On Tuesday morning earlier this week, I was invited onto Radio 1’s Chris Moyles show as a recruitment expert in line with all the great work BBC3 are doing with their live show, Up for Hire Live. On the basis of my expertise in graduate recruitment, I was given Scott Mills' CV plus two of his team members’ CVs to ‘"rip to shreds" – (their words not mine!) Whilst it was a light-hearted show, the points about getting your CV right are important: the role of your CV is to get you a foot in the door to the company of your dreams.
Here are my 3 top tips from the show:
Sell yourself! You need to view your CV as a personal sales pitch, not a biography. You need to make your CV easy-on-the-eye for the employer, so that with a glance your key strengths and relevant skillsets stand out and you tick their boxes.
Be relevant. Make sure your CV matches the job specification. These two documents need to mirror each other so don’t be afraid to use the language from the job specification in your CV. Think about what interesst, experience and skillsets are most relevant for this role and emphasise them in your CV.
Use your interests to enhance your CV and showcase your personality. Your interests are an easy way to put your personality across in your CV or emphasise your interest / passion for the company or role. For example, if you are applying for a role within social media, you may want to mention relevant blogs you follow or the number of social networking sites you are involved in. Too many candidates take this section for granted.
In sum, you need to be proactive to build up your CV, it is never a finished product. Perhaps set yourself a target to add a skillset, extra-curricular activity, work experience stint to your CV each month?
Do get in touch with Freshminds Talent if you want more advice or come along to our candidate drop-in sessions to meet one of our consultants face to face.
