CV Writing Made Easy
CV Writing and Your Hobbies – To Include or Not?
Jul 14th
One of the frequent questions jobseekers ask me as a professional CV writer is whether they should include their hobbies in their CVs or leave them out? Important question! And as usual, I’ve got the perfect answer.
How to Make Employers Notice Your CV
Jul 13th
When it comes to the art of CV writing, the times have changed. We are no longer in days of snail mail where it was very easy to apply for a job that wasn’t keenly contested and get hired quickly. Now, the email has made it very simple to apply for jobs. As a result, jobseekers who submit their CVs for a single job position are in the thousands. This has made it extremely difficult for the average jobseeker.
But there is good news. If you know what to do with your CV, employers will throw other CVs away and focus on your own. Follow these 10 tips and you’ll have a CV ready to grab you a job.
1. Go online and search for jobs you know you’re qualified for. Do the same with the newspapers. Print them out or photocopy them as the case may be. Don’t start writing your CV yet.
2. Get hold of your pen and underline the specifics things employers want, their problems, needs, and concerns. Also underline the requirements as in work experience and qualifications, not forgetting the job responsibilities.
3. Now, get your current CV and see if it addresses the contents of the ads. Chances are it will not. In that case, throw you’re your current CV and start writing a new one that address the specifics of the job.
4. If you’re going to expand your job search by uploading your CV in job search sites, ensure you include keywords that employers will be searching for. This you can generate from the job advertisements.
5. After writing your new CV, do a reality check, does it address at least 80% of the requirements? If yes, you’re ready to go.
6. Before you send out your CV. Check your formatting. Use easy to read fonts, apply bolding to key information and use bullets to stress a long list of information.
7. As much as possible, be specific, your achievements should be measurable and comparable.
8. By all means, avoid submitting the same CV to every job opening you come across. It doesn’t work.
9. Follow up gently if you don’t get reply within two weeks. Anything might have happened. Never trust to chance. Reattach your CV with your follow up.
10. Stay positive. Believe your CV can land you your dream job. I think it was Jack Welch who said, “Those who win are those who believe they can win.”
Recommended Resource: How to Write Outstanding CVs that Make Employers Excited to Meet You!