Ways to tell if you need a new CV

Is your CV Outdated?

While you ought to dependably modify your CV to each job you apply for, unraveling when you have to make a greater change isn’t always simple. But in a few circumstances, modifying or invigorating your CV might not be sufficient – and an aggregate redesign is critical in the event that you need to put your job hunt progressing nicely.

To enable you find out whether your CV is obsolete, here are five approaches to tell if you require another CV:

  1. You’re not getting interviews

So you’ve invested hours looking and applying for suitable jobs, however, you never hear anything back. Sounds like you?

As warning signal go, do not wait for a better alarm than this.

While your underlying response might be to pummel yourself, acknowledge defeat, or submit to live in a job you dislike, you would possibly discover that revisiting your CV is all it takes to turn around your pursuit for a job.

In spite of everything, a CV is the first glimpse that a recruiter catches while reviewing applications, and most importantly, the prime determinant for whether you are a good fit for the position– so it’s always worth to refresh it occasionally.

Probe yourself whether your CV is too long? Whether the format is letting you down? And whether you are modifying it to suit the position?

You may also be responsible for a number of another CV gaffe without even realizing it; from overlooking common grammar slipups to overusing clichés.

  1. You’ve had it for a long time

If you have had your CV for quite a while without reviewing it, it might have lost its relevance within the span.

In any case, it might’ve served great for the roles you were applying for like seven years ago, and maybe it perfectly represented your abilities and skills in the summer of 99’ – do you think it would have the same effect some years later?

Most likely, it would not.

It’s either that the layout is outdated, your contact information is no more accurate, or your skills aren’t applicable anymore, there are a few aspects that could possibly need a refresh.

You should always note that; your CV doesn’t smoothly match with all jobs, it’s can’t be accustomed to all jobs, and it will need altering to fit. It’s a job application, not your favorite outfit that suites any occasion*.

  1. You’re changing careers

If you are looking for a job in a new career, your CV will need to look the part.

This does not only mean changing the personal statement line with your career goals, it also means focusing on the entire CV.

This involves emphasizing on your transferable skills or doing away with irrelevant abilities and experience, to adjusting the order and format of your CV or focusing more on the most applicable attributes regarding the new role.

In the event that you are doubting, you can always use the job description as a directory.

Not only will it provide you with a rundown of the competencies you need to illustrate, it’ll also cowl the obligations and responsibilities concerned with the role – permitting you to provide relevant examples of your capacity to carry them out.

  1. You’ve had a recent success

You might have earned a certificate through a course you recently did and gotten got the ‘I love spreadsheets’ T-shirt.

You could have even started using your know-how practically, which in flip is putting in the groundwork for destiny career progression. However, have you told anyone about it? (n.b. your mum does not count).

It’s understandable that; in case you’re no longer actively trying to find a role, adding your latest accomplishments on your CV may not be the primary factor on your mind.

Not only does keeping your details updated to save you time in the long run but also it does open you up to positions you might not even know existed.

Whether it’s that your CV is in an online database or you have it posted on social media – this is precisely where recruiters look whilst headhunting potential candidates. And your latest achievement may be just what they’re looking for.

Get a better job in alternate for a five-second CV replace? It’s essentially a no-brainer.

  1. You’re returning from a career break

So you’re ready to enter the world of work after traveling/raising a family/insert other reason for a career break here. Now what?

First things first, you need to rewrite your CV

So that you’re prepared to enter the arena of work after touring/raising a family/insert other motive career break here. What next?

First things first, you should rewrite your CV.

to make sure your time out of work isn’t wrongly misinterpreted, it’s vital to not only give an explanation for the purpose for the gap in your cv – but also to talk extensively about transferable skills you gained during your time off work.

For instance, you could have done some volunteer work while off work, taken a course during the unemployment period, or demonstrated a whole other host of abilities thru nurturing a family or looking after a member of the family.

Just remember: there is such a thing as TMI. Talking about how traveling taught you a flexible work ethic is great, but anything to do with stroking tigers is probably best left out.

Just don’t forget: there is such a factor as TMI. Talk about how touring taught you how great flexible work ethic is, but some things like stroking tigers should possibly be left out.

Taken from reed.co.uk


Top Tips for Writing a Job Fetching CV

A C.V is the first impression that a recruiter has of you and, as such it is paramount that you woo them with a well crafted and presented one. Although the structure of the C.V will depend on the industry that you are involved in, there are a few golden rules that you can follow to make sure you stand out from the crowd.

What to Do

Be Short and Concise
A short, straight to the point resume always wins over a long unnecessarily detailed resume. A two page, A4 sized document should be enough to cover everything.

