Biggest CV mistakes you are making!

Biggest CV Mistakes you are making!

CV…one of the most commonly used abbreviations in your final year. Universities tend to show students these pre-programmed systems that are supposed to be adequate for everyone. After all, we’ve all attended those tedious classes or workshops that prove to be 100% effective in getting you that dream job!

Fortunately, everyone has distinctive skills and experiences. What applies to you and the career you want to pursue will be very different than some of your classmates. This only makes it more difficult to showcase your own unique accomplishments.

There is no perfect formula for an impeccable CV – but here are some of the biggest mistakes made and how to avoid them!

1. Keep it Simple

The layout of your CV should be simple and efficient to read. The Business Insider stated in their 2019 Year In Review that it takes around 6 seconds for an employer to look over a resume and a further 3 seconds to make a decision.

To put it in perspective, it took you longer to read that statement! You don’t want to write more than two pages, or have any overwhelming designs, keep it clean and draw attention to what matters. It’s important that you focus on what makes you a valuable employee.

2. A Lousy Personal Profile

Personal Profiles are the worse! Talking about myself, glorifying my skills, and showing that I have team spirit in under 30 or so words? No, thank you! We’ve all been there… I can’t begin to count how many times I noted down that “I am ambitious and a great team member!”. Now imagine how many times the recruiter has read that?

A great way to construct a personal profile is to eliminate it completely. Instead start your CV by listing no more than 4 qualities – tailored to the position you’re applying for that showcase your ability to succeed, followed by a cover letter. You want to introduce yourself to the person you’re reaching out to, and not to a group of people. You need to be memorable, and a cover letter will not only demonstrate that you are professional but that you understand the job role.

3. Too much content

This is a very common mistake. You crowd your CV with all the information from your A- Levels to your first job at the small CoOp near your house…you’re just using your resume to dump all of these facts about your personal and professional life.

Don’t fill your CV with every single detail about you! Why? Because having these “blank” spaces make way for questions.

Employers will often ask you the “Why? How? And Where?” – Why did you apply? How do you fit our expectations? And Where do you see yourself professionally in the future?
After these three questions, the interviewer will rely on your CV to find out more about your aspirations. Packing facts and experience together will only make it more difficult for the conversation to flow naturally.

4. Exaggerating the Truth

If lying has ever gotten you anywhere, this is not the time to test it. Truthfully elaborating on the skills you have acquired will get you further than intangibly misleading the employer with false or exaggerated statements.

For example, if the job role requires you to be knowledgeable of software such as Photoshop and InDesign, but you only know how to work with the latter consider being honest

about your lack of experience with it and always make sure to indicate that you’re more than happy to work on learning or practicing with the program.

5. Spelling Mistakes

Do we need to talk about this one? I know it doesn’t seem like the worst mistake… humans make spelling errors all the time! Yes, of course! Unfortunately, some of these big companies that have thousands and thousands of applicants a day process resume through a CV Scanner.

This allows the “machine” to check in less than a second if the CV has any compatible words with the job role and advertisement, which means that if one of those words is spelled wrong your resume will go immediately to the “We regret to inform that you haven’t been successful” phase.

6. Tailor to Fit

Last but certainly not least! Tailoring your CV to each job application is essential. This circles back to having too much content on one unnecessary subject. Yes, employers want to know your job history but writing word by word what your job role was at a coffee shop isn’t going to benefit you getting an IT job after university. Be specific.This will pull focus to what matters while still demonstrating other skills that you can elaborate on during the interview.

Tailoring your CV to a job application will also boost your chances of getting an interview. When you adapt your grammar to the role specifications, the automatic scanning system will review those keywords and bump your CV above other rejected applications.

With these hints on how to avoid those mistakes, you will start to see a change in how you present yourself professionally. Hopefully, you will be more confident to display your success and go for that dream job you’ve been working towards the last couple of years.

Remember that you have to be your biggest cheerleader! And that the Graduate Club has got your back!