Your CV is what gets you the opportunity to interview and have the chance to go for the job you want. The importance of this document cannot be understated as without it the best opportunities can pass you by. In my career I have seen 1000’s of CV’s and see repeated mistakes that will prevent the applicant from progressing. Here are the main ones so you don’t get eliminated from the running before you have had a chance to get going.
1) Spelling: It seems so obvious, but there are still so many CV’s with miss pelt words. There is simply no excuse. My spelling is not the best either, but it is so easy to spell check these days. It’s simple, if there is a squiggly red line under the word, change it and do not send it as it is. It looks lazy that anyone would ignore this and says a lot more about the standard of your work as opposed to the praise you claim for yourself in the body of the CV. Ironically we see ‘attention to detail’ as a strength in the same CV’s with bad spelling.
2) Too long/short: The largest CV I have ever seen was 68 pages long. Madness. A CV is a snapshot of your key skills and experience. It gives a brief description of what value you offer the prospective employer. 2-3 pages seem about right. 1 page rarely does anyone justice, and over 4 becomes unnecessary. Remember that you want to give them a reason to meet you and expand on the points detailed in the CV. Therefore if it is all in the CV there is nothing left to ask in the interview. Same goes with just one page, as they will likely struggle to find enough reason to create interest in you.
3) No relevance: It is vital that your CV is tailored for the role you are applying. You can have a perfectly fine CV and good experience, but if it does not mirror the role you are applying for you are wasting everyone’s time. If you leave the reader questioning whether you have actually read the advert you need to change the CV. Try to include the job title you have applied for, use key words and describe what you want role as the next step in your career and demonstrate your existing knowledge of the role.
There are loads of advice and tips out there for writing your CV. Much of it is determined by the role and sector you are applying for. However the above are really simple mistakes and generic across the board.
One final tip is to make sure you pass the blink test. Want to know more about this please contact me on tom@purplepatchconsulting.com