3 Ways to Make Your CV Evade the Shredder

How many CVs have you sent out but never got invited for an interview? Countless?

Well, if my guess is right, your CVs ended up in the shredder. This is where most CVs rot!

You must save your  CV from this.

While many job seekers dwell in the basics, employers are now looking for more in a CV. Workplace requirements have evolved with time. For example, employers prefer; team people to lone rangers, innovation to antiquity, and versatility to rehearsed routines— your CV should also evolve.

While summarising your entire work experience into two pages is limiting, rummaging through pages of fluff when you have piles of CVs to scour is stiffly boring— hiring managers don’t have that time. Make it brief, clear, and resourceful.

Only two percent of job applicants get summoned for interviews. That’s how fierce the competition is.

Worse still, the job market is awash with job seekers who are more qualified than you; yet, you can’t coil your tail, throw your arms in the air and settle into the ‘comfort’ of unemployment.

You have your HELB loan to pay, your daily expenses outweigh your income, and the taxman won’t take your excuses for a currency.

You have to get a job; your CV mustn’t meet the shredder!

…Here’s how;

  1. Make It Easy to Read

You might be the most qualified candidate for the position, but if the hiring manager isn’t able to find the relevant information in your CV at first glance, then, your CV will be tossed in the shredder.

You only have one chance to make a lasting first impression;

  • Choose an appropriate font and use it consistently throughout the CV
  • Correct all typos, grammar, and punctuations
  • Use appropriate spacing between paragraphs
  • List your experiences tactfully; begin with your most recent experiences relevant to the position.

The hiring manager will have hundreds of CVs to go through, make it easier for him to find relevant information on your CV. Surely, if you were the hiring manager you wouldn’t rummage through the fluff to find the best candidate— It is the candidate’s job to be VISIBLE.

  1. Avoid vague terms; Give measurable accomplishments

When writing your CV, it is normal to reach that heart-pouring zenith, where you mention every contribution you made in your past jobs— irrespective of whether they are related to the position or not. This practice will riddle your CV with fluff.

Instead of mentioning all your contributions, pick one or two with measurable accomplishments. Don’t write; “I improved the sales of the company,” instead, let the hiring manager know what you did and how it affected the sales: “Buffalo, the team I led organised Wednesday street coups that improved our team sales by 50%”.

See, the hiring manager wants to know the value you’ll add to the company and not just tasks you have completed in the past.

The question is, can you improve quality, efficiency or productivity? — Your academic qualifications and vast experience won’t land you the job if you can’t demonstrate this.

  1. Clean your social media accounts
Be Clean Online. Be employable

Social media isn’t social anymore. Whatever you post to amuse your friends might—just might— make you unemployable.

Most employers will google your name to know more about you. If you fill your social media accounts with near-naked photos and I-don’t-give- a-damn posts, you know where your CV will end up— shredder.

Keep your social media profiles squeaky clean, or change your visibility settings so that only a few people you trust can view your social media acts.

In conclusion, don’t just write a CV for formality; make it the best representation of your workmanship. That, my friend, is how to save it from the shredder.

 

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