Be Careful with The Font you Use
Nothing does more to represent your professionalism than the font you use on your C.V. Italics and, other artistic fonts may look cool, but they do not cut it with C.Vs – stick to the professional fonts.

The Order of Events is Important
It is imperative that you present your information in clear and chronological order. As a rule of thump, always start with your most recent engagement down to the first job that you held.

Bullet Points
The use of bullet points is a great way to make the recruiter read all the information in your C.V. As such, your relevant experience and strengths that are compatible with the job will not be overlooked.

To Wrap it Up
It is prudent to run your copy through a spell checker to make sure that your document is grammatically sound. Also, include your contacts and an email address that is professional.

What Not to Do

Be Scared of a Bare C.V
A short C.V might look bare and scare you – it should not. Provided you have included all your relevant skills needed for the job; You are good to go.

Stuff it With Unnecessary Information
The purpose of a C.V is to show your accomplishments and to convince the recruiter that you are the most qualified for the role. To do this, write a C.V that highlights these traits and avoid stuffing it with unnecessary details.

Include Information That is not Relevant
One of the best ways to make sure that your C.V remains lean is to avoid unnecessary parts. If your hobbies and interest do not give more credence to your C.V, then it is best left out.

Forget The Cover Letter
A cover letter is an essential document, and you should use it to enforce what is in the C.V. Therefore, even if the position did not ask for one, do not forget to include it – it might mean the difference between getting the job and not.

Use Very Large Or Small Fonts
The font size will not make your C.V longer or shorter. Therefore do not use large fonts to make it appear longer than it is or use small fonts to make it shorter Use a font that is readable and shows professionalism.

 

Taken from reed.co.uk


CV Presentation: the Dos and Don’ts

It’s no surprise that the best written CV in the world can be disregarded by lack of proper presentation.

Even though the content is undoubtedly vital, a CV has to be written and presented in a professional manner in order to catch the recruiter’s eye with ease.

It’s worth noting that the approach of formatting a CV may depend on the industry. Nevertheless, there are a few basic rules which you should adhere to, and if adhered to the latter could dramatically increase your chances of pocketing that job.

Below are some of the CV presentation dos and don’ts:

Do

Keep it short and sweet – You might be tempted to make your CV highly informative forgetting that the most effective CVs should also be concise. In other words, try and get straight to the most important points, and ideally make it no more than two sides of A4.

Choose a professional font – Use a professional font which makes your CV easy to read and scan. Avoid weird fonts like Comic Sans for fonts like Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman, Trebuchet MS.

Be logical in ordering things – Apply sufficient spacing, make use of clear section headings (work experience, education) and reverse chronological order where necessary (usually in work experience, education and achievements sections).

Play to your strengths – Format your CV in a way that highlights your strengths. For example, if you feel that your experience is very sufficient, why not lead with education instead? The order of the sections doesn’t matter as long as your CV relates well to the target role.

Use bullet points – Use them to draw attention to or highlight key facts or relevant information. Bullet points make the reading and skimming of the document easy, since the key facts about you can be seen at a glance.

Other things to do: Include contact details, keep email address professional (avoid such as [email protected]), maintain consistent formatting, ask someone to proofread.

Don’t

Be afraid of white space – Don’t fear that your CV looks so bare. As long as you’ve included all the information relevant for the role in question, be content with that. Note that: Sometimes less is more.

Try to include too much – It’s weird that some people perceive their CV as a life story. Your CV is a checklist or else an outline of your key accomplishments. Customizing your CV to the target role is a great way to fight this animal of including too much.

Include irrelevant information – Don’t include any points that will not directly be involved in helping you to get the job. For instance, hobbies and interests are not very helpful, so don’t waste valuable space on which you would have added more relevant information.

Forget your cover letter – The cover letter presents an extra opportunity to market yourself. Some recruiters don’t ask for a cover letter, but still include it. It’s a great way to bring forth and elaborate the relevant skills and achievements, which would have otherwise been too much for your CV.

Experiment with size – Don’t try to fool anyone by playing around with font size and margin size so that your CV fits onto two pages, or make your application a bit longer.

Other things not to do: Use of crazy colors, crazy fonts, include unnecessary references, include a selfie photo.

Taken from reed.co.uk


FYI: Keep your CV short and sweet

Here is a question that many are willing to ask than answer. “Does the size of a professional CV matter?” The answer is simply a yes.

