Lis McGuire is a professional CV writer with leading CV company Giraffe CVs, offering a new CV writing service for all levels from graduates to executives. Giraffe CVs offer professionally written CVs, cover letters and application forms to help candidates secure new roles. In this article she explains how to recession proof your CV.

In today’s job market, employers need to be extremely demanding of new candidates keen to join their team. Organisations, now more than ever, need to employ candidates who can bring instant and tangible results to the table, whether that is by increasing sales, driving down costs, building and retaining relationships, improving business efficiency or enhancing the quality of the organisation’s services or products.

It is, therefore, absolutely imperative that you can quickly show your unique selling points and illustrate the value you can add to your target organisation. Your new CV is the first tool in your armoury and as such it HAS to make the best first impression. Competition is now so fierce that a strong and faultless CV document is the only way to stay ahead and secure that vital interview.

It is essential to get the basics right – a concise and compelling well formatted two page document with perfect spelling, grammar and punctuation is a must. But, aside from these things, how can you use your new CV to sell yourself in light of the fact that it will only receive a few seconds initial consideration?

Getting the headlines across is your first priority. Don’t leave your employer wondering who you are and what value you can add to their organisation. Making their job difficult will almost certainly lead to a rejection letter.

Use a punchy and well written CV profile at the very start of your document to encapsulate your experience in a nutshell – the kind of job you do, the breadth of your experience, key qualifications that will stand you apart from others, the industries you serve, the key skills you use to perform these roles – these are all things the employer will want to know and they can be wrapped up in five or six sentences at the top to let the recruiter know that you meet their criteria.

If you are moving into a new type of role or industry, it can be useful to include a short objective in a new section after the CV profile to explain the change of direction.

Further to this, the use of a CV skills table can make it quick and easy for employer’s to understand what you can offer them. Pull out your key skills from your current and past employment, cross checking against any job advert and person specification provided by your target employer. By selectively paraphrasing key phrases used in the job advert you will make it easier for a recruiter to recognise that you meet their requirements. By using short snappy descriptions (for example Project Management, Team Leadership, Budget Control, Risk Management) you can ensure you meet the checklist the employer is working against to make it into their "yes pile." Another benefit of using a CV skills table is that it can also enhance the formatting of the document, making it easier on the eye and enticing the recruiter to read further.

Your employment history should be featured on the first page of your new CV, appearing directly after the skill table and running on to page two of your CV. It is extremely important to show how you made a difference in each role, highlighting specific achievements rather than just listing tasks and responsibilities. Use positive words to show how you achieved results through your actions, and avoid grouping yourself in as one of a team that did this or that.

It is important to focus on your achievements within your last few roles, summarising older work history in a brief and concise manner. Your new CV is a marketing tool to get you through to the next stage of the selection process where the recruiter can find out more, so it is a good idea to give a flavour of your achievements whilst keeping back some of the detail so that you can expand upon this at an interview. It is tempting to include everything you have ever done in a CV, but this can work against your chances of being selected for the next stage of the recruitment process. Remember to keep your CV dynamic by using short readable bullets – anything more becomes too time consuming to read and understand. The best CVs are tailored to include only the information which is relevant to potential employers, maintaining a focus on the target role and leaving out irrelevant and distracting details. Your CV is likely to be skimmed rather than read in detail, so in this case less is definitely more.

Finally - a note on training and qualifications. It is vital to keep your skills fresh and up to date, so if you have any industry relevant qualifications or training please make this clear on your CV, it could make all the difference to your application.

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