Having been a recruiter for 10 years working within the digital and media sector, viewing around 30 – 50 CV’s a day which roughly works out to about 100,000 CV’s in my career, I’ve really seen it all when it comes to CV’s. From your ten-page CV’s for a recent graduate through to your experienced professionals with over 10 years’ experience cramming everything into one page. I thought it would be useful to put together my tips on what makes a great looking professional CV.
Your CV is a document which represents you to the employment market. Whether you are sending your CV to a hiring manager, a HR professional or a recruiter, it’s imperative that this document represents you, your education and your professional experience in the best possible way. It’s a competitive market and your CV is a representation of you as a professional.
First impressions count, as an experienced recruiter it takes me less than 5 seconds to form an opinion about someone’s experience and to spot a good CV from a bad one.
General Format
- A4 Word Document
- Make use of the entire A4 page
- 1-3 pages max (1-2 pages for 1st / 2nd jobber, 2-3 pages for everyone else)
- Don’t use columns or paragraphs or worse, tables! This is not very easy on the eye when reading through someone’s CV. Remember your CV needs to be easy to read.
- I generally suggest no photos as 80% of the time they are inappropriate
- No borders, they just aren’t needed and take up space
- Remember you need to think about how your cv comes across not only as an attachment but also when it’s viewed on a mobile. Therefore, you should keep formatting to a minimum.
- Pictures, images, swirly things … Not cool. Don’t use them. They take up valuable space.
- Bullet points are your friend! Use them for education and work history.
- Paragraphs are too wordy and hard to read and can be boring …
- For those of you who like to write and have a loooooong CV, remember to be short and to the point. For those of you who have a few words describing what you do in a company where you have been for the last 3 years then you really need to expand. Remember, one person’s job title in one company means something very different in another. You must sell yourself and explain what you do.
- Make sure you keep your cover letter separate from your CV + treat it as a separate document, remember cover letters should be personalised for every job you apply for and therefor shouldn’t be part of your CV
Font:
- Do use a simple + easy to read font like Arial or Calibre
- Don’t use anything fancy or too creative which might make it harder to read
- Size of font should be 10-12, not too big + not too small.
Structure
- Page 1 is the first page that the client sees. So, you put the most recent, relevant + important information on this page
- Your name goes at the top of the CV, email address and mobile number underneath (use font 12 – 14)
- Profile: creating a mini profile, 3-4 lines giving an overview of you + what you are looking for (don’t talk about yourself in the third person)
Education: If you have good academics or recently finished school, university or college then education goes at the top of your cv. If not, then put it as one of the last sections of your CV - Remember to put everything in chronological order starting with the most recent studies then working back.
- Don’t list every module you’ve competed unless it’s hugely relevant to your job search. Remember, short + snappy
- Work Experience: now comes your career history. Just like education start with the most recent experience first, then work your way backwards
- As mentioned, use bullet points, make it detailed but don’t repeat skills used in previous jobs
- Work experience from 10 years ago is not as relevant as what you are doing now so think about that when you are writing out your responsibilities
- Visually the more recent experience should have more writing
Contact information
- Make sure your mobile number is correct
- Your address in on there
- LinkedIn profile / twitter / Instagram links etc.
- You can personalise your CV by adding in hobbies / awards that you have won etc.
Hopefully you have found this article useful. Most of the clients that I work with are extremely busy people who are always on the move so remember this when you are putting a CV together. The more straight forward, easy to read and succinct it is, the better.
If you would like to receive a sample CV template, just email me on Taryn@amplifiedtalent.co.za.
Amplified Talent is a global recruitment consultancy which specialises within the digital marketing industry. If you require advice about your career, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me on Taryn@amplifiedtalent.co.za.
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