7 Tips on How to Write a Job-Winning CV ...

1. Focus on the Facts

An average reviewer spends less than a minute reading each CV which means you must make every second count. No fluff, things that are irrelevant or any other information that might create a mess! Person in charge of the long and often boring process of selection really doesn’t have time to read your memoires hoping some useful info could be scraped up and will gladly throw all those carefully written pages and pages of text into the NO pile. What can you do to increase your chances of getting that job? Focus on describing job-related skills and knowledge you do posses and leave favorite quotes, hobbies or the list of music instruments you can play for when you get the job. And keep reading, because more important tips on how to write a CV are just a few mouse scrolls away!

2. Choose Your Words Carefully

Slang terms and abbreviations are a part of everybody’s everyday speech and, as such, might accidentally end up in a CV. Now, for all of you who have never done this before and are now wondering how to write a CV that looks professional, let me just say this – you don’t get there by using the same language you’d use with your friends. So, get a dictionary or a thesaurus and start discovering new words to describe your talents and qualities. In fact, use as many fancy-sounding synonyms as you can because the so-called “re-inventing the wheel” could help you stand out. Everybody uses words like “hardworking”, “motivated”, “detail oriented” so try going with something less generic… something that says “I’m different!” How about – Daring, bold or brilliant? Yes, brilliant! Now, if I was the one reviewing somebody’s CV and I read “brilliant” I’d definitely be intrigued!

3. Proofread

Spell check is a powerful tool indeed and it will help you compose a grammatically correct document even if you never were a spelling bee champion! However, not even this magical tool is almighty which means you should ask someone to carefully read the final version of your resume before you send it to your potential employer. Now, you might think this time-consuming step isn’t really important but believe me, if you don’t do it you might regret it later. One reviewer clearly remembers reading a CV in which a potential employee wrote that he could be a valuable asset to the company but, unfortunately, forgot to put “et” in the word “asset”. Another female candidate noted that she is “easy to get alone with” and since both “alone” and “along” are correctly spelled words, I can totally understand why her spell checking program failed to warn her about this tiny but meaningful typo.

4. Don’t Sound Desperate

Never but never sell yourself short and don’t let them think you’re desperate to get that job, even if that’s really the case. Sentences like, “Please let me prove my skills to you, I really need this job” send a very clear message and by that I really don’t have anything good on my mind. You see, sounding desperate and sending generic CVs hoping someone will take the bait can backfire in so many ways and being underpaid is just one of them. Desperate means “unreliable” because people who demonstrate this behavior tend to leave as soon as something better comes along or completely lose interest once they figure out they won’t be able to move up as fast as they originally planned. And unreliable people aren’t really the most desirable candidates – aren’t they?

5. Be the Ideal Candidate

Okay, so you’ve read a job listing and it just happens to be the job of your dreams! But how to make sure your CV ends up in the pile that will be contacted and invited for an interview? Well, these above-mentioned tips on how to write a CV should help you quite a bit although there are some things you’ll have to figure out on your own. So, before you sit down and start creating that job-winning resume, re-read the job listing a few times try to determine what the company needs and compose the resume to reflect that. If they want a junior manager and the word “training” has been mentioned, that basically means they want a blank canvas – a candidate with no or very little experience, candidate who won’t say, “Wait a minute, that’s not how we did things back in my last company” and a candidate who will be motivated to work hard and play by the rules the company had set.

6. Advertise Yourself

Yes, baby, you need to sell yourself – you need to present your professional qualities and your skills in a way that says, “I’m the right person for the job!” You can’t be arrogant but you must show you want the job and that, my dear, means you must believe in yourself so much to be able to use big words to describe your qualities . Don’t just write “I’m good with computers” because, honestly, that doesn’t sound like much these days. List all the programs you know how to use instead. List proficiency levels for all languages you speak, all skills you find relevant and, oh, don’t forget to throw in a couple of grand words to describe your interpersonal skills.

7. Use Clear, Easily- Readable Fonts and Formats

Now when you know how to write a CV and what to focus on, it’s time to discuss visual presentation! You see, providing all the right information is crucial but it doesn’t mean much if the font is too small or the format is all messed up. Remember- you want them to hire you, not go blind reading your resume! LOL! And let me just add that a nicely organized, easy to read CV doesn’t necessarily have to be black & white so feel free to personalize it anyway you want as long as the end result is a professional-looking CV.

These tips on how to write a CV might be a bit different and more detailed than all others you had a chance to read but they sure are honest, well-intended and tested. You see, generic CVs have never helped me score a job but an interesting, personalized approach based on facts and confidence always worked! So, now that I explained how to write a CV, it’s best to leave you to actually do it! I believe these tips could help you and I really want to know the results, too, so, get back at me and tell me - Which of these tips are you planning to use to improve your CV?

Top Photo Credit: kievbiznes.org.ua