Nicole Healey, Talent Acquisition Consultant at Human – People & Search shares her insights into improving the quality and effectiveness of your CV.
A CV (or Resume for my US connections), either way it’s often your only opportunity to make that first impression. It’s commonly known that some hiring managers or selection panels will take as little as 6-8 seconds to scan a CV before deciding on your eligibility for the role in question.
As a Talent Acquisition consultant I’ve seen my fair share of CV’s and when speaking with potential candidates I often hear “I have a CV but it’s not up to date” or “can I send you a copy of my CV? but just to warn you, it’s not the best”, there can be varying reasons for this but I find the most common to be:
Lack of confidence We spend our time making a significant impact in our organisation – looking outwards BUT how often do we take a step back and reflect on the impact we have actually made? Where do we begin? It’s the fear of rejection, the ‘putting yourself out there’, if your CV isn’t where it could be, the outcome could have probably been different….
So here are a few suggestions I often share with the candidates I work with:
Focus on your achievements don’t just list your responsibilities. Take a step back and reflect on the significant measurable achievements you have made to your current or previous employer and quantify it in numbers, fractions, pounds and percentages!
What problems were you hired to solve? What did you do? How did you do it? What were the results = £10,000/57% etc = achievement number 1 for your new and improved CV!
Showcase the benefits you bring Those achievements you’ve made, they translate to the benefits you brought to your employer and in turn, we can safely assume they are the benefits you can offer to your future employer too.
Keep it concise and clean stick to two pages if you can, make it scannable! Bullet points are a great way to highlight key points and break up long paragraphs. Use a clear and easy on the eye font. Graphics, images or ‘fancy’ designs are personal preferences but ask yourself if they could be distracting from the information you actually want to get across.
And please, please, please don’t add a photo!
If I can help anybody feel more confident about their CV and in applying for their next opportunity, please feel free to drop me a message and good luck!
Nicole