The CV problem

Your CV or resume plays an integral role in the outcome of your job applications, yet few of us are completely sure how to write one, let alone make the most of them. We know that we have to make our CVs stand out somehow from the avalanche of applications that a job posting is likely to receive. But we’re not entirely sure how to go about achieving that. In the old days you could go to a recruitment agency or CV specialist, who would take your details and sprinkle some professional fairy dust over your CV to make it awesome. Now, we simply switch on our computers and do it all online. The result is the same, but with less cost and usually less on our behalf.

If you’re going to write your CV yourself there are a few things that you should bear in mind. The first is that you need to be honest, or at least honest enough. Be accurate in the information that you supply, don’t over-inflate or invent things, but don’t put every little detail in either. For example, it used to be standard practice for job applicants to include their marital status in their CVs. It used to signify stability, (because we all know that the most stable people are the married ones) but these days it’s common knowledge that we’re all equally unstable, so it could be deemed as over-sharing.

The truth has a nasty way of cropping up at inopportune times. Sometimes it seems that the harder we work to bury it, the sooner it rears its ugly head. So if you can’t do a particular task that is vital to the job at hand, don’t say that you can. If you’ve never held a managerial position don’t claim that you’ve been in one for the last 7 years. Besides, the truth is simple; lies are more difficult to remember.

It’s important to highlight your achievements, but be discerning in what you choose to include. You may be immensely proud of the fact that you were the leader of your high school band (and so you should be) but your prospective boss will probably be more interested in hearing about your industry-related achievements. It’s also advisable to choose only the most recent and noteworthy achievements. A prospective employer will be concerned if you haven’t done anything worthwhile in the last 10 years, and might consider you too stale as an investment.

Draw attention to your relevant skills. Don’t worry if you haven’t been formally trained, as practical work experience often counts for more than formalised education. But if you have received training, include it in your CV.

Many people tailor their CVs to reflect the job that they are currently applying for. They highlight aspects of their experience that make them stand out for the job at hand. This method can be very effective, but requires a certain amount of care. If you’re applying for many jobs, and are focussing on a different aspect for each, you need to make sure that you edit your CV properly before you submit it. If you don’t, you run the risk of providing contradictory or confusing information, and the CV that you’d so carefully constructed could end up lining someone’s bin.

Your CV is an important document, and it’s worth spending a great deal of time and effort to make it flawlessly attractive to all prospective employers. The idea is to have them begging for your skills, rather than you begging for an opportunity to show them.

Recommended sites:

http://www.getmyonlinecv.com/cv-resources/writing_the_content.php

http://www.alec.co.uk/cvtips/whatinfo.htm

Sandra wrote this article for the online marketers HR-SEO online job recruitment and job boards leading industry experts in the world of online job recruitments and the creation and management of job boards.