV writing may help you write a better CV, you can also sign up for our CV webinar or employ our CV service here.