It may be stating the obvious,

but when searching for a new job, your CV is vital.

You could be the perfect person for the job but if your CV doesn’t demonstrate that, you can forget it. Make sure you get it right by following our 6 golden rules and the interview invitations will follow.

Don’t tell fibs

Although it may be tempting to stretch the truth or just outright lie on your CV, it’s a really bad idea. If you’re applying for a job that requires you to be skilled in injection moulding, don’t say you are if you’re not – you’ll be found out!

Tailor it to the role you’re applying for

Applying for jobs can be time consuming and tedious but rather than firing out the same version of your CV to lots employers, take time to tweak it for the role you’re applying for. Read the advert, think about what kind of person the employer is looking for and amend your CV accordingly. For example, if the ideal candidate should have experience in Project Management and you’ve got it, make sure your CV says so. What’s more, you can highlight this near the top of your CV, by adding a RELEVANT SKILLS & EXPERIENCE section after your personal statement. This will help the employer to see at first glance that you have skills they’re looking for.

Quantify your achievements

It’s easy to say how great you are on your CV, but you can add so much more weight to your claims if you back it up your achievements with numbers. For example, if you’ve increased productivity on the factory floor, be specific; tell them you’ve increased output by 35% over a 6 month period. Make sure your numbers are robust though, and be prepared to elaborate at interview (remember golden rule #1!).

Don’t leave gaps

Gaps on your CV tend to rouse suspicion. Employers sift through so many CVs that they’re often looking for reasons to discount candidates and whittle down to a shortlist to invite for interview. Chunks of unaccounted time are a classic reason to send CVs to the ‘No’ pile. If you’ve got a reason for the gap, state it and put a positive spin on it. If you’ve done any volunteer work, training courses or anything else that has sharpened your skills, don’t keep it to yourself, let your prospective employer know!

Proof read!

DON’T waste all that hard work honing your CV by sending it out with glaring mistakes. Errors in your CV will tell employers that you don’t have attention to detail. Use a spell checker and get someone else to read it over with fresh eyes. You may have read it 100 times but it’s amazing how many mistakes go unnoticed in your own work.

Use keywords

If you’re uploading your CV to job websites such as CV Library or Total Jobs so that recruiters can find you, keywords are really important. Recruiters will search for candidates by industry, skills, job title, qualifications etc, so make sure you can be found. Think about these keywords and include them in your CV.