When did you last update your CV? Probably the last time you applied for a job – right? But it might be a good idea to review it, make a few changes and then think about following that through into your Linked Profile.
Here are some suggestions for minor but significant changes you can make to your CV.
Remove old irrelevant entry-level roles
If you’ve been working for 10+ years, it’s probably time to get rid of some of your earlier and more junior roles. They are probably completely irrelevant, so remove them.
Update Your Skillset
Have you reviewed the skills section of your CV? Does it list your professional skills, both soft and hard? At the same time, you should consider getting rid of some dated skills, or really basic ones like MS Office – as everyone has those.
Add Keywords
Don’t forget – recruiters use key words to search for the latest talent, and if you haven’t got the right key skills on your CV or your Linked Profile, you are making it harder for them to find you.
Review your Formatting
You don’t need your CV to look like a work of art – it just needs the 3 C’s – clear, clean and concise. In fact, fancy formatting is the bain of a recruiters life, making it much more difficult to re-format if they send you to one of their clients. You should consider:
- Simple font – we use Calibri 11
- Try to keep it to 3-4 pages max
- Most recent experience first
- Bullet points stand out better than long paragraphs
Renew Your Summary
Does your summary now clearly reflect who you are and your current skillset? If not, it’s really important to review and update and even more important to follow this through on to your Linked In Profile.
Set out your achievements
Don’t just give a description of your responsibilities, we want to know what you achieved in your job. If you’re a salesperson – what were your targets? Did you hit them? If you’re in operations – did you cut customer call times and by how much? Sell your achievements ideally in bullet point format.
