Top Tips on Creating the Best CV
Posted on 24th June 2020 at 17:09
Did you know that the average time that a recruiter will look at a CV is only 7 seconds?
Applications since lockdown have increased over 7-fold?
How can you make sure that your CV stands out compared to your competition - how does yours compare to our checklist below?
1. Contact details at the top
Make sure that right at the top there is your name, mobile number, email address and at least the town and postcode of where you live so recruiters know that you are in the correct location. They won't spend time calling you to find out where you are based so make it easy for them!
2. Profile
Underneath your contact details have about 5 lines explaining your skills and experiences as well as what you are looking for now - think of it as your headline that needs to want to make them read further.
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3. Start with your most recent job first
CVs should read from your current role backwards - not the other way round. Your most recent position is the most important one as this is what you are currently doing.
4. Two pages!
Your CV should be no longer than 2 pages - they won't be read so why have information further down than this?
5. Reduce your job history
As the world is moving so quickly, anything longer ago than the last 10 years isn't relevant. You don't need to go all the way back to your paper round! You shouldn't be judged on your age and therefore you don't need to share everything.
6. Remove anything that isn't work related that people may judge you on
This includes - date of birth, photos, marital status, children, religion. They aren't relevant to your application and may be used as evidence against you.
7. Interests section
If you include a hobbies and interests section - make sure it is interesting! A CV is a pretty dry document and therefore this is an opportunity to write a couple of lines of how you like to spend you spare time. "Walking, running, swimming" is very unsatisfactory.
8. References
Finish your CV with the line "References Available on Request". This helps recruiters know that there isn't any more to follow and means that you keen control of your references. If someone wants to take up a reference they will need the details from you. There are also GDPR issues with putting reference details on your CV.
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