Job Search - Pill #5 - The red fine line of a CV in the bin

What do you think really makes you CV stand out? Every recruiter spends an average of 8 second per CV – how can you turn those 8 seconds in your dream job coming to reality? If you google “CV” you will have thousands and thousands of tips on how to build the best CV. Bottom line, you CV should be clear, concise and informative at the same time and, most importantly, it should foster curiosity in the reader to call you for an interview.

Your CV is the first “knock-knock” at the company’s door and your aim is to get asked, “Who’s there”? This is the time when you want to take out the list of “Core strengths, competencies and achievements” that you prepared previously as well as your Personal Brand work. You want to make sure every single entry in the CV reflects your strengths, competencies and achievements in a way, which is consistent with your personal Brand.

When preparing your CV there are two separate aspects to consider, deeply interconnected with each other: the CV structure and the CV content.

CV structure

• Besides the summary of your work and education history, roles, experiences and achievements, include a quick overview of yourself (maximum 5 lines) to summarise your expertise, experience, competencies and strengths. Be concise and catchy!
• Keep the CV to two pages maximum
• Avoid long sentences and use bullet points where possible
• Make sure it is well formatted and the layout is clear
• Use standard fonts (size 10 or 12) and avoid colourful characters/papers/backgrounds.
• Read your CV, re-read it again and again. Ask someone else to read it for you. You might have the best experience but a single typo can very easily jeopardize your credibility
• Unless specifically requested otherwise, your resume should be sent as a Word Attachment.

CV content

• Simplicity and clarity: You always know what it is you are trying to communicate but will your read have that clarity as well?
• Celebrate your successes & include metrics: Highlight your accomplishments. The CV is not a job spec, it is not a list of what you do. It is a reflection of what you have accomplished and what your successes have been so that the reader will start having an idea of how you can replicate those successes in their organisations. Make sure you include some metrics.
• Choose powerful words: Use concise and action oriented words to highlight your achievements (for example: accomplished, achieved, completed, created, developed, directed, established, founded, generated, launched, led, managed, organised, performed, redesigned, simplified, succeeded. )
• Select key words: Browse recent online job postings to identify words and phrases that are relevant to hiring managers.
  
  Good luck with pulling your CV together or with refreshing it. And let me know how I can help you further!
  
  Giulia