Top Tips for a Winning CV

What can you do to maximise your chances in today’s job market?

The market is tougher than ever.  Employers are insisting on increasingly rigorous selection procedures and professional recruiters are being inundated with speculative applications.  Career changes at all levels now are often dictated by external pressures rather than individuals managing their own development and seeking to progress as a matter of choice.

So, that’s the rather gloomy context out of the way.  What can you do to maximise your chances in today’s job market?  A crucial early step is to get a meeting or an interview with targeted professional or corporate recruiters.  Whether your route is a response to a job advertisement, through networking or a speculative approach, you need to persuade your audience to meet you.  This is where a professional, well-written CV will make a difference. 

Most senior executives will have seen many CVs during their careers, using them as the basis for important recruitment decisions and forming judgements about their authors.  However, this does not make them experts when it comes to writing their own CV.  Here are some key points to bear in mind when writing your CV:

1. Keep it brief and make everything you include count.  Most careers can be represented effectively over two sides and summarised in one page.  A longer CV will simply not receive the attention of your reader and excessive content may dilute the impact of your biggest selling points.
2. Set the context.  Don’t assume that recruiters – even experts in your field – know all about your past or present company, division or particular role.  Give some information about the business activities, size, scope, ownership and relevant history.
3. Write about achievements, not responsibilities.  This is the difference between what you actually did and what you were supposed to do.  Think about what you did, how and with what outcome for the business, using measurements and financials where possible.
4. Summarise early career.  The last five to 10 years will form the basis of most pre-selection decisions.
5. Omit superfluous information.  This is back to point number one – will your interest in golf, your spouse’s name and the number of children you have influence a recruiter to interview you?  If not then this is information you can and should leave out.
6. Be honest and accurate.  While the CV is clearly a sales document and should be written in a way that presents you in the best possible light, it must not include untruths.  Employment contracts usually include the right of the employer to dismiss employees who have falsified information in their application.
7. Use a clear, consistent format and human check as well as spell check.   Spelling mistakes and poor presentation suggest a similarly shabby approach to business so make sure that your CV is presented to the highest standard and creates a positive first impression.

Once you have developed your CV, resist the temptation to tick it off on your ‘To Do’ list.  A CV needs to be a live document, amended and refined on an ongoing basis whether you are seeking employment or not.  Keep it consistent with developments in your professional life as well as with other information sources such as LinkedIn.

Above all, your mindset, and your CV, need to reflect the fact that you have had an interesting, successful career and that you have a lot to offer prospective employers.  Taking time to consider and assess your achievements, then committing them to paper can, in itself, be a constructive, confidence building process.  If you are struggling – get some help, either a friend, trusted colleague or professional CV writer.  This is too important to leave to chance.

Janet Moran
Managing Director, The CV House Limited