Why is it so hard to make a CV?
Here you are again, staring at a blank Word document. Almost immediately, all memory of ever being employed disappears from your mind. You’re drawing a blank. Why is it SO hard to get started on writing your CV?
A hill looks much harder to climb from the flat ground below. We know CV writing isn’t a skill everyone’s honed. It requires a decent amount of introspection (uncomfortable...) and the ability to articulate in a strange, results-focused way.
Most of us don’t spend our days talking like this.
Imagine sitting in a bar, and someone approaches to ask your name and what you do.
You clear your throat, and reel off the following.
“Highly skilled senior manager with 5 years’ experience executing and developing IT strategies and aligning them with business vision. Proven leadership skills. Confident collaborating with senior stakeholders, and external professionals, to successfully reach goals.”
The person gives you a confused look. “Sorry, what?”
Yeah, that’s one way to lose your audience.
But there’s a status quo for CV writing that many of us are scared to disrupt. After all, it’s a proven formula, right? Even if we don’t fully understand it, or whether our CVs are any good...
Why not use this new year to kickstart a new you? Let me take you through 5 ways to spruce up your CV, ready for a new role.
What should I include in a CV?
Your CV should include only relevant experience related to the job you’re applying for. Did you catch that?
TO THE JOB YOU’RE APPLYING FOR.
We know it’s a lot of work, but if you’re not tailoring your CV to each application, you’re missing a trick. Put simply, other people are, and their CVs are going to look a lot more attractive to the hiring manager or recruiter.
Your CV should include:
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A header containing your name and contact details. You could even add your availability here.
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A personal profile/summary introducing what you’re looking for, and your core strengths Work experience, ideally in reverse chronological order (most recent first)
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Education section, again in reverse chronological order
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Skills section (highly tailored to the job you’re applying for)
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Short, direct sections. Nothing over a page.
What should I not include in a CV?
We don’t want to make any blanket statements here, but if you’re looking for ways to shorten your CV, this might help:
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Unexplained gaps in employment (more on this below)
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Lies. Don’t inflate qualifications, promote yourself post-P45, or make up achievements.
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Too much content, taking it over a page. If you’re going for your first senior management job, we don’t need to see your Duke of Edinburgh Silver award. It just wastes space.
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Bad formatting. Tiny text, weird fonts, and unnecessary design are all ways to make your CV unattractive, even if the content is great.
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Meaningless summary paragraphs
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Too-specific jargon. You may think the recruiter knows their CTR from their CRO, but that’s not always the case. Focus on the impact of the metric instead. You might have grown CTR from 2 to 6%, increasing leads, but in real terms what did you do? Independently increased leads with email marketing, bringing in £X in new business.
How can I fix problems on my CV?
Scan your CV and pretend to be a recruiter. Be harsh. Do you quickly get an idea of who you are and what you’ve achieved? Or are you losing focus, tripping over poor grammar, and concerned about inconsistent dates or information?
Unless you’re a professional CV auditor, chances are there are a few fixes to be made.
Here’s some examples and how to sort them out.
I have gaps on my CV. How can I explain them?
Periods of unemployment happen to us all, for a variety of reasons. Recruiters are getting better at not eyeing these with suspicion, but you’re still expected to give an explanation.
Whether you went travelling, took time to yourself for personal reasons, or started a family – try to describe the period with a positive spin. Honesty is always best.
You should add the gap in your employment into your chronological experience section. It limits the need for strange formatting or an extra section.
For example:
September 2018-May 2019 – Recovery from illness – Following a severe illness, I took time off to recover. During this period, I completed a Google Analytics 101 course, which counts towards my Marketing accreditation.
My CV is too long. How can I shorten it?
Try to only include relevant (typically most recent experience). Recruiters do need a certain amount of detail under each job to know the context, what the organisation did, and what you achieved. But you may want to reduce the content in the sections under older jobs.
Let’s say you have four previous employers in your experience section. In your most recent role, you were promoted twice. Your first role is a junior position.
Your recent work history here is much more relevant to the application, so expand on this.
You should think carefully about which skills you’re including. Unless absolutely necessary, you don’t need to list the full Microsoft Office Suite – individually no less! - in your skills section.
And really, how many of us are truly ‘Extremely competent at Excel...” Go on. Tell me how to use VLOOKUP. I’ll wait...
My CV has no relevant experience because I’m changing career. What should I do?
If you don’t have the required experience, where do you start?
Well, if you’re sure you could be a great candidate... Don’t rehash irrelevant content. This is your opportunity to start afresh.
First, sit and have a good long look at yourself – metaphorically speaking. Reanalyse your experience and skills. You could do it like this:
| Skill/Experience | In my old role as a sales exec | In the role I want as a marketing exec |
|---|---|---|
| Lead Gen | Lots of research, cold calling, working with marketing to validate and chase up MQLs | Understanding of the sales cycle, what makes a lead high or low intent, how to turn MQLs into pre-sales leads |
Use your summary paragraph to make a strong commitment to the new role and field. Don’t get wordy, just say it as it is.
Cover letters are dying out, but you might still have to write one. If you do, that’s the best place to explain in detail why your skills and experience are better than that of a candidate with more relevant backgrounds.
Highlight valuable non-work-related experience, and especially self-learning or examples of personal projects. You might have a portfolio of work – link it!
A word of caution: don’t ‘stuff’ your CV with keywords
Yes, we all know CV screening software looks for keywords. But use them with caution. Try to include them as organically as possible.
What do I mean by this?
Well, there’s a dangerous myth out there that you can just read the job description, then regurgitate that language to describe your own experience. People who do this tend to use as many key words and phrases as possible in the hopes that they appear most relevant.
Be real! One look at a CV written this way, and a recruiter is laughing all the way to the ‘X’ in the top right-hand corner of their screen. It shows a great lack of sincerity, or ability to articulate using your own words.
Using a relevant keyword or phrase ONCE is enough. Nobody is looking for a higher percentage of ‘PRINCE2’ references, for example. If the right keywords are there, that’s enough to get you through CV screening. What matters most is how you describe and explain your experience.
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