I love the Internet, everything you need to know you can find out there on the world wide wed from how to write a targeted CV to do-it yourself brain surgery. One of the problems with the web is the quality of the advice given on websites and blogs, as people with various degrees of knowledge and expertise can share their thoughts and advice with you.
I have found the 5 worst CV tips and advice out there
1. Telling the world about your life; I have found several articles on CV writing telling you to tell your life history – even if your 55 years old! In this case your CV will be 10-20 pages long which mean no employer will ever read it. A good CV will highlight your key skills, qualities and experiences required by your potential employer, this means your CV should be a maximum of two pages long.
2. My Career Goal is…: recording your career goal on your CV job profile is a big no-no. Employers will know what position you are applying for as you need to send a targeted covering letter with every CV. The CV profile is designed to highlight your key strengths, selling point and the value you can bring to the organisation – this is a selling paragraph.
3. Corporate Jargon: so many job hunters fill their CV with corporate jargon and acronyms, even when applying for a position in a new career/industry. Remember in many large organisations the HR team will first read your CV – will they fully understand the jargon you have recorded? Your CV does need to highlight your industry expertise but should not be worded so the employer (or who ever reads your CV) is put off.
4. Small font means more information: I once read an article from a professional CV writing service advising job hunters to use font size 8-10 so the candidate can fit more “selling” points onto the CV. A key point to any winning CV is to make the CV presentable and easy to read. You also have to take into consideration that many organisations often print off your CV – will your new employer be able to read a CV with size 8 font?
5. Adding your photo: more and more job hunters are adding their photo to a CV, and I would ask – would a photo increase your chance of an interview? The answer is no and I would add that a photo can take up a large amount of space on your CV. We complete a large amount of research on behalf of our clients and when questioned, employers inform us again and again that they prefer a CV without a photo (but prefer a linked-in profile with an image) the exception is a CV for applying for Security and Acting professions.
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An aneswr from an expert! Thanks for contributing.