What really sells you on your CV?

Answer 1

I am a professional recruiter and have reveiwed thousands and thousands of cv's for the UK's biggest companies.

For a great CV ensure that:

It is truthful and you can recall the details in interview correctly and promptly.

You leave no dates in employment without being able to explain them. Again better to be honest than lie, as a good interviewer will check out your career history.

Tailor your CV to the particular position you are applying for. If you are sending a CV to a banking job that asks for 'strong customer service skills' ensure that on your CV you mention your ' strong customer service skills'.

No incorrect spellings or difficult to read sentances. Make the CV look professional, clear and readable. Use white paper, font size 10-11 in a simple font like Ariel.

Make the CV no more that 2 pages (3 maximum if you are technically qualified with a long history of particlar projects)

Ensure all contact and personal details are correct including phone, address, email, age etc

I hope this helps as a start.

Answer 2

A good CV must:

* Look professional, even if 'homemade'. It should be printed on good quality paper, on a good printer, with enough ink. We have seen CVs and resumes where even these basic criteria are missing.

* Be succinct. Too many CVs and resumes are just too long. When an interviewer recieves anything from 20-60 CVs for each vacancy, those longer than 2 pages are simply off-putting.

* Be relevant. Thankfully, being succinct forces you to be relevant. If you have lots of experience, qualifications and so on, list only the relevant ones on your CV. Refer to an appendix for all others. That way an employer only needs to read 2 pages to see if you fit the bill. If they want more, more is available.

* Be error free. Even at senior levels, we receive CVs with errors, the most common being apostrophy errors. Other errors include spelling and use of contradictory dates.

* Be complete. We've received CVs without dates of birth, gender, education and references. This just looks sloppy. Make sure you give full information or your CV/resume will be passed over.

Answer 3

“Physician, heal thyself” springs to mind!

Toddy S –
“No incorrect spellings or difficult to read sentances” Shouldn’t this be “sentences”?

Catherine –
“Be error free. Even at senior levels, we receive CVs with errors, the most common being apostrophy errors.” Shouldn’t this be “apostrophe”?
Dates of birth are no longer required on a CV (in the UK) as a result of recent age discrimination laws.

Answer 4

Your resume is an accurate reflection of you.

It is not boosting you to higher levels or dragging you down. It is simply an accurate list about yourself.

The real trick, the killer skill, is to match your job application to the job you are applying for.

Sections such as career goals and personal qualities are critical here.

In addition your real chance to sell yourself is in the letter of application. This is where you argue why you match the job you are applying for, bring attention to the your parituclar qualities that are important for this job.