We as Recruiters see many CVs each and every day. We see CVs that are great and others that need a little more work to make them perfect. In this article we explain how to make a CV that stands out from the rest, one that showcases you and all your skills and achievements.
A CV is your opportunity to sell yourself and show what you have to offer your potential employers. A brief yet detailed CV will set you apart from other applicants and increase your chances of being selected for the role. According to Robert Meier, President of Job Market Experts, 98% of applicants are eliminated during the initial CV screening process. This shows the importance of creating a great CV, use this as a chance to outline your skills, knowledge and experiences and let your CV do the talking for you.
Lets break it down and take a look at the most important parts of your CV:
Personal Details
At the top of your CV you need to include your personal details. Write your name, location, email address and phone number. There is no need to give your home address or your date of birth. This would also be a good place to include any links to your Linked In profile, personal website or GitHub. These can be a great way for you to show off your skills and projects.
Personal Summary
Start with a brief personal summary, a small paragraph explaining who you are, a description of your experience and your main skills. Give a little sample of what you have to offer a potential employer. You want to hook the reader in so they continue to read the rest of your CV. On average it takes a recruiter or potential employer 10 seconds to see if you are a suitable candidate for the role. Include the industries you have worked within and the kind of environments. Describe relevant achievements and projects that you are proud of. It is important to keep it brief whilst ensuring you include key words that can be picked out easily.
Work Experience
In this section you need to give details of your current and past work experiences. Start with your most recent job and work backwards. Include the job title, company name and the dates of employment. Use 4-6 bullet points to list your key responsibilities, projects worked on, outcomes and achievements. You need to also list all skills and languages used. Give details of any mentoring, leadership or management. Here you can list all reverent roles including junior, internships and placements.
Education
Next you need to list any relevant qualifications and courses you have completed. Again list these in reverse chronological order, outlining the qualification and grade, the name of the institution, the location and the years you studied there.
Skills
This is one of the most crucial sections within your CV. This is where you showcase you skills and knowledge. The experience section will answer questions on what you have done in the past whereas the skills section will show what you are capable of. List all relevant skills that you have experience with, include your full tech stack, backend and frontend where applicable. Outline best practices, communication and people skills and languages spoken.
Final points
To add more detail, incorporate any additional skills, qualifications and experiences you feel may be relevant to the role, such as side or personal projects, your interests and hobbies and tech languages you are keen to explore and learn.
Ensure your CV is neat and broken down into the above sections using subheadings. Use an appropriate font and try to stick to one or two pages. Before you submit your CV, make sure you have proof read and spell checked. Maybe ask a family member or friend to also read though it to double check.
Save your finished CV as a PDF file unless the recruiter or employer asks otherwise. There is no need to add references on you CV, this has become a dated practice. Employers may ask for these details later on during the hiring process.
Hopefully by following this guidance you will be able to create a great CV with little stress.
Here is an example of a perfect CV using the information above -
Sources -
https://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=184277#.Usw5G7GEit9