A CV is an applicant’s chance to show the hiring manager of a role the value they can bring to the job but quite often, candidates do not make it past this stage. They lose their chances at jobs they applied to not for incompetence or ineptitude but for avoidable errors.
Research has shown that regardless of how much experience you may have writing and crafting CVs, you are still prone to make mistakes. This makes sense as many hiring managers want CVs that are quite literally perfect. To ensure they get the best person for the role, they seek reasons why every candidate may and may not be right for the role. Therefore, you must ensure that your CV is as impressive and well-written as possible.
In this article, we have highlighted 6 mistakes to avoid making when crafting a CV. They include:
Many hiring managers have said that receiving a CV that is not specific to the job in question implies a lack of interest and connection. You see, every job is unique. Two jobs with the same job title can be very different from each other. While a ‘customer relations officer’ in company A may be involved in sales and support, in company B, the ‘customer relations officer’ may be strictly involved in support.
This means that employers can easily tell when you have adequately read the job description by the things you have on your CV. Your CV should be the highlight reel of your experiences as related to the job in question. Read the job description carefully and ensure you understand what the hiring manager wants and the requirements for the job position. Then, streamline your experiences by removing irrelevant ones until your CV is just perfect for the job. To do this successfully, consider:
Spelling errors and grammatical errors are a turn-off for everyone. Nobody enjoys reading anything with spelling and grammatical errors. This is why you must avoid even the smallest errors. Many hiring managers reported seeing a mix-up in the usage of ‘this and these’, ‘I’m and am’, ‘its and it’s’, ‘there and their’ in the CVs of some candidates. Of course, these spelling errors disqualified those candidates and resulted in their CVs being dumped into the waste bin.
To prevent spelling and grammatical errors in your CV, take your time, proofread as many times as possible at least 3 hours after crafting the CV. When you proofread immediately, you are bound to miss some things. Use a spell checker and a dictionary. Give it to a friend or family member to read and consider getting a professional proofreader if you can.
Let's face it! Nobody - especially not the hiring manager who has many CVs to go through- wants to read anything unnecessarily long. Therefore, include your skills, qualifications, aspirations, hobbies, etc. in the most concise manner possible. You want to tailor your CV to grab the hiring manager's attention. Adding extraneous information will achieve the opposite effect.
On average it takes hiring managers eight seconds to decide whether or not to toss your resume. This means that the font you use when crafting your CV could make the difference between being hired or having your CV tossed in the wastebasket. A scannable and easy-to-read font is a sure way to ensure that you can hold the hiring manager's attention for those eight seconds. If the hiring managers cannot read your words due to your choice of font, you would have lost an opportunity at a job you wanted. Arial, Calibri, Helvetica, Georgia, and Verdana are examples of fonts that are widely approved by many hiring managers. On the other hand, heavily stylized and gimmick fonts like Comic Sans, Papyrus, Futura, and Impact are terrible choices for a resume.
Additionally, the size of your font also goes a long way in making your word clear and distinguishing you from other applicants. As a general use of the thumb, the size of your name should be size 20-26, your headings and subheadings 11-14, your main text, and your contact information size 10-12.
Many candidates assume that employment gaps will not stop them from getting the job they applied for. While this could be true, hiring managers are not exactly thrilled by employment gaps. Another candidate that submits a CV with an explanation of her employment gap is more likely to be hired than you that has left yours to the employer's imagination.
The point is that you must acknowledge all employment gaps in your CV. Offer a reasonable explanation. If you took a break in your career to cater to your children, include it. You must however ensure that the entry is brief and doesn't distract from your relevant experience. Additionally, avoid extending your employment duration to cover gaps in your CV unless the gap is less than a year. For example, if you worked at a company from June 2018 - February 2019 and didn't start your next job until September 2019, you could write the date of the job as 2018- 2019.
Another way to successfully deal with employment gaps is to include the experience or skills you gained during this period. If you volunteered during the employment gap, started a business, worked on something you are passionate about, or picked up freelance work highlight the skills you acquired while doing these things. Your employment gap should be seen as a time of growth and development for you rather than a period of idleness and inaction.
Avoid writing your CV in the third person. Writing in the first person is more personal, engaging, and direct. For example, a public relations officer who says, "she helped strategize, create and carry out promotional campaigns" is less likely to be hired than another that says, "I strategized, created and carried out promotional campaigns". The goal is to ensure that the hiring manager sees you, your unique abilities, passion, and your skills. Referring to yourself in the third person may not make that happen.
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