The most attractive jobs attract the most applicants. It’s a fact of life. But it’s also a fact of life that many of the best candidates for these jobs have very similar, if not almost identical, CVs and qualifications. So how do you make your CV and application stand out from the crowd?
Start with the basics. “Make it easy to read and assess,” says Joanne Murray, recruitment and business director at Osborne, a recruitment agency.
“Don’t use unusual fonts. Remember, recruiters and HR people could be reading 50 CVs for each role, so it needs to be clear. You need to make sure they can see the information they need easily.”
Also, do not fall into the trap of “doing up your CV” and firing the same one off to everyone.
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“A lot of them have a generic bio at the top but it really needs to be tailored to the job on offer. To do that, you need to read the job spec properly. You might have all the skills required, but ask yourself, ‘Is the CV tailored to the particular job you are going for?’,” she advises.
A common mistake is to simply list your current responsibilities. It’s much better to bring those to life, however. “Use numbers to help illustrate those responsibilities, such as the size of the team you managed, or the revenues you generated,” says Murray.
Be sure to put in all your qualifications. Don’t leave anything out, because they just might give you an advantage over a rival candidate. That’s particularly true for very technical roles.
Everyone likes to put the best gloss they can on a CV, but it’s a fine line between showcasing your talent and overegging it. The latter is a mistake. “When you get to interview stage, your examples and explanations need to come naturally to you in order to talk about it fluently,” she points out.
Use the bio profile at the top as a way of explaining why you feel you have the skills and experience that are relevant to the role you are applying for.
If you’re serious about a career move, check messages frequently and update them immediately if your contact details change
The more senior the appointment, the less important hobbies and interests are. “At senior level the focus is much more about achievements and accomplishments, unless you’ve a world record in something. That said, anything that demonstrates the leadership skills you can bring to the organisation is good,” says Murray.
A good CV should not only make a strong first impression, but show you are clear about your career progression, says Helen Thomas, a principal at executive search firm Odgers Berndtson. Despite the fact that a quick internet search on CV writing yields millions of results, packed with good tips, she sees hundreds of CVs a year that are simply “not up to scratch”.
Particular bugbears for Thomas are “glaring omissions, vagueness where detail is called for, and poorly judged tone or language” – the kind that will diminish your chance of landing a senior executive position.
Some mistakes are unfathomable. Recruiters and search agencies store your information and CVs on a database to make sure they can find your contact details quickly in the event that a suitable role comes up, for example. In this regard, the best thing you can do to help yourself is to make sure your contact details are clearly displayed on the front page of your CV. Yet “you’d be surprised” how many people don’t include their contact details at all, she says. Or, equally frustrating, they provide details of email and LinkedIn accounts that they don’t access on a regular basis.
If you’re serious about a career move, check messages frequently and update them immediately if your contact details change, she advises.
She believes the bio at the top is vital – its aim being to entice the target employer to read on. It should be a potted version of your career objectives and experience, in three bullet points, as a positioning statement.
Be clear about the scope and scale of your experience to date. Her clients often demand that potential candidates have provided leadership in a business of relevant size and scale.
“Give a brief description of each company you have worked for, indicating its turnover, employee count, international reach and industry sector,” she says.
After that, ask yourself such questions as whether you have you shown your position in the reporting hierarchy for each position. Make sure too to provide an insight into the size of your team and budget responsibility in each role. “Don’t forget to highlight what you’ve achieved, not only what you were responsible for,” she advises.
Showcase not only the capabilities necessary to do your current role, but those required for your next role too, and demonstrate your achievements clearly
Get the recruiter’s software working for you by ensuring you include a full range of the key words – and abbreviations – associated with the role. That way your details will pop up quickly in any database search, whether manual or automated. “For example, if you are a quality assurance director, also make reference to being a QA director, or for chief financial officer also include CFO,” she advises.
The more senior you are aiming, the more value you need to demonstrate. “Clients don’t just want someone who can do the designated job, they are looking for individuals who can contribute across the leadership team. With that in mind, use language in your CV that reflects the breadth of your capabilities,” says Thomas.
Choose your verbs carefully. She advises candidates not to restrict themselves to words like “led” and “managed”, but to use words such as “initiated”, “created”, “designed”, “implemented”, “achieved” or “delivered”. “They offer greater insights into your overall ability to contribute,” she says.
Equally, “think carefully about the vocabulary you use to frame your successes. Include words like acquired, calculated, negotiated or represented if they are relevant and help illustrate the level of your success.”
Showcase not only the capabilities necessary to do your current role, but those required for your next role too, and demonstrate your achievements clearly. “Clients are interested in individuals with a demonstrable track record of success, both professionally and personally,” says Thomas. “So be specific when addressing your achievements.”