4 CV Blunders Recruiters Still Make

You would think that being a recruiter, you would have this nailed; wouldn’t you?

Unfortunately, not.

Though as a recruiter, and a successful one no doubt, it’s easy to disengage your brain when it comes to singing your own praises.

Time to change, especially if you are considering either moving up the ladder in your own company (yes a new manager will still read your CV) or moving to pastures new.

According to a post in Time Magazine, the average hiring manager initially skim-reads a CV in 6-10 seconds; so how do you make it count?

As a rec2rec we see a lot of consultant’s CVs, and there are some common mistakes we have identified.

Good news is they are easy to repair, and they can be changed in such a way to make your new billing manager stand up and take notice.

So here they are; let’s get going…..

Old Isn’t Best: Change It!

Few recruiters like sitting down to rewrite their CV from scratch. So, commonly they add their last role only. STOP! Give it the time it deserves.

A billing manager is looking for details and will spot the fact that your CV hasn’t had much TLC lately.

We get it - CV writing isn’t fun, and doing it well takes time.  And yes, we get that you are looking at your own candidates’ CVs every day.

However, if you’re not sitting down and spending a good few hours tailoring YOUR CV to each role, you’re probably not trying hard enough to profile yourself for the dream recruiter role where you’ll really be able to fly.

Some recruiters are often reluctant to remove old jobs from their CV, even if they’re no longer relevant.

Where a job is old but still relevant to sales, of course, keep them, though if you were a swim instructor at University, that is unlikely to help in your endeavours to get that new senior consultant role. On the other hand, if you sold tickets for the student concerts and were target driven; keep that in.

Additionally, the only reason to ever have school grades on your CV is if you haven’t had any further education or work experience. Otherwise, they should go.

Your CV Needs to Demonstrate How Good You Are at Selling!

Every single recruitment manager in the world wants to see results.

As a recruitment consultant, your past results are your most critical selling tool.

As this former recruiter for Google pointed out: A good guideline should be using 1 line to describe your responsibilities in each role, and then 2-3 lines detailing the results you achieved while you were there.

(And he received 3 million CVs a year at Google, so should know a thing or two about CVs!)

Detail, Detail and More Detail…

As a recruiter, your new manager wants to know how you can deliver, so:

·        Share how you brought new clients into the company, through your sales skills, and tenacious follow up.

·        How you grew your desk by 200% in less than 90 days.

·        How you are a cold calling star that trains other recruiters in the team.

·        Show your placement ratio versus the number of roles you are working on the board.

·        Demonstrate how you use specific strategies to attract passive candidates consistently and how your CV to interview ratio is the best in your current agency.

Important….

Don’t blag without backup!

Use the exact figures where possible and have your results ready as proof at your interview.

There are plenty of stories out there of people who have embarrassed themselves by "embellishing" their CVs. While it might be tempting to put some extra flourishes on your application by bending the truth, it's not worth the risk.

The digital world means that it's easier than ever for us and your potential new billing manager to find out the specific details of what you have achieved.

To ensure that you come across as honest and trustworthy, make sure that you use quantifiable facts and evidence.

If you claim that you've accomplished something incredible for your last employer, explain the details in depth using numbers and statistics.

For instance: “I grew a brand-new desk from scratch. Within six months I was on track to hit ￡120k billings for the year.”

In summary

Make your CV important. As a recruiter, your hiring manager is likely to go through it in detail, and they are looking for results; don’t let them down.

 Until next time, Cheryl