How does your CV score? This is a short post today. But still, an extremely valuable one. Just like last week’s post on the best advice by 5 of South Africas top recruiters the advice in today’s’ article does not come from me. The advice in the article today actually comes from Samantha Nolan who is an Advanced Personal Branding Strategist and Career Expert, founder and CEO of Nolan Branding.
I came across an article written by Samantha where she was assisting a job candidate with a few basic mistakes on their CV. I think that these are brilliant pieces of advice that we can probably all find quite useful. Remember Samantha is a personal branding expert, so who better to give advice on presenting your CV.
How does your CV score?
I will post a link to the full article at the bottom of this post. But essentially Sam was approached by a job seeker with the following question:
Dear Sam: I need help with my cv score, and I don’t know where to start. To me, on a scale of 1-10, my resume is a 5. I know that I have experience for most front desk jobs, but I do not know how to get their attention with my resume. I appreciate any advice you can give me. — Kenisha
Samantha went on to give the following advice.
Dear Kenisha: I am so glad you sent me your resume as in its current format, I know hiring managers would not be able to see what you know you can do. In terms of a score, I’m afraid I would rate it as a 2 out of 10. I only tell you this so you can see the level of improvement available and how your results could dramatically change if you take advantage of those opportunities. The sky is the limit! Here are the top problems I see:
Lack of focus does not allow others to see who you are.
You must create a target and a theme from top to bottom of your resume. Opening with an objective statement only tells an employer what YOU want, not what you can do for THEM. Change the focus and use the top of your resume to highlight your related front desk skill set, I imagine focusing on your administrative and customer service strengths.
Your education section is in the wrong place.
You are not a recent high school graduate; therefore, it should be the last thing presented on your resume. You may want to omit it as with its inclusion, it is not telling an employer that you have a high school diploma, but rather that you do not have a college degree.
Formatting is outdated and not supporting your claims.
As a front desk professional, one would expect a certain level of technology savviness. Be sure your formatting does not counter this claim.
Content underestimates your value.
Explore your experiences fully; two-word bullet points do not carry value. Also, writing about your experience provides you with the opportunity to highlight your written communication skills.
Conclusion
Your CV is so important when applying for a job. I am still constantly amazed at the low-quality CV’s some candidates are happy to put their name on. If you are serious about finding a new job please take the time to put together a great looking CV. It honestly does not take that long and there are actually some great free services that can help you. Check out these CV design hacks to get started.
Well, that’s it for today, as I mention just a short post. I would still love to hear from you guys in the comments below so please leave me a message or a question.
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