Smarter CV writing( Part 1)

10 tips to get your CV short-listed

Career coach Jeremy I'Anson explains how to make sure that your that CV goes to the top of the pile

Tip 1: Don’t be dull

Supercharge some of the statements on your CV by using the “So what?” test. Imagine you have an employer sitting next to you as you write your CV who asks “So what?” after every statement.

Look at these rather dull statements from actual CVs.
• Led a team of 20 sales staff
• Devised an incentive scheme
• Managed an office relocation project

Now transform those statements on your CV by adding a result to make those dull statements more interesting.
• Led a team of 20 sales staff... who exceeded all performance targets.
• Devised an incentive scheme... that reduced staff turnover by 20pc.
• Managed an office relocation project... with minimal disruption to the business.

Tip 2: Use Power Verbs

Use power verbs to give added impact to the statements on your CV.

Drove the completion of projects

Targeted new clients

Identified new opportunities

Tip 3: Use keywords

Use keywords and phrases. Many organisations use automated screening of CVs (even for senior roles) so having the right keywords and phrases in your CV is vital. Scan advertisements for jobs in your field and pick out the words and phrases that come up again and again and make sure they are used in your CV. Remember that many recruiters also use keyword searches to find candidates for their jobs on the internet so it’s also very important to have a keyword-rich profile on platforms like LinkedIn.

Tip 4: Keep it short

Keep it short and sweet. I often see CVs of five or more pages (the record so far is 25 pages). Unfortunately recruiters simply don’t have time to read very lengthy CVs so try to get everything on to two pages or three pages at the most. If you have had a lot of jobs (perhaps as a contractor or consultant) then consider referring to your early career for all jobs from more than 10 years ago. Just put the dates, job title and the name of your employer but leave out the details.

For example:

EARLY CAREER 06/02 – 06/04 Sales Manager ABC Company.

05/00 – 05/02 Assistant Sales Manager ABC Company

Smarter CV writing( Part 2)

Tip 5: Keep it succinct

Don’t use 20 words when 10 will do. As well as using power verbs you can also use “CV Shorthand” to express your key points in a less “wordy” style.

For example:

Before
Facilitated the training and development of the management and staff of the business to ensure that the business grew and staff turnover was reduced.
After
Facilitated training and development to promote business growth and reduce staff turnover.

Tip 6: Keep your CV focused

Make sure your CV is focused on a specific role. A lot of people have multiple skills and experience and try to show all of these on their CVs, leaving recruiters uncertain what they do. If you are a project manager and a business analyst and you are interested in both types of roles then consider creating two versions of your CV with one focused on project management and the other on business analysis.

Tip 7: Consider changing your job title

Some companies use weird and wonderful job titles that make perfect sense internally but don’t mean much to the outside world. So if you are a “media fulfilment officer” when you actually manage your company’s website, consider changing the job title on your CV to “web manager” which accurately describes what you do and is a title that recruiters might actually search for. Equally if you are a “client relationship manager” when actually you manage sales then consider changing your CV job title to sales manager. Why? Well recruiters often search the internet and job boards for people by job title so if you have an unusual job title your CV may not be picked up in those searches.

Tip 8: Don’t send out the same old CV for every job

It’s a sad fact that most of the job hunters I speak to who claim to have applied for 50 jobs and had no response admit to having sent out the same CV for every job. This just doesn’t make sense. You must customise your CV for every job application. Check the job advertisement (or even better, the more detailed job specification) and see what skills and experience are required. Pay particular attention to the “Essential Skills and Experience” and be sure to include reference to each one in your CV (and covering letter).

Tip 9: List your achievements

It’s important to list your career achievements on your CV. Employers don’t just want to see a job description on your CV, they want to see evidence of what you achieved and how it made a real difference to your employer. You can use the STAR model (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to help you structure your achievements and remember these achievements need to be relevant to the job you are applying for.

Tip 10: Check for spelling and grammar mistakes

Most employers agree that the single biggest reason for rejecting CVs is spelling and grammatical mistakes. Even senior level managers (who should know better) are guilty here. A CV that’s full of mistakes is almost certainly destined for the bin.

Smarter CV writing( Part 3)

Conclusion

Spending some time improving your CV can dramatically increase your chances of getting short-listed for interviews. All you have to do is to use some of the tips described above. If you do, you should see an increase in positive responses from your job applications.

If you don’t have time to make all of the adjustments above, start by making sure that your CV is error free and that it is customised for the job you are applying for. Those two simple changes should increase your success rate.

Jeremy I’Anson is a professional careers coach and the author of You’re Hired! Total Job Search 2013 published by Trotman Publishing. For further details visit www.totaljobsearchonline.com

You can also follow Jeremy on Twitter @totaljobsearch

(The Telegraph 26//6/2018)