We know a thing or two about CVs here at Unity Recruitment. Thousands of resumes pass through our hands every year and it's easy to separate the good from the bad.
Poor-quality CVs tend to feature the same old mistakes and these can ruin someone's chances of securing a new job. After all, even if you've got all the necessary skills and experience, you'll struggle to get a new position if your CV is letting you down.
Read on for an overview of these common failings and what you can do to avoid them.
Poor presentation
Recruiters look at thousands of CVs and will normally make a snap decision about whether a candidate is worthy of closer attention or not. This means presentation is crucial. If your CV looks disordered and the important information isn't easy to find, recruiters will simply discard it.
CVs should be structured with the most relevant information as close to the top of the page as possible, where it is easy to see. If this is buried further down the document, there's a good chance recruiters will never find it.
Keeping your CV as concise as possible is important. Trimming your resume down so it's no more than two pages at the very most can be difficult and may take a lot of time and effort, but it will be worth it, as recruiters love a CV that is short, easy to read and doesn't waste their time with irrelevant information. Remember, anything you don't say on your CV can always be mentioned in your cover letter.
Nothing new
When you have to look at CVs for a living, you become very used to reading the same old cliched stock phrases. Countless numbers of resumes are filled with generic statements such as 'I am a very hard worker' or 'I am dedicated and driven'. These essentially tell a recruiter nothing and will be repeated on most of the other CVs they look at.
To make your CV stand out it should say something about you as an individual. Try and demonstrate what you have actually achieved in your previous jobs, rather than simply recycling tired cliches.
It's also important to ensure your CV is customised to suit the specific job you are applying for. Sending out a stock document for every single position is unlikely to get you very far.
Attention to detail
Nothing kills a CV like a lack of attention to detail. If a recruiter spots a typo in the first couple of sentences, it's unlikely they will read on any further. Many people forget to include important information on their CV. Indeed, we've even come across some that even fail to include the candidate's name!
Take the time to carefully check your CV for any errors and make sure nothing is missing. Get a friend or relative to have a look if you're worried you might have missed something.
Now that you've improved your CV, it's time to go out and get that new job. Have a look at the vacancies we currently have on offer and see what takes your fancy.
