There are many unsubstantiated guidelines and misconceptions surrounding the predominant aim of the CV. But, in truth, there is one (yes only one) reason why a powerful and attention grabbing CV is an absolute necessity in today’s highly competitive job market;

To get noticed and obtain an interview

It is a harsh reality that many recruiters will literally spend 15-30 seconds ‘reading’ your CV. The reason is that when faced with multiple applicants for only one position, there is simply not enough time or resource available in a standard working day to sift through applicants that do not demonstrate the necessary attributes, ambitions and talents for the position they have applied for.

In a recent study conducted by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, 47% of recruiters said that out of all the CVs they received, over half (50%) contained grammatical errors. The online survey took place in December 2006 and overall, was answered by 266 recruitment professionals. Basic errors – misspelling ‘Curriculum Vitae’ is one of the most common mistakes.

Taking ownership of your CV and recognising its value is the first step in the production of a great document. Your CV is your sales tool and potentially, the only opportunity you have to sell yourself to a prospective employer.

You cannot write a powerful and compelling CV without some serious thought and analysis of your career and personal ability. Be positive, do not include any weaknesses and most of importantly do not include anything that you cannot substantiate at an interview.

If you are only ever going to take one piece of advice on this subject then it should be this:

Lead with your achievements

In the first few seconds an employer will want to know who you are, whether or not you can do the job and what benefits you can bring to their company. If you do not eloquently yet assertively portray this information then your chances of attracting the necessary attention are greatly reduced. Use ‘key’ or ‘power’ words at the start of each sentence and bullet point. Be direct, don’t waffle and don’t use terminology that a recruiter can not immediately identify.

Written well, a great CV will gain you access to numerous opportunities and should deliver exactly what it is designed for – opening the door to the interview room.

The ultimate aim of your CV is to get noticed and obtain an interview. Therefore you need to truly value your CV as it is your sales tool and potentially your only opportunity to sell yourself to an employer. Be positive, do not include any weaknesses and most of importantly, do not include anything that you cannot substantiate at an interview.

Content

The content of your CV should contain

• Your name
• Contact details
• Profile
• Career
• Education / Vocational qualifications
• Hobbies & Interests (optional)

Name

Do not include a title or cover page to your CV, it is unnecessary and takes up valuable space. Instead, start simply with your name in a bold typeface at the top and in the centre of your first page. Only your first name and surname are necessary. If you have qualifications that enable you to use letters after your name then make sure that you do use them! This will automatically let the employer know that you are qualified by just glancing at your name.

Contact Details

It is important that you include all of your contact details so that an employer can contact you, in particular your address, landline telephone number, mobile telephone number and email address. Ensure that your email address is professional and does not leave a poor impression of you. For CV and employment application purposes your email address should only include your actual name or initials, for example john.smith@ or jsmith@.

Profile

There are some professional CV writers that will always include a profile on a clients CV and there are others that strongly disagree that this is appropriate. You have less than 15 seconds to impress your audience and the sole aim of a profile is to get across the information that will make an employer want to read the rest of your CV.

Your profile needs to be punchy and without waffle. When writing your profile, think carefully about your key skills. Are you a good negotiator? Do you have a natural sales ability? Are you a motivational leader? Your profile needs to depict your individual strengths therefore it is important to steer clear of generic sentences such as ‘works well as an individual or as part of a team’, ‘self motivated and able to work to tight deadlines’. These statements are seen all too often and will not make any impression with your audience.

Profile example

A highly experienced Sales Executive with an outstanding ability to manage an extensive client portfolio within extremely demanding and pressurised environments. A strong communicator with firm negotiating skills and the ability to close new business to increase bottom line profitability. A confident man-manager currently seeking a challenging opportunity within an organisation that offers the chance for career progression.

Career or Education?

In which order these two sections should appear on your CV has often been the subject of debate. Generally the rule of thumb is if you are a recent graduate, have limited career history (less than 3 years) or you have recently completed industry training that will allow you to contemplate a career change, then your education should be placed before your career. If not, then your career should be placed before your education.

