We have all heard the frightening statistics that employers only spend approximately seven seconds looking over a CV. If you want to impress a company or a recruitment agency, you must get it right the first time and you will go straight to the interview process.
What your CV includes and looks likes depends on the industry and role you are applying for. But all CVs must follow a similar structure to get noticed.
Whether you are wondering how to write a CV for the first time or simply updating your current CV. Our recruitment agency has created a guide with the top 2023 tips on how to write a CV. This guide includes insider tips from our Scancruit recruitment team. It will help you get noticed for all the right reasons.
Tailor your CV to the Specific Job
We can’t mention this enough, make sure to read the job description from beginning to end. Make sure to understand what the employer is looking for and what the role requires. If you understand the job description you will immediately give yourself an advantage in the competition of candidates. Besides that, you must research the company itself. Perhaps you can find some information about the values and culture in the company. Which you can include in the CV, which will show that you fit in.
Highlight Keywords in your CV
Many employers and recruitment companies use ATS systems to scan applications before they are seen by human eyes. These systems can scan CVs for specific keywords or phrases related to the role and job description. If you CV doesn’t include these words and phrases, you might not make it past this stage. Therefor, it is important to highlight keywords and specific skills listed in the job description, and include them in your CV. If the job description mentions specific skills like ‘good communication skills or attention to details’. Make sure to highlight those words somewhere.
Make your CV Relevant
When writing your CV, keep returning to the job description and ask yourself whether the information you have included is truly relevant. You don’t want to undersell yourself. But as mentioned previously in this post, you only got seconds to make an impression. In terms of the length, our recruitment agency recommends you to keep your CV maximum 2 pages. This might seem difficult if you have many years of working experience, but everything you include should be essential and written as concisely as possible. If you are a recent graduate, you may even want to stick to one page.
Your work Experience and Skills
As mentioned, you must keep your CV relevant, which means you should only cover your most recent work experience and what is relevant for the role you are applying for. You must list your employment history from the most recent to the oldest as your current role is most relevant for the employer and for the recruitment companies. For each position you must include your job title, the name of the company, the period you worked in the company and a short description which summarises the role.
Our recruitment agency recommends that you describe the role in three to four bullet points, which explains the most relevant responsibilities, achievements, and skills you gained while working in that role. If you are a fresh graduate or low in work experience, you might also want to add a section which explains more about your interest in the job, your skills, and relevant hobbies.
Choose a Professional Design
The first impression matter. If an employer or a recruitment agency finds your CV visually confusing or overwhelming, there is a risk your CV will not be taken into consideration. Make sure to choose a professional design, with concise wording, clean spaces and a consistent font size and style. Many recruitment companies recommend choosing the fonts Arial and Calibri, and to stay between 10- and 12-point size. Since it looks good on both printed paper and digital.
Summaries your Qualifications
This section must include any education you have completed or other relevant qualifications. Make sure to include where you went to school, information about the type of degree and other relevant training and courses. You should list your educational experience and qualifications from the most recent to the oldest, as well as writing it clearly and concise, for recruitment companies and employers to easily review your CV. If you recently finished your education, you may want to include more details, like any relevant projects, modules, and assignments.
Conclusion
Finding a job is never easy, so make sure to not give up your interview spot because you didn’t spend enough time on your CV. Take the time to tailor your CV and make it the best you can. Do you want to make the CV-writing process even easier for yourself? Buy a professional CV with Scancruit CV Service.
