For every job post, HR professionals
get a hundred applicants or more than. And this is just through job boards, you can add LinkedIN,
Facebook, The company website and WhatsupAPP to the mix and chances are that
your CV is couple of thousand hoping to be picked up for review.
Screening these CVs to find the most suitable candidates to interview is one of
the most important functions in the talent acquisition process. In its current
states , Its also the most tedious and
error prone. But we will leave that for another article . Assuming that your CV
actually gets shortlisted for review, you have one chance to get the attention
of the HR manager and get shortlisted for an interview . Make sure you give it
the attention that it deserves. Here are 6 CV writing essentials, We think you
should keep in mind with writing your CV:
KEEPING IT TO TWO OR THREE PAGES:
Considering that the reviewer probably has under a minute to probably has under
a minute to review your
CV , it is
important to keep it short and readable. When you sit
down to write a CV the general tendency is to want to describe everything in
great detail . you need to control this urge and think from the reviewers’
point of view . They have a minute to review your CV , so it is best to be
short and to the point , keeping the most important aspects of each role
right at the top . It should be easy enough for the reviewer to go through
your CV and still understand your core competencies, skills and suitability for
the role .
CUSTOMIZE YOUR CV FOR EACH JOB: Just as you would like to
be treated as an individual within a firm and not a ‘replace-able resource,’
recruiting managers also expect the same from you. If you are going to be sending a generic CV ,
chances are that you are going to get a generic response – which usually is a
‘no’.
Before you
start customizing your CV, make sure you have understood the kind of experience
required for the role that you are applying for. Once you have done that , make
a list of things from your past work experience you feel are in line with the
skills and competencies the role demands and include those in your CV.
INCLUDE NUMBERS, BUT NOT TOO MANY: Adding a few crucial statistics is always
advisable. For example , if you are in a marketing role , it is great for the
reviewer to get an idea what kind of budget you handled. The trick is to not
overdo it . Keep only those statistics that help in getting a clearer
understanding of the scale and scope of your past experiences and highlight the
successes. For example “ Managed accounts in multiple geographies” is perhaps
better written as, “Managed eight accounts across three states .” These two figures help the reviewer
understand your role and add context to the other details in your CV .
STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD: After
you have added all relevant details from the work and education history , give
some information about yourself that you
feel brings out your personality . Most CV's have this in the form of
extracurricular activities, hobbies etc . So if you are a professional dancer ,
or a yoga teacher or a state level
athlete , definitely mention it in your CV. But do not add information for the
sake of filling out a section . In fact , if you do not pursue any hobby , or a
sport it is better to not write generic things like “Travelling ; Surfing the
internet (!!) ; cricket” , and instead write something that you actually do
other than work . If that means mentioning your addiction for reading harry
potter books for the fourth time , so be it . But let it be authentic .
PROOF READ – TWICE: Every
person who reviews CV s will tell you grammatical errors
is the first thing they do. And once they have noticed an error , they cannot unnotice it . They have already made a mental note of the error and carry it with
them for the next minute, and needless to say , not a great start .
After you have written , for matted , edited your CV ,
please proof read it . And once you are done proofreading it , proof read it
again . And again . I cannot underscore the importance of doing this.
MAKE IT LOOK GOOD: After
you have written the first draft of the CV, you now need to make it look good .
Go with a style that is in line with the industry that you are applying for.
Being careful about the finer things like the legibility of the font , the font
size , the colors you pick for the text , etc can become crucial . take a
printout of your CV and see if
everything reads well.
Thanx for reading my blog , Hopefully It will help you .