5 ways to make your CV stand out

Your Curriculum Vitae (CV), in most cases, is the candidate first contact with the employer. It doesn’t matter how qualified you are for the job, if your CV can’t reflects how qualified you are, you don’t have a chance to get the job.

Why? Most employers spend just a few second scanning each CV before deciding to put it aside or trash it. So, a candidate must have a CV that sells them to the employers in seconds.

There are important features your CV must have:

It must be concise: A CV should be no more than two pages of A4 paper. Often times, candidates feel every accomplishments should be added to a CV, wrong. Only accomplishments that increase you relevance for the job should be added. Don’t tell stories or add details not relevant to the job, go straight to the point. No need to tell the employer you are an excellent baker when applying for a bank job. In writing a CV, less is more.

Clarity: Your words must not be too small or muddled together. Use a good-sized font, Upper case and bold font when necessary. Make sure the right things stand out to reader.

Make sure there are no grammar or typo errors; this put you in bad light and gives them an excuse to dismiss your CV. Use a dictionary when unsure and have someone else read through for you. You can use graphic design to leave plenty of white spaces to make it easier to read. Click here to see our CV Templates.

Be honest: As tempting as it is to tell lies to make your CV look good, don’t. Keep it has real as possible. It could be embarrassing for you when during the interview and you can’t answer a question your CV says you can. Or worse you get the job then lose it, also earning you a reputation as a liar. 

Make it attractive: Show your accomplishments not just your experience but what you actually achieved at your last job, you could give a percentage of how much more sales you made, or level of improvement you achieved on how much more sales you made, or level of improvement you achieved on something. Click here to see samples of CV templates.

Use keywords: Your CV should have keywords used in the field you are applying for, this is necessary if you uploaded your CV to a job site. It helps recruiters find you faster.

Also your skills and experience level should fit with what’s stated in the job requirement.

Having one standard CV may not be a good idea. Go through your CV again, see that fits in the job requirement and into what the employer wants. This catches the attention of the employer.

Click here to get a professional CV.