If you type 'CV tips' into google, the search result shows a whopping 1,510,000,000 sources...That's ALOT of information for one person to sift through, and with job deadlines looming, you might need something quick and fast to get you on your way. I sat down with two recruitment specialists to bust some CV myths, find out what really helps you stand out to recruiters, and some common mistakes to avoid. First, I spoke to Charlie Waterman, who has spent the past 6 years in recruitment and now heads up Talent Acquisition at a company called Harnham (wow, go Charlie!). Charlie now focuses on recruiting for Harnham's graduate scheme, and she's also previously recruited for big companies like British Airways, Deloitte and even Facebook as well smaller start ups- so you can be pretty sure she knows what she's talking about! So Charlie, is it true that some recruiters only look at your CV for a couple of seconds? If so, how can you make your CV stand out against others?It is true that recruiters take a very short amount of time to look at a CV. In my experience, speaking for me, having recruited for 6 years I am a master skim-reader and I know what I am looking for when reading a CV. I'll typically spend around 5-10 seconds doing that initial skim-read and then if I am interested naturally will spend more time reading and then wanting to talk to the candidate to find out more.
To stand out, it's quite simple: 1. Make sure that you're flagging to the person reading that you want to do the role that they are recruiting for. So if it's a Media Buyer, have the words media buyer in your personal summary at the top. You would be surprised at just how many CVs have another job listed in the personal summary or a very vague overview - when you receive hundreds of CVs, it makes it an easy differentiating factor. 2. For graduate roles, put your education up top. But make sure you still have a work experience section with a clear outline of your work and commercial experience. You may not have done an internship or have relevant commercial skills, but any work experience (even if it seems irrelevant) is better than none. Working in a coffee shop will have taught you many skills that a company will benefit from, hiring managers just like to see that a graduate has had to put a bit of hard work in before - no matter where that may be. 3. Network - see someone that works at the company you want to work at that went to your school or uni? Use it - introduce yourself and ask them if they'd be open to jumping on a call to network and find out about how they got there. Flatter them a little and don't be too pushy at asking about the job you've applied or want to apply for - chances are if you do it right, they'll not only give you some helpful advice but they'll probably also put in a good word 😉 Join us for part 2 next week where we speak to Julie Grimes, founder of Jaguar White Recruitment, who shares three of the biggest mistakes someone can make on a CV and how you can avoid them!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorThe Blue Graduate is a career and wellbeing advice and guidance blog for students and graduates experiencing post-uni 'blues'. Archives
September 2020
Categories
All
|