| "body"> | | | | current job and gradually reduce this looking back. |
| In a competitive job market having a great CV is a | | | | What you write is vitally important. |
| 'must have.' | | | | Most people rewrite their job description - this tells the |
| With so many applicants for fewer jobs, how do you | | | | reader nothing about how you did it, or what you |
| make your CV stand out from the crowd? This article | | | | actually do and serves no purpose. |
| will show you some of the common mistakes people | | | | Much better to list your achievements (I use a bullet |
| make when writing a CV, and give you excellent tips | | | | point format and never more than 2 lines per |
| to write that great CV! | | | | example), describing what you did and the outcome. |
| Why should I bother? | | | | Which example do you think the reader will find more |
| That's a question I hear a lot and the answer is easy. | | | | interesting: |
| With over 20 years experience in reading job | | | | - Increased internal legal competence resulting in a |
| applications and talking to fellow recruiters I can tell you | | | | 75% reduction of external legal spend |
| that your CV has around 30 seconds to grip their | | | | - Manages the legal budget |
| attention if they have a pile of applications on their | | | | This also works well for interview questions - by telling |
| desk (and most do nowadays). | | | | the reader what you have achieved they are more |
| Whether you like it or not many recruiters will do an | | | | likely to ask you questions about it. So you've really |
| initial scan of CV's - anything too long (i.e. more than 2 | | | | made sure that you can predict many of the questions |
| pages) is often put to the end for reading later; | | | | you'll be asked! |
| anything full of jargon and anything hard to read suffer | | | | Qualifications |
| the same fate. | | | | Only list those relevant to the work you do, and resist |
| However, if they are never read (because from the | | | | the temptation to tell them about every qualification |
| rest of the pile enough interviewees are found) then it | | | | you have. If you have a degree, for example, there's |
| doesn't matter how good you are - because they will | | | | no point listing all of your qualifications from school (you |
| never know! | | | | may want to say how many you have) as they have |
| So how do you get into the pile of CV's to be read? | | | | been superseded. All you will do is use up valuable |
| Well, there are some simple steps to take that will | | | | space on irrelevant information. |
| improve your chances and make your CV stand out: | | | | Personal Information |
| Tip #1 Write a Personal Profile Statement | | | | This is really a matter of choice. Many people tell you |
| How much can you read in 30 seconds? | | | | they have a full driving licence (but don't need to drive |
| A well crafted profile statement right at the top of | | | | for the job), and will happily tell you they like to read or |
| your CV will either catch attention or turn it off. | | | | play a sport. In most cases this is just using up valuable |
| Many people struggle with selling themselves this way | | | | space again, and you're not really saying anything |
| and don't know what to say, but it's really simple. | | | | different from anyone else. |
| Imagine you're at a seminar or a party and a stranger | | | | If, however, you do charity work of work in the |
| comes over to talk. At some point you'll swap life | | | | community then this is worth adding in. The choice is |
| stories and they'll ask you what you do. This | | | | yours - but think about the person reading it. |
| conversational answer is the basis of your profile | | | | Page Layout |
| statement. | | | | A suggested page layout for a great CV in two |
| All you need to do is polish it a little, including the type | | | | pages is (approximate of course): |
| of experience you have, the industry you work in and | | | | First Third of Page 1: |
| some of the skills you have - and keep it to 2 or 3 | | | | · Name and contact details |
| lines of text. Just enough to give a summary and grab | | | | · Personal Profile |
| their attention. | | | | · Key Skills |
| Something like: | | | | Remainder of Page 1: |
| 'A senior sales professional with experience of the | | | | · Current job experience |
| pharmaceutical market who consistently | | | | First two thirds of Page 2 |
| over-achieves against target. A keen commercial | | | | · Rest of your job experience |
| focus to deliver results is complimented by a desire to | | | | Last third of Page 2 |
| find the right solution for customers resulting in | | | | · Qualifications |
| excellent feedback ratings.' | | | | · Personal information |
| Doesn't that sound more interesting than what people | | | | Use of Bold |
| usually write - nothing? | | | | Quite often overused. Bold text draws the eye to it so |
| Tip #2 Key Skills | | | | be sparing. I only recommend using it for section titles. |
| This gives you an opportunity to showcase what | | | | Also consider using tables in your headings to make |
| you're good at (you may be the best salesperson | | | | sure the text is justified in a consistent manner - even |
| ever, but you can't expect someone who doesn't | | | | one space out can be spotted by the human eye: |
| know you to be aware of this, can you?). | | | | This is written correctly. |
| I would suggest you include up to half a dozen key | | | | This is out by one space. |
| skills (maybe expanding upon those in your profile or | | | | Did you notice? Then the reader will. |
| adding in new ones). | | | | Finally, beware spell checkers - they get the word right |
| The trick here is to do more than list words - for each | | | | but if the sentence still makes sense then it'll be missed. |
| skill you mention give an example of hat you mean to | | | | Get to know your common mistakes - mine are typing |
| illustrate it. | | | | 'form' instead of 'from' and 'fo' instead of 'of'. What are |
| Career History | | | | yours? |
| This is where you have a real opportunity to tell people | | | | There is no 100% method for getting your CV read, or |
| how good you are. | | | | for making sure it gets you an interview. Feedback |
| Start with your most recent job and work back. The | | | | from countless clients suggests, however, that this |
| last 10 years work experience is likely to be the most | | | | method is extremely successful in both getting an |
| important (particularly if you are looking for similar | | | | interview, and for preparing for it. |
| work) so as you work into the past write less detail. | | | | Good luck! |
| As a rough guide, write about half a page on your | | | | |