A Second Chance to Make a Lasting First Impression?
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We’ve seen the countless blogs and articles talking about the Top Ten CV mistakes and the Top Ten CV must haves. If like us, you’re fed up with the same old recycled content with too much information that doesn’t get to the point, you may want to keep reading for advice taken from our recruitment consultants at Optima!
You never get a second chance to make the first impression! A quote never so true when we apply it to writing a CV or cover letter. It’s probably the first point of contact with a recruiter or potential employer. However, making sure your CV stands out is by no means an easy task.
When our consultants have looked at which CV’s receive a good response, it’s usually the ones that are not stuffed with empty jargon or buzz words that could pretty much apply to anyone.
Motivated, creative, enthusiastic, successful, synergy, team player, best of breed and flexible. These are just some of the words that are so overused it seems they have lost all meaning. We all say these things, but what recruiters want to see are real examples of how you have been flexible or a team player.
It’s far too easy to include buzz words and use Internet templates…if we found it on the Internet, surely it has to be right!!
Give concrete examples! If you say you are creative, why not attach an example of your work that shows you are. If you are a team player, then give an example of where you did this successfully and where it made a positive impact on the business
Our biggest piece of advice is to look at the job specification and identify all the key functions of the role. Pull out the key words and spend some time thinking about what they actually mean.
Once you have done this make sure your CV relates to these keywords. Take each keyword and think of a concrete example for each one.
Another point to consider if you are registered on a job board, is to use key words that are searchable by recruiters.
We could give you lots of other tips and I’m sure there are thousands of articles out there, but for now we wanted to concentrate on just one, but do look out for more posts! If you are looking for your perfect role, but are struggling when it comes to writing your CV, call one of our consultants on 0116 265 1531.