Career

Your career history should always be listed in chronological order with your most recent position first, working backwards. Think carefully about your key achievements in each position and do not be tempted to just list your responsibilities. Think about the following situation;

There are two CV’s on the desk of a recruiter making the decision to call a candidate in for an interview, one of which is yours. The other CV belongs to another candidate with exactly the same skill and experience as you. The recruiter is only allowed one choice. Which one should they choose?

The recruiter will choose yours every time if your CV can demonstrate your true potential. Think about each aspect of your role and what you truly contributed to the company. For instance, a sentence such as;

‘Responsible for credit control and bad debtors list’, with some careful thought about your achievements, may easily become;

‘Reduced debtor list by £5000 in two months through the implementation of effective credit control methods’

Each position you have held for the last 10 years should have at least 3 key bullet points stating your achievements to go with it.

Education

If you are a recent graduate or you have had less than 3 years employment history, your education should be stated on your CV as your primary achievement, again in chronological order starting with your most recent education and working backwards. If you have a degree then always make sure you state your grade and where you studied. Include your dissertation title and any other academic achievement that you feel may be relevant to the position you applied for.

If you are experienced but are considering a career change and have recently completed further education or a vocational qualification that will allow you to change industry sectors then this should also be at the forefront of your CV. This will enable the recruiter to see why you applying for the vacancy and will aid your application.

Hobbies & Interests

Many people do not see the value of adding this section to a CV. However, it does show that you have a life outside of work and it has been known for some recruiters to pick up on your extra curricular activities, especially if you play a sport that they may be interested in or have an unusual hobby that warrants further discussion. Think carefully about what you include here, you do not want to give an unprofessional impression of yourself. Steer clear of generic interests such as ‘socialising’ or ‘playing computer games’, even if they are true, they do not add value.

Most importantly, apply the ‘no waffle’ rule and make it interesting! Apply your achievements here too, for instance, if you have recently raised a significant amount of money for charity, then say so.

Other Information

It is unwise to include any other information about yourself such as the name of your spouse or children, your religion, your home owner status etc as it bears no relevance to your application. However, if you are applying to a company that has a strict non smoking policy then a brief statement, such as ‘excellent health, non smoker’ is acceptable.

Do not include the names and contact details of references at the end of your CV. This will only provide the recruiter with a potentially unwelcome temptation to ‘check you out’ before inviting you for interview. A simply line to state ‘references available upon request’ is all that is needed. If a recruiter would like to see references then you can provide details of these at a later date.

Font & Style

The look and feel of your CV can be equally as important as your content. If a CV looks clumsy, unformatted, too long and very wordy then it is highly unlikely to even get read, especially if you are competing against 100’s of other applicants for only one position.

Font

Choose a modern font that is easy to read and atheistically pleasing. Steer clear of unfashionable or difficult to read condensed, script or courier fonts.

Your font size should also not be too large or too small; size 11 or 12 is usually a manageable size for most readers.

Format

Always type your CV using a PC and in Microsoft Word as this is the office software used by the majority of recruiters. If you send your CV electronically in another format and the recruiter cannot open your attachment, it is unlikely that your application will be read.

Your CV should be well formatted with a clear layout and free from bold colours, pictures and flashing lights. Try to refrain from using a standard MS Word template. If you cannot format your CV with your own style then there are plenty of templates available on the internet that are likely to be of help.

Length

Many professional CV writers have different opinions on the length of a CV but again, the general rule of thumb is not more than 2 or 3 full pages (at a maximum) of standard A4 paper.  If you can, do try to format your CV so that it is covers a full page. This makes the CV look complete and well laid out.

In today’s competitive job market employers and recruitment consultants are becoming increasingly intolerant toward badly constructed employment applications and CV’s. Your CV is the most important and potentially lucrative marketing material you are ever likely to create. Written well, it can gain you access to numerous opportunities and should deliver exactly what it is designed for – opening the door to the interview room. Written badly, your CV could cost you the all important interview and the chance for the career change.

