What are the three most important things to consider when updating your CV?

So, you have to write or update your CV and maybe it’s been a few months or even a few years since the last time. You’ve thought about editing your job history, making bullets achievement-focused and including a profile among other things.

But before you do that, have you taken a step back to consider this?

What is your strategy for writing your CV?
What questions are you asking yourself when putting it together or updating it?

Here are three tips to help you:

Audience
Your CV is designed to ultimately get you a job interview. And so, you need to impress your reader, namely the recruiter/hiring manager. So, keep this in mind:

You are not the target audience. For want of a better word, you are the ‘product’. Write for your audience, namely, the recruiter/hiring manager.

Relevance
What does the recruiter need to see? Keep it relevant to maintain their interest. If the CV includes a temp job you had for three months fifteen years ago, then you are not only wasting your time and theirs by including it, but also wasting valuable CV real-estate.

Make it easy for the reader to focus on what’s important. Here are five outmoded things to take off:

Profile
Not the thing, you definitely need that, but the word. It’s obvious what it is so you don’t need to title it.

References are available on request
Yes, we know. No need to say so, thanks.

Interests
Now this one can be debatable. Personally, I don’t see my love of travel as relevant to doing my job, but an accountant client did try to persuade me otherwise recently with (in his words) “My interests show I’m human”. 

Full Driver’s Licence
Not relevant, unless driving is a required part of the job.

School exam results
No-one needs to know about your exam successes in domestic science. Just not relevant. 

You can also condense and summarise chunks of time in your CV, for example from post-school to 10 years ago. It is unlikely that detailed descriptions of your role then will be part of your showcase now.

Legality
This factor was less important in the past, however it is definitely something worth considering these days.

Your age, gender, marital or relationship status, photo, sexual orientation, religion, whether you have children… basically, anything that could potentially be used to discriminate against you has no place on your CV.

If there is something directly relevant to the role, then include that information, otherwise, it’s not required. Any information that is required, for example, your nationality status and right to work, especially post-Brexit if you work in the UK, will be gathered by the recruiter.

Finally, it’s worth noting that CVs and resume styles vary across industries and across countries so ALWAYS do your research on what’s expected locally.

Get in touch if you’d like some help with ensuring that you have the strongest CV possible.

Email jncvuk@gmail.com
LinkedIn Jason Newton
Photo by Luca Dimola on Unsplash