5 Tips before you send your CV

Your CV is your personal portfolio, giving you an opportunity to showcase your skills and all the attributes that make you the right choice for the right position. 

Writing a CV that stands out to recruiters for all the right reasons can take hours of dedicated work. No matter what field you're in, in order to give yourself the best chance of reaching the interview step, here are our 5 best tips to keep in mind and to make sure your CV shows you in the best light.

TIP 1: Avoid spelling and grammatical errors 

It is deceiving for a recruiter to find mistakes on your resume. Before sending your CV, proofread it. You can ask a friend or family member or mentor to take a look at it they might be able to catch any errors that you missed.

TIP 2: Tweak/Tailor your CV for the job you're applying for 

Having a well-written, good-looking CV is vital to securing any job you’re applying for, but when applying for a role within a certain field, tweaking it ever so slightly towards the role can heighten your chances of success.

Look over your resume and think about how you can customize it for the position. When possible, use the same keywords that are in the job description. Many businesses use keyword searches to find the most qualified individuals. Without the right keywords, an actual person might never get a chance to take a look at your resume.

TIP 3: Choose a Clear Layout

Recruiters spend around 20 to 30 seconds scanning your CV, so it needs to remain clutter-free and easy to read. The last thing a recruiter wants to do is to go hunting for the information that they are looking for, so don't hide it amongst an array of elaborate graphics. Make sure you have a clear CV format.

TIP 4: Showcase your skills

List all your key technical skills with your level of ability for each of them. It's also important to include where you gained that particular skill; whether you learnt it on a course, at university or through work experience. You can also take it to the next step by referencing certain projects you’ve applied this knowledge to as well.

TIP 5: Keep your cv up to date

When you put together a CV it's often difficult to remember the projects you have been involved with and the achievements you have made. To avoid missing important pieces of information, revisit your CV every month adding anything of importance and cutting any information that is no longer required.

Bonus tip: don’t Leave out details like career gaps or accomplishments

When you list each former job on your resume, include the month and year that you started and stopped working at the position. Only giving the year could seem like you’re trying to cover up gaps in your work history. Instead of trying to hide any gaps, explain them. You can say that you were taking a short vacation, looking for work, or improving your education. When you mention each position, include three to five duties, responsibilities, or accomplishments. For example, you could talk about your high sales performance and your responsibility to train new salespeople.

Do you have anything to add to this list? Let us know in the comments below.