Making a great CV:
Avoid these common traits

The CV is one of your tickets to the job interview, which means it must be on-point and cover a great deal of your professional career. We’ve included some of our best tips on how to make a great CV before, so this blog post will delve into the reverse situation: how you can avoid making some of the most common CV mistakes?

The one-size-fits-all CV

It’s probably one of the common mistakes, or rather misconceptions that you should send your general/ gross CV that includes all your jobs, duties, achievements and skills when applying for a job. We understand why you want to: You want to show the recruiter that you’re a great candidate for the job! However, on the other hand, you’re not highlighting the roles, duties and skills relevant to the job description.

Be specific when updating the CV: Which of your roles, duties and achievements are relevant to the job and the company you’re applying for? It would be best if you showed what value you will bring to the role and why you fit the job requirements. It’s not necessary to put all your eggs in one basket if some of the “eggs” aren’t relevant. They might even confuse or annoy the recruiter or hiring manager because we will have to filter through the irrelevant stuff - but more on that later!

We suggest you update and review your CV every time you want to apply for a job. Spend 5 or 10 minutes on adjusting or updating the information, so the material you send is relevant to the role.

The inane professional summary

“I’m a very motivated and dedicated professional who always gives 110%. I’m a good multitasker and a great teamplayer….”. Do you see where this is heading? Yes, we acknowledge that job descriptions are just as guilty when it comes to inane clichés, but that doesn’t mean that you should make the same mistake!

After all, everybody’s hard-working, a great multitasker, very motivated and a team player. They’re not unique traits, and they won’t get a positive reaction from a hiring manager or recruiter. Why not, you ask? Because they say nothing about what value you will bring to the company. What will you bring to the table as a person and as a professional? Maybe you will provide exceptional value to the company because you’re a great account manager with a proven track record or you’re a great team leader because your team delivers software projects on schedule and under budget! These are summaries that tell who you are and what you do.

Furthermore, we advise you not to spend too much time perfecting the section about your personal life. It’s a helpful tidbit of information but not essential in our decision making. If you fit the candidate profile we’re looking for we’ll talk about your personal life during the job interview!

Forgetting to add your achievements

We want to know what you achieve in your current and previous jobs! If you’re applying for a Frontend Developer position, you’re most likely qualified, and you have the skills needed to succeed in the role. That’s why we want to know what sets you apart from all the other talented candidates. 

In the past, it was generally common to list only job duties and responsibilities. Almost nobody focused on how they had performed; they merely promoted what they had worked with or on. Now, it’s becoming much more popular to add results or achievements. 

Did you deliver a significant project on schedule, or did you design a website for a client? Let the recruiter or hiring manager know! Any achievements or positive results that are related to the job description are very much relevant when we review your CV!

The CV is poorly structured

Don’t make a mess of your CV! Choose a slick but clean design and don’t try to overcomplicate things. Too many CV’s become a mess when too much is happening at once. Sometimes there are pie charts and graphics with skill star ratings mixed with long, rich texts and small font sizes crammed into one or two pages. It’s too much and makes it confusing and at times, totally unreadable. Choose the design and structure with thorough care and attention to detail!

When it’s time to fill out the blanks, do yourself a favour and don’t put too much information on to few pages. This advice goes hand in hand with what we’ve mentioned before in this article because you must avoid filler and irrelevant information. Most importantly, it must be accessible to the reader, and all relevant information should be easy to find when skimming your CV.

Avoid filler and fluff!

There is no golden rule regarding the length of your CV, but don’t waste valuable space and time adding and padding your CV with useless or irrelevant experience or skills! Most hiring manager and recruiters will recommend a length of 1-3 pages, but that’s a flexible span. You don’t have to push it to three pages if you feel you’re just adding things for the sake of it. As we’ve mentioned before, hiring managers and recruiters will look right through it and recognise you’re just padding your CV with filler and fluff. You should only add information and details that are relevant to the specific job!

Always check for spelling mistakes and design errors!

When job hunting, there’s no worse feeling than checking your CV and finding dozens of errors after you’ve applied. You think to yourself “How could I miss that when I updated the CV?”. We’ll give you two tips. First, step away from the computer after the first update of your CV. Take a break from the application process and come back to it a couple of hours later with a fresh mindset. You’ll likely find some mistakes or errors the first time. 

Second, we suggest you send your CV to a close friend or acquaintance who can assist in reading and finding any errors you might have missed. With a thorough quality assurance process, you’ll likely eliminate any minor or significant spelling and grammar mistakes in your CV!

A great CV is your ticket to the job interview!

Don’t underestimate a great and structured CV that is tailored to the job. With an amazing and powerful CV, the hiring manager or recruiter is much more likely to find your profile attractive and invite you to a video interview or on-site interview. In that case, you will have to start preparing for the meeting as soon as possible. You can read more about job interviews in our guide on how to prepare for the job interview!