JOB HUNTING – 5 WAYS TO SAY I’M A“GOOD EGG” ON YOUR CV

“EGGcellent advice from some wise people“

When it comes to job hunting your CV is an extremely important document and it can mean the difference between landing the job of your dreams and landing the job of your worst nightmares.

A general rule should be that your CV is written in the third party, keep it simple to the point and professional. Do not overload it with acronyms and specific references that are unique to your previous employment. Below are some guidelines and examples of mistakes we see regularly. Too many errors on your CV will just land you on the scrap heap. You’ve been warned!!!

1. Spelling and grammar mistakes

We all make mistakes from time to time, however, CV errors are simply not acceptable. The English grammar and spelling contained in your CV has to be absolutely perfect and one simple mistake can often mean that you miss your chance to give a great first impression. When creating your CV please set your spell checker to the country within which the job you are applying for is based. E.g. don’t use American English within the UK and Ireland.

Don’t litter your CV with acronyms and company specific terminology that nobody understands. Use simple English and keep your technical abbreviations and acronyms for your interview. If you do use acronyms please write them out in full the first time they are referenced in the document.

Recruiters have hundreds of CV’s to screen, so spotting a spelling or grammatical error will give them just the excuse they need to reduce the pile by one, and you’ll find yourself filed “in the bin”.

Don’t rely on Microsoft Word’s spelling and grammar checks. These tools are great as a first port of call, but they are no substitute for thorough proofreading. Below are some of the most common mistakes we see.

• Carrier instead of career
• manger instead of manager
• liased instead of liaised
• their instead of there
• your instead of you’re

 2. Keep the formatting simple

Fancy, complex templates, embossed headings, crazy fonts and colours etc. have no value on a CV.

While it is important to spend time creating your own, keep your design simple, consistent and professional. Most CV’s a loaded on internal database systems and these templates only create hassle.

• Use the same, standard font throughout. If you’re unsure as to which fonts will be appropriate, stick to traditional types such as Times New Roman, Verdana, Arial or Tahoma.
• Use a font size that is legible, somewhere between sizes 10 and 12.
• Double check that your CV will print and copy well before you send it off.

 3. Don’t write a Bible

A good guide would be that you really should avoid submitting a CV that is over two pages long. However, this is not always possible; you will have to use your own judgement on this. We certainly wouldn’t recommend you leaving vital information off your CV, just to fit the two pages.

Get key information about yourself across quickly and professionally. Get straight to the point and keep it as short and straightforward as you can.

 4. Ridiculous email addresses

Does your e-mail address for correspondence really matter? Yes, of course it does. In a time where social media and modern etiquette are continuously overlapping, this is something that I come across regularly. People have social e-mail addresses for years and use them without any real thought when job hunting.

Do yourself a favour, if you want to be taken seriously drop the cutesy e-mail address, e.g. bananamilkshake@ or theluvmachine@.

An email address in the order of firstname.lastname@gmail.com will do just fine. You maybe memorable, but memorable for all the wrong reasons.

 5. No contact information

It absolutely eludes me as to why anyone would leave their contact information off their CV. If you do not include up-to-date contact information on your resume, recruiters cannot speak to you to offer you that all-important interview.

• Ensure that you use the most up-to-date telephone number, address and email address.
• Don’t put a silly message on your answering machine. A sense of humour is an invaluable gift, however, there is a time and a place to show it.
• Put your contact information on your cover letter and your CV. In the event they become separated, a recruiter can still contact you for that all important interview.

For further CV check out our candidate section on our website www.careerwise.ie