Video: How Can I Make My CV Stand Out?

I've been approached by lots of people who, in the current climate, through no fault of their own, are out of work. It's competitive out there. There are less jobs and there are more people looking for those jobs. So, I thought I would share my top tips on how to make your CV stand out from the crowd.

The Basics

I'm absolutely shocked at how many CVs I see that still don't have this information on there. 

So, first thing is, get the basics right!

Profile

Personally, I love these. I think it's a real chance to make your CV stand out.

Highlight some of your key skills, say a bit about yourself and more importantly, make someone read on in your CV. It needs to be catchy, and it needs to be clear. 2 to 3 sentences, saying what you've done and more importantly, what you want to do. This is even more important if you're looking for a change of career or your CV has had some periods of instability on it or some gaps. It just really gives you a chance to overcome all of that in the first section of your CV. 

Key Skills

Try and avoid duplication and literally just list 5 /6 key skills that you have and tailor them to the job you're applying for. Make it specific, make it relevant. But don't put too much information in this section.

Employment History

Always put your most recent job first. Unless you haven't got any employment history like you've just left education or something similar. Then change it around. But under normal circumstances, even if the work you've had has been part-time, always put your most recent work experience first.

Then work back in chronological order. You have to put dates on it and try and make those dates months and years. My preferred style is the company name, dates, job title and then a sentence underneath, just really explaining who the company is that you currently or previously worked for and what they do. Just to set the scene on your CV. 

I would then follow this by the duties and responsibilities of the actual job that you did and at the end of that, add in one or two key achievements, things that really stood out. Things were really proud of. That you managed to achieve in that role.

When you're looking at the duties and responsibilities make it exciting. General admin won't really cut anymore. It needs to be more than that. If you did, general admin what was it? What did you actually do? How did you add value? What systems did you use? Depending on how much work experience you have. I would suggest 6 to 7 key skills per job. I'd add in more if the experience is relevant for the job you're going forward for and less if it isn't.

Gaps in CV

Quite simply, people don't like it. Don't avoid it. If there is a gap, that's absolutely fine. But if there was a reason why you've had a gap in your CV, try and explain it.

So, there are no unanswered questions when they're reading through it. If you've had lots of jobs, the same thing applies. People aren't really that keen on it. So, if there's a reason why, as in you've had lots of temporary jobs to build up experience or you've unfortunately been made redundant, make sure you put that down.

Job Title

It's important to put your real job title on your CV. However, if your job title is very internal, and it's really something that only people in your current company would understand what you do. Then I would suggest in brackets after, on your CV, just putting something a bit more generic that would allow people to understand actually what it is you really do. 

Education

Put your most recent education first and again work back in chronological order. Use dates, put the establishment you did it in, the course and your grade. If your work experience is limited, then I'd expand on this section and add in a bit more detail to highlight the skills that you've gained from education.

IT Skills 

If you've added this in under your employment history as you've gone, then leave it out, that's fine. If you haven't mentioned any systems that you've used,

I would add in a small section, just highlighting what you're confident using. The key thing here is, to be honest. If you are an advanced user and a competent user of a particular package, that's fine to reference what you can do, but don't lie. You will get found out. Just put down what is actually physically correct.

Hobbies and Interests

Keep it brief but do share your passions. People are generally interested in finding out about you.

Layout

Take all my points around content but be as creative with the layout as you want to. If your background is within a marketing or a creative role, then people would expect to see a really creative CV that shows a flair for your skills, your personality, they'd expect to see something like that. If you're not looking for a creative role, then a word document is fine.

File Type

Sounds like a trivial one, but make sure you're aware of the acceptable file types for the jobs you're applying for. Some larger companies now use software to pre-screen CVs and actually, if you're sending your CV in the wrong file type, it won't be able to be read, so you may well get rejected. But not because of your CV, just because of the file type.

Length

2 to 3 pages maximum. One is probably too short, there's not enough on there, and anything more than three is way too long. People won't read it and they'll lose interest.

Tailor Your CV

Have a generic one ready. Then spend time making sure that your CV is spot on for that role.  

Hang on in there is tough out there but stay positive. There may not be as many jobs as there were before, but there are jobs. You only have one shot to send your CV, so make sure it stands out for all the right reasons.

Good luck!