Guest Blog: How To Write A Perfect CV

By Sonali Dheri

Your CV is your personal document, designed to ‘market’ your skills and expertise to potential employers. Research implies that employers spend about 20 seconds on a resume, so it’s significant to show them quickly why you’re the perfect fit for the job.

Of course, there’s no such thing as the perfect CV, but there are CVs that are close! Ultimately, it will be your skills and qualifications that get you the job.

However a professionally crafted CV is what gets you spotted for an interview and gives you the required edge over the others.

Below are some general suggestions or pointers that will help you achieve a “perfect” resume:

• Your resume can be more than 1 page only if there is enough relevant education, and experience to validate it.
  • Spacing and consistency are very significant! If your second page consists of only few lines of information, then think of changing the spacing and format of your first page so that you can avoid the second.
• You should keep the bullet points consistent for each work experience. Having 3 bullet points for some employers and 7 for the rest takes away from the consistency of your resume and makes it looks flawed!
• Do not put references on your resume. Write them on a separate sheet of paper. A simple way of doing it is to write you contact information as it is on a new sheet, then add the title “References” and then list them as bullets. Always write names, occupation and phone numbers.
• Always Proofread! You don’t know how significant this is! Not only double check yourself but also have a reliable friend or relative read it for you. This will not only get additional perspective but also help you discover things that you might have missed!
• Lastly, skip anything that is irrelevant and will not help you get the job!!

 More tips to craft that perfect CV

Start with the basics:

To begin with, your resume should have your contact information, which includes your name, address, telephone number and also a professional email id. It’s important that recruiters can reach you in a timely fashion.

Focus more on the summary:

You can easily choose to skip the “Objective”. Most employers presume that your “objective” of sending them your resume is your interest in their open position.

But if you do feel the need to write an objective, make sure it’s well written and piques the interest of employers. Next, you should focus on your “Skills” and Qualifications”. This is typically a list of your “transferable skills”; skills that’ll be naturally useful to employers. Some of them could be your communication skills, or your expertise with computers.

Another great practice is customizing your resume for every job opening you apply to. For instance, if you apply for a sales position, then listing your “extensive sales experience” and “strong negotiation skills” would certainly be a great idea.

Camouflage job hopping:

Though, due to no fault of your own, you might have a resume that makes it look like you’ve done some considerable job hopping. That is, you’ve switched jobs often! Now this may set off the alarm bells for some recruiters and they might see you as an unstable candidate. So by merely stating the bare facts, you might do yourself some long term damage!

Instead, use some cosmetic gloss to camouflage your short-term positions under one heading i.e. contract work or freelancing to make your resume look less disorganized.

We recommend refocusing your resume around skills and accomplishments, instead of trying to enlist a series of disconnected jobs.

Show your hunger for constant Learning:

Apart from ensuring that your CV looks perfect, you can also highlight in your resume your constant endeavor to continue your learning through courses workshops, seminars, or self-study.

Sure, degrees help, but you’re also capable of learning through other mediums. Highlight those weekend seminars you’ve attended or workshops you’ve been a part of on your CV. Or, include a course you’ve been pursuing. Even if it’s something small, it shows you have the motivation and drive to constantly learn something new.

In short, having a great resume or CV is a major advantage when it comes to seeking new employment. It’s your very own promotional document through which you can impress and attract employers. If you follow the above mentioned tips, you’ll not only end up with a CV that looks good but will also have an opportunity to get your foot into the door.