One of the most important things you can do to make your CV stand out from the competition is to make it relevant to the position you’re applying for. For this reason, it’s critical to include the most relevant experience first, and then move forward to other relevant information. To make this task easier, we’ve broken down these tips into three main categories: Updating your CV regularly, avoiding misspellings and grammatical errors, and using action verbs to convey your qualifications.
Avoiding misspellings and grammatical errors
Mistakes in spelling and grammatically incorrect sentences should be avoided on CVs. Hiring teams might think you are less intelligent if you misspell a word, which could lead to your application being turned down. Therefore, ensure that your CV is error-free, and ask a friend or relative to read it over. This is a good idea no matter your experience level.
One of the most common mistakes in CV writing is to use the wrong adjectives. For example,’manager’ means stable or livestock. The word ‘confident’, however, can be misspelled as ‘confident’. ‘Confident’ can also be misspelled as ‘confident’, which means’stable’, “trustworthy” or’sure.’ The same is true if you misspell “principal’, as it can mean “school principal” or “chief principal officer.” Also, avoid using passive sentences and clauses. These add unnecessary words to your writing, and they distract recruiters from your credentials.
Including keywords
Adding relevant keywords to your CV will not only save you time and effort, but also ensure that you sail through applicant tracking systems and land an interview. To find the keywords you should include, think about the position you are applying for and how your skills and experience would benefit the company. Then, incorporate them into your CV in the most appropriate places. Keywords for jobs such as nurse, programmer, developer, and many more are not used by applicant tracking systems, but they make excellent keywords for CVs.
Employers use searchable keywords to sort through hundreds of CVs. Keywords can range from skills, qualifications, and abilities to technical expertise and other requirements. While some keywords are required for each job, others are optional. If you are not sure which keywords to use, you can research the position you are applying for and find out which keywords are most in demand in the industry. Keywords can be either verbs or nouns and can vary between industries.
Updating your CV on a regular basis
Spring is a time for new beginnings, including a change of career. Before the start of a new job search, it’s a good idea to spring clean your CV and add recent accomplishments, promotions, and skills. It’s also a good idea to update your CV before you lose your current position, so that potential employers remember what you’ve been up to since your last review.
If you’ve lost your job because of COVID-19, you should always keep your CV updated. Add new skills and responsibilities to keep it fresh and ready to grab an opportunity when it comes your way. Even if you’re not actively seeking a new position, updating your CV can help you make the best impression on potential employers. The following are some tips on how to update your CV to help you land a new position:
Including action verbs
Adding action verbs to your CV can highlight your achievements. These words can be used to describe projects or duties, making you sound more confident and capable of carrying out the job. Other good action verbs include “achieved,” “implemented,” and other forms of “I’ve”. You can also use strong verbs like “I’ve” and even better, add “I’ve” to describe your accomplishments. It will make your CV more readable as well.
When writing an action verb on your CV, it is important to be specific about the skill or accomplishment that the hiring manager is looking for. Using words like “led” and “handled” are not specific enough because they do not provide enough details for the reader to understand how you led or handled a certain task. In contrast, “directed” and “organized” show that you had the ability to organize and delegate work to team members, and they would benefit from your management skills.
Including contact information
You should include your contact information on your CV in order to make it easy for potential employers to contact you. It should be located on the bottom of your CV directly beneath your name. It is not necessary to include all your contact information, but you should list two primary methods. Having a phone number and an email address is a good idea for contacting an employer. You can also include your social media profiles, if applicable.
In addition to your name, your contact information should include your email and LinkedIn URL. While most recruiters prefer to hire people within a certain city, you should avoid listing your address in your CV, as it shows that you’re unprofessional and may not be able to relocate to another city. You should also avoid including your age or date of birth, unless the job ad explicitly requests it.
