Over the past few months we’ve been giving our advice on all things recruitment, how to nail any assesment methods, how to master the interview and even how to ask for interview feedback
at your new company. But one thing we haven’t covered yet is what
information you should actually leave off your CV. Here are our top
tips.
You should always keep in mind that you’ve got limited space to work
with and any CV longer than two pages is probably too much, unless
you’ve had a really extensive career. This means there’s no space to
keep in anything that doesn’t directly improve your chances of securing
the role that you’re applying for. For example, everyone knows that a
candidate’s references are available on request, so you don’t need to
say it and take up valuable space. The same applies with putting ‘salary
negotiable’. Unless you’re applying for a remarkably unique role almost
every position will have a negotiable salary so you’re just wasting
space which could be taken up with information that aids your
application.
Along similar lines, it also makes sense to leave something to talk
about when you actually meet the company so don’t include too much
detail about your personal life. The interview should be your chance to
elaborate on your CV and to show a bit more of your personality so
unless you’ve climbed Everest or crossed the Atlantic on your own, it’s
probably a good idea to leave out that you enjoy ‘swimming, reading and
socialising.’
Ultimately, you should leave out generalist information and tailor
your CV for every single role you apply for so it mirrors what the
company is looking for and touches on the skills mentioned in the job
description. A sure-fire way to get your application binned is to send
an application that you’ve used for numerous jobs. Remember, we do this
every single day and it’s easy to spot a CV that hasn’t been edited for a
specific role.
You should also try to avoid clichés wherever possible. Almost every
CV contains some combination of phrases like ‘hard working and a people
person’ or ‘possesses strong communication skills’ and unless you can
actually back the points up with examples, they’re essentially
meaningless. Recruiters see these phrases on numerous applications every
day and as a result don’t necessarily respond to them unless the
applicant can produce evidence of times they’ve shown these skills.
This also means that you can’t afford to even suggest that you’re
only making a speculative application or that you’re not entirely
confident about your ability to do the role in question. As we’ve just
touched on, firms want to see a tailored CV that shows you’re a great
fit for the job in question and if they don’t receive that, they’re not
likely to continue with the application. Businesses want talent that
stays with them for as long as possible and they’re not going to go
ahead with a potentially expensive application and assessment process if
they don’t think you’re completely right for the role. This is
particularly true when you consider that the cost of replacing a
departing employee is generally around 1.5 times their salary, so if
you’ve even hinted that you’re not quite right for the role on your CV
or are unsure where you want your career to go, it’s unlikely your
application will go much further.
What information do you think jobseekers should leave off their CVs? Leave your thoughts on this topic below.
Next up, the interview stage. Read our blog for some tips on Nailing you interview here.
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