5 CV Changes That Will Definitely Have A Huge Impact On Your Job Search

5 CV Changes That Will Definitely Have A Huge Impact On Your Job Search

Are you tired of sending numerous applications without hearing back from employers?
There are several reasons why your job search efforts haven’t yielded any results up to now and the biggest is your CV.
Employers receive hundreds to thousands of applications for a single post depending on the position and as such have only about 30 second to scan through your CV to determine if you are the perfect fit for the job.
If you are still jobless or haven’t been able to land another job, your CV might have everything to do with it. It means it does not stand the 30 seconds test and a majority of the time just ends up in the trash pile.
If you are looking to change things, in this article I will share with you’re the changes that you should make to your CV and I GUARANTEE that you will start seeing results in the applications you send.
1. Keeping the focus on your achievements rather than your responsibilities
If you are still sending applications without anyone contacting you for an interview, take a close look at your work experience section.
Chances are that you have put too much focus on your responsibilities and have neglected to mention the impact you made on that job.
And if you pay closer attention, I am pretty sure that the duties you have listed are just a duplication of that job description you were given when you accepted the offer.
“Employers today are not just looking for someone who can do a good job. They are looking for that candidate who can go above and beyond the job description. They are looking for that candidate who can bring about positive change in that position. So quit boring them with all the duties you were tasked with and start talking about that time you managed to bring in more clients that anyone else in your team or how your actions ended up increasing revenue by 30% in just six months,” says Brenda Miaelizu, a professional CV writer at Corporate Staffing Services.
2. Get rid of that objective section
CV objectives are so overrated and they never help but instead hurt your chances of being shortlisted for a job.
I know having an objective makes you seem like you are in control and have already carved out a path of success for yourself but I am telling you that they are outdated.
Why? Because an objective is all about you and not the employer. The 21st century employer doesn’t care about what you are looking to gain in the long term but is a more concerned about what you are bringing to the company.
The application stage is all about you showing the employer what you can do and why you are the best person for the job.
At the interview stage you will have all the time you want to show them that it’s not just about the job but you are invested in your career and that company is the perfect place to achieve that.
3. Add a profile summary at the very top of your CV
In today’s job market, profile summaries have replaced CV objectives. The reason a profile summary is very important and why it should be the first thing that an employer sees is that it is a highlight of your experience, strengths and summing up in a few paragraphs why you should be considered for the job.
A well written profile summary is just but a tip of the ice berg, making the recruiter curious enough to go through the rest of your CV.
It is an attention grabber if you may and if you are to get your CV past the recruiter to an interview, you need to get it right.
4. Remove anything that does not sell your candidacy
You don’t need a whole paragraph explaining basic duties most especially if they are already implied by your job title.
For instance, if you are an admin assistant, you don’t have to bore the recruitment manager explaining how one of your duties was to welcome visitors to the office. First of all, every other admin assistant does that so it’s not brain surgery and second, your job title already communicates that.
Likewise you don’t need to include those jobs that you did over a decade ago for a few months or positions like IEBC polling clerk.
Unless you are applying for another job with IEBC, I don’t see why you should keep mentioning that you were a polling clerk for three days.
Your CV is a marketing document, not a place to list out everything about you. Only include things that portray you in the best light for the job at hand.
5. Shortening it
If you have a CV that goes beyond two pages, you are not doing yourself any favors. The recruitment manager as I mentioned has limited time to scan through your document and you shouldn’t be making their work even more difficult with a very long CV.
If you are a recent graduate especially, I don’t see the reason why your CV should go past one page. This is because you haven’t worked that long to earn you the right to move past page one.
But then again what happens when you have so many years of experience under your belt? If this is the case, the hiring manager is aware that your CV will be a bit longer and will not refuse to short list you because of this.
The secret here is to remove the unnecessary.
To sum it up
The job market is a bit tough but that does not mean that you can’t get a job. After all, aren’t employers still hiring for those positions, even the ones that are considered saturated?
Stop applying for a job like you know the employer. They are not mind readers to conclude that you can do the job when you haven’t sold yourself well. Do everything you can to get past the application stage and that means starting to make some of these changes as of right now.
And on that note, if you are up for a CV make-over, I mean a CV that will sell you for any position, send your CV today to cvwriting@corporatestaffing.co.ke.