How to write a CV? – the final part

Writing a CV is a never-ending story; some might say it’s an evergreen. Sooner or later, we all have to write it, send it and have it assessed. Because of that, one might think that everything should already have been explained and clear to everyone. Not just how to write it, but also why and why this or that way. Maybe it should; but it isn’t. It’s time we finish this saga.

One of my professional activities is executive search – top level positions recruitment. I have been doing that for 19 years already. Job market is developing, people are more experienced, well-read, well-educated, with plenty of scientific literature and guidebooks around. Nonetheless, for the past years I havenot witnessed any substantial progress of our self-presentation skills; just as chaotic and uninspired our CV was years ago, it still remains so today, despite being such an important document, after all. Oh, I need to write a CV! So, I look into the internet, download a random template (two, at best) and type in carelessly whatever comes to my mind – mostly general Barnum-like stuff (link to Barnum CV), without any concept of what it should be like. The last thing I think about is that someone is going to read it and I want to get the attention of that someone. That person doesn’t live inside our head and hasn’t lived our lives. That person is going to have a few pages extract of our lives in front of their eyes to make a key decision for us: remember and invite to an interview, or file and forget.

I should perhaps stress that I am not talking about any particular CV template or fancy graphics. I am fairly immune to that and as a reader I ignore it altogether. What is important for the reader though: simplicity, transparency, facts. All the rest is a mere filler and disposable décor, which we use because we were told “Be visible, or die”.

Always ask yourself a question: ?Can my CV be more simple, clear and factual?” To verify that always give your CV to a trusted friend (but not a recruiter, especially not a junior one!) and ask them: what did they remember and if they can tell us our career path in their own words? It’s best if you can ask them that as a surprise, a day or two after reading the CV (!). This way you will learn how much your CV is worth in terms of communication. Simple, isn’t it?

So far I’ve written four articles about CVs, each of them related to a different element. This one completes the jigsaw puzzle and finishes the whole thing. It’s not rocket science, although you have to think a little. OK, so let’s get down to it. It’s time we finish the world history of CV.

What do we aim at when writing a CV? There are two primary objectives without which we disappear:

-      Make your reader interested, so that they eagerly and easily read through

-      Make it easy to remember, so that it’s easily located when necessary

Effectively, the reader should invite us to an interview right away (if we’re applying to an active project), or remember us in future (if we’re sending a CV at a random time).

If you don’t engage your reader and walk him through your document, they will stop reading and only start browsing. At that very moment you lost the battle. Instead of absorbing the readymade image of you, the reader would create one based on randomly chosen pieces.

If your text is not strong and simple enough to be remembered, you (surprise!) are gone with the wind. In future the reader could even have an interesting project for you, but will not call because they didn’t remember you. Ha! But you already know it, only from other areas of business, but just won’t see the pattern of similarities. It’s nothing else but transferring the already known rules of UX (User’s Experience) onto your reader. Start thinking RX (Reader’s Experience) – the term is my own invention, so try to acknowledge the author if you share the experience… Instead of “me and my own expression” focus on the comfort and needs of your Reader.

The key is the most important part of the CV – the introductory Summary. How to build it and why I have already described in another article. Look HERE:

?How (not) to kill your CV”

It’s best to read it before you move on, because I am going to refer to that text on several occasions.Ready? So let’s move on.

1.   Present information in packages

By “packages” I mean separable, short and clear fragments of the whole. The point is to make the reader believe, even at the first glance, that “they can read it” and effectively, start reading. Only a single glance should encourage them to read, and not overwhelm. RX, remember? Help them.

What overwhelms:

- writing a novel, that is, line after line. The reader is lost after the third/fourth line and start skipping, instead of reading. That’s where you lost them

- too small font; don’t be like speakers, who speed up their talking to finish on time, because it’s catastrophic. Print your document and see if it doesn’t irritate you. Show it to others and ask about their emotional first impression (“OK, I will make it”, or “oh dear, do I have to read this…?”). After reading, ask if they are tired. Unless you attach a magnifying glass to your CV, write in 11 size font (10 is an absolute minimum), because people may still want to print your CV, and not just read from the screen

- more than 3 pages; when the reader sees about 2.5 pages, they believe they can make it. They turn the page and see the end, so it’s OK, I can do it. If they see 4 pages, they stop liking your document and start skipping and glancing here and there. Not good – they should like it.

A conclusionof my 19 years of practical experience: everyone can fit their career into 2.5 pages. Let me repeat it, like Gary Oldman (Leon, The Professional) – everyone! If you can’t, look again into ?How (not) to kill your CV”. Also, try checking your document for empty spaces. Quite often we have much too much of them and we can economize it easily.

2.   What is a “package”?

Something like this:

- bullet points

- no more than 4 bullet points in a row

- every bullet point is max 2.5 lines long

- every sentence should be no longer than a line and a half; it’s best if it is less than one line

- short and simple sentences, even without verbs (don’t be a Dickens); every sentence should provide tangible data (facts, numbers, names)

- use simple language, commonly understood, no slang, no abbreviations that only a few people understand.

Why so? RX, all the time... for the same reason that every internet guideline for writing posts and articles says: don’t build a wall of text, use short paragraphs. The same applies to CVs. Some say it is OK to use six bulletpoints, e.g. in slide presentations, but 4 gives a higher probability of keeping the attention of a bored reader (4, not four, because digits are easier remembered). Also, 4 is enough to provide key information; key, not Barnum-like bla-bla.

