Tips to Improve Your CV and Impress HR & Your Future Boss

Writing your resume is an opportunity for you to tell your story – who you are and what you do — so your future boss immediately buys into you.

Your CV (curriculum vitae) is a brief summary of your capabilities, qualifications, and work experience that you submit to HR & prospective employers before an interview. You have also probably heard this document referred to as a resume.

When creating your CV or resume, the goal should be to impress human resources and hiring managers who may be reading it and encourage them to contact you about potential job opportunities. To achieve this, however, you must get your resume right. From being able to quantify your accomplishments to using short, concise, and clear language, we’ve compiled some of the best tips to help you improve your resume.

Use a CV Profile

Most people start their CV with an objective statement. This is a great way to summarize all your qualifications and is important even if your career has just started. However, with a CV profile, you provide a more complete summary of all your qualifications. This lets employers review everything you have to offer. You can put this profile at the very top of the CV or under your name and contact information. Some of the components to include in your CV profile include:

·        Professional profile heading

·        Professional statement paragraph

·        Skills heading

·        Skills listed in a bulleted list

Research the Job or Position You Want

Some people make the mistake of trying to apply for a job they don’t know enough (or anything) about. If you are not sure what a company is looking for, you won’t be able to customize your resume to the specific industry requirements.

A smart and easy way to research the role you want is by looking carefully at job descriptions. Here you can find out what the company is looking for, and then you can customize your CV based on those requirements. Be sure to identify the desirable skills, which should include both soft and hard skills. Also, provide examples of the times that you used these skills in the CV.

Be sure to learn about the company you are applying to as well. Take time to visit its website and search online to get to know its history and culture. When you have this information, you can create a CV that is optimized for that specific company.

Sprinkle in Quantifiable Statements in the Resume

It is important to show a potential employer what you have accomplished, along with your responsibilities, when you are discussing academic or professional experiences. When you do this, it will help employers figure out if you would benefit their business. 

Break Up the Text

When you sit down to write your CV, you need to focus on making it as easy to read as possible. Recruiters are going to have hundreds of resumes to sort through. They would much rather see something that is professionally formatted and easy to read than a wall of text. Make your resume stand out by keeping things simple.

Create a Thorough CV

You need to make sure your CV is at least two pages in length. This is because you want to go in-depth with your qualifications and experiences. If you are just beginning your career, you may have only two pages. You can include your various jobs, any certifications you have, and any volunteer experience. 

When it comes to creating a great CV, there are more than a few factors to consider. Putting together a professional, quality document can help highlight your qualifications and skills and make you stand out from the crowd. Be sure to keep this information in mind to help you get the job you really want. If you are unsure how to begin or what to highlight, consider working with a professional resume builder for help.  

Sarah Landrum

Sarah Landrum recently graduated from Penn State with degrees in Marketing and PR. Now, she's a freelance writer and career blogger sharing advice on navigating the work world and achieving happiness and success in your career. You can find her tweeting on her coffee breaks @SarahLandrum