CV Writing - Top Tips
Discussion
It's that time of year again when many of us on PHs reflect upon the year gone by and begin contemplating what the new year ahead may have in store for us.
For some, it will create the impetus to take that next tentative step on the career ladder. For others, it may be about making the change from one industry to another.
I thought therefore that a quick list of top tips around drafting a top-flight CV might be helpful to some; it’s based upon the most common errors that I see. For those more experienced out there, it is likely to be common knowledge; for those less experienced, it may help a little.
Poor formatting
Relating to a question posed on this thread only recently about formatting a CV; just because your CV looks good on paper from your printer or on your computer screen doesn't mean it will look good on the hiring manager's. Fonts and formats can become distorted when opened up on other operating systems, so keep everything basic and simple; less is more when it comes to CV design.
Spelling errors and poor grammar
You may not gain any brownie points if your CV has no errors in it, but you may trigger a negative response if it does. So check, double check and then check again for errors. Then get someone else to check; they will spot something you have missed!
Outcomes-based
If you simply list your key responsibilities onto your CV, you're going to be less competitive than this who have shared what impact they have made over their career (regardless of seniority or how long they have been in the job market). Hiring managers want to know what difference you can make to their organisation if they take you on, not what your duties where in your previous roles.
Inaccurate or inconsistent dates
Hiring managers need to know when you worked where to understand your working history and for any background checks they may wish to carry out. Significant periods that are missing and not explained could cause your CV to be not considered further. If you do have a gap, include it and explain why.
Missing or wrong contact information
You submit a CV for one reason, to get the reader to contact you to find out more. It's therefore surprising how many CVs I see that are sometimes excellent in every other respect but have either missing or incorrect contact information. Check to ensure you have indeed put your name, telephone number and email address at the very top of your CV and that it is all correct and has no missing letters or numbers.
A wall of text!
Hiring managers, or staff doing it on their behalf, may have many CVs to read at the shortlist stage. If your CV looks like an impenetrable wall of text because you've used up every bit of white space, it may not get read at all. Use short, punchy statements in bullet points to highlight your skills and contributions in a much more reader-friendly way. Again, less is more!
Superfluous Information
With the limited space you have available on a CV and the often short time given to the shortlisting process, you need to make every word count. Including things that are not wholly relevant or take up valuable space will not help you make the impact you are after. Unless it is directly relevant to the role you're applying for, information for example about your race, religion, age or favourite car does not need including.
There is of course much more to writing a cracking CV and I am sure plenty on here can offer some additional insights of their own too, but I hope this helps in some way if you are contemplating embarking on a new career or role this year. Good luck!
For some, it will create the impetus to take that next tentative step on the career ladder. For others, it may be about making the change from one industry to another.
I thought therefore that a quick list of top tips around drafting a top-flight CV might be helpful to some; it’s based upon the most common errors that I see. For those more experienced out there, it is likely to be common knowledge; for those less experienced, it may help a little.
Poor formatting
Relating to a question posed on this thread only recently about formatting a CV; just because your CV looks good on paper from your printer or on your computer screen doesn't mean it will look good on the hiring manager's. Fonts and formats can become distorted when opened up on other operating systems, so keep everything basic and simple; less is more when it comes to CV design.
Spelling errors and poor grammar
You may not gain any brownie points if your CV has no errors in it, but you may trigger a negative response if it does. So check, double check and then check again for errors. Then get someone else to check; they will spot something you have missed!
Outcomes-based
If you simply list your key responsibilities onto your CV, you're going to be less competitive than this who have shared what impact they have made over their career (regardless of seniority or how long they have been in the job market). Hiring managers want to know what difference you can make to their organisation if they take you on, not what your duties where in your previous roles.
Inaccurate or inconsistent dates
Hiring managers need to know when you worked where to understand your working history and for any background checks they may wish to carry out. Significant periods that are missing and not explained could cause your CV to be not considered further. If you do have a gap, include it and explain why.
Missing or wrong contact information
You submit a CV for one reason, to get the reader to contact you to find out more. It's therefore surprising how many CVs I see that are sometimes excellent in every other respect but have either missing or incorrect contact information. Check to ensure you have indeed put your name, telephone number and email address at the very top of your CV and that it is all correct and has no missing letters or numbers.
