11 Guidelines to follow in CV Writing

This article provides well detailed 11 Guidelines to follow in CV Writing, which may be useful to many Job Seekers. It may be that your are looking to polish up your Curriculum Vitae / CV for a new job, but you are not sure how to best go about it.

Having gone through that as well, i have come up with this article, which will tell guide you on what to do and what not to do, when it comes to writing / rewiring your CV.

It is however very important to always remember that your CV does NOT define WHO you are or WHAT you’re worth. I mean, really, all it is is a piece of paper that the recruiters spend less than 10 seconds looking at.

However, you and I both know all too well that it is essentially this piece of paper that gets you the call back — or not. And that’s why here I offer you tips on how to maximize your chance of getting noticed. Making a good first impression is the first and most important step.

DO NOT HAVE THE FOLLOWING IN YOUR CV :

1. List irrelevant part-time jobs

Think about it: does your primary schools scores or O level results really matter once you’re in college? No.

Similarly, recruiters aren’t interested in how many temporary part time jobs you have had, instead they only want to know what transferable skills you have.

2. Have spelling errors, typos or incorrect grammar, especially if the position you are applying for requires attentiveness to detail (or you wrote somewhere on your CV or cover letter that you have “attention to details“).

Check you didn’t mix up “possess” and “posses,” “madame” and “madam,” “manager” and “manger,” etc. as auto-correct will not correct them! Typos and spelling errors are apparently the number 1 turn off of recruiting managers.

In order to avoid making these silly (yet all too common mistakes) you can try the following:

Have someone else — who is a stickler for grammar — read over your CV.Read it out loud/from the bottom-up.Print out a physical copy and then proofread it.Allow some time before you pick it up again to proofread it one last time.

3. Use third-person — you should avoid using the word “I” (because it’s already assumed that the subject is YOU) but you should all the more avoid using third person. If those experiences are YOUR experiences, why make them sound like they are someone else’s?

4. Use silly or unprofessional email addresses , like [email protected] , that’s just… unprofessional.

5. Write a long objective — ultimately, from the company’s perspective, your objective is to get a job. Besides, the recruiters on average spend 3 seconds looking at your CV, so it’s likely that they’re not even going to read your objective statement. Just get to the meat of it. 

6. Put other companies in Copy of the same email — avoid doing this as it will give the impression that you are sending the same thing over and over to multiple companies without showing regard for their requirements.

11 Guidelines to follow in CV Writing, what to Do

BE SURE YOU DO THE FOLLOWING ON YOUR CV:-

7. OPTIMIZE! Use keywords from the job posting so that your CV makes it past the automated screening (which is often the case with a lot of companies nowadays).

8. Tailor your CV to the specific position you are applying for — don’t give the impression that you’re sending out this same CV to 30 other companies.

9. Show personality (especially if you’re applying for a creative position). You are allowed to be creative (just don’t overdo it). After all, you want your resume to stand out, don’t you? One suggestion is to make your name POP out– you can play around with the font, size, and color to make your name stand out from the page.

10. Put your phone number, even if email is your preferred method of contact (and make sure you have a professional voicemail message set up). If the company is looking to hire immediately, they might call you instead of emailing you. If you don’t pick up or return the call, it’s your loss.

11. Remember that space is limited. You cannot possibly tell your whole life story on a single piece of paper. That’s why you highlight the important parts and save the more in-depth explanations for the interview. Your job at this point is to get them curious!

Now, as for the formatting, here are some [sections] you might want to include in your CV:

Personal information (including education)Work Experiences (jobs + internships)Volunteer Work & extracurricular activitiesLeadership PositionsSkills + AccomplishmentsPersonal Projects or Portfolios (links to published blogs & articles, artwork, etc.)References (upon request)

And finally, feel free to get creative with your CV if you are applying for a creative position! That’s probably your first test!

Once you’ve made past the screening process and are invited for an interview, go show ’em who you are and what you’re all about ;).

Read Also: How to customize your CV to match the job description

Read Also: 10 Tips for filling out an Online Job Application

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