Building an impressive curriculum vitae or CV is important especially when you are aspiring to get the job you have always desired. Your CV serves as your ticket to secure an interview where you provide necessary facts and achievements about you in front of your possible, and in hopeful cases, future employer.
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With this, it is important to know the right and proper details to add in your resume to ensure that it will go directly to the interview pile rather than the trash bin. Setting together a striking and noteworthy CV is a simple task once you know how to handle it. Why? It’s as basic as detailing your skills and experience in a piece of paper that are tailored-fit to the position you are applying for. Here are the following secrets to writing CVs employers can’t ignore:
Gather all the basics
This means ensuring your resume entails all the important details about you simply by putting your name, location, age, brief personal description, objectives, skills, educational background, and work experience. Here’s the rundown:
All the basic information about you such as your name, location, age, and contact information must be placed at the topmost part of your CV. To ensure your name is visible for your employer’s perusal, place it in bold letters and slightly bigger than the rest. Remember that your name is your most valuable possession.
After that, follow it by inserting your objectives for applying for the job. Though this is not always necessary, writing an objective must be concise and straightforward.
Furthermore, your educational background and work experience should be detailed. If you are an achiever in college with honors and awards, be sure to include that in your CV. Aside from this, include your school, degree, and curricular activities in school. Furthermore, your work experience must also be as detailed with brief descriptions of your nature of work.
In your brief personal description and skills, ensure that you are not overdoing it. After all, a good CV contains comprehensive and not overwhelming facts about you. Avoid using flowery language that you normally do in essays. Keep it short and simple, while using the right and positive keywords to interest future employers. An impressive CV follows quality over quantity.
Moreover, always read the spelling of job titles, business names, and the phone numbers of your references.
No more than two pages
An impressive CV doesn’t mean a long and boring one. It is important to have a clear and concise vision of every necessary detail about you without waffling. Research suggests employees should have a maximum of two pages in an A4 paper.
The reason for this is streamlining the important details which will be integral in giving a positive response to the employers. It is also safe to note that employers receive a handful of CVs a day for the same position, which means reading all of them is unlikely. Furthermore, some conclude a judgment within portions of a CV.
Sending out a CV with more than two pages suggests you have a great story to tell. But if these stories are not worth remembering, why would you include them? It is significant to only include relevant material that will help you score an interview and eventually get the job. It’s is not all about every task you made, but the impact you make with concise words.
Take advantage of your skills and experience
Such skills must help you stand out among your pool of competition. If you are confused with your resume you can use any service for help, like get academic help. If you had relevant experiences in college, include that. If you learned new skills from your previous employment, make sure to include that as well. However, this doesn’t mean including each college course and certifications you earned.
Such skills include the following:
- Communication skills
- Computer skills
- Team working
- Problem solving
- Speaking a foreign language
Apart from this, make sure to make an interesting list of your hobbies and interests to show diversity in your qualifications. Furthermore, use positive and powerful words in your work descriptions such as established, organized, and achieved.
Matching each requirement is one successful trick to establish interest. Every CV is a potential ticket to an interview, and if lucky a new job.
Base your CV on the job
Whenever you apply for a certain position, it is advisable to take note of the job description before sending your resume. Take note of the necessary detail and tailor it to your CV afterward. If you lack the experience, make sure to fill the relevant skills you have which are fit for the position you are applying for.
This is called tailoring your CV. Whenever it’s included in your personal statement or placed throughout the entire resume, the keywords necessary for the position you’re applying for must show in the pages of your CV. Research shows that 61% of employer want a customized CV fit for the open position rather than a generic one. To maximize this, address the specific sections relevant to their criteria and include work-related interests and hobbies.
Include an online portfolio and other relevant social media links
You have the option of including a link to your blog in your CV for the reason that it provides examples of your work and even personal life and achievements. This trick will help your employers understand a sense of you on a personal level. Furthermore, you may also include other links such as your LinkedIn and other social media websites to showcase your connections.
Consider the aesthetic of your CV
There’s beauty in art appreciation. An organized CV doesn’t need to be boring thus it should be visually compelling. Make sure it’s symmetrical and spaced properly so the employers will not get confused when reading your resume.
Furthermore, one tip is to insert icons of your previous employers because it adds color to your CV that may result to immediate recognition for your possible employer.
You have the option of making it in either sections format or in a timeline structure. However, a visually appealing CV won’t make up for poor content.
Always update your CV
It’s vital to always review your CV every chance you get. By doing this, you have the option to add new set skills or experiences that you get along the way. For instance, if you joined a charitable organization or did some volunteering or even worked on a new project, it is advisable to include that in your resume.
Employers are more often than not impressed with an employee who always challenges themselves to boost their own skills and experience.
Now that you have the necessary information on how to make an impressive CV, it is now time to take matters into your own hands and start building them. Just remember to always streamline the facts, make it simple and concise, tailor-fit, aesthetically pleasing, and interesting.
Furthermore, an impressive resume is a detailed summary of your skills and experiences in no more than two pages. So it is advisable to tell a good story about what you, as an employee, can offer to the company and position you’re applying for. Lastly, listing every task you did is not necessary because relevance is more important.
About the author:
Norman Arvidsson is a marketing expert, blogger, and entrepreneur from Sweden. He is a popular guest contributor and writer. Norman knows everything about different business structures, internet marketing, and HR. Follow @NormanArvidsson on Twitter.
