Writing Your CV

There is no single correct way to present your CV, but there are many obvious pitfalls to avoid.

As a minimum your CV should include the following information:

• Name and Address Summary Section - an overview of you and your experience customised for the position you are applying for.
• Education and Qualifications - list your GCSE and A-Level or equivalent results, your main degree subjects with results, and any post-graduate and/or professional qualifications
• Work Experience - include details of all your work experience, highlighting your role, responsibilities and achievements together with start and end dates
• Other Interests - include details of your interests and hobbies.

CV Do’s and Don’ts

ResumeDoctor recently undertook a study interviewing hundreds of recruiters and head-hunters to find out what they are saying about CVs. What do they look for in a CV? What do they hate? And what’s guaranteed to get your CV read?

Burying or Not Including Important Information in the CV

Candidates often leave off critical experience and information. And burying details so deep into the CV that the recruiter won’t see it is just as bad.

Nobody has time to play Sherlock Holmes to figure you out. Be aware that recruiters can receive hundreds of CVs every day and spend only a brief time "skimming" through each one.

So if you meet the requirements for the position, show the recruiter straight away. The best scenario is to customise each CV and tailor it to the "hot buttons" that will catch the recruiter’s attention within 5-10 seconds.

Gaps in Employment

Employers are probably going to be a bit more understanding than in the past regarding gaps in employment because of the current economic climate. However, holes or gaps in a CV will raise questions, so be prepared to answer them. Even if you took a sabbatical for personal reasons, it is a good idea to say so.

CVs Written in the 1st or 3rd Person

A CV shouldn’t be written in the first person. No recruiter or future employer wants to read a CV full of "I did this and I did that..."

Writing a CV in the third person was also slated as a major "pet peeve" among recruiters. A CV is simply a quick marketing piece about the job seeker's background and how it matches the job ad. It’s not a biography for a book jacket cover.

No Easy to Follow Summary

A CV has to grab the reader immediately. If it doesn’t convey a match within 10 seconds, they move to the next candidate. A summary section will help the recruiter identify if the job seeker is a viable candidate for the position. This summary section can be customised to each position you are apply for.

Pictures, Graphics or URL Links

Unless you are a supermodel or are applying to a position such as an actor or TV personality that might require a “headshot,” there is absolutely no need to include your picture. A candidate should be judged based on their skills, education, and work history.

Sending a picture only increases the file size and download time of your CV. Much the same goes for graphics and endless URL links.

Furthermore, because of the fear of computer viruses, many recruiting departments are set-up not to accept graphics, pictures, downloadable files, etc. So your CV will just be deleted before it is even opened. In the case of URL links, they only clutter up your CV and no recruiter will ever spend time on these links.

CVs not sent as a WORD Attachment

Unless specifically requested otherwise, your CV should be sent as a Word Attachment, not a PDF, Mac file, etc. A recruiter simply does do not have time to download and convert special files.

Unless you are a graphic designer or multi-media developer, no recruiter will spend time going to your “homepage” to download your CV. Even if you are a designer, you still need a Word attachment resume.

Another top reason for avoiding formats other than Word or a plain text file is that it becomes increasingly more difficult to download into many HR and recruiting systems. Often a recruiter will not have a job for you today. If they cannot enter your CV into their recruiting system, they will be unable to match you with any positions that do become available. This also goes for mailed and faxed CVs. Unless specifically requested otherwise, recruiters are looking for easy to open Word Attachments.

Key Tip: many recruiters shared with us that it is always a good idea to name your Word Attachment “Smith, John CV”. Recruiters have no time to guess the author of the attachment

Poor Font Choice

Keep your font simple and easy to read on a computer screen. Do not use italics or extremely difficult to read fonts like Edwardian Script. Font size is just as important as style. 8-point fonts are too small to read, even for Superman.

Microsoft seems to have settled on 10 point Arial as their default font in most of their applications and people are accustomed to reading it. For headings, recruiters shared that 12-point bolded is the best choice.

Recruiters told us that that second best choice is Times Roman as every newspaper and magazine is prints with it. However, 10-point Times Roman, (unlike Arial), is too small for a computer screen. It is recommended if you choose Times Roman, use 11 or 12 point.

Objectives or Meaningless Introductions

Instead of an Objective that can pigeonhole your focus too narrowly or an introduction that adds nothing to your background, use this top piece of real estate to really sell yourself, by creating a headline.

Tell them who you are and what you do immediately. Come up with one powerful sentence or phrase to grab your reader. Think of this like a headline to a major front-page news story. What is going to grab that reader to want to read further?

Senior-Level Health and Safety Manager with Extensive Experience Working with FDA Regulations in the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Arena.

Key Tip: This headline can be customized to match the job description and "hot-buttons" of the employer or recruiter.

Lying or Misleading Information

We all know the temptation is there to beef up your background by stretching the truth here and there to land that job. BEWARE! It is becoming more commonplace for companies to do extensive background and reference checks on a candidate’s background prior to hiring. Also, companies are demanding that their vendor recruiters do more extensive background checks.

