CV Tips & Advice

The job market right now is experiencing what can only be described as going through a seismic upheaval driven by Covid-19. This has forced candidates onto the job market, and some for the first time in years!

The free CV Surgery was set up as an offering by createselect to all of those candidates within our network that perhaps find themselves looking for work and advice on how to proceed with their CV. The job market now has a surge of candidates and their CV needs to stand out for all the right reasons. 

What to include in your CV, key items to look out for: 

• A personal statement/ career summary, make it punchy, to the point but try not to make it sound too generic.
• Hiring managers want the CV to do the work for them, a brief intro into what the company does/who they are before moving on to bullet points could help flesh out what roles you are suitable for moving forward.
• Make sure you outline your key skills & achievements.
• Tailor your CV to each job application. A great way of doing this is getting the job description and taking the keywords from that JD and transplanting those into your CV.
• If you want to send a cover letter make sure you adapt it depending on the company and the role you are applying to.
• Think about layout, a hiring manager will probably only spend seconds at first glance on your CV, make it easier for them to read!
• Try and keep your CV to 2 pages max!
• Depending on the computer that you use, there are some great free CV templates on Apple Macs in Pages for example, or go online and use Google Docs. Make use of these free templates, and don't be scared to inject a signature colour! https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/?ftv=1

Hopefully, these tips are handy. What has worked for you in your job search?