Your CV Uncovered

By an ex-Recruitment Consultant

Your CV is your personal sales brochure and your key that unlocks the door to high quality interviews. Decisions to interview or reject candidates will be made on this document and in most instances, yours will be pitched against a potentially vast number of other candidates. As a former Recruiter, my personal record was 324 applicants vying for one office position!

Which should lead you to question what sets your CV apart from so many other candidates with comparable experience? Effective communication and marketing skills, amongst others, may be drawn from your CV, so it is time you contributed more than your list of job responsibilities.

Recognising the importance of your Curriculum Vitae is half the battle won. Many employers pay large sums of money to recruit their future workforce you have only to invest in your CV.

Take time, plan and prioritise the information you supply, with many recruiters having as little as 10 seconds to peruse your details, ensure they glean more information than your age and nationality. Furthermore, wherever possible, write your CV when your career is flying. Everyone takes a knock from redundancy and other issues resulting in a new job search, confidence knocks can come across in your CV.

You will probably have seen many CV templates on the Web, which will help you to get started, though remember there is no perfect model for a CV. What works for others may not be appropriate for you and whilst design is aesthetically pleasing, structure and content is what sells you.

Highlighting transferable skills, masking areas of concern and substantiating statements are all featured in our next topic on content. So whether facing redundancy, a terminal temp or pigeonholed into one industry, bookmark this page for our forthcoming article.

You've seen example CV Templates and advice all over the net, but do you know what Employers really read into your CV?

Personal details

Putting these first? Given the average Recruiter has just 10 seconds to peruse your CV do you want me to learn only your age and nationality?

Education

Your education was 6 years ago but you've placed it before your career - do I gather that was your greatest achievement?

Jobs

You want a permanent job and have duly listed your extensive list of temporary jobs in chronological order. I see a job hopper who will leave me in a couple of months! CV design is important, what works for others may not work for you. for you - Sorry did I repeat myself so many CV's do this, repeatedly listing a mundane duty for every job held.

Detail

So you arranged meetings, great! Only I have two clients one who has meetings for 600 people monthly, the other has just the boardroom to manage! Do you really think I'll phone you - or interview the candidates that did quantify their achievements?

Brochure

You are the product, your CV your packaging. Just listing skills and job spec offers nothing more than the 28 other applicants I have for the job. What sells? - Your unique personal attributes that made you successful in your job. Merely listing ingredients on a tin's label would be a sad attempt at marketing. I want to know what you will do for me, not just what you have done in other jobs

Need more help? Click here for more information.

Rebecca Fuller
www.thefullercv.com

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CV Advice

Do

• Succinct sentences are easy to scan, especially given many recruiters have just 10 seconds to read it.
• Use standard typefaces such as Arial, 11 or 12 points.
• Check and re-check spelling do not rely on spell checker.
• Ensure your personal details are printed by all printers - not in the header/footer.
• Dates and employment should be easily found and consistent.
• Lead with achievements, use active verbs and positive language.
• Follow up all claims with proven examples, be quantitative as well as qualitative.
• Use email addresses where referees are abroad.
• Include awards or recognition received for work well done, together with professional memberships and relevant training.
• Keep your CV honest, factual and to two pages.
• Ensure every line sells you at your best.
• Prioritise relevant content.
• Ensure you send your CV with a covering letter ideally to a named individual.
• Take ownership and use words such as Determined, Implemented, Created, Devised, Coordinated and Conceived.
• Include figures i.e. number of staff you managed or budget size.
• Focus on what you have to offer the employer rather than listing what you have done.
• Ask trusted colleagues and friends if this is an accurate representation of you.
• Seek feedback if you are not achieving any interviews and if you feel your CV is not reflecting you at your best seek external advice.

Don't

• Date your CV
• Put your irrelevant personal details first i.e. date of birth and nationality.
• Mention salaries.
• It is not necessary to put reason for leaving.
• Include negative or irrelevant information.
• Lie.
• Use Reverse Chronological format if you have many gaps between employments.
• Put education first if its 10 years out of date.
• List every employer if your have been working since the seventies.
• Allocate the same space to all positions, prioritise the content.
• Quote unsubstantiated superlatives.
• Modify your CV for every application unless you have a foolproof method of remembering to whom you sent which edition.

Need more help? Click here for more information.

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Interview Advice

• Check you have read the job advertisement and description if sent before your interview.
• Ensure you meet the requirements and you have a positive answer for any areas you do not fully meet.
• Research the company products, staff, culture, clients and competitors.
• Ensure you know the correct name of your interviewer and job title.
• Be sure you know the interview procedure; some companies have one-to-one interviews; panel interviews; assessment centres; psychometric testing.
• View a map and plan your journey in advance, allowing for delayed trains and accidents.
• Have your CV, references and any additional information requested, to hand.
• Conservative dress is preferred but check with the culture of the office too - wear smart attire and ensure your shoes are shiny and well kept.
• Layout your clothing the day before.
• Read over your CV and make sure you know it back to front.
• Focus on your achievements when asked interview questions and portray every response in a positive way.
• Do not interrupt your interviewer and give a steady handshake when entering.
• Prepare model answers for any tricky questions you believe they may ask you.
• Prepare your own questions in advance, which might include - What is the department business plan for the next 1 or 5 years? What challenges do you foresee and how do you plan to overcome these? What challenges do you envisage in this role?
• Unless prompted do not ask what the salary/benefits will be if this is the first interview.
• You could ask if there are any areas they would like further clarification on at the end - just to be able to have a second opportunity if necessary.
• Ask the follow up procedure; when you should expect to hear; 2nd or 3rd interviews etc if you are unclear and would like to know.

Second Opportunities

If you feel upon reflection you could have answered a question in a better way or failed to get an important achievement across, why not follow up with a letter thanking the interviewer for their time and reiterate your suitability for the post.

Unsuccessful

If you are unsuccessful in your interview, it is worth a call to request feedback - whilst they are very busy they might oblige and offer you some valuable tips as to where you could have improved.

Successful

Great you have secured a job offer, however, before rushing to resign it is worth requesting and receiving your offer officially by post.

Need more help? Click here for more information.