HOW TO BUILD A GOOD CV?!

I receive hundreds of resumes/CVs everyday depends on my recruitment campaigns. Some are perfect and some are not. I'm not surprised but shocked from the amount of ugly CVs...

It takes six seconds from a recruiter to tell if the CV worth the call or not.

Now, you should wonder why no one call for a job! The answer: It's simple...

Wither you are a fresh graduate or professional job seeker! You should at least think of your personal branding when you start building your resume/CV. The resume/CV is totally YOU. When I'm looking at your resume/CV it means I'm looking at you.

However, I'm here to do my best to help you building a good resume that reflects your strength and professionalism to be called for a job!

You're using Microsoft Word Application to build your CV. It's blank page now. You should now build that page layout by choosing the page size (A4) and the margins that fits your information.

Now use your header to write your personal information and here I'm telling you to write exactly the following: First & Last Name; City, Country; Phone Number; Email; LinkedIn Profile URL. You can use a bigger font size for your name but keep the rest of information at font size 12.

You should not write your gender at least with unisex names such as Alaa or Walaa. You should not write your year of birth but it's optional. You must not write your ID number and no one suppose to ask you for it. You should not put your picture - It's already on LinkedIn.

Now, your header is done and looks perfect. You now you are wondering how you will write the rest of the CV. First of all, you should think about yourself. Think of what makes a recruiter keep reading your resume/CV. How about a summary, career objective or a biography that tells me you are the right person to call?!

A career summary is a short introduction placed at the top of a resume. It highlights relevant experience, professional accomplishments, and skills. The purpose of a career summary statement is to make the hiring manger read on. It needs to include relevant experience, accomplishments, skills.

Here's how to write a resume summary:

1. Describe your strong character traits in just a couple of words.
2. Mention your current job title and professional experience.
3. Say how you want to help the employer achieve their goals.
4. Add info on your key achievements to prove you can deliver results when hired.
5. Limit it to 3 or 5 sentences and use numbers whenever possible.

Here is an example of a career summary:

Meticulous and efficient HR manager with 7+ years of experience. Eager to boost employee retention. In previous positions, increased employee retention by 20%. Cut recruitment lead time by 30%. Also, improved employee effectiveness by up to 20% and boosted participation in training by 15%.

To make things super clear:

For entry-level candidates, the distinction between a summary and an objective may become somewhat blurry. Remember: a career summary focuses on your relevant professional experience whereas a career objective highlights your skills.

That being said, t doesn’t matter if you’re writing an entry-level resume summary or objective for your personal profile.

What matters is -

You must never come across as underqualified.

So, take a long hard look at yourself, and see which of your past gigs could be relevant in the context of the job you’re applying for. Consider things like:

• Other jobs you had
• Education (incl. school projects, coursework, etc.)
• Volunteer Work
• Commendations from superiors
• Freelance Work
• Hobbies & Interests
• Personal Projects

Here some examples you can read:

Experienced PMP with a background in law and 7+ years experience growing revenue for a Massachusetts-based electronics firm. Seeking to leverage leadership expertise as project manager for Paylocity. Guest speaker at the Northeast Lean Conference in 2014.

Detail-oriented Civil Engineer and PE with 5 years of experience and a zest for solving complex problems. Seeking to use proven project management and design skills to improve quality, cost and time metrics for NEP Engineering.

Receptionist with over 5 years' experience working in both the public and private sectors. Diplomatic, personable, and adept at managing sensitive situations. Highly organized, self-motivated, and proficient with computers. Looking to boost students’ satisfactions scores for ABC University. Bachelor's degree in communications.

Now. You are set but another thing that makes your CV even better is when you add your Professional Qualification, Area of Expertise or Competencies. They are eye-catching and straight to the point. Let's say you are looking for a recruiter. The best competencies you should mention is (not limited): Screening, Interviewing, Selecting, Shortlisting, Talent Acquisition, Boolean Search, Executive Search, ERP ATS, and so on. You can also add strong skills you use in your job such as Communication, Client Management, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Leadership (If you are managing a team) and so on.

If you did all the above mentioned, then this how your resume/CV will look like: