When you are applying for a new job your Curriculum Vitae is
the only tool at your disposal to secure that interview. While some may say
your personality, experience and professionalism cannot be neatly described and
categorized within two pages, at present this is the tried and tested method
being used. On average a potential employer spends about eight seconds glancing
at a CV before he decides whether to place it on the rejection file or keep it
for the interview list.
The following pointers will ensure you turn out a
concise, informative, professional looking CV.
1. Summarize your career to date
Ideally a CV should be no longer than 2 A4 pages, anything
more than this causes the reader to lose attention and move on. Stick to bullet
points to summarize your best achievements and you can elaborate on these later
at interview.
2. Make your CV specific
Before you submit your CV you should carefully read the job
description and then reword your CV to specifically meet the skills set
required.
3. Synopsis of your Skills Set
Never think that a potential employer will automatically
correlate your skills set with their requirements, instead you should connect
your specific work experience to the skills the recruiter is seeking.
4. Never omit periods of time
Most employers have an innate habit of homing in on periods
unaccounted for on your CV. It is always imperative that you put something down
for this period of unemployment e.g. you developed additional skills by doing
charity work or you gained life perspective by traveling.
5. Update your details regularly
It is imperative that you keep your details up to date by
adding any new skills or experience regularly.
6. Always spell check and proofread
Your CV should always be grammatically correct as well as
being spell checked and proof read by an independent source before you submit
it. Employers today are looking for any excuse to discard a CV from the large
volume received so improve your chances by not giving them that option.
7. Stick to the facts
Always tell the truth because if you make up elaborate lies
to improve your work or education history you will be caught out at the
interview stage when you are unable to convincingly substantiate your claims.
8. Always be specific about your achievements
You should always be prepared to elaborate on your
achievements and experience with facts and statistics i.e. I increased the
company’s sales by 30% last quarter as opposed to I increased sales rapidly.
9. Present yourself professionally
Always take the time to work on the visual appearance of your
CV, use bullet points, leave lots of white spaces to make reading your CV
easier and make your sentences as short as possible.
About Jobalert
0 comments:
Post a Comment