How to Impress
Employers with your CV or Resume: 20 Tips
Applying
for any new job always requires a proper presentation of your eligibility. In
order to get the job, you need to convince the employer of your skills, since
you would be competing with thousands of candidates for the job. This is where
CV comes to your rescue. CV or Curriculum Vitae is nothing but, a total summary
of a person’s academic and professional history, skills and abilities prepared
for the job application. CV preparation is itself an art. So let us discuss how
to make an effective CV that would impress employers, anytime. There are many
things you should keep in mind while preparing your CV. The more you follow the
guidelines, the better chance you get to impress your employer. Some of the
most important points or guidelines to remember are mentioned below:
Step by Step
Guide to Writing a Good Resume or CV:
The
following mentioned below are few best tips for writing a resume or CV.
1. Proper
organisation:
While
preparing your CV, you must take proper care to organise your CV format in such
a way that, it becomes professionally appealing. Your CV needs to be well-
structured and authentic enough, to capture the employer’s gaze. Always
remember, usually your employer first attends to the upper middle area of the
first page. Make sure to add your strongest points in that area, be it your
skills or any powerful experience relevant to the job. A properly organised
content attracts more employers than a disorganised one.
2. Keep it
simple and concise:
While
preparing your CV it is crucial to keep it as concise and clear as possible.
Your CV should reflect your relevant skills efficiently. Unless you are
applying for some design related job, keep your CV free from unnecessary
details. Use proper formatting, A4 size plain sheet and readable fonts like
times new roman or Calibri while writing your CV, to ensure simple,
professional tone. Unnecessary use of complex words or fonts that are difficult
to perceive results in a bad impression. therefore, consider using simple clear
language for an impressive result.
3. Focus on
strong points:
Yes,
your strong points. If you are going to apply for a job, make sure your
eligibility stands out in the crowd. Properly cross-check your strong points
and skills with respect to the job and mention it in clear precise manner.
Enhance your points with proper vocabulary at the same time use proper keywords
for the relevant skills.
4. Your
personal details:
Providing
personal information in detailed format is very necessary. Personal details act
as a link of communication between the employer and the candidate. Do remember
to provide correct details like proper mail id, working cell phone number or
any social media accounts (if asked) for proper correspondence.
5. Be honest
with your writing:
One
of the most important thing about effective CV writing tips is- NEVER LIE. You
can enhance your skills, provided that true information is being mentioned.
Faking skills may result in bad impression, thus decreasing your chance of
getting the job. Getting honest with your skills will also ensure trust after
employment. So always be honest while writing resume.
6.
Understand the job details:
While
applying for a certain job, it is always crucial to find out what exactly is
the job asking from you. This research helps you impress your employers with
your flawless understanding of job requirements. Understand the service,
prepare your skills, use bulletins if required and present. Your CV must
reflect your extensive knowledge on the specified job.
7. Use
proper adjectives:
One
of the secret to writing effective CV or resume building is adjectives. Yes, a
properly used adjective at relevant places not only enhances your writing but
makes a stunning impression in front of the employer. Take the advantage of
scores of assertive to create a professional CV. according to a study, Words
like “developed”, “assessed”, “implemented”, etc have a more professional
impact, than simple English.
8. Add some
interests:
Adding
interest category in your CV saves you from writing a complete technical CV.
Yes, interests are considered to be the only informal part of the CV that is
actually necessary. Put some interesting hobbies you have or things you love to
do in some good language, to make a lasting impression. Interests in your CV
show your diversity instead of sticking point by point with the job
descriptions.
9. Keep a
well-informed CV:
One
of the important resume tips or CV tips is that, your CV should show all your
recent activities as well as your history with utmost clarity. An updated CV
carries more value than a CV whose information are quite outdated. Usually, an
employer will look up for your recent activities on your CV for better
judgement. Try to put your latest positions and abilities on your CV, to
increase the probability of impressing your employer.
10. Be
positive:
Your
CV is a summarized version of you that reflects your character and abilities.
Therefore, maintaining a positive attitude not only help in enhancing your CV,
but also makes sure that the employer gets impressed. A positive mind is what
an employer seeks in a candidate. While mentioning your points in your CV try
using more positive language for a better result and impress employers with
your CV.
Things to
Avoid While Writing a Good CV or Resume:
There
are a few things that need to be avoided to ensure perfection in your CV
making.
1.
Grammatical and punctuation errors:
Errors
are the last thing that anybody wants to see in your professional CV,
especially a grammatical error. So this should be kept in mind while working on
the preparation of a CV. Avoid making grammatical errors, since they may result
in bad impression. Take particular care of your tenses and try to keep your CV
in perfect tenses wherever required, like for instance, keep your abilities in
present continuous form and experiences in past.
Avoid
using “I have” or “I had” in your CV. Start with an assertion for a better
impression like “developed” or “investigated” in the experience category.
