Important tips tips for your CV

Posted by A Hurney Hunter on Monday, January 18, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Make sure your CV is clear, concise, accurate, tidy and easy-to-read if you want to nail that perfect job. But, don't provide any inaccurate information - more and more companies check facts with information services companies.


Your CV is your main marketing in approaching recruiters, individuals or organisations. According to the experts, this little piece of paper has between 30 seconds and two minutes to persuade someone that you're worth short-listing. Needless to say, anything that's poorly laid out, confusing and full of typos will find its way into the bin long before that.

To be effective your CV must provide a concise, accurate summary of your qualifications, skills and experience. Here are a few tips for making that all important first impression:

Do:


Buy good quality paper in white or cream

Avoid fancy fonts - use Helvetica, Arial or Times New Roman. Text size should be around 12pt

Starting with your current job, list your work experience moving back in time through previous jobs to your education

A CV should be no more than two pages long. Keep it simple and use bullet-points where appropriate

Focus on results, not just on job titles, and list your duties, responsibilities and achievements

Always tailor your CV to a particular job, picking out the skills required and demonstrating that you have them

List other skills that could give you an advantage over the competition such as languages, clean driving licence, IT skills

Include your interests. Not only are they another way of singling you out, they can provide a talking point at the interview. Make them brief, uncontroversial and individual - steer clear of "reading" and "going out with friends"

Keep it clean - avoid shading, boxes, colourful images and gimmicks

Use language you are comfortable with but at the same time try and include "power words" that show you are a proactive, results-driven individual

Check thoroughly for spelling, grammar and typos

Don't:

Tell lies - an increasing number of companies are now using information service companies to check out facts included in CVs

Cram it full of irrelevant information

Include lots of attachments unless requested

The same basics - good presentation, spelling and grammar - should also apply to application forms, which are used by four in five employers, and your covering letter.

The latter is very important as it will often be the first thing a prospective employer or recruitment consultant sees. Tailor it to the job you've applied for and if the advert asks for specific information (salary, location, skill set etc.), include it. A well-written covering letter can also help if you're missing one or two advertised requirements as it enables you to fill in those gaps in a positive way.