A strong CV is not only your chance to impress your prospective employer, but to stand out amongst the rest of your competition. Where a punchy CV will set a strong tone, a weak CV could see you losing your place to someone else (even if your experiences are better suited!). In essence, think of this as your foot in the door and your first opportunity to get across who you are, what you’ve done and why you’d be of value. With hiring on the up and up, drafting a CV that will leave a great first impression is growing more important! Here are a few tips on making yours stand out:
1.Do your research!
Make sure you know what kind of roles/firms you’re targeting, does your CV highlight the key traits and skills clients in your market will be receptive to? A good approach to this is scanning relevant roles in your field, noting the desired skills and cross referencing these with your experiences. If you’re looking to apply to a specific firm, my advice would be to check out their values/ethos on their website! This should give you a list of qualities and values that you know they’ll be looking for!
2. Break your text up.
A wall of text is a sure-fire way to put off any reader, let alone those who read CV’s day in and day out! Breaking down your skills, experiences and responsibilities into easy-to-read sections will make your CV smoother to read and easier to decipher. Bullet points are an excellent way of giving your reader a quick and easy view of your main responsibilities – be sure to have a list of standout points under each role you’ve held!
3. Add a punchy personal profile.
Beyond your professional experiences, your employers also want to know about you! Starting off with a strong introduction that explains who you are, your achievements or where you feel you stand out will bolster the rest of your CV to come! I’d suggest throwing in a little about you besides your current work duties! What do you like to do at the end of the day/weekend? Got any passions or hobbies that take up your time? (Remember to keep it short and concise! No need to write an essay for this bit.)
4. Use a core skills section.
A core skills section is an area for you to highlight a few stand-out skills for your employer to identify at first glance. These skills can include software, languages, managemental capabilities or any other areas of proficiency that will stand out (refer back to point 1).
5. Use a professional email address.
Whilst this may go without saying, use a professional email address! If it’s your name preceded by a few numbers, you’re good to go! What you’re looking to avoid here is any old aliases or otherwise amalgamations of your name that may come across as less than professional. We’ve all had a faithful email address that goes back at least a decade, often created before we ever entered the world of work. I’ve certainly seen a few that stand out, often looking like something I’d expect to see as a gamer tag. If you’re concerned about yours, why not create a new one? This gives you the added benefits of keeping all job-related queries in one place!
6. Education
In most cases, what you put here will depend on the kind of field you’re applying within and what employers will be looking for. In the case of audit, beginning with your professional qualification is a strong start (ACCA/ACA/CIA etc.). Any other relevant qualifications should be included with this, followed by your university degree (if you attended) and any other educational awards/certifications. Use your best judgement here, if you didn’t perform as strong in secondary school compared to university, feel free to not list it at all. Remember, your CV is about representing your skills and achievements in the best light as opposed to dutifully listing every experience you’ve had to date. Highlighting things you’re not proud of won’t score you extra brownie points for honesty, if it’s not required to be there, leave it out!
7.First vs Third Person
I’ve come across a number of CV’s from both points of view, and personally I would recommend sticking to the first person here. Writing in the third person won’t harm your chances in any significant way, but I find it writes and reads much easier. However, removing pronouns entirely is the best way of keeping your CV concise and avoiding the repetition of “I have” or “He/She did”.
Here’s an example:
1st Person: “I managed a range of clients within the Financial Services sector”
3rd Person: “He managed a range of clients within the Financial Services sector”
Both of these examples give a good understanding of what you’ve done, but removing the pronoun entirely offers you:
“Managed a range of clients within the Financial Services sector” Leaving out the pronoun entirely keeps things far more concise, stops you from repeating “I” and “He/She” throughout your CV and just plain reads better!
Your CV is your first impression an employer will get when considering you for a role, make sure you stand out in the crowd! Knowing your CV accurately represents your skills and who you are will build your confidence when you get asked in for interview.
Best of luck!