But what if you have more valuable and tangible information to give that stem from one workplace? It’s easy. The first 4 bulletpoints should be your responsibilities and working environment (numbers, facts!). Next, write “Achievements” and add the next 3. It’s not seven bulletpoints for the reader – it is 4+3, in two packages. And if you are referring to a workplace from a dozen years ago, one bulletpoint is enough; it’s ancient history, the Battle of Waterloo. Unless… see “How (not) to…”

3.   List of trainings and key projects

How often do we boast of the number of trainings and courses, big and small, which we’ve completed, even those that lasted several hours? Bang! Here comes a half a page list of them into our CV. They could be your boost of confidence and reason for bragging about, but the bad news is, rarely anyone reads them; or more specifically, nobody. First reason – nobody cares that we sat through a one-day leadership/analytical thinking/whatever training several years ago. We just did it; it doesn’t mean we are a leader. Second reason – RX still applies. The reader’s comfort comes first, so... up to 4 bulletpoints.

So, how do we choose the most important trainings/courses for the CV? First off, with our professional objective in mind, that is point four of the Summary - again, “How (not) to…” Secondly, with commonly recognized and respected certificates we have received to prove our skills – ACCA, Six Sigma, CIMA, PRINCE, etc. That will do. Thirdly, who organized the training and where. If it was one of the hundreds of training firms – meh, barely a shrug. If it was a big institution whose names speak for itself – for example one of the key international or local schools of business - then your bragging rights are granted. A leadership course at INSEAD and a leadership course with George the Coach in a nice hotel by the lakes are two different stories; even if the first one was an expensive waste of time, and George has opened your eyes. RX…

We are often very proud of, and quite rightly, the projects we have completed. Sometimes there are quite a few of them. Don’t bore the reader with a full list, they won’t read it anyway. They will only glance at it and miss the crucial ones. What can we do about it? First of all, 1-2 key projects should go to the job description under the workplace they belong (in these 4+3 bullet points, each of maximum 2.5 lines). Secondly, choose up to four extra ones using the same criteria as with trainings (above). Thirdly, if you really must, make a long list of projects and add them at the very end of the CV, as an attachment, a bonus. That would make the main document concise and legible, and in case the reader is interested they will look into the extra page. The probability of a successful reading of your CV will rapidly rise and that’s the whole point of it.

4.   Hobbies, interests

It is another way of telling something about yourself as an individual. Why not to take this chance? Speak only truth and only say what your real passion is. And how to tell what is your real passion? It’s very simple: no matter how busy you are, you will find time for it. Your eyes shine when you think about it and you can talk about it with much greater knowledge than an average Joe. Think before you write “skiing” (twice a year, for a couple of days) or “football” (on TV). Apart from the general physical hobbies, don’t forget to say what your intellectual hobby is; that is, of course, if you have one. 

5.   Others

Before you start typing whatever in, stop. Remember – RX. If you aim at a high level executive position, information about your driver’s license B and Microsoft Office skills (that is, you can use Word and Excel) is a waste of space. If you aim at Sales Representative, that’s another story. Choose the kind of information that supports your objective. Filter the garbage.

Same goes for language skills. Not many people understand the specifics of language certificates. The reader wants to know how fluent you are in speech and writing on an everyday basis. Instead of “English – B12/7rJ”, say “English – fluent / communicative / basic.” They will test it anyway in speech, not by analyzing your papers. Unless you’re applying to a State Office, or a State-owned company; they only value your paper… Also “German – basic” is a waste of space. The basic language level allows us to say “hallo”, “goodbye”, “thank you” and curse a bit, but that’s not a reason to use up a whole line in a CV. “Basic” means “I don’t speak this language”.

This way, comprising 4 articles, we have a package of information on how and why to communicate with our CV’s reader. Allegedly, after inventing method of elementary analysis by burning organic substances, Justus von Liebig said with joy “Now even a monkey can be a chemist.” So, now anyone can talk about writing a CV, because the work is complete :-). Good luck with your independent work!

And when you already have a CV, then what? You go to see the recruiter. Luckily, we also have an article about that:

?How to Tame a Recruiter?”(link)

The illustration shows a part of a typical job interview.

FULL SET OF LINKS about CV

1.   How to write the most important part – that is, the Summary

?How (not) to kill your CV?”

2.   How NOT to write a CV, or the Barnum’s Effect and horoscope babble

?Horoscope CV, or the Barnum Effect”

3.   The general rules of writing a CV, or how to avoid the Barnum’s Effect

?How to write your CV (and much more), or anti-Barnum”

4.   Detailed rules of communicating via CV – this article

Finis coronat opus. If anyone after reading these short and factual pieces still has problems with writing a simple, clear and factual CV, it’s now their problem.

Last rule: observe RX and common sense; if you have doubts, ask yourself a question: is this fragment simple, clear and factual enough – for the Reader, not you.

PS. Yes, many recruiters and potential employers are not always professional and careful readers. Whatever comes their way, they will twist it, ignore it, or misinterpret. But that’s not the reason to allow sad layers into your cake, especially for those who can tell. We have little influence over the readers’ personality. What we can influence, however, is our communication with the world. Let’s focus on what we can influence.