Happy New Year job seekers! If 2017 is your year for a career change or you are chasing that promotion, then Ten Live are here to support and advise you. You may have already read our cover letter tips blog – now we have some great CV tips to help you land that all important interview.

The CV is the most important document you can write when job hunting. Writing a winning CV can make all the difference for job seekers between being put forward for an interview or not. When your potential employer reads your CV this may be the only information they receive about you. Aside from your cover letter, your CV is key to showing off who you are and what you can do for any potential employer.

We’ve created a checklist to make sure you’ve thought of everything before you hit that send button!

Layout and Style 

Is your CV readable and does it stand out?

Remember – it’s likely your potential employer has hundreds of CVs to sift through and will spend just a few seconds scanning each CV. You therefore want to make your CV as easy to read as possible and to grab their attention. It can be the difference between your CV being read…or put in the bin.

Keep in mind that whoever reviews your CV will first of all typically scan it for critical information. The first thing they’ll look at it is your title, personal branding statement, keywords, position titles and dates. If they like what they see, they’ll go through it again in a more-thorough read.

Tips:

•      Aim to keep your CV to 2 pages maximum
•      Make sure you include contact information (name, address, phone, e-mail, Skype)
•      A personal branding statement (place at the start of your CV) is one way to ensure you capture your prospective employer’s attention at the outset- a short, catchy statement which highlights your most relevant expertise, skills and strengths tailored toward the job you’re applying for.
•      Divide your CV into short sections using lines, indentations and headings
•      Write short, concise sentences short and include content relevant to the role you’re applying for
•      Make information stand out clearly within each section with bullet-pointed lists or format text using italics or bold writing to highlight certain pieces of information
•      Make sure the text itself is readable. Try and use no smaller text size than 10 and professional fonts such as Arial, Calibri or Times New Roman
•      Use at least 1 or 1.15 spacing between lines

Bespoke Content

Have you tailored your CV to the role you are applying for?

It’s handy to have a base CV where you list all the skills and experience you have acquired over the years. However, if you are applying for roles with slightly different criteria or for jobs within different industries altogether, you should tailor your CV for each application. Tailoring your CV will show your potential employer that you have taken the time to look at the job description properly and are genuinely interested in their job.

Tips:

•      Work your way through each specification in the job description and make sure you prove you have the skills for the role – highlight achievements from your career as supporting evidence
•      Share a challenge/situation/problem, the action you took to address it, the (quantifiable) result and how it positively impacted your past employer or client.

Check, check and check again

We know that tailoring your CV can be a time-consuming process to match your skills and experience to the criteria of the role you’re applying for. However, there’s nothing more frustrating than reading over the document later and realising you haven’t answered the job specification requirements, you’ve missed a spelling mistake or haven’t remember to include a key achievement or skill. Read through your CV more than once to check there are no mistakes or ask a friend or family member look over it with fresh eyes.

Remember – once you have sent your CV there is no going back !

Extra Tips

•      Always tell the truth and explain any gaps on your CV!
•      Save and send your CV in PDF format – it looks much tidier and more professional than a Word document (recruitment agencies may however ask for CVs in Word format in order that they can copy and format your CV to forward to their clients in line with their clients’ application processes)
•      Make sure to name your CV  document clearly i.e. ‘Joe Bloggs Marketing CV for ‘Company Name’’
•      The same would apply if you are emailing your CV. Make the subject of the email as clear as possible i.e. ‘Joe Bloggs – Application for ‘Marketing Position’’

Job seekers – Ten Live’s team of expert recruitment consultants are always on hand for CV or job application advice and to work with you to help you secure that next interview! Our recruitment consultants are experts in their fields, highly-skilled, experienced and successful in putting forward candidates for interview and placing the most talented individuals with top UK and international companies. They will go that extra mile to support you throughout the entire recruitment process from initial screening, selection  and interview and even after you have been placed in a role.

Get in touch with our Ten Live recruitment consultants at info@tenlivegroup.com or call 01236 702 007.