Breaking the code; the art of CV advice

CV advice; from School Careers Advisors (hands up who remembers those “ideal job” quizzes) to books on the subject, the perfect CV template seems to be the Holy Grail!

Ultimately a CV is your sales tool; to show, in an easily digestible format, why you are the right person for the job. Bearing in mind the average recruiter spends no more than seven seconds scanning your CV, you’ve not got a lot of time to make an impact.

As a quick test, stop reading this article and count for seven seconds …………

Not very long is it?

I’ve spent over a decade reviewing and, as a recruitment consultant, rewriting CVs for a range of sectors and experience levels. Over this time, social media has exploded as a recruitment tool, so much so that when discussing CV advice, I always stress this applies to LinkedIn profiles too! From recent Engineering graduates to Marketing Directors, I always ask the same questions:

Are your skills and experience relevant to the role?
Is there evidence to support your skills and experience?

Relevant to the job AND the company

What you include should be relevant to the company; no jargon, acronyms or “insider” references. Don’t feel like you must have held exactly the same job before, consider which of your experiences and skills could be transferred into the job. Show where you have quickly learnt and applied new skills and knowledge to further support how you could bring yourself up to speed quickly!

Relevant information also covers demonstrating you have the right attitude and your values match, this is where your hobbies and interests really help you shine! If you only remember one thing from this article, please let it be that “Socialising with friends” is not a great catch all to include. However, if you are applying to a social media company and you happen to a blogger, make sure you not only include that information but the link too!

Evidence: Facts and Figures

Every relevant piece of information you include, your strengths, skills, experience and interests, should be back with evidence; examples that show your successes and achievements. No generalisations, nothing vague! This includes the eternal bane of my life “I work well independently and with teams”. Fine, include it, but explain how.

Never finish it

Your CV will never be completed; it is a working document that changes every time you apply to a job, take on more responsibility or work on a project. Being agile with your CV is even more important when you are applying to companies speculatively. Not a lot of people realise that around 80% of roles are never advertised. This “hidden job market” is created through networking, proactive approaches and referrals. So your CV needs to tell the story of who you are and what you can do; your strengths (so what you enjoy doing and you are good at) and how you would benefit the employer. This is even more important when considering your social CV; your LinkedIn profile!

Simple as that. You may have the best layout, the perfect word count and personal statement; if the employer can’t see why you are the best person for their job, as an experienced hire or a potential trail blazer, you are going to struggle getting any face time with them! So stop worrying about finding the perfect template for your CV; the only code you need to remember is relevance + evidence = your best CV.