3 ways to get your CV noticed (with Top Tips)

Back in July '17 I was hiring for one position. That led to:

• 103 Applications
• 97 CVs
• 88 eligible candidates (who had the right to work in the UK)
• 46 suitable candidates (who had the relevant skills and experience)
• 22 shortlisted (who ticked most of the boxes)
• 8 interviews
• And ultimately, 1 offer

So out of all those CVs, what did the successful ones - the ones that made it to an interview - have in common?

Want the spoiler?

I’m not going to make you read all the way to the end. The successful CVs had these 3 things in common:

1. A solid structure
2. Experiential depth 
3. Personal warmth

So there you have it. Job done. Take 5 minutes back in your day. However, if you want some more context to that, read on…

What those 8 CVs had in common to get to the interview

Flipping this on its head, let’s look at what the other 95 CVs - the unsuccessful ones - had in common.

Some applied without attaching a CV. Yep, you read that right. Just to recap - some people applied for a job without a CV. Don't be doing that.

Others applied who weren’t eligible to work in the UK, so they were an automatic out. But both of these made up a relatively small number of applicants... and this would be a pretty lame article if my advice was "attach a CV and be eligible".

That left the two largest groups: those who were technically eligible to apply, and those who had the right skills and experiences.

Taking the first lot, just because they were eligible to apply didn’t mean that they should.

It goes without saying, but make sure you have the skills required before applying – but not necessarily all of them

Why would you not want all the skills, you may wonder. I'm going to cover that in a separate video post - so stay tuned!

EDIT: Video now live!

All in all, I had 46 candidates that I could take on. Let’s look at 24 of those CVs (the ones that didn’t make it to the shortlist stage). I’ve grouped these into 3 categories: Hard to consume, lack of depth and no “who I am”:

Hard to consume

The issue: The layout of the CV made it tricky to get the information I needed. Some were blocks of text, others without clear headers. You may have heard that a hiring manager spends 10 seconds looking at a CV. I’m slightly longer, but my first read of any CV is around 30 seconds.

I'll try, but if I can’t scan your CV you're making it hard. I’ve got a huge CV pile to go through. Make it easy for me

The fix: Your CV must be scannable:

• Use headers and bullets
• Highlight key achievements
• Place emphasis on what you want me to remember.

Top tip: Read your CV on your mobile phone. If it’s easy to read there, you’ve nailed it

Lack of depth

The issue: These CVs upon closer reading didn’t actually tell me much. They had keywords for sure, which piqued my interest, but there was no substance. For example, someone listed “Accessibility champion”. Awesome. But they didn’t expand. What does that mean for them? What do (or don’t) they know?

As a one-off I could forgive it, but it gets discouraging to pique my interest throughout the CV and to not follow through.

The fix: Back up your statements:

• Provide examples
• Bring them to life

Top tip: Start with keywords – don’t end with them

No “who I am”

The issue: I mentioned before that I scan all CVs quickly. The only rule I break this for is the Personal Statement / Hobbies / About me. I’ll read that verbatim. I want to know the candidate. The CVs that have these are already a step ahead of the game. The ones that don’t are just a list of skills and experiences.

The fix: Differentiate yourself:

• Tell me what you’re passionate about
• What’s close to your heart? If you don’t have this in your CV, put it in now

I will be viewing CVs of people who have the same skills as you, and potentially with more experience. Make sure that you are the competitive edge

The 22 shortlisted CVs were all invited to do online assessments, and the final 8 were decided by a mix of amazing CVs and top marks on the assessment.

So what did those 8 CVs have in common?

Pretty simply – they had the things all the others lacked. They obviously had the right skills and experience, but they were well structured and had easy to consume content. They went into more detail around the role they played (not just focussing on keywords) – and I felt a human warmth in their writing.

By the time I interviewed them, I felt like I already knew a little about them.

Over to you

If you have any top-tips you'd like to share, or questions about whether something should or shouldn't be on a CV, let me know below.