You should always remember that your CV is a fantastic opportunity for you to get noticed, because for about 3 minutes it will be read by a prospective employer, and for that short period of time you have their complete attention.
You should always look at your Curriculum Vitae as a statement used to market and promote your self to decision makers and to make a quick impression on them. In essence what you will be doing is highlighting your work experience and qualifications to them, and trying to convince them you are the best person for the job and are better than the competition.
As a job hunter you should be constantly striving to improve the quality of your CV, to help you along on this page we will give you helpful CV writing tips to assist you in your job hunting.
Useful CV writing tips:
The length of your resume
Try to keep your CV template as concise and short as possible, by this I mean from 2 pages up to 6 pages. However if you have a lot of experience that is relevant to the role you are applying for then you may have to go over 6 pages. The reason for keeping it short is that HR manager who is reading it only has a few minutes to initially scan through your document.
The job description
A good tip is to read carefully the text of any job description and to note the exact requirements of the job. Then mention this in your profile or covering letter and refer to saying you have the required qualifications or skill sets. Basically tailor your CV to the job role.
Repeating yourself
Try not to repeat yourself in the document by stating the same facts and points repeatedly in different parts of your CV. This will only make your document longer and it will look unorganized.
Quality of paper
This may now seem important, but by using good quality paper that feels good when it is handled creates a professional impression and demonstrates that you are articulate. Of course this only applies if you are sending in a hardcopy and not an email attachment.
Covering letter
In this letter you will introduce yourself, giving a personal profile of yourself and a brief description of your career and also explain why you consider yourself to be suitable candidate for the vacancy.
Research your prospective employer
A good tip is to do some research into the company that you are applying to. For instance they have had a new chief executive recently or been in the local press because they were opening a new store or have a new product. Mention this in your covering letter or personal profile, it shows you have gone that bit extra and helps you stand out.