Your CV/résumé has to be perfect.
- CV/résumé or curriculum vitae – your need to get it right
Competition is so strong however that, whether you are applying for an internal role or a newly advertised post, your CV/résumé needs to be in tip-top shape.
CV/résumé ideas
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Never send your CV/résumé as attachment – insert into body of email to avoid being filtered as spam from larger companies.
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Make sure your CV/résumé is up-to-date and matches the role that you are interested in. No recruiter wants to read an introductory paragraph about someone that is not relevant to the role they are looking to fill.
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Ensure that the CV/résumé is keyword rich and fill in all the “optional” information requested by online application process- recruiters often actually sort by optional information to filter out applicants.
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Avoid any and all abbreviations, (“etc.”, “Mgr” vs. Manager) , as this is often seen as sign of laziness. Recruiters may assume that the job-seeker “can’t even take the time to list out all of [his] duties.” Apparently this error is often found in both junior – and executive-level CV/résumés.
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In addition, it is unwise to add on your CV/résumé ‘same as above’. Even if you have had a similar role previously, you must bullet point some alternative text demonstrating your successes in each role.
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Make sure that the format of your CV/résumé is relevant to the role and level your are applying for and the quality and length of the content is equal to the role.
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Give examples of actual competencies. All CV/résumés will include some skills, to be different you need to detail your stories on what you accomplished using these competencies.*
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Ensure that email address included on CV/résumé is professional and relatively generic- it’s a good idea to create one to use for all potential professional correspondence, and they’re free!
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Do your research: get familiar with the people running your hopeful workplace. Seek them out on LinkedIn and learn the inner company ladder. It’s unlikely that anyone be listed as simply “Hiring Manager”, so search instead for “Director” or “Vice President” and go from there. Target your approach using their language.
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Make sure your CV/résumé is ACTIVE. Write using strong active verbs describing your achievements and giving the reader something to grab their attention
Though job hunting may feel frantic and hurried, it’s important to take a moment to pause and focus on the smaller details – these little things add up to a much larger and much more appealing portrait of a potential employee in the eye of the employer!
For more help on attracting employers to your CV/résumé, contact us.
*This is probably the most important of all tips. STORIES. You need to be a STAR.