Proofread
your CV before submitting, since this will help you identify any simple mistake
that you would have made while writing.
Avoid
overdoing things. Do not use fancy words that literally mean nothing at all or
complex words that are hard to perceive. Your CV may get rejected right away if
your employer is unable to understand your language in your CV. Try keeping it
simple and professional.
2.
Irrelevant content:
Never
stray away from the topic. Like for instance, if you are asked to apply for a
sales executive job, you need to prepare a CV describing your abilities as a
sales executive. Any deviation from mainstream will only result in sheer
rejection of your CV . Always perform good research on the job beforehand and
then start with the writing. Write precisely to the point, describing well how
you are fit for this job. Maintain perfect consistency with your writing and
show relevant skills, abilities and interests that are actually necessary to
impress the employer.
3.
Unnecessary details:
According
to a study, a CV of 2 pages that contains meaningful, relevant information
carries more value than a CV of 5 pages full of unnecessary details that are
not required. Avoid cramping your CV with information that are actually of no
relation to the job. Try shortening your statements to keep it between 8-10
words per line. Use bullets to put forth your point in an organised manner.
Employers usually prefer lists and bullet points than essays. At the same time
don’t add too much of them, as it may make your CV too technical. Give your
words enough space to breathe. Your each word should be carefully chosen and
incorporated. With proper formatting, relevant information and professional
layout, prepare your CV within 2 A4 size pages at max.
4. Poor
history:
You
are ready with your first professional CV, and yet your education and work
history look flat. It will only create a bad impression. Make sure your history
work is to the point, relevant to the job and describes your abilities well. It
should give the impression that you have quite a quality experience in past
which may prove fruitful for your current job.
Use
past tense while describing history works, and use assertion in past too.
5. Lying:
The
worst thing that you can do while writing your CV is Lying. Exaggerating the
truth a little bit is not harmful, but too much of it may result in a disaster.
Be it a bigger lie, for instance, made-up businesses or accomplishments or
smaller falsehoods like over exaggeration of your abilities or faking new
skills may go unnoticed, yet bring you to shame after you have received the
job. Hence, it is always advised to write the truth and only the truth.This is
one of the vital resume building tips.
6. Negative
attitude:
Do
not bring negativity into your CV. It should reflect only positiveness.
Negativity regarding previous employer or work, or in the case of ability or
skill should be shunned in the first place. Try avoiding negative statements
like “don’t” , “can’t” or “unable to” in your CV. Instead, use positive words
like “able to”, or “can” whenever required.
7. Bad font:
Fonts
are an integral part of the CV. You certainly cannot experiment with thousands
of fonts available in MS word. A perfect formal font is all you need. Try going
for Calibri or arial while typing out your CV. Avoid using fonts like comic
sans or Baskerville old face if you want to have a professional presentation.
You can use times new roman, though.
8. Omitting
accomplishment:
One
of the worst things that you can do is omitting your accomplishments. Yes,
employers approve of candidates with proper accomplishments from the past and
good knowledge of the job they are currently applying for. Add correct, a
relevant accomplishment in support of your abilities to increase your chances
of hitting on the job. Do not add irrelevant accomplishment which has nothing
to do with your application.
9. Missing
photo:
Photo
may not be an important part of your CV, but if you are going to apply online,
providing photo is a must. The employer must ascertain that the CV has come
from an existing person, not from any anonymous non-existent one. Also,
choosing the right photo for the CV is very crucial. Do not provide your
facebook or any social media photos attached as it results in bad impression.
Use a proper formal photo taken with the good camera. Avoid blurred images or
cropped distorted ones. Also, try not to use any photo-enhancing apps for your
photo. Keep it simple and classy.
10. Improper
contact information:
Imagine
your CV has resulted in your job selection and when the employer tries to
contact you back, he finds the contact information provided are all dud. Most
likely he would just skip you and move on with other CVs. This has happened
many times with various job recruiters. According to a study, wrong contact
information will result in skipping off your application since the employer
will have no option left other than cutting you out. So make sure all the
information you provide are valid and working. Double-check your contact
information to avoid simple errors.
To
conclude this article, I would certainly advise you to adhere to the following
guidelines before preparing your CV, and do not resort to unfair means to grab
the job. Going clean not only ensures that your employer is impressed with your
work but also results in lasting impression in your job. A properly executed CV
goes a long way achieving your goal than a poorly presented one. So keep in
mind the important points as well as avoid the common mistakes which may bring
down your impression. Go for short, precise, to the point, and rich in content
writing which is preferred in every sector of employment. Whether you are
applying for the post of junior or for the post of senior manager, properly
maintained CV can make sure that you impress your recruiter with your
abilities, that are properly presented. Take a good care while writing out your
CV and also avoid copying, to make sure you get your name on the selected list.
