Your CV is a crucial document in the recruitment process. Yes, it needs to show a hiring manager who you are and what you’ve achieved. However, the process of selling yourself with a CV also involves being able to identify the needs of the business – or the problems it currently has – and demonstrate how hiring you could provide the ideal solution. If your CV hasn’t been generating much in the way of results recently then it might be time to rewrite it and sell yourself with your CV.
Choose your language carefully
It always helps to make sure you’re speaking the same language as the person who is reading your CV. Integrate industry-specific words and phrases and describe your career through the lens of what is likely to be sector-relevant.
Give the reader what they want
Open your CV in a way that will instantly answer the hiring manager’s key questions about your suitability for the role. There are a number of ways in which you can do this, from having a tag line under your name or incorporating a quote from a previous employer, to starting with the role you’re applying for, followed by a brief profile.
Match experience to need
A future employer doesn’t need to know about everything you have achieved – in fact this could be distracting. What’s more important is to be able to match up your skills and experience to the needs and demands of the business and the role in question. If you can structure your CV so that you come across as the solution to a sector trend the business is trying to tap or a particular obstacle it currently faces, your CV will be much more appealing than if the hiring manager has to try and make these connections themselves.
Don’t dilute your message
The focus of your CV should be on what you can deliver to the role. Questions relating to any gaps in your work history or previous employers are often better left for the interview stage. It’s all too easy to overcomplicate a CV by including too much explanation to questions that haven’t even been asked. What can you bring to the business and how are you specifically ideally suited for this role? If you’re tempted to include information that doesn’t support that question then it’s often better to simply leave it out.
Don’t state the obvious
This is especially so when it comes to listing your duties in a previous role. Instead of wasting precious CV space on the duties that a potential employer is probably well aware would have been standard for that position, focus on what made you unique in that role instead. What did you achieve that was out of the ordinary and how did you go above and beyond what anyone else in the same role could have achieved?
It’s well worth reassessing your CV to ensure that it’s a powerful document that really works. When it comes to the recruitment process, only the most targeted CVs tend to make it through.
Get in touch with 2i Recruit today for help finding the right opportunity for you.
Contact 2i Recruit