The seven deadly CV sins
Every autumn, an avalanche of CV s from bright-eyed graduates thunders on to recruiters’ desks. Jay Scott –– looks at what goes wrong.
And there’s not a decent CV among them.
I’ve spent the past few weeks digging through a pile of responses to one job ad. All the candidates fulfilled the basic criteria of the ad: ‘Small, dynamic marketing agency seeks enthusiastic project managers with at least 3 years’ experience and a sense of humour’. Indeed, many were overqualified.
But most of their CV s were dire.
Research suggests that CV s get on average 15 seconds of attention before being sorted into Yes and Maybe piles (the rest go straight in the bin). But many didn't deserve even that long. They fell at the first hurdle, usually because they committed one or more of what I’ve come to think of as the seven deadly sins:
1. Too long
Size matters. Instinct might tell you that the more information you put in, the more likely it is that parts will get noticed. In fact, the opposite is true. Faced with a six-pager, your readers will likely be daunted by the task of trawling through it to find reasons to hire you. Why should they bother? Remember: your CV’s only purpose is to get you an interview, not the job. And one taut page should be enough for that.
2. Irrelevance
When you've a scant few seconds to impress someone, you do yourself no favours by including unnecessary detail – you’re simply diluting the good stuff. But there’s another, more damaging, reason. Your reader, faced with a pile of CVs to assess, may be irritated by the padding. One hopeful mentioned he had three points on his driving licence, then explained what they were for. If he had been penalised for speeding while delivering a package to a client in Aberdeen, I might have been impressed by his commitment. But he hadn’t and I wasn’t.
3. Too boring
It might be a factual document, but it’s still being read by a real person. If you've done anything interesting, it will stand out and give you character. If you've worked as a fire-juggler in Guatemala, say so. Of course, you might want to be selective. Use your judgement. A good tip is to put the most interesting part of the CV or even your greatest achievements at the beginning, so that you start with a bang. If a recruiter starts reading your page properly, they're more likely to go on. If you put your GSCE s and marital status at the start, they will start to skim and probably wont stop skimming until the next CV.
4. Careless
A reader may decide how much time to devote to your CV based on ‘first impressions’. If it’s aesthetically pleasing, it’ll stand out. While it would be a mistake to go over the top, as do some applicants who set their resumé up to look like a newspaper front page and call it the Daily Steve or something equally self-aggrandising. Use a good, clear font. Use bullet points if there’s a list involved. Spacing - don't pack it in. A solid page of small-font text is too daunting but empty pages seem sparse and wasteful. Remember, you're making it as easy as possible for your reader to notice all parts of the CV. Spelling - Check it, check it, check it again and then get someone else to check it. Most readers will bin a CV containing spelling errors on principle. And beware of your automatic spell checker (treat these with the same suspicion you might usually reserve for insurance salesmen). Check apostrophes, punctuation, but also names of the company and the people in it. If you're not sure, ask.
5. Too much detail
Let me say it again: A CV is to get you an interview, not the job. It should be a taster. You need to give enough information to win the interest of your reader and make them want to find out more. Rather than being an exhaustive life history, it should imply that you have hidden depths, previously unplumbed by the world of work. If you include the fact that you once spent a week peeling potatoes in your local chip shop, it looks like you're scraping the barrel. The CV should include only the apples bobbing on the top.
6. Not enough detail
One of my hopefuls had limited his ‘previous employment’ section to this: ‘Orange, Dell, Rotary, Virgin…etc’. With some impressive names to drop, he’d missed the opportunity to use them. A name isn't enough, nor is a job title. A shelf-stacker is not a ‘stock replenishment officer’, and a litter picker is not an ‘environmental hygiene technician’. Give some details about what the job entailed. What were your responsibilities? How many people were you working with? Were you involved in any particularly successful projects?
7. Too clever
No-one likes a smart Alec. It’s amazing how much a personality can show through the way a CV is written. Get a few people to read it for you and see how you rate on the smugness-scale.
There’s seven virtues too!
So much for the sins. Happily, there are virtues, too. Seven, appropriately:
1. Answer the question
Job ads are expensive. Companies don't just put down the first thing that comes into their head. Each word has probably been considered and changed many times before the ad is printed. So, if it says they're looking for someone who’s ‘energetic, motivated and cheerful’, that’s exactly what they want. But it’s not enough to simply say that you're energetic, motivated and cheerful. Tell three stories, perhaps a sentence each, about times when you've been all of those things. They don't even have to be work-related. As long as you come across as energetic, motivated and cheerful. Put the stories at the top of the CV so it’s obvious what you're doing. It’s a simple thing to do and the recipient of your CV will be secretly hugging you for making their task that much easier.
2. Tell stories
If you don't have the opportunity to tailor the CV’s content to the wording of the advertisement (or if there’s no advertisement to begin with), you can still open it with some interesting and impressive stories which demonstrate your abilities. For example, you might mention the time you spent teaching English to African children or solved some unusual problem in an innovative way.
3. Try writing it in the third person
Other people’s praise is far more credible than your own. If it sounds like someone has written it about you, it will - psychologically - be more believable. For example: Jo has spent the last three years working for BigCorp, rising to the rank of Area Manager and succeeding in...blah blah blah. Her interests include…and so on.
4. Use a photo
This simple touch puts a face to the dry information and makes it harder to dismiss. People’s gaze is always drawn to pictures before words, so it may gain you a few more seconds. And make sure you’re smiling in it.
5. Watch the type
Most people use an Arial-style font like this which has no serifs – the little lumps on the ends of the letters. But books are almost invariably set in a serif face like Times – because research suggests it’s easier to read. Try saving the Arial for headings and titles.
6. Be nice
An incredible number of applicants shot themselves in the foot before the CV even got to my desk. Ads usually give a contact name and number for information. More often than not, the person you call will be involved in the selection process. Several hopefuls never even made the Maybe pile because the office manager had scribbled ‘sounded rude’ or ‘hadn’t read the ad properly’ on the front of the CV. If you want to make a good and lasting impression, the least you can do is be extremely nice to everyone you come across in the company you wish to join.
7. Attach a covering letter
Everyone knows that CVs are printed off in bulk. If you take the time to write a covering letter, it shows commitment and can portray your personality far better than a CV alone. But since its only purpose is to make the reader turn the page to your CV, don’t repeat what’s there. It should be brief – perhaps only six or seven lines – and explain simply where you heard about the company and why you want to work for them.
About James (Jay) Scott: As well as being responsible for Bluefin’s (a London marketing agency, specialising in building premium brands - Fortnum & Mason, Cartier etc) own marketing and PR, he is busy developing new business opportunities in the luxury sector. He also regularly updates Bluefin’s written communications; a task which gives him plenty of opportunity to exercise his enthusiasm for copywriting.
Jay has an honours degree in psychology from the University of Nottingham and his love of stand-up comedy is exceeded only by his love of travel photography. He has yet to be published but perseveres nonetheless.
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