How to get ahead of the game: 4 tips for your CV

This blog post can help you structure your CV or inspire you in the writing phase. Even if you already have a CV at your disposal this post might be helpful if you are about to review or shake-up your CV! CV-writing is tough and challenging but very rewarding in the end! Here are our four tips for your CV.

Your CV should be short and to the point

Nobody has time for eight pages of countless jobs, tasks, achievements, courses, education and certifications no matter how successful or great you are. 2-3 pages should be enough. It is short but not too short and it is time-effective. Be structured and only use the information that is relevant to the job – nobody wants to waste time reading about something that is redundant or irrelevant. Chances are you will lose their attention and interest.

You can find tons of templates on Google available for download. You can adjust and improve them in accordance with your own taste. If you are not an expert in InDesign or Photoshop and want to adjust the template, maybe a friend or acquaintance can help you out. Just remember: keep it simple. Be specific and effective with the time you have the recruiter’s attention, so you shouldn’t necessarily focus on pie charts and overly complicated designs.

The professional summary must be on-point

A professional summary is a teaser for the rest of your CV. It summarizes your professional career in 4-5 lines: your profile, your experience, and your results. It should be the first thing the recruiter recognizes and reads. Get their attention. Make them want to read the rest of your CV.

The summary is not rocket science but it will probably be the most challenging part of your CV to write. You have already condensed years or decades of experience down to 2-3 pages. Now you must produce a summary of 4-5 lines on what you will bring to the table. Be precise and on-point when summarizing your profile and experience while piquing the recruiter’s attention.

List your results!

Lots of experience can be great. Even just a couple of years of experience can be the defining factor as well. Why? Because no matter how many years of experience you have, you must list your results and achievements. The results are your proof. Proof of success and that you completed the tasks you were employed to do! Listing your results also shows recruiters and employees that you are result-oriented.

You should not sit on your results and wait to summarize them until you are actively looking for a new job. You might just forget some results that are both relevant and great success stories. Create a log or document for the results while in the job. You will remember them when the time comes for updating your CV and you will have a long list of great results to choose from!

Use a nice photo

Do not obstruct your chances of landing an interview by attaching a picture of you from your recent holiday to Mallorca with a drink in your hand and a fedora on your head. Sure, it might be a fun gimmick and the recruiter might get a mild chuckle out of it but consider this: is it worth taking the risk that the recruiter and/ or employee might get the impression that you are not taking the job search seriously?

Do not put a potential job on the line by using holiday pics or funny photos from parties. You don’t have to be dressed in formal attire where it looks like you just left a business meeting. Look the part for the job with a nice and clean photo of you in a professional setting.

A great CV is your ticket to a job interview!

Do not underestimate the power of a great CV. The best CV is the one that makes it easy and fast for the recruiter to get all the relevant information about you. Structure of information is the key element in making life easy for the recruiter. You have the recruiter’s attention for less than a minute before they decide whether to keep on reading or not - make it count!

There are endless resources for templates, guides and blog posts about CVs. You have almost everything at your disposal! The single most important factor in the process is that you are satisfied with the end result and that you feel that the content fully and honestly represents the professional image of yourself. Good luck with your job hunt!