Highlighting key areas on a CV?

[Undirection]

Is it a bad idea to highlight key areas on a CV? For example, I have various CVs which focus on different aspects of my career so if I see a job that wants lots of events experience I sent my events biased CV. It occurred to me that if I was a recruitment consultant, having all the events parts highlighted/underlined would make it easier to find what they want to without having to read the whole thing through in the first instance. Great idea or not?

[otherman]

Undirection said:

Is it a bad idea to highlight key areas on a CV? For example, I have various CVs which focus on different aspects of my career so if I see a job that wants lots of events experience I sent my events biased CV. It occurred to me that if I was a recruitment consultant, having all the events parts highlighted/underlined would make it easier to find what they want to without having to read the whole thing through in the first instance. Great idea or not?

I wouldn't highlight, you're pretty much asking them not to read the rest, so why have it there, just condense down to the parts you're thinking of highlighting.
another option is put a box under your name that just shouts out what you're sellling yourself as - the part that tells them it's worth reading on:
John Smith
An experienced duck feeder with ten years cost and accounting experience

[iphonedyou]

Undirection said:

Is it a bad idea to highlight key areas on a CV? For example, I have various CVs which focus on different aspects of my career so if I see a job that wants lots of events experience I sent my events biased CV. It occurred to me that if I was a recruitment consultant, having all the events parts highlighted/underlined would make it easier to find what they want to without having to read the whole thing through in the first instance. Great idea or not?

The CV itself should be a highlight. Highlighting particular areas suggests parts of it aren't applicable.

Your CV should be tailored to each role.

[Undirection]

It is but my experience in my discipline covers lots of areas and so distilling it down just to the most relevant could make is less than a page and look a bit sparse.

At the moment I tend to put it in a summary of achievement at the top.

[remkingston]

Keep your CV simple in its layout (i.e. not putting sideways vertical text and turning it into a poster / infographic).

Many places use databases which automatically pull information across to load you a profile.

These systems work on Keyword searching so include the roles you wish to make a move into so that you come up in more searches.

eg:
Responsibilities included assisting Contracts Directors and the Lead AutoCAD draughtsperson with ad hoc requirements.


Many people assume that it is a faceless corporate machine which reads your CV. The truth in fact is more personal with real people using computers to record the process.

Feel free to use a 72pt font for your name to literally stand out. A "tagline" stating exactly what you are and what you are looking for goes miles too.

Decisions makers in the process usually go through printed CVs so anything that makes you stand out from a pile is a good shout.

The average time spent reading your CV is less than the time you took to write it.

Keep it short. Aim for one page so it is "desktop friendly". Your next boss can't lose half your CV if it is all on the same page!

Edited by remkingston on Tuesday 29th September 17:59

[edc]

Highlighting or formatting certain parts of your CV just looks unprofessional. Your CV should flow and be concise and punchy. If there is detail there that is not going to help you get the job then omit it. That does not mean cut out all parts that are not specific to this new role but that you need to construct your CV in a way that shows the achievements, tasks, projects in the right context pertaining to the target role. You may need to focus as much on the soft and/or transferable skills as much as the hard/technical skills especially if the role is in a different industry.

Look at the new job advert/description. What is it asking for? How can you show you can do that through your previous work experience? How can you link your previous experience to what is being demanded in the new role? Clearly you are looking at the job description line by line thinking "I can do that". Simply articulate why you believe that to be the case with examples.

[rog007]

Some great advice there.

In answer to your query; don't underline.

Less is more when it comes to a CV; every word must add value and fancy formatting should be avoided.

Good luck!