How to Write a CV

The recession may be over but it has left a number of people still looking for better jobs that they were forced to take up back in 2008. If you have been job hunting for a while without much success, chances are your resume/ CV can use a major revamp. Keep these points in mind before writing your resume or CV to ensure that it stands out among the hundreds that will land up on the recruiter’s desk.

Bells and Whistle’s Don’t Do the Job Anymore

Not very long ago, adding a few bells and whistles like graphics, using special fonts, printing out the CV on colored paper yielded great results in making your resume/ CV catch the eye of the recruiter. Today, these no longer work in quite the same way perhaps because recruiters have wised up to these tricks and because so many applicants use them.

Do not rely on just these bells and whistles to make your resume/ CV attractive to prospective employer. What you need is hard hitting, relevant and accurate information about yourself and your skills, in particular, that will grab and hold the recruiter’s attention and interest.

Think of your CV as a Sales Pitch

Never make the mistake of thinking that your resume/ CV is just a recounting of your ‘career so far’. Look at it as a sales pitch for yourself. Market your skills, strengths and abilities by presenting just how well you have used them so far in various roles that you have held until now.

Give special attention and extra focus to jobs that spotlight skills that the recruiter may find especially interesting. For instance, if you are applying for a marketing based role, then highlighting your achievements in similar roles in a previous job is a savvy move.

With CVs, One Size DOES NOT Fit All

Remember that you have to design your resume/ CV so that it is relevant to the job you are applying for. Do not try to pass off a ‘one size fits all’ resume with all your job applications. A whole lot of the information you have provided may not be of any interest to the recruiter simply because this information highlights skills you may not need for his job.

While you are at it, put in special effort to show why your skills make you the perfect candidate for the job. This tells the recruiter that you have taken the interest to understand what his job involves and put in extra effort to streamline your resume/ CV to these requirements. Demonstrating your initiative and enthusiasm this early in the recruitment process puts you well ahead of other applicants.

Of course, most important of all is that information about your recent career, achievements, and experience takes precedence over all else. Consider leaving out any information that is more than 10 years old unless it pertains to some well recognized awards in a field relevant to your current application or it adds immense value to your resume/ CV.

You could also rely on a CV writer to create an outstanding CV for you.