10 tips to make your CV stand out

10 tips to make your CV stand out

These CV tips will help you to impress recruiters:

1. Don’t include a photo as it can put the employer in a difficult position with discrimination laws, and they may have to reject your CV altogether.
2. Don’t include your date of birth, marital status, or health situation for the same reasons, unless you think it’s extremely necessary.
3. Keep your CV within two pages of A4. You can be clever with margins, but anything longer, and the employer is unlikely to read it.
4. There is no required format, so don’t worry if your CV looks different from others you’ve seen. If anything, it will help you to make your CV stand out! New formats such as infographic CVs are becoming more popular in design industries, but keep it simple, and don’t go overboard using things such as watermarks and elaborate borders.
5. Keep sentences and paragraphs short and snappy, and avoid being vague.
6. Highlight key skills and examples throughout, and keep them up-to-date.
7. Stay clear of colored or funky fonts, and keep everything consistent and easy to read.
8. Back up skills with relevant experiences and vice-versa.
9. Use keywords to emphasize your points and do not use the same words over and over again.
10. Always proofread and spell-check the document before sending it off. If possible, get a friend to check it for you too. There is nothing worse than a spelling or grammar mistake on a CV; it demonstrates carelessness and a lack of attention to detail.

Once your CV is completed and you’re happy with it, the next challenge is to get it on the desks of prospective employers. There are a few ways to effectively distribute your CV:

1. Submit your CV to job sites like CV-Library. They do the legwork by encouraging companies to track you down as employers can search for your profile, download your CV and invite you to apply for a position. It’s worth checking you’ve used key phrases on your CV that employers might be searching for.
2. Be speculative, but targeted. By this, we mean handing out your CV to companies you’d like to work for and enquiring about any open positions. Even if they don’t have any vacancies right now, offer to hand in your CV to keep on their record (this also shows you’re keen to work for that particular company).
3. Make direct applications for advertised jobs – these ads will most likely ask for your CV. Start looking now by using our guide going straight to our own job search.

Courtesy / Credit: Save the Student