How to Make Your CV Stand Out from The Crowd
Your Curriculum Vitae, popularly shortened as CV, is a written account of your personal statement, education, work experience, skills, and certifications. It is your strongest connection to getting a job. With the technological boom of our 21st-century world, a big percentage of recruiters have begun to request soft copy uploads of CVs, on their application website as part of their recruitment process. Many job seekers have also testified that having a printed copy on hand during an interview shows readiness.
Why do recruiters ask for a CV? Because the CV is a detailed summary of you and the reasons why you should be selected. It is your professional profile on a page. It makes job recruitment processes easier.
Today, almost every student, fresh graduate, active job seeker, or even employee seeking a better position to grow their career has come to know how essential a CV is and a good majority have at least a copy on their mobile phone or laptop. How then do you make your CV stand out from the crowd? After all, preparing a Curriculum Vitae means you look forward to securing a job presently or in the near future. So, how do you ensure your CV passes across the ‘pick me’ message you intend it to? How do you make it standard and desirable so that recruiters go through it and then contact you for an interview? Look no more! This article has prepared tips and details that will help you create an excellent CV that will grab attention wherever it is submitted and point you out in a sea of applicants. Dig in.
- Make Preparation: As with any other important document, you should make preparations before writing your Curriculum Vitae. To make sure you are on the right track, talk to people who have successfully created a CV and used it to apply and get a job. There are a lot of samples and templates available for download online. Make research and make sure you are using a standard style that is generally accepted.
- Work on Your Personal Statement: For most CV writing styles and templates, the personal statement comes directly after your name and contact information and is therefore like a landing page. This means that you should make sure it is eye-catching. A good personal statement gives you a strong start. How do you do that? Your statement should emphasize and summarize the skills and achievements you have in your CV. Here is an example of a statement written by a linguist applying for a translation job:
‘I am a trained linguist with experience in translation and interpretation. I speak English, Spanish, and French, all at an expert level. In addition, I am a committed worker and I have excellent technical and soft skills.’
A good statement should be brief and concise.
- Organize it: Your Curriculum Vitae is an opportunity to present yourself on paper. If it is not arranged properly, it rubs off on you as a person. Take note of organization like listing your work experience from the most recent to the oldest.
- Sell Yourself: Talk about your skills in detail. Treat yourself as a brand that has all the requirements for the job then do well to list them. Certificates obtained from online or skill acquisition classes are an added bonus. Every industry-related skill is relevant no matter how little. Leadership roles held in school or extracurricular activities like volunteering can make the list too. Make sure your contact information, including your LinkedIn or social media handles, is in top shape. Recruiters do background checks some of the time. If you are providing referees, talk to them before adding their names and contact information. Use people with who you are well acquainted and people who would give a good reference. Listing experienced referees will show that you have a good network.
- Use Keywords: What are the key requirements of the job you are submitting a CV for? Are there qualities or skills the job specifically needs? Go through the job description and find these keywords. Look out for keywords like ‘communication skills, ‘innovative’, ‘tech-driven, or ‘confident’ and use them. Some recruiters use a software program to read through CVs and using keywords will make yours stand out.
- Alter Your CV according to the Job You are Applying for: Requirements for jobs differ. As an active job seeker or someone who is planning to grow their career, you should be aware that your CV is not meant to be written once and used permanently. Learn to add new skills and certifications acquired or even rewrite your personal statement when required. Structure your Curriculum Vitae to fit into the job you are presently applying for. Use keywords that apply specifically to the industry. List skills the job demands that you possess.
- Make it Brief: Your Curriculum Vitae should not be more than two pages. A one-paged CV that contains the necessary information is commendable. A lengthy CV detracts from its purpose and will likely not attract a recruiter. Do not put unnecessary details like where you are from, your age, or describe your physical appearance. Your Curriculum Vitae should be professional and straight to the point.
- Make it Readable and Error Free: Use a layout that makes it easy to locate important segments in your document. There are many templates on the internet but go for one that makes it easy to outline all parts of your CV. A Curriculum Vitae does not have to be fanciful or contain embellishments. Use a simple font style like Times New Roman and standard font size. Another important point is to read your document before uploading or printing it. Keep an eye out for typographical errors and unpunctuated sentences. Use uppercases where necessary, like in writing the names of institutions or cities. Make sure dates are correct too and your use of grammar should be Dot all I’s and cross all T’s. You can ask a friend to edit and go through your document before submission.
Final Thoughts
With these eight tips, you are assured that your Curriculum Vitae will be in top shape. So, go ahead and work on your document, submit it, and get that job!