Someone asked me the other day how many CVs I had reviewed in my professional experience. I tried to make an estimate and it seemed like asking an Eskimo to count snowflakes. I know what you’re thinking…that’s an exaggeration. True…but then, I wouldn’t be too far off the mark if I said the number will feature around the tens of thousands, exponentially more than many would ever see in their lifetime. Given that retinue of experience under my belt, it’s probably a no-brainer that I have seen the best, the worst, and the “wouldn’t-even-use-this-to-wipe-the-butt” kinds of CVs. I once received a CV that was stained with cooking oil! That on its own tells an elaborate story that my avidly creative mind can spin in whatever direction it pleases, certainly not in the job seeker’s favor. Invoking the ammunition metaphor again, it was like pointing a water gun at your enemy during mortal combat! “Finish him…!” And it’s all over even before it started!

In my previous post, I talked about why your résumé is your most important job search weapon. In this post, I will share a few tips on what you should do to get your CV to serve you well.

Recent research shows that recruiters spend an average of just under 7 seconds to review each resume (http://onforb.es/GOEjrP). Can you beat that? Seven seconds! It takes less time to look at your entire CV than it took you to write your name! Someone reading this is probably thinking “…I knew it! Those recruiter’s obviously didn’t take the time to look at my CV…the juicy bit was on page 3!”. Well, when you’ve got hundreds of people’s personal histories, scribbled on a few sheets of paper to look through, you very quickly learn the difference between in-depth research and skimming…and we almost always choose the later.

So here’s a few absolute must-dos that can earn you a few extra seconds of the recruiter’s attention.

1. Use an available template. There are loads of open source, professional CV templates widely available in Microsoft Word and all over the internet.  In Microsoft Word, click the Start Button, Click New and select the Resumes tab. There you will find more templates than you will ever need to make a CV. More templates are available over the internet (https://templates.office.com/en-us/CV-(resume)-TM00002021). There are even websites that help you build your résumé from start to finish just by filling out some online form. So honestly, there is simply no excuse whatsoever for drafting your CV in paragraph format. A point of warning though…except you’re looking to apply for the clown position on a Broadway show, select a simple template with a professional appearance, and use it. There is the school of thought that using these templates is far too simplistic and demonstrates the applicant is unimaginative. Well, honestly, the recruiter’s interest is simply to see a résumé that looks professional and not one that looks like an experiment in computer usage. Yes, using the template is fairly simplistic, but I honestly doubt that any recruiter will “punish” you for it.
2. Write in a logical, chronological order. By logical I mean, your reader should be able to follow your train of thought. Nothing distracts more than a résumé with information scattered across the pages like the author only remembered them as an afterthought. Start with action words…accomplishments should start with words like “Led”, “Developed”, “Managed” and not “I used to…” “We were responsible for”. Use bullet points and sub bullet points to organise your document. By chronological, I mean that it follows a time sequence order. Recruiters have an uncanny habit of looking out for a chronological flow in your academic and work experience dates, noting any gaps so they can arm ourselves for the counter attack. My advice will be that in writing your experience and academic achievement, start with the most recent and work backwards, rather than the other way round. Your most recent qualifications are likely to be more related to the job you are applying for than your older qualifications.
3. Update your résumé for each job: Each job requirement is different. Modify your résumé for each job you are applying for, making sure to highlight the points that align in your CV to the job it is meant for. For example, if you are applying for an IT Telecoms job that requires CISCO certification, you would probably want to feature this early in your application, somewhere conspicuous on the first page. But if you were applying for a Project Manager role for a non-profit, you might want to highlight your volunteer experience working for internally displaced persons in Sudan instead. The recruiter looking at your CISCO adapted CV for a PM job can erroneously reject you as a misfit. Something most people also don’t realize is that their first line recruiter is probably a machine (watch out for my post on When your Recruiter is a Machine). Machines by nature are not as smart as people, but are less subjective and illogical. So if the machine is configured to look for the keyword “CISCO” in your resume and you have inadvertently written it as “CICSO”, well, there you go misfiring again!
4. Keep it simple: By its definition, a résumé should be a sharp, short, concise document showing the highlights of the course of your life. As a rule of thumb, try to keep it under two pages. For someone applying for a graduate trainee job, a one pager is probably sufficient. This probably does not apply to those CVs crafted for a job in the academia (the academics pride themselves in the length of anything they write, so if you’re looking for a professorial chair, you better write a thesis of a CV) or those seeking high-level executive jobs. The point really is, the larger the number of CVs that are likely to be reviewed for the job, the more concise yours needs to be. As my friend Deolu Akinyemi (@deoluakinyemi) succinctly put it…Keep It Simple Stupid…et voila, the KISS Principle!
5. Prioritize the key points: In the research I referred to earlier, it was noted that recruiters spend most of the 7 seconds looking at mainly your name, current title and employer, previous title(s) and employer(s), current position start date, previous position(s) start and end dates, and your education. Consider that these are the key points. Whatever you do, make sure they feature on the first page of your CV and not at the end. Don’t use templates that feature them at the end.

If you’re about sending out a CV for a job opportunity, take a good look at what you’ve prepared and see if it passes the test outlined above. I make no guarantees that it will do the magic, but maybe the extra two seconds is all you need to make a difference.

Next time, I will share my thoughts on what you should absolutely NOT do to in making a well armed CV.

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Deji (@deji_ogunnubi)