Can you believe it is December already? After the year we had we all deserve the break and the time to spend with our loved ones. The final article for 2020 will be focusing on a few simple but critical CV tips. These tips will not guarantee success in applying for a position but will increase your chances to be successful.
The first tip that is critical when compiling a CV is ensuring that you spell check the entire CV. A CV that is full of spelling errors creates an impression that one is not interested and lazy. Make use of programs such as Grammarly or the Spell Check on your computer. If you want to ensure that spelling and grammar is correct: ask a friend or family member to browse over the CV as well.
Fill any gaps on your CV. If there is a gap between employment, make sure that it makes sense. If you were retrenched from a position, then it would make sense that you were without employment for a certain period. If you resigned for a new opportunity but only started the new opportunity 6 months later questions could be raised.
Recruiters and hiring managers have many CV’s which they look through for every role that they recruit for. It is therefore critical that you capture attention and keep your CV as concise as possible. 1- 2 pages should be more than enough to give a taste of your skill set, education and relevant work experience. You want to ensure you capture the recruiter’s attention and can explain more in detail when they give you a call.
Tailor your CV to the job you are applying for. This links to the above point of ensuring you capture the recruiter / hiring managers attention. There are specific skills required for a position which is generally highlighted in the advertisement. Make sure you lead with your skill set matching those that the job requires. This will ensure you stand out in a crowd.
Personal and additional information: ensure that you include only the relevant personal and additional information in your CV. This includes: ID Number, Residential Area, Contact Number, Email Address, Language Proficiency, Driver’s License and Computer Literacy. There is no need to add any other additional information as it will just make your CV drawn out and make the hiring manager / recruiter lose interest.
Recruiters and hiring managers are viewing many CV’s every single day. Keep you sentences short and in bullet form to ensure that your CV is easy to read.
References: ensure that you include a reference from a previous company or someone who has left your current company. References should always be more senior than yourself and someone who you directly reported too. Do not include someone who you currently report too: you may thing they are fine with doing a reference, but I guarantee you that this is not the case.
I hope that you all have the most amazing festive period and that you are all blessed abundantly. May 2021 bring you only joy and happiness. I am also taking some well-deserved time off to enjoy with my loved ones as well. 2021 will be the year for us all and I look forward to all your continued support.
I am available on my email as well as cell phone number should any problems arise.
Until next year,
Donald Buchan
DB Recruitment