A wall of text!
Hiring managers, or staff doing it on their behalf, may have many CVs to read at the shortlist stage. If your CV looks like an impenetrable wall of text because you've used up every bit of white space, it may not get read at all. Use short, punchy statements in bullet points to highlight your skills and contributions in a much more reader-friendly way. Again, less is more!
Superfluous Information
With the limited space you have available on a CV and the often short time given to the shortlisting process, you need to make every word count. Including things that are not wholly relevant or take up valuable space will not help you make the impact you are after. Unless it is directly relevant to the role you're applying for, information for example about your race, religion, age or favourite car does not need including.
There is of course much more to writing a cracking CV and I am sure plenty on here can offer some additional insights of their own too, but I hope this helps in some way if you are contemplating embarking on a new career or role this year. Good luck!
An interesting tip I got from a job hunting support deal as part of a redundancy package was to initially forget about the whole 2 page thing, and write out a massive CV with everything in it. Then use that as the master data and take the relevant bits to create a separate short CV for each job application.
They also reckoned the traditional 2 page thing isn't a hard limit (for technical jobs), so long as the first page has the information on it to get the reader interested, they'll look at a third or maybe even 4th page to find more details.
As someone who clearly reads a lot of them what's your view on the latter?
They also reckoned the traditional 2 page thing isn't a hard limit (for technical jobs), so long as the first page has the information on it to get the reader interested, they'll look at a third or maybe even 4th page to find more details.
As someone who clearly reads a lot of them what's your view on the latter?
You'll never get it perfect for each individual who looks at it. I once applied for a position as a main board director for a major UK PLC, advertised in the Financial Times. I made it to the last two. Dinner with the chairman and his wife (with my wife). they had 7500 applicant, so I asked how they managed it.
They binned every CV with a photo, and every CV with a border around the page as a start. Then they rejected based on location, all applicant N of a certain city, all very arbitrary.
They binned every CV with a photo, and every CV with a border around the page as a start. Then they rejected based on location, all applicant N of a certain city, all very arbitrary.
I would add "know what you are applying for and what the employer is looking for".
I see a lot of CVs from people seeking to enter my profession (legal area). Most are from undergraduates or postgraduates, but we also get some form people wishing to change careers.
Obviously there are certain minimum standards which have to be met in terms of education and grades achieved. That still leaves many more than we can look at in detail. The ones which are discarded first are those with more puff than substance. I *know* that the applicant hasn't done much in life yet - after all they are usually still in education. I don't therefore want a list of alleged skills they have already acquired such as the simultaneous ability to work individually or as part of a team. Last one I look at claimed he was able to multitask, as he was about to finish an M.A. which had different modules. That isn't evidence. Everyone doing an M.A. will generally get the same abilities from it, and in any case I don't care about multitasking (whatever that is in an M.A. context).
I see a lot of CVs from people seeking to enter my profession (legal area). Most are from undergraduates or postgraduates, but we also get some form people wishing to change careers.
Obviously there are certain minimum standards which have to be met in terms of education and grades achieved. That still leaves many more than we can look at in detail. The ones which are discarded first are those with more puff than substance. I *know* that the applicant hasn't done much in life yet - after all they are usually still in education. I don't therefore want a list of alleged skills they have already acquired such as the simultaneous ability to work individually or as part of a team. Last one I look at claimed he was able to multitask, as he was about to finish an M.A. which had different modules. That isn't evidence. Everyone doing an M.A. will generally get the same abilities from it, and in any case I don't care about multitasking (whatever that is in an M.A. context).
Berw said:
You'll never get it perfect for each individual who looks at it. I once applied for a position as a main board director for a major UK PLC, advertised in the Financial Times. I made it to the last two. Dinner with the chairman and his wife (with my wife). they had 7500 applicant, so I asked how they managed it.
They binned every CV with a photo, and every CV with a border around the page as a start. Then they rejected based on location, all applicant N of a certain city, all very arbitrary.
seems odd but they must have a method to their madness.They binned every CV with a photo, and every CV with a border around the page as a start. Then they rejected based on location, all applicant N of a certain city, all very arbitrary.
i know a guy who used to work in recruitment, one of the other people used say 'we only get jobs for lucky people' then bin half the cv's in a pile, if you were in the bin you were unlucky.
