How NOT to write a CV – 4 big do nots (not donuts)

In this highly competitive job market, your CV is more than just a document; it's your shop front, your sales brochure, and your professional portfolio all rolled into one.

Matt Craven, personal branding and CV expert from The CV & Interview Advisors, dives deep into the dos and don'ts of CVs.

Ambiguity

You may have multiple strings to your bow, and many job seekers have different types of skills to offer an employer. A great example is the IT Project Manager who can also operate as an IT Business Analyst or in a hybrid PM/BA role.

The issue here is the temptation to simply describe yourself as an “Experienced IT Professional”.

Unfortunately, this is far too vague and not aligned with the job title. Not only will that negatively impact how optimised your CV is for ATS, but it doesn’t help recruiters or employers either.

This is a classic case of needing three laser-targeted CVs aimed at the three different types of roles.

Generic one-size-fits-all CVs are typically ineffective, whereas laser-targeted CVs that make you look like the ideal candidate will serve you much better. Having a master CV with additional content that you can copy and paste in and out of your CV will save you tons of time when tailoring your CV to different roles.

Dunning Krueger

Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias where people with limited ability in a certain task overestimate their ability. This overestimation often occurs because they don't have enough knowledge or skill in the area to accurately assess the quality of their own work.

This syndrome often manifests itself in creative tasks – like when a child comes home from school with a painting, thinking they’ve conjured up a Picasso masterpiece. You could call it ‘creative self-delusion syndrome’, and we’ve all fallen for it at some point.

And here’s my leap into CVs…

Many job seekers feel a sense of achievement when they create their CV, which fools them into believing they have a good CV. They have created the CV to their own psychology and likes/dislikes, and often don’t have the knowledge or skills to objectively assess the quality of the work they have produced. This is classic Dunning-Krueger effect.

Many job seekers go to market with a CV that they think is good, yet our research suggests that recruiters consider 80% of CVs to be weak or needing significant improvement.

Outcomes??????????????????

By far the most common issue with CVs is a complete lack of evidence that the person it represents is good at their job. The only way you can communicate an ability to do a task well is to mention the outcomes of previous tasks that fell under your remit. In other words, communicating achievements with tangible business benefits.

I would estimate that over two-thirds of the CVs we review as part of our free CV appraisal service are lacking in achievements.

It’s imperative to fill your CV with projects and achievements and to make sure the business benefits that were achieved because of your work are communicated in no uncertain terms, using some kind of tangible statistic.

A good starting point is to think about your KPIs or the justification in the business case and to link the outcomes of your work to these.

Contractor and IR35

Job seekers are not the only ones who struggle with CVs – although often operating as a business through a limited company, contractors can be just as flummoxed when writing a CV.

One such faux pas is contractors seeking outside-IR35 roles but producing a CV that promotes an inside-IR35 status. Much of the advice around CVs is aimed at job seekers, so it is very easy to inadvertently position yourself more as an employee than an independent professional.

For outside-IR35 roles, it's crucial to speak and think like a business, not a job seeker. This means transforming your CV from a mere list of past roles into a brochure of the valuable services you offer to clients.

Adding your Limited company name at the top of your CV and using a professional business email with a proper domain will help.

In terms of content, I recommend a strategic shift in terminology – describing past engagements as being "engaged to do xyz" rather than "hired to" subtly reinforces your status as an independent contractor.

Additionally, avoiding terms like ‘Employer’ or ‘Employment History’ further aligns your CV with the contracting world.

You might also consider having a mix of chronological and case study-style CVs, catering to different client preferences and scenarios. The case study style CV is by far the most outside-IR35 option that serves more as a portfolio of client engagements than a traditional job seeker CV.

Help is at hand

If you would like one of my team at The CV & Interview Advisors to provide a detailed and confidential 1-2-1 review of your CV, you can find our contact details in the comments.