First impressions count, and your CV is often the recruiter's first impression of you. So, it’s important to make sure it’s a positive one! A winning resume should outline all of your relevant skills and experience related to the role that you are applying for.
The best CV should highlight why you are the perfect person for the job! Let’s see how to put this advice into practice in our CV-writing starter pack below.
Writing your CV can be a time-consuming process, especially as we recommend adapting your CV to each position that you are applying for. CV preparation is a key part of your job searching process and it requires time, effort, and dedication!
By adapting your CV slightly to each position, you are significantly increasing your chances of being selected for an interview. Every job advert is unique. Some may include more keywords than others, while some may be more technical and contain different tasks and responsibilities.
Therefore, it is important to familiarise yourself with each job advert before applying for the position. A small change in your CV can make a big difference!
Here are the things you should consider when writing your CV:
1. Making a Good First Impression
The appearance of your CV is extremely important - it determines whether your CV is read or not. A recruiter will be much more inclined to read a CV that iswell-structured and neat ratherthan a CV that is untidy, regardless of your experience.
There are some universal 'do's and dont's' per country and if your CV doesn't meet their desired format, it's harder for it to pass this initial stage of the application process. Recruiters work their way through hundreds and hundreds of CV's, so when a CV doesn't look the part, it's likely to be discarded!
Only 6 seconds to impress
Your CV must pass the 6-second test. It is the estimated amount of time that each recruiter spends scanning a CV. With such little time to prove yourself, it’s crucial that you create a CV that is easy on the eyes and invites the recruiter to continue reading. Your CV should display professionalism with a clear font size and style.
Length matters
When it comes to the length of your CV, less is more! If you are a graduate or someone who has a small amount of experience, one page is a suitable length for your CV.
For anyone else more experienced, we advise a two-page maximum length. The content of your CV should be career-specific and should include only relevant skills and experience. Check out these different examples of effective CVs - traditional, entry-level, career change, management, international and more!
Stay specific to your sector
The appearance of your CV can differ significantly depending on your job sector and background. For example, someone who has been working in Finance for the past 10 years may have a more traditional-looking CV than someone who has just graduated in Digital Marketing.
As we have mentioned previously, a good CV should highlight your key skills and tell the recruiter exactly why they should hire you.
Therefore, if you are a Graphic Designer, you should incorporate your design skills and experience into your CV. Without drawing the attention away from the content of your CV, you can add some personal branding to your CV to show off your creative abilities. Here are some examples of CVs per sector to give you an idea of how yours should look!
The Structure Of Your CV
Although some recruiters may be open to a slightly different order, the following structure is recognised by most recruiters across Europe and most recruitment technology. We recommend following the structure below and sticking to a maximum length of two pages.
1. Your Contact Details
Include your key contact details; Name, address, phone number/s, email address, and one or two relevant URLs - LinkedIn, WordPress etc. A physical address is no longer necessary.
2. Personal Summary/Header
We recommend writing your CV from either a 1st or 3rd person perspective in 2-3 sentences. Use this summary section to outline what you can offer and why you are suited to this position. Make sure that you tailor this summary to each role that you apply for.
If you are thinking of changing careers or are just starting your career, use this section to explain why you are changing carrers and what skills you hope to apply on your new career path.
Example: Career change: I have worked in the Banking industry for 5 years. Recently, I have decided to take a Master's in Marketing in order to change my career path. I plan to transfer my Analytical skills into my new career as an SEO Assistant...
Example: Starting career: I have recently graduated from the University of Barcelona with a first-class honours degree in Graphic Design. I intend to use the skills I have learnt during my graphic design, animation, marketing, and web design modules and apply them in my next position as a Designer. I am looking for an opportunity to apply my Digital Marketing and Graphic Design skills in a fast-paced environment...
3. Your Skills & Languages
In this section, use bullet points to outline your key skills, including around 8-10 skills that are relevant to the position you are applying for. Try to match these keywords to words used within the job description.
This section is also where you add all the languages you speak with the CEFR levels. This immediately displays your impressive multilingual skills and shows that you meet the requirements for the position!
4. Your Work Experience
Outline your most recent experience first, followed by a reverse-chronological order of your job positions. This should resemble a timeline of your experience, preferably displaying clear career progression, and should date back to 10-15 years MAXIMUM!
An alternative is to include your relevant work experience ordered by importance. If you are more proud of certain jobs than others and would like to highlight them - for example because they were in a big, well-known company or your role included more responsibilities - you can do so. Try to still list them chronologically, but skip the positions you consider less impressive or relevant.
Remember that this method can create gaps if the jobs you mention didn't follow one another directly. Make sure to explain the logic behind your choices and that you continued to work in the time that's missing from your CV due to lack of space during the interview.
