| A recent statistic I read stated that employers spend | | | | after all, your skills and experience will always be the |
| an average of 10-15 seconds on each Curriculum | | | | same - but to really stand out, a good CV writing tip is |
| Vitae before making their decision over whether to | | | | to tailor each version for each job. Take a look at the |
| take the application further. I'm not sure if it's quite as | | | | advert and try to match your skills to the ones |
| bleak as that, but for the purposes of someone | | | | required. It really is simple, but your CV is not worth the |
| applying for a job, this is not a bad assumption to | | | | paper it's written on if you discuss skills relating to sales |
| make. If you assume that your CV is going to be | | | | for an IT job, yet the skills may be transferable - you |
| looked at for 10-15 seconds, you can start making | | | | just have to prove it. |
| plans to ensure it makes the most of this limited | | | | Avoid samey, empty descriptions of yourself |
| eye-time. In an ideal world, they'll spend a lot longer | | | | A favourite CV tip of mine is to not be scared of |
| staring at your delightful prose, but it really does no | | | | being unique. Think about it: if you want to stand out, |
| harm ensuring your CV is ideal however long they | | | | you have to make yourself different than the others. |
| spend looking at it. | | | | Almost every applicant I've ever seen describes |
| It's important to realise that the Curriculum Vitae stage | | | | themselves as dynamic, creative or enthusiastic in their |
| is not about giving them a good knowledge of who | | | | CV - it all becomes white noise. Stick to the facts, let |
| you are - it's simply about being placed in their "yes" | | | | your achievements do the talking and you should be |
| pile, rather than their "no" section. You'll have plenty of | | | | given opportunity to prove all these personality traits |
| time to prove how personable, friendly and enthusiastic | | | | exist at the interview. |
| you are at the interview stage. At this point you need | | | | Proofread, proofread and proofread again! |
| to keep it brief, factual and promotional Here's some | | | | If there's one thing you should take away from this it's |
| advice and CV writing tips to give you the edge: | | | | that HR people can be brutal, and it won't take much |
| Keep your CV short, simple and to the point | | | | for them to cross you off the list. The fact they're |
| The most important piece of CV advice I can give is | | | | looking to narrow down the candidates as much as |
| this: keep it brief. If you're working on having 10 | | | | possible, so make yourself hard to rule out. One |
| seconds to be seen in, you can't waste time with | | | | obvious thing that will make your CV a prime |
| verbosity. Get to the point quickly and outline your | | | | candidate for removal from the pile is poor spelling and |
| achievements, past roles and skills clearly. Pass the | | | | grammar. If they're spotting mistakes from a 15 |
| first test of having the skills, and the rest may be | | | | second assessment, then something is seriously |
| (depending on how much time they devote to this | | | | wrong! My CV writing tip here is to spell check it, proof |
| stage) immaterial. The CV should be no more than | | | | read it, and get someone else to take a look - just |
| two pages, and the really important stuff should be on | | | | make sure you don't seem careless come decision |
| the front page (to ensure even the really lazy HR staff | | | | time. |
| can't miss it!). | | | | Don't be Cheap |
| It goes without saying too, that your contact | | | | Cutting corners on a job application is never a good |
| information should be clear, correct and up to date. It's | | | | idea, and although this shouldn't make a difference, |
| no good you making it into their 'yes' pile if they have | | | | we're all guilty of judging on appearance from time to |
| no way of contacting you to take the application | | | | time - so don't give them the ammunition. Using cheap |
| further. | | | | paper won't impress your interviewer much; likewise a |
| Outline your key achievements early | | | | shoddy photocopy suggests you're sending the CV to |
| At the very start you can make a useful summary of | | | | anyone with a postal address. Spend the little extra on |
| who you are to ensure you get your positives known | | | | some good quality paper to make sure the rest of |
| from the very start. Your main achievements should | | | | your effort doesn't go to waste. |
| be backed up with evidence to support them, and a | | | | When it comes to writing a Curriculum Vitae, you really |
| short career history will give them a clue of the kind of | | | | should ensure that everything is perfect. I hope this |
| experience you can provide. My advice: the CV should | | | | advice on how to write a CV that stands out is helpful: |
| show your main selling points right away, so make it | | | | Don't cut corners, get to the point quickly and stand out |
| stand out at the top. | | | | as the star you undoubtedly are, and your applications |
| Tailor it to the job you want | | | | to interview ratio should dramatically increase. |
| A generic Curriculum Vitae is a great starting point - | | | | |