I still remember the day when I first got rejected applying for a sales job during my college life. I was so desperate wanting to get a part time job, unfortunately, my CV got rejected. None of the companies replied back with some good news. After a while, I realized that there must be something wrong with my CV. I went to the expert and found out that my CV was not really strong. It was too detail and too general. I did not really focus on my strong skills related to the job that I applied to.
As my friend told me, “When you are applying for a job, just imagine yourself selling ice cubes in the north pole. If you can convince someone to buy your an ice cube which’s highly unlikely someone will not buy due to the extremely cold temperature, you are a good sales and you can be successful everywhere.”
Not long afterwards, I realized that my friend was absolutely right. Everything begins with the needs. Bearing in mind that if you can fill in the gap in order to meet the needs, you will get hired. That’s why in every interview that I have been so far, every recruiters always ask me, “why should we hire you?” If you cannot convince them, most-likely you won’t get the job. However, the first step to get hired is to write your CV that attracts the company inviting you for an interview.
Here are some advise (5-S) from my previous experience of how to build your powerful CV:
- Simple — Your CV must be easy to understand both for yourself and others. If you could describe your complete working experience in a simple way. It is not only helping you to get an interview, but also to make you understand better about your expertise. I have seen many CEOs, and Business Owners made their CVs very very simple but yet powerful. For instance, instead of putting so many detail descriptions on your CV, it is better to mention the actual facts and numbers of your achievement from your previous jobs. This authentic numbers will make your CV 10x much stronger.
“I think there is a profound and enduring beauty in simplicity; in clarity, in efficiency. True simplicity is derived from so much more than just the absence of clutter and ornamentation. It’s about bringing order to complexity.” — Apple’s Jony Ive —
2. Short— Since most of the recruiters receive hundreds of thousands of applications each day, there is higher chances that your CV won’t be fully read 100%. Therefore, you have to make your CV short and to the point so that the recruiters could get the impression that you are the right candidate for the job. Keep the formatting classic and to the point as well. How your resume looks is almost as important as how it reads. Use a simple font (such as Times New Roman, Arial or Bevan), black ink on white or ivory colored paper, and wide margins (about 1″ on each side). Avoid bold or italic lettering. Ensure your name and contact information are clearly and prominently displayed.
3. Sweet — The beauty of writing CV itself lies on the way you deliver the information about your previous experience. It is almost 99.99% correlated to the grammar. Making sure there is no typos, will make your CV much sweeter for reading it. Therefore, you must do your homework, proofread it. Review your resume several times for grammatical or spelling errors. Even something as simple as a typo could negatively impact your ability to land an interview, so pay close attention to what you’ve left on the page. Have one or two other people look at it as well.
4. Stand-up for yourself — A good CV will give you some additional effect of making you a perfect candidate. By putting several different achievement with a detail numbers will make your CV stronger and much appealing for the recruiters. Moreover, the years of experience also give an enormous impact on showing your capability and credibility. In addition, you also must be positive — put yourself over confidently and highlight your strong points. For example, when listing your A-levels, put your highest grade first. In this case, you also have to be honest. Although a CV does allow you to omit details (such as exam resits) which you would prefer the employer not to know about, you should never give inaccurate or misleading information. CVs are not legal documents and you can’t be held liable for anything within, but if a recruiter picks up a suggestion of falsehoods you will be rapidly rejected. An application form which you have signed to confirm that the contents are true is however a legal document and forms part of your contract of employment if you are recruited.
Do you know that average graduates sent out 25 letters per interview gained and the average graduate will send out about 70 CVs when looking for their first graduate job. Of these, the average number of responses will be 7 including 3 to 4 polite rejections and the remainder inviting the graduate to interview or further contact.
5. Specific— Last but not least, your CV has to be specific. Don’t be too naive by putting all of unnecessary skills that you have, in order to impress your prospective employers. Believe me, it is not going to help you in the long run. The more specific your CV, the more authentic it would be. It shows that you are the one who meets all the requirements plus some added values that you could bring to the company. Therefore, you have to be specific and concise. A CV is an appetizer and should not give the reader indigestion. Don’t feel that you have to list every exam you have ever taken, or every activity you have ever been involved in consider which are the most relevant and/or impressive. The best CVs tend to be fairly economical with words, selecting the most important information and leaving a little something for the interview: they are an appetiser rather than the main course. Good business communications tend to be short and to the point, focusing on key facts and your CV should to some extent emulate this. The longer and more dense your CV is, the harder it is for an employer to comprehend your achievements.
As Mark Twain said: “If only I had more time, I would write thee a shorter letter”.