Tag: CV advice

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Your Resume Requires Rejuvenation, But How?

Your Resume Requires Rejuvenation, But How?

Time and again you’ll meet people telling you about the significance of working on your resume and giving it the best shape possible, for better job outcomes. But, do you really see the point of applying the same old hacks and still expecting results to be in your favor?

The job market all across the globe has transformed and so has the employers’ approach. Putting your old school ideas into implementation would fetch you nothing more than peanuts, a job-offer left aside.

Also, keeping the candidates on the mature side under due consideration, a lot that has transformed needs to be on the paper in the most concise yet enticing way possible. Hence, the discussion given below will present the 5 most pertinent points, to help you rejuvenate your resume. Give it a good glance and arm yourself for success.

Set Up Your Own Coaching Business 

Start With Omitting Those Old Dates

Hiring managers nowadays look for a specific kind of qualification pertaining to every job profile.

Caring about dates is the last thing going in their minds, until the moment you make a mention. Apart from being an age indicator, the dates of your degree also act as a pointer suggesting your experience (or inexperience rather).

Hence, if you’ve completed a certification recently, mentioning the time period for the same will show the little experience you hold in the field, which is obviously something you’ll not prefer.

Know The Difference Between a Duty and an Accomplishment

Every now and then, the first advice that comes with respect to a resume is including all necessary keywords. It’s true that keywords help it to rise above the database trash of any hiring manager, but there are deeper things that require your attention.

One such thing is understanding the basic difference between a duty and an accomplishment.

A duty describes a responsibility you took on your shoulders and accomplishment demonstrates how well you did it.

For instance, being a sales manager and generating leads was your duty, but an accomplishment would be more like creating sales figures worth USD 500,000 within a month. Once you make out the basic difference between these, it’ll be much easier for you to list both of them under separate sections, a thing most recruiters look forward to, nowadays.

Giving Your Skills Set a Twirl

Gone are those days when the mention of all your skills alone would do the job. Today, employers look for much specific stuff.

What you need, is to recognize and mention skills that are pertinent to the job profile you are targeting.

In addition to this, volunteering is a great way to boost your resume too. Hence, don’t keep yourself from sharing any such experience you hold. This completely works in your favor, especially if you hold limited expertise in the field you want to shift to.

Be Crisp and Let The Numbers Talk

Nobody in this world has the time to invest some and go thoroughly, through a two-page resume. It’s scanning that’s prominent these days.

The need of the hour is to recognize the things that set you apart. For each section in your resume, try asking questions like what did you do beyond your normal job duties and what problems did you help to solve?

Once these are clear, paint a picture using facts, figures and numbers. These would any day vouch for your work efficiency in a much convincing way!

Interview questions and answers

Get It Online and Connect With The Globe

You may deny it, but nearly all employers find their employee base through social media.

The moment you start navigating Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for industry-specific communities, a cognizance with the reality will happen. So, be at the place most of the recruiters are and make your online profile visible.

Things might be endless to list. But, the hack lies in analyzing the most crucial ones. Hence, with a clear perspective in mind, just stick to the aforementioned. Give your resume a facelift and the ball will be in your court, before you say ‘resume’!

Author Bio:

Anshuman Kukreti is a professional writer and a keen follower of the global job market. An engineer by qualification and an artist at heart, he writes on various topics related to employment across the globe. Reach him @ LinkedIn, Twitter 

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10 Tips for a Perfect CV

10 CV Tips for creating a perfect CV

1. Use a CV writing service.

View your CV as an investment, if you can afford it you should consult with a professional CV writing service.

A professional service should be able to target your CV to a specific industry and job role, a targeted CV worded to catch the employer’s attention will significantly reduce the time it takes to find employment.

If you can’t afford a full CV writing service, templates for targeted CVs are included in the Secrets of Employment E-book.

2. Have your CV appraised for free.

A CV appraisal is normally a free service and can be a good opportunity to test out different companies’ services.

When sending your CV for a review ensure that you explain what job role your CV is being used to apply for. Once you receive the appraisal, don’t be afraid to ask any additional questions about their comments or suggestions.

3. CVs should be a maximum of two pages.

A little bit of information that is often told but not always adhered to! Most employers only spend 30 seconds skimming through your CV looking for certain criteria, having a CV that is 4 pages long makes this job more difficult.

Keep your CV brief and to the point, remember the CV is designed to gain you an interview. It is during the interview that you can recount the nitty-gritty details of your vast employment history.

4. Break up the CV text.

Employers can receive up to 300 applications for every advertised job – an arduous task for the most committed recruiter! Using Headings, Shadings, Bold, Bullet Points to break up the CV text, making it easier for the employer to read or “skim” through.

5. Use Font size 11 or 12.

A simple but often overlooked detail – The text has to be easy to read, employers can spend all day reading CV’s – let’s make it easy for them! If you’re struggling to fit the text on one or two pages, use font size 11 but no less. Avoid the use of unusual fonts – Arial is simple and easy to read.

6. Target your CV.

You need to have a targeted CV; a targeted CV is a CV written for a particular industry, job position and company. You may like to save a generic CV which can then be edited for specific roles using job specifications and company information.

7. Always send a Covering Letter.

Candidates may spend hours on their CV only to undo all their good work by neglecting to enclose with it a Covering Letter. Research undertaken by Employment King indicates that many companies will not even read CVs that are received without a Covering Letter. Some CV writing services offer free Covering Letter letter templates with every CV.

8. CV text should be concise and to the point.

An easy mistake to be made with CVs is the temptation to include masses of information, CVs are more difficult to reduce than they are to increase.

Everything you have undertaken in your working life is a selling point, on the CV you need to intrigue the employer, leave them wanting to know more. Include around 3 bullet points for each job and start by recording the duties you did that are needed for this new role.

9. Match your skills.

Once you have applied to a job advert, most employers will send you a job specification. Read the job specification and highlight the “Essential Criteria” these are the main skills the employers is seeking.

These criteria must be visible in your CV or you shall not secure an interview. It goes without saying, a record that you have these skills on your CV, this way you have nearly guaranteed yourself an interview.

10. Feedback.

Remember – there is no failure, only feedback.

If your CV does not secure you interviews, you need to change it either yourself or through a CV review service such as that provided by Employment King.

You should not be afraid to ask employers for feedback, this is considered to be a standard part of the application process and can stand you in good stead for future applications and how you can make yourself even more employable.