Your CV, also commonly called resume, is the single most important document in your job application. It is your first impression for the recruiter before he/she screening and getting in touch with you. So before going any further, we need to be clear about one thing, there is no such thing as the perfect CV. That is because the content on the ideal CV is determined by the position on the one hand and the applicant on the other hand. So thin information. That means the information on the CV needs to be put in a way that it meets the requirements of a position one is applying for. So when writing your CV you need to ask yourself what do you want the employer to think of you after reading your CV. That way, you can easily know what to include, remove or emphasize. That being said, let’s find below 5 great tips that would help building a powerful CV.
Important and relevant information first
You resume needs to match the job description if you want to stand a chance in your job application. But it doesn’t stop there. It’s important that the most important and relevant experience is mentioned in first position along with your key achievements in your CV. You will need to mention the skills that you, perhaps, have earned through different projects. Or, even better, that are already inherent to your personality…, so as long as they meet the job requirements. And most importantly don’t forget to add keywords that are specific to the industry .
Stand out, be different
One common thing about our resumes is that we usually write them the easy way, which is copy. We copy anything and from anyone (family, friends or templates…). Some of us go as far as copying somebody else’s strengths. You don’t want that, you need your resume to stand out and be different. Remember, your resume is your blueprint. It is the first thing the recruiter sees and screens before getting in touch with you. Thus you need to it right:
- Avoid Clichéed objectives: When writing your objective, you need to be specific. You need to write your objective in a way that it covers the industry you are applying for, the functional rules and skills that support them.
- Standardized content: When searching how to write your resume or what could potentially be relevant, we tend to limit ourselves to standard templates that are found on the internet. Of course it is not all bad, provided that we know exactly what to put in terms of content. But as mentioned above you should avoid standardized content. Thus what would be good, going in that sense is using tools in order to build your own CV. This way you don’t limit yourself to what is given to you, and can even create more rubriques on your CV like your personality or skills, or even project details. That will give the recruiter an overview of who you really are.
Note that you can use tools to make your resume your own, like mind mapping or designing it on ceev (1)
Be precise
There is nothing that could make us lose our minds like not finding what you are looking for, right? Well same goes for the recruiter. When screening your CV, he needs to easily find the information he needs. Thus, when writing your CV, you need to make it easy to go through. Use bullet points if need be. But one important advice is to add a profile summary, that way it will be much easier for the recruiter to go through your resume and easily find what he is looking for.
Convince your recruiter
Important point to be made here, the recruiter obviously needs to be convinced for you to be chosen out of all the applicants. A way to do that is, when building your CV, to use action words, but the right ones. Something like “recognized for responsibility and proactive decisions”, or “After only one year, i earned a promotion to supervisor”. Make your resume live, and be more into the active voice. So, these words will actually help in highlighting why you are fit for the job you are applying for. As a result, they shorten everything and make everything easier to understand.
Emphasize!
This part actually makes your CV much easier to read. When writing your resume, make sure to put the relevant elements in bold writing, be it in the experience, or the education. That way the recruiter doesn’t waste time and can see immediately what company you worked for, or what school or program you attended. So going through your CV should not be a hard time for the recruiter. So in short, we need to remember, as afore mentioned, that there is no such thing as the perfect CV, but there is a great CV. Each of these five elements is in itself a way to write a very good resume. However by putting them together, you can easily get an easy to read, clear, precise and powerful CV. Good luck! By Mahmoud Diop LO Sources:
- Ceev, design your resume — https://ceev.io/