The CV or curriculum vitae was one of the most important documents on the job market. Ambitious students are constantly working on their CV and keep asking questions about its layout and content. This is definitely more than a piece of paper…
Your CV is your name card. It shows your story, your track record and your style.
All of us have a story. The ambitious guy from a small town in Hungary, who participated in case competitions, or the Dutch guy who changed from patent law to management consulting in order to work on business problems. What’s yours? Where are you from? Where are you heading to? What is your motivation and what are you ambitioning? Your CV should tell this.
The CV should cover all kinds of achievements which are relevant. You must be able to tell what you achieved in the past and what you will bring to the company. Do it in a way which is simple and to the point. Everyone has to understand the key point without knowing you. Your CV should achieve this.
Your CV will represent you. It tells your story and shows your achievements. The reader of your CV will result in a preconcept about you. The layout, the highlights, the colors are representations of your personality. Think about what you want to communicate with your CV design and layout. Would you want to seem like a mediocre person by using a CV template or showcase your own pofessional style through your own creation? Your CV should represent this.
So your CV is not just a document, but rather its your name card, which represents you in front of the recruiters who do not know you.
There are dozens of blog posts which tell you the secret recipe of a good CV. Without getting lost in the details, let us share three tips which will help you to build a position winner CV:
One CV does not fit all kinds of positions. Tailor your CV to the different type of companies and different types of positions. How to do that?
First of all, read the job description (or JD), which normally includes all the relevant information about the employer and the position. It should include the values of the company and the key elements of the employer value proposition. The JD includes the required skills and competencies.
You should make sure that you fit the position. This means that you need to demonstrate that you have the relevant skills. Do your homework and list the skills they are looking for and pick examples and cases when you have demonstrated them.
Although the STAR method is used on behavioral-based, HR interviews, the method can be applied on a CV level as well. The method is discussing the specific situation, task, action, and result of the situation you were in.
This method will help you to introduce achievements in a more tangible and measurable way.
Recruiters are busy. They receive hundreds of applications for one open position. The average time they can spend on one CV is 6-8 seconds. They are looking for keywords, well-known brands and tangible results. For this reason its essential to be solid and concise.
To build a good CV requires time and serious efforts. You should look for opportunities to get feedback from recruiters and constantly review your story, track record and style. Don’t forget: the CV is not just a piece of paper, it's your name card which represents you throughout the whole recruitment and selection process.