A. Stop stuffing all skills onto your CV
Think of your CV not as a comprehensive list of your career history but as a marketing document selling you as the perfect person for the Software Testing job you’re applying to. For each CV you send out, you’ll want to highlight only the accomplishments and skills most relevant to the job (even if that means you don’t include all of your experience). This is called tailoring your CV, and it helps anyone who reads it see exactly why you’re a match for a specific position.
B. Outline your CV with a full list of your qualifications
Since you’ll be swapping different information in and out depending on the job you’re applying to, save a CV outline—or maybe our CV worksheet—on your computer with old positions, bullet points tailored for different applications, and special projects that only sometimes make sense to include. Then, when you’re crafting each CV, it’s just a matter of cutting and pasting relevant information together. Think of this as your brag file.
C. Put the best, most relevant information first
In journalism speak, “above the fold” refers to what you see on the front half of a folded newspaper (or, in the digital age, before you scroll down on a website), but basically, it’s your first impression of a document. In CV speak, you should ensure your most relevant qualifications are visible on the top third of your CV. This top section is what the hiring manager will see first—and what will serve as a hook for someone to keep reading. If your recent position isn’t the most relevant piece of your candidacy, consider leading with a skills section (in a hybrid CV format) or writing a CV summary.
D. Choose the right CV format for you
There are many different ways to organize the information on your CV—like the functional CV or combination CV. But the good old reverse chronological—where your most recent experience is listed first—is usually your best bet. Unless it’s necessary for your situation, skip the functional or skills-based CV—hiring managers might wonder what you’re hiding.
E. Keep it concise
The two-page CV is a hotly debated topic, but the bottom line is this—you want the information here to be as short as possible, and keeping it under five pages forces you to prioritize what matters. If you have enough relevant and important experience, training, and credentials to showcase on more than two pages of your CV, go for three or four. But if you can tell the same story in less space? Then go for it.
F. Include relevant links
Can’t figure out how to tell your whole story on one page, or want to be able to include some visual examples of your work? Instead of trying to have your CV cover everything, cover the most important details on that document, and then include a link to your website, your online portfolio, examples of your work, or a relevant, professional social media profile where you can dive more into what makes you the ideal candidate. Just avoid hyperlinking over words that are key to understanding your CV since it can throw off the tools employers use to store and parse CVs.
G. Be aware of the ATS
You may have heard employers use recruitment applications to “read” your CV and decide who to hire and reject. That’s not exactly true. But most employers do use software called an applicant tracking system—or ATS—to parse CVs and organize them so that recruiters and hiring managers can search for the most relevant applications. (All of the tips on our list also keep ATSs in mind!) you should assume your CV will pass through an ATS at some point during your job search, so understanding how it works will help make your hunt more efficient.
CV formatting tips
H. Keep your CV format simple
We’ll talk about getting creative to stand out in a minute. But the most basic principle of good CV formatting and design? Keep it simple. Make your CV easy on hiring managers’ eyes by using a reasonably sized default font like Helvetica or Arial and leaving a healthy amount of white space on the page. Your main focus here should be on readability for the hiring manager (and that pesky ATS). That being said, you should feel free to…
I. Avoid design elements that can’t be “read” by computers
On the flip side, you should avoid design elements that ATSs are known to have trouble with, such as Tables, Text boxes, Logos and icons, Images and photos, Graphics, graphs, or other visuals, Headers and footers, Less common fonts, Columns that can only be read from top to bottom.
J. Design your CV for skim ability
You’ve probably heard before that hiring managers don’t spend much time on each CV. So help them get as much information as possible in as little time as possible by making your CV easy to skim.
Work experience CV tips
K. Keep your work experience recent and relevant
As a rule, you should only show the most recent 10-15 years of your career and include the relevant experiences to the positions you’re applying to. And remember to allocate real estate on your CV according to importance. If you choose between including one more college internship or going into more detail about your current role, always choose the latter (unless the internship was more relevant to the one you’re applying to).
L. Don’t forget your transferable skills and experiences
Don’t panic if you don’t have any professional experience that fits the bill. Focus your CV on your relevant and transferable skills along with any related side or academic projects, and then make sure to pair it with a strong cover letter telling the narrative of why you’re ideal for the job.
M. Write strong, achievement-focused bullet points
The bullet points under each job entry are arguably the most important part of your CV. They tell whoever’s reading it what skills you have, how you’ve used them, and how you’ve helped your employers. So start with a strong action verb, include relevant skills from the job description, and frame your bullets around your achievements—don’t just list your job duties. Tell them how your work benefitted your boss or company so they know what they stand to gain by hiring you.
N. Use as many numbers as you can
Quantifying your accomplishments allows the hiring manager to picture the level of work or responsibility you need to achieve them. Use facts, figures, and numbers whenever possible in your bullet points. How many people were impacted by your work? By what percentage did you exceed your goals?
O. Don’t neglect non-traditional work
No law says you can only put full-time or paid work on your CV. So, have you volunteered, worked part-time or as a temporary or contract worker, freelanced, or interned? Yes, really. List these things as their own “jobs” within your career chronology—as long as they’re relevant to the job you’re applying for. The same goes for career breaks.
P. Use important keywords from the job description
Make sure your CV matches. Scan the job description, see what words are often used, and ensure you’ve included them in your bullet points. For example, does the job description list “CRM” or “Salesforce”? Not only is this a self-check that you’re targeting your CV to the job, but it’ll also make it easier to search for in an ATS.
CV tips for including your education
Q. Divvy up your skills for readability
Again—we’re going for skim ability here, folks! If you have many skills that would help you with a job but aren’t necessarily in the same category—say, foreign language, software, and leadership skills—try breaking up your skills section. Below your “Skills” section, add a subsection titled “Language Skills” or “Software Skills,” for example.
R. Include relevant certifications and licenses
If you have a certification or license that proves you can do some aspect of the job you’re applying for, don’t forget to include it on your CV. This is especially important if that certification or license is legally required to do the job—for example, in nursing, teaching, or driving jobs.
S. Cut the short-term jobs
If you stayed at a (non-temporary) job for only months, consider eliminating it from your CV to avoid looking like a job hopper. Leaving a particularly short-lived job or two off your CV shouldn’t hurt, as long as you’re honest about your experience if asked in an interview. But if the short-term job is super relevant to this job, consider including it anyway.
T. If you have shorter gaps, be strategic about listing dates
If you have gaps of a few months in your work history, don’t list the usual start and end dates with months and years for each position. Use years only (2018–2020) or just the years or months you worked at each position. Keep it consistent throughout your CV, and don’t lie if asked about gaps during an interview.
U. Explain serial job hopping
If you’ve job-hopped frequently, you can include a succinct reason for leaving next to each position, like “company closed,” “layoff due to downsizing,” or “relocated to a new city.” By addressing the gaps, you’ll proactively illustrate the reason for your frequent job movement and make it less of an issue.
Bình luận