With the job market so competitive nowadays, the length of your CV can be a key determinant of whether you’ll be considered for the job. Take a scenario where a recruiter has 100+ CVs to scan through in search for the best suit for a given role. Chances are that at some point they’ll lose concentration, and if your CV stands out, you’re better placed to grab their attention. One of the tricks to attracting the attention of recruiters is to keep it short and sweet.

I know it’s quite hard to contain the length of your CV, especially with your vast experience and lengthy education. However, below are some tips for keeping it short and sweet.

1) Is it all relevant?

You don’t need to include your life story. Remember: a CV is all about advertising yourself for the job using the relevant information.

Take your employment history: while an office assistant role you did 10 years ago gave you a kick start into your career, it’s not relevant if you’re contesting for a senior accountant role – chuck it off!

The same applies for your interests. The person reading your CV will probably not care whether you may like eating out or long walks along the beach. Most recruiters will be interested in your suitability for the role in question. Keep it pertinent and, above all, relevant.

2) Are you just repetitive for no reason?

In many occasions, you’ll find yourself trying to make the same points. For instance, you might have listed versatility as one of your key attributes, but also find yourself mentioning about your flexibility and adaptability to changes.

Note: make your point clear enough, and don’t sneak it back again.

3) Afraid of the white space?

Did you know that nearly all recruiters skim read CVs? So, enough spacing does them more good than you could imagine. Trying to cram in as much information as possible is doing your CV injustice. You better know how to grab the recruiters’ attention and keep them reading.

Don’t fear the gaps. It’s recommended you use bullet points to highlight and draw attention to any key facts or relevant bits of information.

Trying to play around with margins and typeface will do you more harm than good. It’s not clever at all. Use professional standards as you write your CV.

4) Are you using your cover letter?

A well crafted cover letter is essential for any job you apply for. Your cover letter should be used to expand on your past achievements, and explain why you think you’d be the ideal candidate for the role.

Once again, there’s no point in recycling material. Use this space to clearly outline your objectives, underlining particular projects or interests that you think will make you stand out.

5) Are you getting straight to the point?

As well as relevant content, there are certain words and phrases that you can do without. Write in the first person, but remove ‘I’ when listing points. The same goes for articles such as ‘a’, ‘an’, ‘the’ etc.

For example, the sentence: ‘I was recently selected to manage a team of five co-workers. I supervised them for a specific project based task which lasted for three months’, can be shortened to ‘Managed a team of five, for a specialist project lasting three months’.

This not only reduces length, it also makes sentences more active, giving your accomplishments greater authority. Play to your strengths, but get straight to the point.

So, how long should it be?

Of course, there isn’t really a set answer. If you’re just graduating, chances are you won’t have as much to say as someone who’s been working in an industry for 30 years.

Even so, you should always try stripping back to include only the main facts. If you can fit it on one page, then do it. If you can’t, two should generally be the maximum.

If you’re confident in your abilities, there’s no need for embellishment, and that confidence will come across. A recruiter doesn’t have time to go through pages and pages of information, hundreds of times over. Save them some time, and get straight to the point. Sometimes, less is more.

And remember: anyone who says ‘Size doesn’t matter. It’s what you do with it that counts’ is, almost always, lying.

Taken from reed.co.uk


How to: Writing a good CV

A good CV is an essential tool for job hunting, especially when there is stiff competition for the same position. How then should you write it?

Well, there is no predefined template for writing good one. In general, your CV should be neatly and clearly formatted for a recruiter to scan and understand it quickly. Additionally, it should be easy to point out your key skills and work experience in order to determine whether you’re appropriate for the job.

Want to get started? Below are some basic guidelines to follow in order to write a good CV.

The Information to include on your CV

Personal Details – It may sound weird but it’s not a surprise that many people forget to include their name, email, phone number, and address. This information should be placed at the very top position of your CV.

Personal Statement – This is perceived as optional, but it’s a good opportunity to inform your prospective employer of how you’re suited for the job.

When read, this statement should demonstrate your enthusiasm and commitment to the role and the company. Remember to keep it short and sweet.

Work Experience – As the name suggests, this section contains any work experience that you’ve in the field of your target job.

When listing these work experiences, do so in a reverse chronological order, i.e. the most recent role first. Additionally, as single list entry should include your job title, the name of your organisation, time in the post and responsibilities.

Achievements – List the relevant achievements from your previous job roles, backing up with clear and practical examples of how you would apply these to your new job.

Education – This section includes all your formal qualifications and any training and development undertaken, either independently or with your previous employers. Do the listing in a reverse chronological order.

Hobbies and Interests – It’s unfortunate that many people don’t understand the role played by this section in a CV. Simply, include the things that are relevant for the job you are targeting. There’s no point of listing that you’re sociable or that you enjoy going on picnics for the sake of it.

