As the New Year fast approaches, you may be thinking of your New Years Resolutions and what they may mean to you. For some, it may be booking that holiday that you have promised yourself you would go on for years or sign up to your local gym and use your membership! For others, New Year’s Resolutions can be a bit more personal to your career goals and aspirations. Whatever your New Year’s Resolution is, MAT Recruitment applaud you for setting these goals!
Now, we all know to achieve your New Year’s Resolutions, a plan needs to be put in place and this starts with making a change! Give that CV an edit and update to make it squeaky clean for the New Year – having an up-to-date CV helps you to show off your abilities and the experience you have picked up over the years. However, here at MAT Recruitment, we know it can be difficult to write about your fantastic skills and experience on demand, so we thought we would share a few tips for how to perfect your CV and make it stand out to employers!
1. DON’T be generic
We know that applying for jobs may seem like a long-winded process, but you need to ensure that you aren’t being generic in your achievements and responsibilities. By detailing what your previous occupations entailed, with specific and exact examples allows prospective employers to look at your experience in greater detail and therefore, be more inclined to offer you an interview! Creating a generic and vague CV does not show the prospective employer any relevant information about yourself and your qualities that you can offer in the position you are applying for.
2. Read Job Descriptions
In every job that you apply for, you should be able to see a detailed and specific job description of the role. Now these job descriptions will be your best friend when writing up your CV – you can use these job descriptions to see exactly what the perfect candidate looks like for the specific employer. With this information, you can then tailor you own CV to show examples of times you have met the job description. For example, if the job description says that they want someone with excellent communications skills, think of a time where you have excelled in a job that required you to use your communication skills to a high standard. You can then demonstrate your evidence for these skills in your CV, and therefore, this will make you more marketable to the employer as your skill sets match!
3. Refresh your CV
Now it’s fantastic that you are a knowledgeable, experienced and professional individual, but what’s the point in having all these amazing attributes without showing this off on your CV for employers to see? You need to make sure you have the most up to date and recent CV when submitting applications, as not only does this show that you have put time and effort into your CV, but it also shows your most recent experience (which is arguably the most crucial to employers).
4. Now is not a time for modesty!
Your CV is the first thing your prospective employer reads about you and can decide if you would be a suitable candidate for the vacancy or not. Your CV has to demonstrate you in the best light possible and ensuring that you do not undersell yourself is key! Whilst it may be an awkward and uncomfortable task to write about yourself in such a glowing manner, this is a must when writing your CV – remember, being assertive and confident in your own abilities is a highly desirable attribute that all employers look for on a CV regardless of the occupation!
5. Keep your CV concise
We know that condensing years and years of relevant experience down to a singular page can be quite the task, but it is important that you are directive and straight to the point. Keeping your CV snappy but informative is an excellent skill and this will reflect in your CV. Employers need to have easy access to your CV and quickly read through your experience, so they are able to make an informed judgement of your skills and abilities.
For all your recruitment needs, MAT Recruitment are here to help, contact the team today on 0330 1244 363!
