CV Secrets
What is a CV or curriculum vitae? Literally it's the story of your life – a long, rambling list of events and achievements, and that's exactly what the modern, professional CV should NOT be. It needs to be snappy, concise and powerful. Your CV must effectively communicate why the recruiter should hire you!
Employers receive literally hundreds of CVs and those that don't appear immediately relevant or appealing are discarded. Follow these golden rules to ensure that your CV makes an impact:
- Presentation: your CV should take up two pages only and be printed on white A4 paper. Use a conventional typeface such as Arial or Times. No fancy logos and fonts required. Make it easy on the eye.
- Profile: this section is perhaps the most crucial element of your CV. Here you must summarise, in the most positive way possible, your experience, skills and contribution. Each of the 50 or so words you use here must be carefully chosen so as to create the maximum impact.
- Career History: starting with the most recent, detail each post you have held, highlighting successes and achievements in bullet point form. Keep these relevant to the post you're applying for.
- Keep the recruiter in mind at all times when compiling a CV for a specific post. The relevance and impact of this document will decide whether you get called for interview or not so make it clear that you are the solution to their problem, the square peg for their round hole.
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