Will your CV help you get you an interview for that dream job?
Your CV is an advertisement for you.
Unfortunately, we see a lot of CVs that don’t do a great job of promoting their subject.
Some of those candidates tell us “Oh it’s fine, when I get into the interview I’ll be able to show my value.”
But by then it’s too late. The hiring manager has already discarded their CV and moved onto someone else.
The CV is the very first impression you give to the hiring manager who will probably take 10 seconds to scan your CV for key words that they’re looking for.
If your CV is poorly formatted, hard to read or confusing then they won’t see those key words and you’ll be eliminated before you even get a chance to interview.
Here’s some tips to follow to ensure you give yourself the best chance.
#1 Put a personal Summary at the top
Put a summary at the top of your CV (see image above) to catch the eye of the reader and use it to communicate a clear picture of your value.
Use dot points with each one speaking to something that stands out about you. It’s good to have:
- something personal – that describes you as a person and what you would be like as an employee.
- something professional – that communicates your experience, skills and knowledge.
- and something you achieved – to show you are someone that gets results.
Tip: Always use dot points – at least 3 and no more than 7.
#2 Get the length right
The hiring manager might only spend 10 seconds scanning your CV. If it is 5 pages long, they will spend less time on each page and may miss key words that indicate your value.
Tip: Keep your CV to 1-2 pages.
#3 Format well for ease of reading
Good formatting makes it easy for the hiring manager to pick up key words in those crucial 10 seconds. So for English CVs that means good spacing, logical headings and dot points. There’s a million ‘how to write a CV’ websites on the Internet but not all of them are good. Contact us if you’d like a sample of what we think works well in international education.
Tip: Use headings, dot points and white space to make it easy to read your CV.
#4 Don’t lie!
If there’s something on your CV that is not true, and it is discovered, you will suddenly look unreliable and untrustworthy, even if the thing you said is trivial. No one will give such a person an interview, let alone a job. It’s not worth it.
Tip: Don’t make stuff up!
#5 Make sure the timeline makes sense
The hiring manager will look at the dates for each role – if there are gaps or inconsistencies they’ll doubt that your CV is truthful (see Don’t lie). If you took leave for personal reasons or for study, make it clear that that is what you were doing. You don’t need to say what the personal reasons were.
Tip: Don’t leave unexplained gaps on your CV.
#6 Make sure your CV and your LinkedIn profile match
If you’re on LinkedIn the interviewer may well do a follow up to check your profile – and if what it says is different from your CV then it will cause them to doubt your CV (see Don’t lie). It will be easier for the hiring manager just to choose other candidates and reject you than try to find out the true story.
Tip: Make the dates and roles on LinkedIn the same as on your CV (the LinkedIn profile doesn’t have to be as detailed)
#7 Choose the right type of content
A lot of CVs are conversational, even rambling. We like dot points that for each person tell us things like:
- Who you reported to (the position not the person)
- The type of work that you did (e.g. business development)
- The main things you were responsible for (your “Key Deliverables”)
- How you achieved them (e.g. market analysis, stake holder management)
- What you achieved (What you delivered)
You don’t need to add why you left or what your salary was for each position.
Tip: Catch the hiring manager’s eye with content that is relevant to their business.
#8 Key words matter
Interviewers won’t read your CV, they’ll scan for key words. So if they’re looking for a manager of people then ‘team leader’ are the words they’re looking for.
Tip: Think about key words that are relevant and meaningful to the job you’re applying for and add them.
#9 Customise your CV
Since key words matter and you’ve probably got a lot of different skills and experiences (too many to fit into 1-2 pages), then it makes sense to customise your CV for each job you’re applying for.
Tip: Ensure your CV is relevant to the job with key words from your background that match.
#10 You can mention targets but do it smart
It’s great to show that you had targets in previous roles and achieved or exceeded them but we suggest not to put the actual numbers because the interviewer won’t know the business context that you worked in. So if your target was to recruit 20 students and you achieved 25 that might not look impressive to an employer that is expecting you to recruit 100 students.
Tip: If you beat your target say you exceeded it by 25% not 5.
#11 If you have picture, make it professional
You don’t have to add a picture to your CV but it’s fine if you want to. And if you do, make sure the photo is professional and business like. Don’t add one that looks like it is from a dating app (not professional) or your passport photo (too dull).
Tip: Choose a professional but warm and business like photo (and make it the same as the one on your LinkedIn profile).
#Bonus:
- Don’t put your height or weight. No one in international education cares. Your date of birth is ok. We only care about the value you can bring to the role.
- Do put referees are available on request or even list them by name if they are agreeable. This shows that you have people ready to back you up and makes your CV look even more credible.
Good luck!