How to Write a Kick-Ass/Arse CV

Last week on ‘The Job Journal Live’, I was joined by the incredible CV writing specialist Rebecca Pay ?? who shared a loooooad of tips on crafting a CV that’s not just good, but kick-ass/arse good.

Wait, what do you mean you couldn’t make it??

Well, handy for you I made some notes so grab your beverage of choice and get ready to give your main piece of marketing collateral a overhaul.?

Perfecting Your CV Layout

Rebecca’s advice: keep it simple. It’s important that the information you share is as easy to digest for the reader as possible. Using fancy formatting runs the risk of details being overlooked which can make the difference between a recruiter reading on or putting your CV at the bottom of the pile.?

Showcasing Achievements

Got career highlights worth shouting about? Of course you have. The key here is to make sure you’re speaking about them on the first page of your CV. I lost count of the number of times we said ‘hook’ during our session but your summary section should act just like one, grabbing the reader’s attention and enticing them to read on.?

Tailoring Your CV

I’m a big advocate for tailoring your CV to each application and it turns out that Rebecca is too. Tailoring doesn’t mean starting from scratch each time. Ensuring specific skills are showcased in your summary section is one way of doing it, as is having a list of skills in your CV that you can amend as necessary. Depending on your skillset, there may even be value in having multiple versions of your CV.?

The Cover Letter Debate

Is the cover letter dead? Not yet according to Rebecca. Whilst we agreed that they often aren’t looked at by recruiters Rebecca did advocate for cover letters in situations where you’re proactively reaching out to a business you’d like to work with. There are also plenty of application processes still asking for them to be completed so dead or not, learning how to write one isn’t the worst use of your time.?

Common CV Pitfalls

Even the best of us make mistakes. Here are some of the CV no no’s we explored.?

• Photos-No
• Tables-Nope
• Colour-Nah
• Different fonts-Stoppit
• Inclusion of irrelevant roles (anything 10+ years)-Nein

Beating the Bots

With more and more people claiming AI is rejecting your CV before it’s seen by a human I had to ask Rebecca if she thought there was any truth in it. Applicant Tracking Systems used by recruiters do sometimes have shitty functionality which makes parsing of details a little hit and miss (more common in older systems) but Skynet reviewing your hobbies and discounting your application because you do crochet? Not yet.?

One of the biggest takeaways from the session is to get in the habit of updating your CV regularly. It should be seen as an evolving document that develops as you do so if you're picking up new skills, add them as you go. It will feel a lot less daunting the next time you have to use it too.

So that's it. If you’d like to learn more about Rebecca’s CV writing services head over to her website via the link below where you can also download her FREE CV Starter Pack (it's bloody genius).

The next edition of The Job Journal Live kicks off on Wednesday 8th May at 12:30pm.

The End.

Enjoyed this edition of The Job Journal? Like, comment and share away and if you’re looking to be inspired to change your relationship with work by people who have done just that then tune into my podcast 'JobsWorth' via the link below ????

https://open.spotify.com/show/26LxDE7jzZIaGgYW3nwAGp?si=55314be519d74fcd