Seven deadly CV sins
careers,your life,work
CV Sins - Business woman looking nervous
Going for the job of your dreams? Make sure you\'re not peppering your CV with mistakes that could hamper your chances. We reveal the seven deadly sins that you should avoid when compiling your CV - check them out!
CV sin 1: including things you shouldn\'t
careers,your life,work
CV Sins - businesswoman at her laptop
The following should not be included on your CV:
Photos - unless you are a model, actor, actress or flight attendant.
Any sort of failure - be it an exam, a business or a marriage.
Salary information - this can only be used to reject your application. If an advertisement specifically requests salary information, put it in your cover letter.
Personal information - your weight, height, political persuasion, state of health, state of your marriage, or any other personal information is irrelevant to your application.
Reasons for leaving previous jobs - if an interviewer wants to know, they will ask.
Mentioning activities or interests that suggest lethargy, or vices, such as watching TV and spending time at the pub.
Negative comments about a previous employer or role - keep it positive.
Letters after your name - subsequent sections offer ample opportunity to show off your achievements.
Unexplained gaps in your career history - this only raises questions about what you were doing.
References - it is taken for granted that you have these, so don\'t include them unless specifically asked; they\'ll be taken up later.
CV sin 2: leaving out things you should include
careers,your life,work
CV sins: business woman sitting on her desk
A results-orientated CV will make a recruiter want to invite you to that all-important interview. Your email address should be in the body of the CV. Also, make sure to include your date of birth. Some people leave this out in the belief that if they include it, employers might consider them too old. Leaving it out, however, makes it look more of an issue, and the employer will obviously spot it.
CV sin 3: stretching the truth
careers,your life,work
CV sins: business woman greeting interviewer
Don\'t overstate your abilities - don\'t describe a particular skill as \'excellent\' when you should be putting something like \'good working knowledge\'. Candidates often overstate their capabilities in a bid to impress, which can make them look silly at interview.
CV sin 4: acting the clown
careers,your life,work
CV sins: business woman with a clown nose, looking grumpy
Use humour only if you can reliably predict who the reader is likely to be and how they\'ll react - remember that it\'s very likely that your CV will copied to many colleagues of the initial contact.
CV sin 6: poor presentation
careers,your life,work
CV sins: business woman sitting at her laptop
Simple is best, so avoid front covers, coloured paper and fancy bindings. Having said that, use good paper and don\'t send out poor-quality photocopies of your CV - they give the impression that you are mailing your CV en masse and are not too bothered who employs you. Finally, don\'t use large blocks of text and paragraphs that make your CV too difficult to read. A CV will be scanned for approximately 30 seconds. Any longer and the recruiter will switch off.
CV sin 7: typos
careers,your life,work
CV sins: business woman on a white background
There is no excuse for not using the spellchecker, but be warned - Microsoft\'s spellchecker uses American English so watch out for \'liase\' instead of \'liaise\' and all those \'organizational\' skills when they should be \'organisational\' skills.
CV sin 5: long lists
careers,your life,work
CV sins: business woman contemplating
Too many people mistake the CV for a job description of your duties or job titles, with no mention of the outcome or benefit to the company. You need to provide specific examples of how the organisation benefited from your performance. Apply the FAB factor:
Feature - what did you do?
Analysis - what was the scope? For example, how large was your team or budget or territory?
Benefit - what was the benefit to your company?
