Professional CVs Vital in Today’s Job Market

With the number of job vacancies dwindling in the market and the prospect of an increasing unemployment rate, having your CV stand out (for all the right reasons) has become more important than before. 

A recent New Zealand Herald article (25 February 2009) highlighted concerns with the quality of many CVs being passing over the desks of recruiters.  Spelling mistakes and not being up-to-date with the current style were the two main concerns.

With two minutes being the average time spent by an employer or recruiter reading a CV, in a few short pages, your CV needs to make an immediate impact and speak volumes about you. 

A poorly written CV can undermine your efforts in your job search.   While CVs are used to assess your skills and experience, employers are also looking for reasons why NOT to hire you.  If your CV is full of spelling mistakes, then a potential employer may think you’re lazy and careless - not the kind of qualities they are looking for in a potential recruit!

As recruitment consultants, some of the common mistakes we see in CVs are:

·         Poor layout of information.

·         Too much information.

·         Spelling, typing and grammatical errors.

·         CVs that have not been tailored to the position the candidate has applied for.

The trick is to keep your CV simple by providing information in a logical and succinct way.   Make sure you highlight your skills and experience that is relevant to the role and the organisation, and that this information is brought to the reader’s attention early on in your CV.

Your CV is one of your most important documents and is the tool which opens doors to your future.  It is well worth spending the time, and if necessary, the money, to ensuring the content and layout of your CV is the best and most professional you can make it.

For more tips on writing a great CV and templates to download, visit our Candidate Resources section of our website.