5 Tips for a More Successful CV

1. Keep it simple

Far too many people still believe that a CV is where you need to impress your prospective employer. It is not. Now we are in the age of digital everything, your CV plays a different role depending on what industry you’re jumping in to. The first blanket rule is to keep it simple. Your CV is read for the content it provides, the information about you and whether you are somebody the firm wishes to interview.

Keep your font normal, keep your colours plain. This is a document that just needs to be read and understood. Few people are hired on an amazing CV alone, and absolutely nobody is hired for the obnoxious layout that they decided to use.

2. Taylor your CV to where you’re applying.

A generalized CV may be effective for your just-left-school basic retail role applications. But for something more career focused you’re going to have to make it custom. Read your job brief. Don’t write it out word for word but make sure you’re nailing certain key words & essential skills. Remember, the person / machine is most likely going to be very familiar with the job description, if you copy it out they are more than likely going to notice.

Do some research on the company before you submit your CV. Find out some corporate goals and mission statements they’ve used. Not only will incorporating these ideas in your CV tick some boxes in the shortlisting but finding out more about the company does wonders for the following interview.

3. Not just where, but what?

Somewhere in your CV you’re going to have a section on your past roles. This doesn’t have to go all the way back to your paper route, but it should give the reader a good idea of your career flow. Don’t be embarrassed if this isn’t a trailing list of prestigious titles, everybody starts somewhere. Majority of CV’s list the job title, the company name and the amount of time you spent there. Job titles are different all over the world and can mean very different things for different companies. To combat this, it’s a positive move to list some of your main responsibilities whilst in the role. Catchy achievements can also go in here, ensure you’re careful to only list 2-3 items, a huge list of your daily activities is not what we’re looking for.

The purpose of this is to outline exactly what you have been spending your time doing, this is a common question at interview also, so make sure to know what you have written in this section.

4. Actually mention some of your hobbies.

Most people put a huge amount of effort into their CVs, however, this effort is usually contained to the job history and other fact-based areas of the document. Having a section for hobbies/activities is useful as more and more businesses look for well-rounded people rather than qualifications on a piece of paper. This should in no way be your largest portion as many CVs are limited to a single side of A4, but you should spend some time gathering your interests and add a small paragraph speaking about them. This adds a personality behind what has until then been a list of schools, experience and qualifications.

Do not in any circumstances be tempted to lie in this section. It seems insignificant but can lead to interview disaster. Chances are there will be somebody within the recruiting team that shares “your favourite hobby” and an attempting to hold a conversation about something you’ve never done before is extremely obvious.

5. Check your CV at any available time.

There will be several times you are able to open your CV before you submit it. Possibly the easiest piece of advice I can give you is to take every single opportunity to check your CV. Before you print it, after you print it, send it to your friends, ask some family members to read through it. The first thing an employer notices are the smallest mistakes, your grammar and spelling. Sure, there are automatic pieces of software that are very helpful, but they can only assist to a certain level. Still the best method of checking is to have somebody read through it fully.

Thank you for reading my CV tips! Check out the rest of my profile for more business / university posts!

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