First Impressions Count

First impressions count. Think about that because most the time, your CV is the hiring manager's first impression of you. So what is going to make you stand out from the rest?

You need to be willing to put in the time and effort required to make the best possible representation of yourself. It’s a tiresome process curating your professional career to its most minimal form, but it is necessary.

For starters, who will be reading your CV?

It's either HR managers or hiring managers. 

• Often, the first batch of applicants will be reviewed by HR before being sent on to the hiring manager (especially if you’re applying directly via LinkedIn, Careers24 or similar).
• They are likely to receive 10x more CVs than the hiring manager actually has time to interview, so this is where the first culling process happens.
• If your CV finds its way to the hiring manager, help them remember you by showing them what they want to see.
• The 6-second fit/no-fit test is real. Make sure they can pick up all the crucial details at a glance and can read the full document from start to finish in less than 2 minutes.
• Oftentimes, the company will have a CV parsing system that automatically scans the content on your CV and makes an AI-based decision on whether you're a fit, so be selective and deliberative in what you include/exclude.

The goal: for them to be thinking “I need to meet this person” every few lines as they read. 

Some top tips

1. Your CV is not designed to represent every detail of your life story. It’s designed to get your foot in the door. Make it concise!
2. Invest in a good looking template. Use one of our recommended online resources (Enhancv or Canva), or get in touch with us to help you out, we love deriving simplicity and making it beautiful. 
3. Only include information that is relevant to the job you are applying for. Yes, this means you may need to review and possibly edit for each application, but it's worth it. 
4. No CV should ever be longer than 2 pages (some say 1 page). 
5. Either complement your CV with a cover letter or include a short profile at the top of your CV giving the reader some insight into why you are good for this position (or both).
6. Do not list your roles and responsibilities. It’s a waste of space. Rather display your accomplishments, results, value-add and impact.
7. Do not write long paragraphs. Use bullet points to improve readability and never use more than three bullet points per job.
8. Try to use graphical representations of information where you can. Skills bars and icons are a good way to achieve this.
9. Try limit any information that could be seen as subjective. If you’re going to include a “Strengths” section, we highly suggest taking a psychometric assessment such as Gallup StrengthsFinder which is widely recognised by most HR professionals, and used by many hiring managers for structuring high-performance teams. 
10. Include an area for your achievements. This is where you can be loud and proud of what makes you great. These can be personal or professional.
11. List some personal interests, and try don't make them boring. This is a peephole into you as a person. Put some real thought into it before slapping down the generics. 
12. Don't include any unnecessary or unrequired information. This includes a photo of yourself, your ID number and marital status. Not only is it a security concern, but it opens you up to prejudice. Let your achievements speak for themselves.
13. ... to be continued

I wrote this post as a means to help those without access to a career coach or recruitment partner and I'm going to keep adding to this list as I learn and pick up new trends/insights.

If you have thoughts or ideas that you'd like to share or questions that you want to ask - please comment below. I'd love to hear from you!

Upwards, 

Jaryd