If you need help with your CV in order to market yourself to your full potential, please contact us and we will point you in the right direction. A good CV is an investment that you should spend time and money on – our professional CV doctor can help you construct a killer CV.
Here are our top tips from us to help get you started:
Open strong: The first 15-20 words of your CV are critically important. Start with a brief summary of your expertise.
Get the order right: If you’re switching industries, don’t launch into job experience that the hiring manager may not think is relevant.
Use the job spec: We are not saying cut and paste every sentence from the job spec and transfer it into your CV but use this information and make sure their requirements are on your CV and very clear to read. Use their Keywords. Don’t expect the person reading your CV to assume your experience.
Share accomplishments. Not responsibilities:What did you achieve in your last role rather than the day to day tasks you completed. Be creative here.
List your career experience first not your education: Lead with your career experience and then include your education. You can always include your Educational qualifications after your name on the CV.
Be selective: It’s tempting to list every job, accomplishments, volunteer assignment, skills and degree you’ve ever had. But don’t. Only include relevant details.
Make it readable: Stop fiddling with the margins and text boxes. The days of a one-page resume are over.
Word not PDF: Unfortunately, some companies HR systems and databases are quite old and they ‘read’ PDF CV’s as a photo, so they are not able to scan your CV for Keywords, if you are sending your CV directly to a company, error on the side of caution and send it in Word.
Get help: It can be hard to be objective about your own experience and accomplishments.
Contact details: Make sure you have the right contact number and email on your CV. How else will they contact you to set up that all important interview!
Dates: Please make sure your dates are correct; include the month and the year so the person who is reading your CV can see how long you were in the role. Don’t just mention the year.
Gaps on your CV: Don’t worry about having gaps in your CV but do acknowledge them and write a little explanation as to why. Maybe you went back to full time education, took a career break, went travelling, it’s fine but don’t cover them up by messing with your dates.
LinkedIn: Make sure you have a LinkedIn profile, spend some time working on it. Make sure it is it correct and that your dates and career experience to your CV correspond to your profile. Copy your LinkedIn profile page onto the top of your CV and hyperlink it.
Recommendations: Don’t be afraid to ask for recommendations from past employers and colleagues. Very few companies now will give references, they will only acknowledge the dates you worked in their company, so this is an excellent way around this.
Spell Check: Spell check your CV, even get someone else to check it before you send it on. It will be spotted!
Remember to register your details with us employflex.ie and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn to stay in touch with all new roles coming in and Good Luck!