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Whether you’ve been made redundant, or you’re
simply looking for your next move on the career ladder, your CV speaks volumes
about you. If your CV doesn’t make it past the first post in the selection
process, you’re doomed - no matter how
qualified you are. Here are 10 common mistakes to avoid when putting your CV together.
1. Too long. You need to be concise. Keep your CV to 2 to 3
pages maximum. If you can’t highlight your skills in this space, you’re giving
the message that you are disorganized and tend to go on and on.
2. Fancy paper. Your skills should
speak for themselves. Fancy paper will
not help them stand out. However, it
might make you stand out in a non-positive way.
3. Fancy font. Don’t try to set yourself apart with a
different font on your CV. Instead set yourself apart by being uniquely
qualified.
4. Irrelevant information: No one really cares that you were a singing
waiter if you’re applying for an IT job.
5. Outdated information: It really doesn’t matter that you had a newspaper
round or came first in the sack race at primary school. Whilst it may give recruiters a chuckle, it
won’t help you get selected.
6. Typos and misspellings: You would think this is an obvious one, but
you’d be amazed at the number of CV’s received with big glaring mistakes.
7. Falsified information: Greatly elaborated credentials are the same as
lies. Do not list diplomas, certifications, affiliations or awards that you did
not earn. Just don’t do it. Liars do get caught.
8. Attachments: At the CV stage do
not send any attachments, whatsoever. If you are granted an interview, at that
time you could bring in whatever it is you’re so hot to get into the selecting
official’s hands. The person accepting the resumes will likely just hit the
delete key or pop it in File 13.
9. Elaborating too much: Place of
employment, job title and brief, very brief description of job responsibilities
and technology used are all you need. Salient points only.
10. Name and contact details in the header:
Recruiters and HR professionals these days use parsing technology to help
handle response. Most parsers do not extract
information put in as Header text. This
means that your contact details can be hard and sometimes impossible to
find. Put this information in the main
document text.
If you can avoid these 10 common CV mistakes, you’ll get further along the selection process. If you don’t make it past the first post in the selection process, due to any of these simple common mistakes, you really only have yourself to blame. Don’t let that happen to you.
Remember:
You only get one chance to make a good first impression.
In a job hunt - it’s your CV that creates the
first impression.
