CV Help

CV Help

As a professional recruitment and CV/resume writing business, we regularly come across great candidates all the time who wish they had asked or sought CV Help with their CV/resume before they submitted it to all those important jobs.

We hear many hard luck stories about how they knew the job was theirs, and all they had to do was mosey on down the process by submitting an application eMail and a polished up CV/resume they had written when they last needed a job a few years ago. Now they can’t understand why they got rejected, and their other colleague/external candidate is sitting in their office, while they contemplate a pink slip/P45 in the current economic climate.

As any recruiter or CV/resume writer will know from experience, simply they didn’t understand three elements:

• The statistics of job application
• The fact any application is a test, and hence the need for detail
• Or the numerous FREE resources available to them to get it right first time, rather than learn from their rejection letters

So, before you commit the same mistake, how about we give you some free CV Help?

The Statistics:

The statistics of the job search process are brutal. Most applicants learn form their mistakes, because getting to grips with the HR processes is too complex. But simple statistics can tell you much. In an average profile of applications to a typical job advert, whether that be via newsprint or the internet, the answers are:

• 20% of applicants are rejected because they don’t include a Cover Letter
• 20% are rejected because they don’t have the basic skills required
• 20% are rejected because of errors in their application – mostly spelling, also grammar

That last one is just a crazy statistic, and its one I always question when most good word processing programs include a spelling and grammar checker. But every month, my companies own statistics tell the same story!

All job applications are a TEST

At this point, you are probably thinking that the employer is missing out by rejecting those who didn’t write a Cover Letter before those who didn’t have the skills, and hence could be missing out on another 20% of useful applicants? The same theory could be applied to those who could spell.

But, the job application process is as much of a test of your attitude as your aptitude, so all three are considered by most HR professionals as indications of lack of fit. If you wouldn’t employ somebody who didn’t have the decency to write a letter introducing themselves, why would you expect others to do so when you don’t?

HR people are trained to spot motivation, on both a personal and professional level. They can let the operational hiring manager – the boss of the eventual successful candidate – decide whether the applicants can do the job; HR just have to choose those who will fit the team and work consistently long term. They hence look for consistency in motivational direction, and a spelling mistake suggests a rushed “it’s just a job” attitude to the job and their company. Hence, rejected.

Writing your own CV

Many decide to write their own CV, and at the end of the day your CV is your document. But, according to statistics compiled by the Professional Association of Resume Writers, a Professional CV written by a CV Writing expert results in 750% more interviews and 79% higher salary offers than those people write themselves.

The problem is not that individuals can not write their own CV, the problem is that there is a lot of both conflicting and misinformation regarding how to write a CV re: the content, targeting, presentation, formatting, writing etc. It also has to be accepted that much as though general advice can be given, specific advice and how a final CV is tailored to a specific job application for a specific individual are tactical issues on which it is difficult to give concise advice.

Therefore, this and all advice you read should be read as a general guide on how to write a CV, and not a specific how you should write one for the next job application.

Free CV Help:

There are plenty of free resources to ensure that your CV is better presented:

• Microsoft: a majority of applicants will use MSWord to prepare their CV. So why not use the spell check?
• Hewlett Packard: it is more difficult to see typing and grammatical errors in your CV on screen. Once you are happy with a version of your CV, print it out
• A red pen: to ensure that the printed version is correct in both spelling (spell checkers ensure the words exist in English, not that they are the right words), and grammatically, scan it through using a red pen to lead your eye across the page. Mark any errors
• A highlighter pen: with a paper version of the job advert, use a highlighter to pick out the first five key skills/competencies. Now see if you can find the same five skills/competencies in your own CV. If you can’t, you will be rejected
• Read it out loud: check that it reads well. To ensure this, stand up and read it out loud – this makes it easier to spot poor sentences
• Your eyes: Having printed out a now literally correct version of your CV, take each page and hold it out at arms length. Does it look correct, is there a balance between the black ink and white paper?

Now you have a version of your CV which probably contains at least ten less mistakes, and hence ten less reasons for rejecting. However, this is only your own check, so there are two more free resources you can use before sending your CV in for a job application. Ideally, you need to use these resources at least three times to ensure the best optimised CV version.

Firstly, many Professional CV writers provide free CV reviews. These are often – like our own – marketing driven services, but offer dedicated self-CV writers an excellent resources. Secondly, there are also your friends. Ideally at least one could be a present or ex-HR professional, but make sure it is read by at least one man, and one woman – women are generally more detail orientated, but you never know who will be the first person to review your CV in the desired employer.

If candidates used this information and process to check their CV’s and ensure they were optimised for free, they would significantly reduce their chances of rejection, and increase their possibility of interview.

Good Luck!

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