Otherwise, the recruiter might get the wrong impression that you've had some breaks from work. They will most likely ask questions about this on their own, but feel free to clarify if they don't.
Include the company name, job title, dates of employment, and write a short description of the role enriched with strong keywords and your daily tasks listed in a bullet point format.
If you are a graduate without work experience, outline your course, your learnings, the skills you developed, and any key experiences.
5. Education & Qualifications
The education and qualifications that you should include in your CV differ depending on how much professional experience you have. For instance, if you have just graduated, it will be much more beneficial for you to add your A levels or College results than someone who has been working for 30 years.
Include course/qualification name, name of organisation/school/university, dates of attendance, your grades, and if you can gain value from mentioning specific modules or subjects that you studied, add them, too!
6. Interests
If you have just finished school or University, it's more common to add an 'Interests' section to give your CV more depth.Professionals with more experience behind their belts usually leave out this part to make more space for other vital sections, such as experience or skills.
Add interests/hobbies that make you stand out as a desirable candidate, such as, 'organising local charity events', 'working as a volunteer for a travel magazine', 'running a half marathon every month and raising money for different charities'.
The hobbies on your CV should highlight motivational, organisational and leadership skills rather than 'I like shopping, partying, and sunbathing'. These interests will bringlittle value to a company and resemble a lazy, unmotivated individual.
You can also include your interests in a CV if they are directly relevant to the position or company you're applying for. For example, if you apply for the position of Customer Service Rep at Audi, you can mention that you're interested in motorisation.
Listing your interests and hobbies can also add a human touch to your CV. Some recruiters might appreciate finding out a bit more about the person behind the otherwise factual piece of paper.
7. Additional Section: Volunteering, Personal Projects, and Certificates
In the 'Extras' section, you can also add Internships, Volunteering opportunities, Personal projects such as websites, shops, events, or any extra certifications you obtained that aren't part of a traditional university course.Anything that you think will help you to stand out to an employer in a positive light!
Prepare for Recruiters' Tech
Nowadays, it’s becoming much more common for a robot to read your CV. This may sound crazy, but companies are using automation to speed up their recruitment process and to help them stay organised!
Companies all around the world are using this technology as a part of their screening process to help recruiters. It's called Applicant Tracking System (ATS) - it's useful to know this term, as you're more likely to come across it now than ever!
Adding this technology to the initial screening process means that your CV is often scanned by robots/technology before being seen by a recruiter. For this reason, it's very important for your CV to be tailored for every position to pass this initial screening stage!
It has become a recent trend for companies toadopt ATS as a way of automating their recruitment process, saving them significant time and money dedicated to the recruitment process.
Use keywords specific for the job
As some employers use automation in this initial stage of the recruitment process, it's important to use keywords as this is what the ATS is usually scanning for. It’s important to keep in mind which keywords are used within the job description and the candidate specification and to use these throughout your CV.
Keep it traditional
To increase the chances of your CV being seen, use popular job titles rather thanunusual and quirky ones. For instance, if your job title is ‘Social Media Master’ or ‘Social Media Guru’ it’s much more beneficial and effective to use ‘Social Media Expert’ or ‘Social Media Manager’. Using a more general job title will increase the chances of your CV being seen by the recruiter.
Remember to spell check
As we have just explained, it’s not always humans who are reading your CVs! Of course, some humans are more accepting of spelling and grammar mistakes than others, but unfortunately, robots are not!
Having one misspelt keyword could significantly ruin your chances of being hired. Make sure that you check your spelling and grammar multiple times to avoid these mistakes!
Get a proofreader
To avoid any CV mistakes, ask a friend or family member to check over your CV. It's always good to find a second pair of eyes willing to make sure you didn't miss any key mistakes that could ruin the chances of being invited to an interview.
Use a CV Review Service
The best way to ensure that your CV is fully optimised is to use a CV review service. CV review services offer expert feedback on your CV in terms of appearance and content.
Each new candidate that registers on our job board has the opportunity to receive a free CV review by CV Maker - register now and take advantage.
Now you know how to write a winning CV: what contact details to include, which sections are most important, and how to order them. Make sure that you research keywords related to your industry and key job titles. It’s important that you follow our CV advice to pass the 6-second test and to pass the recruitment technology before applying!
Feeling inspired? Visit our blog for more career advice! How can you be sure the information we provide is top-notch? We are a group of professionals working with recruiters, career coaches, and HR specialists from all over the world!
Trust our experience and let us help you find a new job in Europe!
Abd al salam Habash2mo ago
Thanks for the information
Thanks for the information