Making The First Impression With Your CV

Making The First Impression With Your CV

Before you even begin to apply for jobs in Australia, you need to get your own house in order, namely your CV. This may be your single chance to persuade a potential employer to take you on. Sure, you might have the requisite credentials, but if you cannot highlight them accordingly then the job of your dreams might just pass you by.

First impressions are key so make sure you get it looking spot on. As a rule of thumb your CV should be no longer than two sides of A4 paper and for some applications, such as for creative jobs and part-time work, only one side will suffice. Be concise with your sentences and punchy with your statements. Employ detail only when it matters, for instance if you are wishing to highlight your success in a marketing role, mention website hits and improved sales figures. It is no use simply saying you generated more business – wow your potential employer with hard facts and numbers.

Make your CV easy to read by being thoughtful about your layout. This means avoiding clunky blocks of text and employing bullet points to get your points of interest across in an eye-catching manner. Break it up with headings, different font sizes and bold text, but ensure you remain consistent and professional. This also includes dates, so stick with a format such as ‘February 2011′ or ’02/11’. Don’t get too clever with it as you are aiming for definition, not points for artistic impression.

Put frankly, you want to create a unique CV, yet you also want it to quickly transcribe your talents. Stick with an MSWord document than a PDF. That may sound like a given, but it becomes essential when applying online. When your CV is uploaded it is then parsed (each statement is reduced to a list of searchable keywords) by a database, so liberally throw in action words to make it easier for an employer or search engine to find you. This also means dropping the elaborate fonts and needless symbols.

Once you have a good idea of how your CV should look, you can start filling it. Only the truly egotistical enjoy talking about what makes them great, but for this you need to play the role. Start off by sitting down and consider what sets you apart from the crowd. What qualities do you possess, which ones are relevant to the job you are applying for and why would an employer want you to work for them? Write them down in a list and rank them. Easy! Select four, maybe five key skills, and show how you applied them with detailed examples. These do not necessarily have to be from work, you could have learnt teamwork from your midweek kickabout or oral communication from volunteering abroad.

Now you need to get the essentials down. These are your personal details including your name (obviously), address, mobile and home telephone numbers because if your CV does catch someone’s eye they will want to get in touch. With regard to email addresses; [email protected] probably tells more to your potential employer than they need to know. Get an email address that you can show to your mum without her cringing in embarrassment, simply your full name will do. If you are applying for a digital or marketing role then consider including links to your social media profile including LinkedIn and Twitter.

Lauren Riley from Bubble Jobs attests that keeping your CV simple is worthwhile; “The average recruiter will only spend around five seconds so it’s vital that your CV is easy to read and gives them what they want.” For a tailored CV, just four lines would be useful to showcase key achievements that you want to make known as soon as possible. Make it something that you are brimming with pride over, perhaps you created a viral meme or oversaw a hugely successful project.

Of course, you will want to show your potential employer that you are educated. Heck, you are probably STILL paying off that student loan. As a rule, list your qualifications starting with the most recent, which means focusing on your degree and outlining the modules and aspects that are most relevant to the role you are applying for. If there were projects that could be judged as bringing appropriate experience to a role then put them down. If your final year dissertation was on a subject that will feature highly in the role then put it down.

The same principle also applies for your employment history. List it with the most recent first then become detailed when you want to poke your employer with a key achievement you want noticed. Be lavish with your responsibilities as it gives the employer the impression you can grow into a role instead of being terrified by it.

Having the right credentials for a position is one thing, but having your key skills and experience noticed by an employer on your CV is quite another. Keep the format simple while ensuring that the information you want to get noticed can be spotted in the few seconds that your CV is looked at. Above all, make sure that your CV is a fair representation of the most important thing about any application: YOU.