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8 Ways to Improve your CV

Having spent many years in the recruitment industry I have seen loads of CVs in my time. Some great, some ok and some so awful that, I’m slightly ashamed to say, they were pasted to the office kitchen notice board. The difference between getting a position and never hearing from the organisation again can be a CV.

Author: Louisa Anderson

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10 Ways to Improve your CV

Having spent many years in the recruitment industry I have seen loads of CVs in my time. Some great, some OK and some so awful that, I’m slightly ashamed to say, they were pasted to the office kitchen notice board. The difference between getting a position and never hearing from the organisation again can be a CV.

I am happy to share my ‘words of wisdom’ with you on this subject and list the 8 things which could improve at least 80% of every CV that has landed in front of me.

1. A Personal Statement. Too many candidates neglect to begin their CV with several lines about themselves. A good personal statement should grab the attention (in a good way) and give the reader a greater knowledge of you as a person. It’s very difficult but you should try to refrain from using the very frequently used phrases like ‘I am always hard working’ etc. Instead try using phrases such as ‘I am passionate about the challenges I take on will give total commitment where required’. Keep it to no more than 5 or 6 lines.

2. Get creative but draw the line. It seems to have invaded society that the more impressive a title sounds the more impressive the position must be. What position do you suppose the Head of Verbal Communications does? MD of a telecoms firm perhaps? No. This real job advert was for a receptionist cum secretary. If you get this creative with your job title but the position description doesn’t match then it will be spotted, and probably laughed at, a mile off. I would never advise you lie on a CV as these things always have a way of coming out. However, you could try thinking of the responsibilities you had in a slightly different light and try to word them to their best advantage.

3. Put your work history first. For the majority candidates I would advice putting your work history first, before education. My exception to this would be if you have a very impressive or relevant qualification. You do not want the potential employer to wade through your list of GSCEs and assorted Certificates before coming to the usually most important part, your experience. While I’m on this, work history and education should ALWAYS be listed in reverse order, i.e. the most recent first.

4. Check your spelling and punctuation. Checking your spelling, grammar and punctuation does not simply mean using a spell check. You must check your CV thoroughly. I cannot count the number of times I have seen ‘costumer’ rather than ‘customer’ and the like, which is of course, not picked up by spell check. Read and re-read it and then give it to someone else to read for you.

5. Remember the page rule. Simple, for most roles (excluding high powered jobs) your CV should be 2 or 3 pages. 1 page says you have no experience and 4 or more says you don’t know how to be succinct. 2 to 3 are the magic numbers and anything else will probably end up in the bin.

6. Let them see you. This is a slightly controversial one. Picture or no picture. Personally I don’t like pictures on CVs but if you feel the need to put one on make sure it’s professional looking and passport photo sized. I once had a CV which had a covering page with half of it taken up with a ‘glamorous’ photo of a woman clearly taken in the 80s, shoulder pads, perm and all. NO!

7. Be objective. Review your CV through the eyes of a potential employer. Does it look well presented? Does it give a good overview of you and your skills? If you don’t like it then neither is anyone else.

8. Avoid jokes. ‘Knock knock. Who’s there? Barry. Barry who? Barry Smith and he wants to work for you!’ I have actually seen this on a CV. CVs are a serious professional document. Need I say more?

Hope you found this even a little insightful!

About Author

Louisa Anderson is a recruitment expert having spent the last 12 years working as a Recruitment Consultant, she is Content Editor for

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8 Ways to Improve your CV