CV Writing Advice: The dos and don’ts of writing a CV

OK, so you want to get noticed but you also want that interview so don’t want to go over the top in terms of wackiness. Here’s what you need to know…

Getting the tone and style right requires a fine balance between presenting your case conservatively and being just that little bit different in order to catch the reader’s eye.

The job marketplace has an overwhelmingly conservative outlook. You may come across the occasional recruitment consultant whose palate is jaded through seeing too many CVs and who will advise you that doing something radically different with yours is an important way of distinguishing yourself from the pack. But for every iconoclast like that, you’ll find a hundred other recruitment consultants who will tell you that playing it safe is the best strategy.

This is not terribly exciting advice, but for the vast majority of jobs it’s counterproductive to do anything more radical that substituting two sheets of white A4 with two sheets of cream A4. To do anything more extreme is simply to create ‘noise’ around your CV that’s more likely to distract than attract.

So, here are a few dos and don’ts in terms of how to present your CV to the job market:

DON’T send a photo

What is enclosing a photograph intended to achieve anyway? That you’re young and virile and have your own head of hair? That your brow is furrowed with the wisdom of years? That you have a natty dress sense? No, the fact is that recruiters don’t like photos and in these politically correct times it’s not palatable to imply that how you look should have some kind of bearing on whether or not you’re interviewed.

DON’T use humour

There are few better ways of bonding with somebody than through a joke shared. But be warned. It’s one thing to crack a funny in a convivial setting with a bunch of mates when the drink has been flowing freely; it’s another thing entirely to insert something ‘amusing’ into your CV and then for your CV to turn up under the nose of a complete stranger who may be having a rotten day and who may not share your sense of humour. Don’t risk it.

DON’T mess with people’s expectations

Recruiters expect to see a CV set out in a standard format, using a sensible font. Any attempt on your part to subvert those expectations is more likely to rebound on you than anything else.

DO match the CV to the job you’re going for

Most job applications benefit from a fairly conservative approach. The only exceptions are for jobs where a talent for innovation or creativity is explicitly required by the jobholder. In those rare cases, trying something a little bolder or more outlandish might bring home the bacon.

DO dress conservatively

If your CV secures you an interview, make an effort to turn up looking well presented. If you turn up for an interview wearing clothes that fitted you perfectly in the pre-paunch 1980s, with evidence of that morning’s breakfast mingling with your ZZ Top beard, not to mention whiffing gently of last night’s garlic bread and sporting a hairstyle borrowed from Tom Hanks in the latter stages of Castaway, you can pretty much kiss that job goodbye.

To find out more visit: http://www.infideas.com/self-development/cvs/