CV Tips

Tips for a Top CV

Keep it concise. Recruiters are often faced with mountains of CVs. Your CV is only the first step, a way of getting your foot in the door, so keep it punchy. Make it no more than two sides of A4 paper and save the real detail for your interview.
Include ALL contact details. Put them all on the first page of your CV – email address, home address, home phone number and mobile. This is particularly important if you are logging your CV with a recruitment agency where business is very fast-paced and the agency may need to talk to you at short notice.
Tailor your CV. Take time to adapt your CV for each individual role you apply for. Research the company and use the job ad so you can link your skills and experience to those of the role.
Don't leave gaps. If you were not working for a period of time – say so. Don’t leave it to the person reading your CV to make their own assumptions. After all, even when out of employment you can develop soft skills such as communication, teamwork or project management.
Check your CV thoroughly. One of the easiest ways for recruiters to weed out weaker CVs is to scan them for errors. If you fail to check your CV for basic spelling and grammatical mistakes, you are setting yourself up for a fall at the first hurdle.
Tell the truth. Yes, build on the positives but if you blatantly lie – you are likely to be caught out and your application rejected. Many companies check the facts – such as qualifications. A good interviewer will also soon spot any inconsistency in your story, even if it concerns your leisure activities. Imagine the embarrassment of being caught out by an interviewer who’s an expert in your ‘alleged’ hobby.
Quality over quantity. List your most advanced qualifications such as a degree or A-Levels. Also, as a general rule, employers are much more interested in any commercial experience you have.
Personal profiles. Personal profiles can be used as a good overview of your skills and aspirations but, keep them short and to the point.
Be positive. Avoid dwelling on failures or weaknesses when compiling your CV. Employers are more interested in what you do have and what you can offer than what you don’t have and can’t offer.
Include additional skills. Make sure your CV has details of other relevant skills and abilities that might be useful in a business environment such as a current driving licence or anything that demonstrates business-friendly attributes such as team working, leadership, literacy and numeracy.