CV Advice I Like To Dish Out

There's so many mixed messages out there about CV design - every Bob, Dick and Harry has advice they are always willing to give you (sometimes in an unsolicited fashion. Gross.) Most of the time, that advice just adds more confusion to the whole process, and before you know it you're sending out CV's that look like the head of a robber's dog ... or a smashed crab, if you will 😆 You KNOW it looks like shit, but you have NO idea how to fix it and so you send it off and hope for the best. Does this sound like you?

One of the most common reasons that people engage my services is to help them with their whole career search strategy, and the first thing I start with is "Show me your career collateral" aka - your CV, cover letter and LinkedIn page. The CV is the thing people are most confused about ... and the thing I take the most pride in helping with because it's SO SIMPLE and can be (dare I say) something to be proud of! My advice differs slightly depending on the person I'm speaking to, but ultimately it's mostly the same. Here's my main pointers:

Put The Important Stuff Front And Centre

I've written about this before, and I'll write about it until the cows come home because it's true - most recruiters/hiring managers hate reading CV's. It's boring, it takes lots of time, it requires concentration when they could be drinking wine and yelling at the TV instead (or is that just me?) Why not make it easy for us by putting your most relevant experience front and centre on page 1? If a recruiter has to go scrolling and searching for the relevant information they need to assess whether you're right for the role or not, chances are ... they won't. Glassdoor released an article last year that stated that recruiters spend 7 seconds reading a CV ... SEVEN! 7! SEVEN! So if it takes longer than 7 seconds for a recruiter to find the info they need on your CV, then you're fucked basically. Read the advert, and rearrange your CV to suit it. CV's should be in chronological order, but just expand on the important stuff and minimise the unimportant stuff to 1-2 quick sentences.

Always Tailor Your CV To The Role

As above - read the advert. If you're applying for a Marketing Manager role and the advert says you need team leadership experience, and you have that ... expand on that! If you apply for a Marketing Specialist role instead where you won't be leading a team - then don't expand on all your leadership experience ... it's not relevant and you the risk sending the wrong message (aka that you actually really want a leadership role and not a specialist role). Focus on your specialist marketing background, and all the cool shit you've done for a company instead! Include achievements, not "duties". What did you actually do while you were there? Recruiters/hiring managers want to know the cool stuff you've done that could be relevant to the cool shit you COULD do for THEM!

Also a pet peeve of mine is people that have a massive list of achievements on their CV that literally mean nothing to me. "Successfully reached 110% of ELSU budget and 250% of the Who the Fuck Cares budget" ... make sure the achievements are relevant and meaningful to THAT job you're applying for. No jargon, please.

Cut Down On The Content

1 page is ideal, 2 pages maximum. If you're wondering "But Jody, I've had 20 years of experience ... how the hell do I cut back on content?" then let me tell you that we recruiters only really care about what you've done over the past 5-8 years, and the rest you can summarise/minimise/remove. I'm assuming you're a completely different person now than you were 10 years ago, and you'd probably do things really differently now compared to then? Focus on your recent stuff, and just summarise the rest. I don't really care if you made a company $100k 10 years ago. Good for you, but that doesn't help me with the problem I have right now 10 years later where budgets are very different and $100k isn't impressive anymore ... (or is it? Depends on the context I guess 😉)

Make It Pretty

YES I'm a fickle bitch - I love to see a colourful, sparkly CV with clickable links and a photo. Obviously the content is the most important thing, but if you've got that down pat and you have also funked it up a bit using Canva or a similar program - OMG I LOVE TO SEE IT! I legit get so excited. Your CV is a reflection of you - so make sure it's something you personally like to look at, and something you're proud to send off.

Last But Not Least - Don't Be Lazy. Put Some Effort In, Ya Grub!