As recruiters, we receive tons of resumes on a regular basis. We see plenty of people struggling with writing this vital paper in the process of searching for their dream job.
The first thing that comes to mind is that your main obstacle is to create a memorable description of your professional abilities. However, the interesting observation is that your application can get “lost in the crowd” far before getting to that point – in the way the document looks!
We always highlight that at glance it only takes 5-7 seconds to scan a CV and that will create the first impression of you. Pay attention to the overall design of this document – it represents you before you can represent yourself.
Do not lose that chance of making a great first impression therefore avoid a chaotic use of different fonts or crazy colors. Make sure your document is thoroughly formatted: the font and size of text are readable and clear, the paragraphs are well spaced and aligned. Lastly, please, make sure to send a PDF document, not an editable Word document.
Contentwise, the main mistake is that a lot of CV writers just share their timelines in the working history. Instead, help the reader of your resume to see the big picture out of the list of your responsibilities.
Firstly, tell us what you have done while working at this or that company. A CV should be about what successes you brought to the business.
Secondly, pack it into a value proposition and make it clear about what you can share with your new employer. In case you have gaps in your resume, be proud to explain more details about each of them as they undoubtedly brought value to shaping that character and personality of who you are today.
What about you?