With many employers, the decision to interview or reject a candidate is purely made on the strength of the CV. Did you know that on average your CV has less than 15 seconds to make an impact? Often you will be pitching your application in competition with many other job seekers and it is common for most positions to attract multiple candidates.

A professional, interview winning CV IS a necessity. Your CV is your tool of achievement. It is your sales pitch and potentially your only opportunity to sell yourself to an employer.

According to a nationwide survey of recruitment professionals carried out by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC), 47% said that out of all the CVs they received, over half (50%) contained spelling and grammatical errors. The online survey took place in December 2006 and overall, was answered by 266 recruitment professionals. Basic errors – misspelling ‘Curriculum Vitae’ is one of the most common mistakes.

Taking ownership of your CV and recognising its value is the first step in the production of a great document. Whilst the content and structure of your CV is what will ultimately sell you, it is also important to pay attention to its physical appearance, format and layout. This will initially attract the employer to your CV amongst the multitude of others.

The basic content of your CV should include; your name, address, contact details, profile, career history, education, and relevant supporting information. In what order these should appear will depend on several factors.

In the first few seconds an employer will want to know who you are, whether or not you can do the job and what benefits you can bring to their company. You can usually contain this information in a short, concise profile at the very start of your CV. Do not make this too long winded and don’t waffle, the sole aim of a profile is get across the information that will make an employer want to read the rest of your CV.

When writing a profile, steer clear of the common mistakes of the generic summary. Statements such as ‘works well as an individual and as part of a team’ or ‘self motivated and able to work to tight deadlines’ are seen all to often and will not make any impression with your audience. Even if these statements are true, with some thought and attention they can be demonstrated in the main body of your CV.

The one thing that most jobseekers have in common when it comes to writing their own CV is the difficulty in selling themselves. There is no room for modesty. Don’t forget, on reading your CV the employer has not yet met you and therefore this could be your only opportunity for a sales pitch.

Your career history should always be listed in chronological order with your most recent position first, working backwards. Think carefully about your key achievements in each position and do not be tempted to just list your responsibilities.

Each position you have held for the last 10 years should have at least 3 key bullet points stating your achievements to go with it.  Use power words in your key descriptions such as ‘implemented’, ‘visionary’, ‘succeeded’, ‘significant’, ‘directed’, ‘demonstrated’, ‘established’ and ‘devised’. Include your specific transferable skills and those that are likely to capture attention.

If you have a degree then always make sure you state your grade and where you studied, even if your degree was obtained several years ago. If you gained your degree more recently, include your dissertation title and any other academic achievement that you feel may be relevant to the position you applied for.

Often CVs sent to larger companies or uploaded to online job boards are stored on a vast databse and retrievable by recruiters and potential employers through key word searches.

The CV is generally saved as in an Applicant Tracking System as a text file rather than a Word.doc. Text file CVs do not understand or display any of the zesty sex appeal of your beautifully written CV.

Even hard copies of CVs sent out on expensive paper are generally scanned and uploaded to this central system which may save your file in plain text.

If your CV contains a range of fonts, any tables or graphics this may confuse the system, the characters on your CV change to nonsense and despite all that hard work spent perfecting your CV, it may well lose its shine and may be hidden in the depths of a giant database never to be seen again.

So how can you avoid your CV being lost in cyberspace?

Avoid using a CV template  - if you must use one, ensure you take note of all of the below points.

Avoid graphics or symbols of any kind except for simple bullet points

Avoid document headers or footers

Avoid using a large range of font styles or sizes – no more than two or three maximum

Avoid use of tables when formatting  – try to use tabs where possible.

Avoid use of a photo -not only could this distort he system but most firms in the UK wiill delete photos to ensure they can’t discriminate on the basis of age, race, sex, hair colour or anything else they may see.

Avoid use of graphics, symbols and WingDings

Save CAPITALISATION for SECTION HEADERS such as ‘PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE’

If you want to be 100% sure that your CV will be understood by the job board or organisation’s Applicant Tracking System, save it as a plain text document and review. Ensure it  looks exactly as you would like it to.