Note: Any extra information, such as reasons for a career change or reasons for gaps in career history should be added as required.

The presentation of your CV

Recruiters see your CV is a direct reflection of yourself, so it’s important to lay it out well and make it look professional. Here are a few points to ponder:

  • Keep it short enough for recruiters to scan through quickly – ideally no more than two pages (two sides of A4)
  • Use a clear, professional font to enhance readability of your CV – just to mention a few; Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman, Trebuchet MS
  • Make your CV layout logical, with sufficient spacing and clear section headings
  • Avoid grammar and spelling mistakes at all costs. Read through your CV sufficient number of times as you check for errors. You can also ask someone else to do proof read.
  • List your work experiences and education in a reverse chronological order. This enables you to highlight your most recent experience and achievements.

Happy?

You’re happy with how your CV looks? Yes. You’re happy with its content? Not sure. Okay, ensure you highlight that you’re the right match for the job in question by putting emphasis on the following:

  • Specific skills you have for the role
  • Experience you have in the specific field
  • Appropriate personal qualities for the target role
  • Show an understanding of the requirements for the job

Taken from reed.co.uk


What is a CV?

A CV is an integral part of any person’s career and job search. It’s a means by which you put your skills, education qualifications and working experience in one place. At a glance, a CV can offer you a chance in a job interview or dismiss you for the role.

With that in mind, below are a few things you should know about this thing known as the CV:

What is a CV?

The word CV is an abbreviation for Curriculum Vitae, also known as resume. It is simply an overview, written in plain language, about your skills, education, and work experience.

A CV may have various roles; however, the major one is to be used as a tool for new job search.

What should a CV include?

Some people claim that a CV must conform to a certain structure. Even although there’s no official structure for the same, the claims could be viable to some extent. However, there is certain key information that should not miss in your CV.

A few of the key things to include in your CV are listed below:

  • Your personal and contact Information – e. full name, address, email, phone number
  • Personal summary – a brief statement of who you are and your life expectations as far as job is concerned
  • Key skills – enumerate your key skills relevant to your target job
  • Work experience – a list of all your working experiences, with the most recent coming first
  • Education and qualifications – listed with the most recent first
  • Hobbies and interests – not mandatory but key if they’ll give you an edge to get the target job
  • References – not mandatory but it’s wise to specify that they’re available on request 

How should a CV be formatted?

As much as we’ve stressed on the content, the layout of your CV is as equally important. The general formatting says a lot about you as a candidate. To a recruiter, your CV is a simple test to your organizational skills and attention to detail.

In order to go around this test, keep it clear, concise, succinct, and easy to read with the help of the following key guidelines:

  • Be logical
  • Keep it brief and relevant
  • Check typos and grammar mistakes
  • Use a professional font
  • Make better use of headings and bullet points
  • If possible, use a template

How many types of CVs are there?

There are different ways you can peach your skills to prospective employers. A CV doesn’t always have to be written; video CVs are also in use. Whether you want to draw attention to your education, prove your creative abilities, or place an emphasis on your relevant skills, always be keen to tailor your CV according to your skills, strengths, and the industry of your target job.

Below are a few CV types most people use:

  • Graduate CV – for those freshly graduated persons
  • Creative CV – for showing your skills e.g. marketing, and other creative fields
  • Technical CV – mostly used in seeking for IT-related positions
  • Teaching CV – for seeking teaching roles
  • Academic CV – for seeking research/lecturing based positions or PhDs
  • Skills-based CV – for showcasing skills for those with little or no work experience 

How long should a CV be?

Does size matter really? Yes it does, more than you could imagine!

Note that, 91% of recruiters see a Word Document of 2 to 3 pages as the perfect length of a CV – so always aim to keep it short and sweet.

You can achieve this by having only what’ll make you a good fit for the role you are targeting, and ensure that you don’t overdo your CV with unnecessary detail. Make use of the cover letter to detail any other relevant skills and experience that you would’ve loved to add if you had room in your CV.

Are CVs actually read by anyone?

Long gone are the days of ATS (Applicant Tracking System) tricksters, when jobseekers used to fill their CVs with keywords and meaningless phrases.

Even with the rise of online and social media recruiting methods, real recruiters still consider CVs as an integral part of the hiring process. Therefore, make your CV readable and tailored to the role you are selling yourself for.

Also, make your CV as realistic as possible i.e. back up your skills with real and practical examples. The aim here is to catch the attention of your prospective employer in a unique and the best way possible.

Taken from reed.co.uk