OP - I have just done my CV for the OZ / NZ markets, i have been talking to a recruitment agent out there and she said no more than 4 pages. I have a friend here who has just left his job and is getting cv advise over here in the uk they are still saying 2 pages.
what's the best for the UK market? just in case I have to use plan b and stay in the uk?
RizzoTheRat said:
An interesting tip I got from a job hunting support deal as part of a redundancy package was to initially forget about the whole 2 page thing, and write out a massive CV with everything in it. Then use that as the master data and take the relevant bits to create a separate short CV for each job application.
They also reckoned the traditional 2 page thing isn't a hard limit (for technical jobs), so long as the first page has the information on it to get the reader interested, they'll look at a third or maybe even 4th page to find more details.
As someone who clearly reads a lot of them what's your view on the latter?
You're right suggesting that there's no 'standard', but there is best practice. And again as you suggest, that best practice is to make an impact right up front to capture the reader's attention. Keeping a bank of data ready to personalise a shorter CV is again a fair approach. I would however advise to keep to 2 sides unless there's a compelling reason to exceed that.They also reckoned the traditional 2 page thing isn't a hard limit (for technical jobs), so long as the first page has the information on it to get the reader interested, they'll look at a third or maybe even 4th page to find more details.
As someone who clearly reads a lot of them what's your view on the latter?
jesta1865 said:
OP - I have just done my CV for the OZ / NZ markets, i have been talking to a recruitment agent out there and she said no more than 4 pages. I have a friend here who has just left his job and is getting cv advise over here in the uk they are still saying 2 pages.
what's the best for the UK market? just in case I have to use plan b and stay in the uk?
Same points as above really; 2 pages is a good discipline to follow unless you have evidence/a good reason to expand that for a particular role or organisation. 2 sides has many advantages, key being it forces you to be clear and concise and therefore you're thinking hard about impact rather than 'waffling on' as I sometimes feel people do when I'm hiring and I get long CVs. what's the best for the UK market? just in case I have to use plan b and stay in the uk?
Agree completely with that list - and whilst I like to think they're all things I look for, it's given me a nudge to check my own CV 'complies' as best as it can with all the points. I've been shocked when hiring internally with how people I know to be great have submitted CVs that just don't show their strengths and wouldn't get anywhere had they come from a stranger!
One of my biggest pet-hates/ fast-tracks for the bin is a self-profile that starts with generic spiel along the lines of "A self-motivated, dynamic, etc.'...
I've no problem (infact it grabs my attention) with a summary of the applicant's key skills and experience, but when it starts off on such a generic footing, at best it sounds like filler, at worst like it's trying to plaster over deficiency. Even for a relatively junior role not requiring much education or experience, I'm far more likely to give someone a further hearing by good grammar, clear presentation and (if required) evidence of extra-curricular activities that show the person to have a brain and drive of their own!
As for pages, being in Engineering/ Ops Management I'm more than happy to read through 3 of them if it demonstrates varied work experience and knowledge, but should have pretty good idea by the first half a page (usually a short profile and current/ last job) if the applicant it likely to be a suitable fit or not - if one is faced with many applicants and limited time to select for interview, a CV that starts with the 'high level' but also presents the detail can be massive help in choosing!
One of my biggest pet-hates/ fast-tracks for the bin is a self-profile that starts with generic spiel along the lines of "A self-motivated, dynamic, etc.'...
I've no problem (infact it grabs my attention) with a summary of the applicant's key skills and experience, but when it starts off on such a generic footing, at best it sounds like filler, at worst like it's trying to plaster over deficiency. Even for a relatively junior role not requiring much education or experience, I'm far more likely to give someone a further hearing by good grammar, clear presentation and (if required) evidence of extra-curricular activities that show the person to have a brain and drive of their own!
As for pages, being in Engineering/ Ops Management I'm more than happy to read through 3 of them if it demonstrates varied work experience and knowledge, but should have pretty good idea by the first half a page (usually a short profile and current/ last job) if the applicant it likely to be a suitable fit or not - if one is faced with many applicants and limited time to select for interview, a CV that starts with the 'high level' but also presents the detail can be massive help in choosing!
Edited by Ultuous on Friday 15th January 20:09
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