Are you jobhunting? When looking for a job, your CV needs to stand out to proceed to the next stage of the recruitment process. Your CV needs to be able to catch the recruiters’ attention. However, this is not always the case. Your email is full of regrets due to one reason or another. It can be very frustrating. Many things can make your CV get rejected. They include;
It is too long
Some job applicants usually write long CVs hoping that they will be able to get the job of their dreams. However, most employers hardly have the time to check every page of your CV. As a result, they often go through the first page of the CV and then check other people’s CVs on their desk. Ideally, you should aim at making your employer know more about you in the shortest time possible. In this case, The fewer the pages, the better. Try not to include everything you have done or achieved in the CV. The most critical details matter the most. Therefore, your CV should not exceed two pages. A cover letter should include any other information.
Presence of grammar mistakes
Attention to detail is vital while drafting your CV. It is normal to make mistakes when writing your CV. However, you should not fail to correct these mistakes while going through the draft. You should proofread your CV and fix all the grammatical errors that might be there. If an employer notices several grammar errors in your CV, he will just reject it. You might have a good CV, but spelling mistakes can sabotage your job hunting efforts.
Generic CV.
While job hunting, you get to send your cv to different organisations with different job requirements and descriptions with the hope of becoming a match for at least one company. Most job hunters have one size fit all CV, which indicates that you are taking a shot at the job and not fully invested in taking time to tailor-make your CV to suit the requirements. Generic CV’s show that the job seeker is ready to handle any job and in any organisation.
Job seekers should periodically review their cv and involve research taking time to customize their cv to fi the job applying for
Failure to include critical details
It is essential to take your time and understand what the vacancy announcement requires from the job seeker. You might be in a hurry or too excited to write your CV such that you forget some crucial details as requested in the vacancy announcement.
Some organizations might require names, phone numbers, and emails of referees that are not in yours. At times, a particular subject heading request is made to ensure the application does not get lost or mixed up with other letters or emails. Some job seekers forget to include essential details such as their phone numbers. This can be detrimental because you could be the best candidate for the job, but your employer cannot reach you or others simply because you did not include your contact information or those of the referees.
Unprofessional CV
Many job seekers make these two major mistakes in their CVs, making the document seem unprofessional;
- Style; Unless you are in the creative industry, avoid fancy graphics and fonts. You should moderately and professionally use spacing and bulleting to avoid making the whole document looking busy. Regarding profile photos, only add if it is a prerequisite requirement or when applying for a modeling job.
- Content; While in school, you might have used an unprofessional email address without any repercussions as the communication is mostly between family and friends. However, as you enter the professional field, Your email address should be a professional one. Ideally, you should use your first and last name. Also, avoid using jargon and abbreviations in your CV, less the recruiter will fail to understand what you are talking about.
YOUR BRAND IS WHAT OTHER PEOPLE SAY ABOUT YOU WHEN YOU‘RE NOT IN THE ROOM- JEFF BEZOS
Presence of employment gaps
Many people have experienced moments of unemployment at some point in their career. Others have taken career breaks for one reason or another. This causes unemployment gaps in the CV. In most cases, recruiters will seek to understand the reason for the gap/s. During the unemployment period, you should consider doing other activities that will enable you to grow your skills and expertise. Most employers will understand this. Unfortunately, if you have employment gaps of more than five years with nothing to show during the gap period, it might raise eyebrows. Your employer might wonder where you were for all that period dismissing your CV.
Inaccurate and misleading Information
Most job applicants think that embellishing their achievements in jobs on their CV will make them get hired. However, this does not work for most people, especially those who lied about their accomplishments. Background checks are used to weed out such candidates. If the lie goes on past the recruitment stage, the candidate risks being laid off on the grounds of negligence misrepresentation.
Also including inaccurate information, the kind of information that leaves the recruiter with more questions than answers should be avoided. Details like dates should be consistent with the actual period you completed a course or carried out a task.
Including a lot of personal information
The only personal information in a candidate's CV should be that which was requested. Avoid including your marital status, religion, sex, etc., as it will expose you to recruitment bias. It is a waste of already limited space where you have to sell your brand. Since you are not pitching for a date, you should just stick to the essential information such as your name, email address, phone number, and so on. If the employer needs to know more about you, he or she might ask you for this information during the interview.
Presence of weird hobbies and interests
As much as you might want to sound interesting, do not include weird hobbies on your CV. Hobbies like the collection of guns and dolls will give the wrong impression about you. You might end up looking like an imbalanced individual. However, if you have to include hobbies -which in my opinion is outdated- they should demonstrate skills that complement your personal and professional growth. Remember, most companies are looking for open and fun individuals for employees. Interests such as Film, sports, playing sudoku, etc. will create a good impression depending on the work culture of the hiring firm
- Writing your CV in the third person
Your CV should describe you. You should, therefore, write it in the first person. Writing it in the third person shows that someone else wrote the CV for you. While you may choose to engage an agency to write the CV for you, ensure it is in the first person form...
11. Sending the CV in Word format
Word format often distorts the entire document. This means the format you sent the document in might not be how the recruiter receives it. Ensure always to send your CVs in pdf format so that all the formatting remains intact. Also, Sending your CV in PDF reduces the possibility of anyone altering it.
The first impression counts. Your CV gives the recruiter a glimpse of your personal brand. Therefore, ensure that your CV stands out from the rest. Make it unique and avoid the mistakes mentioned above at all times.
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