How to write a great CV

Why should you spend time and effort on your CV?

Industry research states that on average recruiters spend?6-8 seconds?looking at your CV before they decide whether you are suitable for their vacancy or not.?That’s really not a long time!

If you put the effort in to make your CV as compelling as possible you will reap the rewards. Here are some tips to make sure your CV is going to stand out and hopefully, get you that job.

• Have clear contact information. Make sure you have your phone number and email address clearly at the top of your CV. Remember to keep it professional – [email protected] isn’t going to create the best first impression!
• Write a relevant 'About Me' section. This section is where you can give a true insight into your soft skills, your drivers and motivations as well as what you’re looking for in your next role/future career. Make it compelling and honest and avoid being too generic. As a recruiter I can honestly say I’ve seen hundreds of CVs which say ‘works really well individually as well as part of a team’. Don’t be this person.
• Include all skills and keywords. When recruiters CV match they will search for Keywords. This includes tech stack or platforms used, coding languages, specific industries, global experience etc. The more you include the more likely you are to be selected. If you have links to articles you’ve written or portfolios for your creative work, include them too.
• Tailor your CV to specific roles. You’ve put all your experience and skills down on paper, great. Now you need to make sure it’s role-specific enough. Take some time to have a look at roles you’re interested in and scan for keywords or information you may not have thought to include.
• Use clear, professional language. Your CV should read well and look professional. Avoid using acronyms, slang or company-specific language that won’t translate.
• Highlight your achievements. If you’ve won awards, increased sales revenue or led a successful project, we want to see it. Don’t be afraid to sell yourself.
• Put your most relevant experience first. Remember those 6-8 seconds? Make sure the recruiter is going to be reading the most relevant things first. Don’t list your tech skills or languages at the bottom of the 3rd page.
• Explain any gaps in your CV. Many people since 2020 will have gaps or very short-lived roles in their CV. Include a short explanation to clarify what happened (e.g. redundancy, relocation etc) so you don’t just look like a job-hopper.
• Ask someone else to read it. This can be a co-worker, friend or anyone else you know who is a professional. Get confirmation that it reads well before submitting it.

• Spelling and grammatical errors. Spelling mistakes can be an indication of lack of attention to detail and professionalism. If you're unsure about your spelling and grammar, use tools like spellcheck and ask someone else to review your CV to make sure it reads well.
• Irrelevant or excessive information. This one is a common mistake. Be clear and concise, make sure the information on your CV is relevant and showcases your skills and experience. Remember, we’re trying to get as much information as we can in 6-8 seconds - keep it to the point.
• Bad or complicated formatting. Most recruiters will have an ATS (applicant tracking system) which pulls your CV onto their database. If you have fancy tables, graphics etc. this will generally pull through badly and create difficulty for the recruiter to read it. Make it a clean, professional Word document without any fancy frills.
• Leaving out experience. This tends to happen if candidates want to shorten their CVs. There’s a common misconception that your CV needs to be under 2 pages long. Now, let’s not make it a novel but if the information is relevant and concise (don’t include your paper round from when you were 16), keep it in.?
• Using AI to write your CV. Tools such as Chat GPT are amazing, and definitely have their place however using it to create your CV is not the brightest idea. Recruiters will be able to spot where the human element is missing – especially if 50 other candidates have asked Chat GPT for the same thing.
• Being dishonest. Don’t be tempted to add extra content into your CV to make it look more impressive if it’s not true. You will get found out at some point and let’s face it, if you get asked a question in an interview about something on your CV that you’re not able to answer, that’s going to be an embarrassing admission.

Hopefully you found some useful tips that you can use to enhance your CV. If you are interested in a role at Euromonitor keep an eye on www.euromonitor.com/careers .

If you need any further help or advice, reach out to one of Euromonitor’s global TA team:

Global TA Director: Anita Small

For APAC: Joel Lim (IHRP CP) , Cindy Chen , Shirley Tan

For EMEAI: Alice Gibson , Rebecca Mono Tolson , Joanna M. , Stephen Heard , Ravi Menon , Remi Basumatary , Pinkey Srinivas

For Americas: Tina McCoy , Dafnee Amaya , Larissa Linares, SHRM-CP