Having Multiple CVs Can Benefit Your Job Search

Do you keep falling at the first hurdle of your job search? You have read the description and you are qualified for the role, you apply, and you don’t hear back. Have you ever wondered why that may be? You may find your CV is too general and if you are applying for role after role with the same CV it could explain why you haven’t had any success.

The current market is tough and having more than one CV is essential if you are applying for a new role. There are many different reasons why you should have multiple CVs. Things companies look for on a CV may vary for different industries, different job titles or different sized businesses and you must keep all of this in mind when applying for a new role.

Job requirements 

First you must read the job specification and ensure all of the requirements for the job are clear on your CV. If not, what is your CV missing? If you are missing any essential criteria this may be the reason you aren’t getting a call back. If you have the experience required, you must ensure this it is explicitly shown on your CV. You could include this in bullet points to make it stand out or if you are applying for a more creative role you could make this a visual part of your CV. My advice is to look at the job description for each job you are applying for and think of examples where you have demonstrated the required skills. Once you have a full understanding what they are looking for you can amend your CV accordingly.

Company size 

Even if you are applying for roles with the same job title there are things you should consider, the same role will have different responsibilities in different companies. For example, an Operations Manager to one business will have completely different responsibilities to another. You couldn’t possibly cover all of these responsibilities in one CV and you certainly couldn’t guess what might be asked of you in multiple companies so tailoring your CV for each application is a quicker way to highlight your relevant experience for each role. Keep a copy of each CV you produce and record what positions you have used each CV for.  

Experience

Having multiple CVs is also incredibly important when it comes to applying for roles which require more experience. When you get to the stage when you have more skills and experience than you can fit on your CV, you may choose to only include things relevant to each particular role. You need to think about your skills and experience and how they would contribute to your application. This should be thought about each time you apply for a job. You should review your CV and ensure all the requirements the company are looking for are apparent on there. You don’t have to rewrite your CV from scratch each time you apply for a new role, but having certain CVs set out for different roles is a great idea. As an Executive Recruiter I find that companies like a more specific CV in certain roles. Recently I was helping a candidate apply for 3 different roles and each one required a new CV! Whether it be expanding on certain experience or taking irrelevant experience out. It really does play an important part in getting those all-important interviews.