First, your approach to your CV / resume

Use your common sense – do not follow what others are doing without having thought it through.

• A sensible CV implies a sensible candidate.

• A cluttered CV implies a cluttered candidate.

• Errors and omissions in your CV imply errors and omissions when you work.

The basics

• Use only one font only throughout. 

• All body text the same font size.

• One type of bullet only for your lists. 

• Indent bullets consistently.

• The real thing you are trying to show is: what makes you different from every other candidate – tell the reader! (Just don’t bore them with volume.)

• Shorter lists. Don’t make your lists too long; you are tying to show the reader your best skills and achievements. Not a list of everything you came across in the role

• Three to five really good points about yourself under each heading will be fine. 

• Don’t forget everyone has a degree or the certificate for the job so that is not your unique selling point.

• Many people will have a similar work placement where they did such and such. But what did you learn that was unique?

• No empty pages at the end, or pages with graphics but no, or very little, text on. This looks untidy and it seems as if you didn’t really take care about the formatting.

• Be careful with graphics and complicated layouts. If the document it is not saved as a PDF before it is sent it can look awful when opened in other word processors. I’m using Apple so Word docs open in Pages – after a couple of seconds of conversion and it may look different from what you intended. If you send it as PDF what I see is exactly the same as what you sent.

• Please use the spell checker. Spelling are actually pretty good, but the grammar less so.

• If you have included a picture – why has it been stretched? I suggest a shirt / blouse and jacket rather than the cool ‘night out on the town’ look!

• I’m not a fan of everything crammed on one page  – aim for two pages please. But, do not run on and on with endless lists of padding.

Getting into the details

CV Introductory statement – if you have one: do not write it in the third person (particularly bothersome when your own heading says ‘About Me’!

For people listing 2 or 3 or 4 phone numbers – given that we run on WhatsApp please make the first number your WhatsApp account.

Don’t forget, your qualifications help to get you the interview but they won’t secure you the job, neither will your myriad of references – up to 7 is the record. Only you can influence the reader and then the interviewer(s) enough to receive an offer to move to the next step.

So, what is going to make you stand out from the crowd?

Indeed, because of the colourful-CV-craziness, a plain, simple CV, which goes straight to the point, is now a relief to read (hint).

Likely there are two or three key criteria being looked for in candidates. The easier it is to find them the better. If you have a definite extra then make it visible to help you stand out, e.g. driving license, first aid certificate, 80 words per minute typing, whatever is useful for the organisation and role you are applying to.

Saying you are good at Word, Powerpoint and Excel … it really only means you used them for your dissertation or for data entry during your work experience. Sorry, you may really be a rather a slow typer; your formatting is not so good (look at the CV!); no formulas, let alone macros in excel. Don’t go there unless you can substantiate it.

The colourful, one page CV encourages you to skip on information, with random sentence hanging over onto a nearly blank page 2. 

You don’t want to state your institution with your degree yet you give as a reference someone from that institution.

Sending your CV

• Using someone else’s email to send in your CV does not help. Implies you don’t have email. 

• Using other peoples phone numbers in your CV – does not help. Creates confusion when trying to reach you.

• The name of your CV file should start with your name which must be the same name you used on your CV.

• Candidates from some establishments definitely need to up their game when it comes to showing that they are in tune with a future employer: 

Cover letter

I try not to read the covering letters stating the perceived perfection between the you, the applicant, and me, the organisation with the job offering – it’s all the same – 95% of the time it looks like a generic letter anyway, with a copy-paste job on the ‘The Troutbeck School’. I can hopefully find what I’m looking for in the CV more easily.

Keep it short, a half page, and show you know who you are applying to, know what they are offering the market, suggest how you could support the organisation in some way – hopefully based on your experience – not your degree because every applicant has one of those pieces of paper. 

What meaningful experience makes you different. A year in a refugee camp (straight on the call list); evidence of staying busy despite no paying job (on the list); using social media appropriately for your profession (good); part time holiday tour group leader (straight on the list).

Finally, have you been sitting at home instead of gaining experience? You don’t need money to travel. Help out at any local business, church, school, charity. You will learn something and be able to talk about it on your CV, and in your interview.

Something to think about: how many jobs/businesses/institutions/professions do not involve some element of selling or promotion? Lets see:

• Social work: selling a better future (competing with client’s view)

• Testing lab: selling a service (competing with other labs)

• School/University: selling your educational services to parents/students (competing with other teachers/lecturers/schools/universities)

• Lawyer: selling good advice (competing with other lawyers)

• Doctor: selling good advice (competing with other doctors)

• Scientist, technician, accountant, quality control, quality assurance, IT, lawyer, marketing, sales, HR in multinational. Trying to invent, then manufacture, then market, then sell a better, cheaper product or service (competing in the market with the next multinational)

• NGO: selling a better future (competing with client’s view)

• Working in a mine: selling quality and productivity (competing with other mines or the global market)

• Influencer: selling self (competing with next influencer trying to copy them)

• Celebrity: selling self (competing with next star trying to outdo them for a new role)

• HR: selling how good your company is to work for, selling your advice (competing with other multinationals for best candidates, possibly competing with external agencies for candidates)

• IT: selling your solutions (competing with other IT specialists – internal or external)

So, gaining experience in selling anything, from matches upwards, equals work experience for life. Plus it gets you out of the house, and enables you to make a contribution at home. You may even meet your future wife/husband/employer!