Whether you’re planning an immediate career move or not it is worthwhile investing some time to spring clean, or do a quick audit of, your CV.
Clear the clutter
“Keep it simple. Be clear and concise,” says Anna Hodges, managing director of Purple Squirrel Recruitment. It should be designed to gain interest from a recruiter or employer rather than tell your story in detail. Keep it to a maximum of three pages and leave the rest for the interview, she says.
Identify “clutter” and remove it. “Don’t waste valuable space on the front of a CV with half a page of contact details,” says Karalyn Brown, careers expert and founder of InterviewIQ. As a general rule, don’t include date of birth, gender or hobbies. Unless your hobby is highly relevant or indicative of leadership qualities or self-motivation, you may risk having your CV remembered for the wrong reason, says Hodges. Contact details for referees can also be omitted. You only need a name and title to show you have references available, she says.
Don’t include all jobs and education. Brown recommends including only post high school education unless you are applying for graduate level positions. With jobs, go back only ten years unless an earlier job is particularly unique or gives you special credibility. For executives, academics and others who may struggle to limit career history, a shorter summary of earlier roles can be included at the end of the CV, suggests Hodges.
Can you say the same thing using fewer words? If so, prune unnecessary words. Brown adds, “It’s counter-intuitive but the more you use adjectives, the less believable you become. So pick the one word that best describes what you did or how you did it.”
Add some polish
Polish away any spelling or grammatical errors. Bill Harper, who helps clients get their words into shape at sharpercopy.com, says the obvious mistakes are the “their/there/they’re and your/you’re mixups.” But the biggest mistake people make is relying on spell checks. “All that does is tell you the word is correct. It doesn’t tell you if it’s the correct word. Even grammar checks get it wrong sometimes, so don’t follow Word’s advice just to get rid of those squiggly green lines.”
Maintain consistency in the use of headings, bold and capitals. Is your CV written in first or third person? Either is acceptable, but make sure you don’t switch between the two.
When proofreading your CV, Harper offers these tips:
- Take a break between writing or revising your CV and proofreading, a day if possible but even half an hour watching television or a short walk will help
- Print out the CV to check it or change the font or font size when checking in electronic format
- Read it out loud (don’t just say it mentally in your head, actually read it out)
Let the light shine
Don’t let poor presentation take the shine off your CV. “Whoever’s reading your CV probably may have to read dozens of them. And they’ll appreciate you making yours as easy to read as possible. So use short sentences, short paragraphs, bulleted lists and plenty of white space,” says Harper.
To make your CV stand out from the rest, here are a few final tips from the experts:
- Include a succinct career objective statement at the beginning of the CV, a short paragraph that demonstrates what you want, how you can add value to an organisation and what makes you unique
- List your “key achievements” under each job – these should be quantifiable and tangible
- Personalise your CV by playing with the design, colour and format but make sure it looks professional and don’t get too bold if you work in a conservative field
- Remember that your CV is a chance to market yourself – convey a sense of confidence in your abilities