Tips on How to Make Your CV Work for You

First impression really does count when you are job hunting!!

Your CV is the first thing a prospective employer or recruiters sees, it’s where you introduce yourself and catch their attention as a fit for an opportunity/vacancy they have.

Effort with your CV before you push the send button to apply for a job or respond to an advert will pay off!

You will get the best results if you customise & tweak it for every job you are targeting.

A CV that lands a job is tailored to the specific role, clearly highlights achievements , and is easy to read.

The hiring team usually starts by quickly scanning a CV, so clarity and relevance are crucial.

Here are the things to focus on:

Content & Strategy

Tailored to the Job: This is the most critical factor. Use the job description or role profile as your guide, incorporating keywords and focusing on the skills and experiences the employer is looking for.
Focus on Achievements, Not Just Duties: Instead of listing responsibilities, provide concrete examples of your accomplishments. Quantify your impact with numbers and percentages whenever possible. If you are a manager include examples of the size of teams managed.
Use Strong Action Verbs: Start bullet points with powerful verbs like “developed,” “designed,” “improved,” “negotiated,” or “analyzed”
Make your qualifications and skills visible: include all your relevant skills – interpersonal , technical and computer based- provide detail of packages and tools you can use. Qualifications and certifications must always include the name of the academic institution, and the date obtained.
Start with a Compelling introduction: Summarise your key skills, experience and interest to show how you can add value to your prospective employer.
Be Honest: Never lie about your qualifications. Recruiters and employers conduct background checks.
Include Relevant Optional Sections: Sections like awards, publications, relevant volunteer work, sport achievements can help you stand out, provided they are pertinent to the job.

Formatting & Presentation:

Professional and Easy-to-Read Format: The layout should be clean and simple. Avoid fancy borders and fonts, graphics, or images.
Clear Structure: Use standard section headings (e.g., “Work Experience,” “Education,” “Skills”) so that information is easy to find .
Appropriate Length: Aim for a length of one to two pages for most roles. Academic CVs or those for very senior positions may be longer.
Contact Information: Include your full name, personal email address, mobile number, WhatsApp number and location (city/province).

Pay Attention to the Following:

Avoid outdated information, and irrelevant work experience that don’t add value to your application.
- Jobs from over a decade ago: Your previous roles might have shaped you, but this doesn’t mean you should feature every job you ever had. Listing unrelated or outdated jobs will only clutter your document and distract from your most relevant experience and skills.
- Short-term, no need to mention brief jobs that don’t align with your career goals
- Internships or entry-level roles- only include these if you are an entry level job seeker. If you’re mid-career, then you’ve already gained meaningful experience so focus on that
Poor formatting, excessive length, and cluttered content can make your CV hard to read and land on the ‘not successful’ pile.
Misleading job titles, exaggerated skills, or false information can backfire and cost you opportunities when employers verify your background.

Proofread

Typos, grammatical errors, and spelling mistakes can suggest a lack of attention to detail and make you look careless. Use a spell check and double-check your document for errors. Reading it aloud can help catch awkward phrasing or mistakes.

A polished, error-free CV written with focus and intent is the best way to start your job hunt !

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