Are you wondering how on earth you can use your CV to sell yourself when the basic elements take up so much space?
When I’m writing a CV, space is at a premium. I have to be totally aware of what is important and absolutely ruthless about what is not. With only two pages to play with, careful planning is a must, and every word needs to be considered and reconsidered before it makes the grade and gets admitted to the high society of your premium two-page space.
This week’s blog names and shames the top five CV space eaters which stop people shaping a compelling, interview-winning two page document.
1. Contact details
As these are often the first thing that gets written down on a CV, people often get drawn in to making their name, address, telephone numbers and email addresses look all fancy schmancy. This is all well and good but, before you know it, you’ve eaten up a good quarter to half a page of your CV without having yet presented any information that will convince a recruiter they need to call you. Sure, they’ll know HOW to contact you, but not why they should.
2. Too much detail on older or irrelevant job roles
Unwillingness to let go of finer details relating to older roles and roles that are not directly relevant can result in another huge space eater on your CV. See my previous blog Five top tips to get rid of the CV flab for more detail on how and why you should ditch the excess in this area.
3. Replicated sections
I quite often see CVs which restate information in different sections, with the same points repeated in Key Skills, Achievements and Experience section. This is unnecessary and confusing for the reader. Say it well and you’ll only need to say it once. I advise making each section of your CV work harder for you by giving it a specific job.
Your key skills, for example, can be used to outline the transferable business skills you can bring to a new employer. I find using snappy bullets in a columned format makes it easier for the reader to skim over quickly and get a feel for your transferable business skills, before reading on. I myself don’t tend to feature Achievements as a separate section on the CVs I write. Instead, I use the Experience section to outline key accomplishments within the context of each role undertaken.
4. Irrelevant training
Over the course of your career, chances are that you will have completed a great number of internal and externally-run training courses. Of course, training is a big advantage on your CV, but I urge you to consider what the recruiter needs to know and adapt your list to suit. A lengthy list can suck up premium space on your CV and represent ‘white noise’ to the recruiter; they may not even bother to read it. Plus, listing courses that are basic or too generic could even go against you. Listing that you attended a communication skills course may not add much, and a time management course may suggest to the recruiter that you were experiencing difficulty in this area. If you state that you attended a Basic Microsoft Word course the recruiter may infer that you had very basic IT skills to start with, and your grasp of IT may not be up to scratch.
5. References
As with contact details, quoting the names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, Twitter handle and inside leg measurement of your referees can eat up valuable space on your CV. The recruiter will only need to know these details if they are convinced you are the right person for the job, and will mostly call on this information after an interview has taken place. At this stage of your application, you can simply state ‘References available on request’, though it’s questionable whether this is needed – it’s kind of a given.
Lis McGuire
Latest posts by Lis McGuire (see all)
- Confused about your next steps? - December 18, 2020
- Struggling with listing achievements on your CV? Try this. - June 19, 2019
- Informational Interviews: A ‘How to’ Guide - October 26, 2016