Recruiters stated the most common misleading information being put on CVs is:

• Inflated titles
• inaccurate dates to cover up job hopping or gaps of employment
• 1/2 finished degrees, inflated education or "purchased" degrees that do not mean anything
• Inflated salaries
• Inflated accomplishments
• Lies in regard to specific roles and duties

Employer or Industry Information Not Included

It is suggested that your CV specifically states the type of industry in the body or beneath a specific company. This will help the reader determine if it's a direct industry or an ancillary industry.

Key Tip: Another idea is to bullet-point in your summary the specific industry experience the recruiter is seeking.

Personal Info Not Relevant to the Job

Not only is including personal info that is unrelated to the job a waste of space, but it can actually hurt you. Recruiters do not need to know your age, height, weight, martial status, sexual orientation, religious or political affiliations, or even about your hobbies. They are trying to fill an open job requisition, not match you for a blind date.

Candidates Who Apply to Positions they are Unqualified for

In order to gain experience, you need to start out somewhere, and recruiters understand this. Recruiters do not have time to sort through hundreds of CV’s that are in no way a match for the requirements they are trying to fill.

When someone submits an obviously unqualified CV, the person receiving it resents them wasting their time. It also delays the consideration of other applicants who are qualified.

Key Tip: The easiest remedy is to provide a simple introductory statement ‘while my qualifications do not match your requirements, please accept the attached for your files in anticipation of future, suitable opportunities'.

Long Paragraphs

Recruiters want details to be short, concise and to the point. No recruiter has the time to read long paragraphs, which look like a narrative out of War and Peace.

Make sure you quickly get to the meat of what you are trying to communicate about yourself. Your resume should be easy for the reader to scan your text for your skills and accomplishments. Consider using the following formatting techniques:

• Use blunt, paraphrased bullet-points
• Use appropriate amounts of "white space" to help guide your reader

Long CVs

A CV should never be more than 2-3 pages. Situations that usually contribute to long CV’s are; too many jobs; a career that is not focused, an inability to be concise, written communication problems, or something similar. All of which make for an ‘unplaceable’ candidate.

No matter how tempting it is to go into detail about the first job you had 25 years ago, don’t! Instead, let your CV showcase your most recent accomplishments. Recruiters are only reviewing the last 5-8 years of your career, 10 at most.

If you are a recent graduate with limited professional work experience, your CV should be only one page. If you are from academia, but are seeking a position in industry, do not include every publication or journal paper you have ever presented.

Key Tip: For employment beyond 10 years ago, create a "Previous Employment" section. You can quickly list your older assignments by simply including title, company and dates.

Functional CV’s

A very good way to NOT get your CV read is by sending them a “functional CV”.

Key Tip: At the top of your CV, always include an easy to follow summary. Use bullet-points that can be easily customised to match what the employer is seeking. Hand your reader what they are looking for on a silver platter. Find out what are the “hot buttons” of the employer and make every one hit a home run. Immediately following your summary, provide your reader with an easy to follow chronological history of where you worked and when. It is here you need to detail your accomplishments.

Poor Formatting

It is paramount that your CV is clean, clear and not full of major formatting errors. Most candidates are unaware that many formatting features will not view well on a computer screen, and more importantly, will not download properly into many HRIS recruiting systems or job boards.

Key Tip: To see what your WORD document resume will look like as a text file, take it and paste it into NOTEPAD. You can then make any minor formatting changes as necessary within NOTEPAD.

Dates Not Included or Inaccurate Dates

A CV that does not include dates sends up "red flags" about a candidate’s background and is immediately dismissed. The obvious assumption is that the candidate is trying to hide something.

Key Tip: When providing dates, work history should be in reverse chronological order. The general consensus among recruiters is to place the employer info, title and location to the left hand side of the screen. Your employment dates should be aligned to the right so that your reader can easily “skim” down the page. And if you have a proven track record of staying with a job for a while, absolutely make sure that your employment dates jump out at your reader. This is a real selling point about you as a candidate.

Too Duty Oriented

The second most common complaint among recruiters was reading a CV that is "too duty oriented." Resumes need to describe more than just job duties. A good CV must also detail your accomplishments. Mention the business benefits and results attributable to your direct effort, involvement, or leadership.

Also, do not just rely on long lists of buzzwords to describe work or accomplishments. Not only do you risk burying the important details from your reader, but also doing so often makes a CV appear too generic.

Key Tip: "Do not separate your skills and accomplishments from each position. Someone should be able to look at it and know what you did at each job, and how long you were there. Make sure to provide specific examples of how the company benefited from your performance. Accomplishments should be quantified in pounds or percentages, for example, (Increased productivity of department). From what to what...1%, 10%, 90%?

Spelling Errors, Typos, and Poor Grammar

In the world of technology and ‘Spell Check’, you would be amazed at how many CV’s come through with errors! Candidates need to remember that their resume represents them! If there are careless errors, it directly reflects on the candidate. The general consensus among recruiters is that your CV will more often than not be your one opportunity to make a first impression. You need to make it a positive one!