May 15, 2010

CV / Resume Create Your Diary Filling One Now!

Whatever way you look at it one of the only constants in the hiring process is the CV / resume. It’s the one thing that is present in every recruitment process, excluding maybe the hiring of close family members!

The objective of your CV / resume is simply to fill your diary with job interviews, alternately it maybe to get you that one interview you covert above all others. Whichever way you look at it has a job to do; it has to compel your target reader to want to interview you.

The CV / Resume should work in partnership with your cover letter, your cover letter having the remit for maybe the more creative selling work, your CV / resume then packaging your factual skills attributes and most prominently achievements in such a way as to make it impossible for your target reader not to interview you.

I don’t put it this way to let your CV / resume “off” from selling responsibility. Far from it, the likelihood is that your cover letter will get stripped away from your CV / resume in the process, so it’s vital you’re CV / resume stands on its own merits.

The main questions I get asked regarding CV / resumes are:-

How long should my CV / resume be?
Should I use a chronological or functional format?
Should I have more than one CV / resume?

Let’s try and quickly work through these questions quickly. Starting last first you should definitely have more than 1 CV / resume. You must target the objective / summary statements and achievements, skills and attributes to each individual target employer. In advertising speak this is the “above the fold” the most expensive content real estate on your CV / resume. These are the opening paragraphs where your battle will be won or lost. You may also be requested to submit your CV / resume in plain text format for companies that use scanning software, this is easy to do will all word processor formats, but recognise it will strip out all the fancy Dan formatting. Which is another good reason to keep the presentation simple; black text on white background written in Microsoft word rather than Adobe pdf.

How long should my CV / resume be? - It only has to win you the interview, if your CV / resume intrigues your reader, compels them to meet you it’s done its job. Therefore the best CV / resumes are ONE page!

I can here the screams of anguish from here, how can I possibly condense all my life’s work into a single page, it’s impossible to sell myself in one page, and many more valid arguments. I will provide templates and examples for you to modify and use as your own. I will attempt to convince you that a 1 page CV / resume are the way to go through this process.

What I will remind you of is that the purpose of the CV / Resume is only to get you the invite to interview.

If you’ve followed the research and self evaluation process so far, you will have a great idea of what your target employer is looking for and values highest, you will have written or made progress in writing your unique selling point, or interview silver bullet, or offer they cant refuse. This short paragraph is the headline in your CV / resume message, the rest of the document then only needs to be populated with some well worded examples that go to proving your headline claims, the rest of the document is standard CV / resume content fodder, summarised chronological experience, contact details (you’ll be amazed how many CV / Resumes I get with a name and no contact details!), education, and one of a number of optional content fillers you can choose.

Finally I advise not to use a functional format CV / resume leaving out the chronological career history. People do this to hide gaps or mistakes in their careers. This is obvious to an experienced interviewer, and it will ultimately just draw attention to what you were trying to hide, it also comes across as sneaky. My advise; record your history in terms of years not years and months, this will hide small gaps, and where you do have gaps fill them honestly. As we progress we will demonstrate how these gaps can be filled honestly and in a positive way.