CVs from the reader’s viewpoint

It’s a common secret that when you are looking for a job you ought to have a well-written CV. On the internet there are various templates you can use to record your personal data, your studies and work experience in order to look for a job which suits you.  However, too much uniformity… is harmful! At least, that is what is suggested in the research carried out by Careerbuilder.co.uk on 45 personnel managers of major companies in Britain. They revealed that… they are bored to death by the thousands of uniform CVs they receive every day.

25% of personnel department managers admitted they spend less than a minute on every CV! Another 14% replied that they spend less than 30 seconds (!) on the cover letter! The person who is supposed to thoroughly check the CVs and choose the best candidate may not care at all about a candidate’s hopes of finding a job which have probably been based on a well-written CV…

What annoys them the most? 23% stressed that from experience they can “discover the lies” in CVs and they immediately throw the CV into the rubbish bin. Also, the CVs which have grammar or syntactical errors or those that are unreasonably long are also rejected.

Employers were also asked to answer which “strange” CVs or strange data on CVs had made an impression on them in all the years they had been selecting staff. Someone sent in a page which contained his telephone number and the phrase “I want this job!” and nothing else. Another attempted to create a… poem, which described his work experience and his talent. Someone used a page torn out of a notebook (obviously belonging to his child) instead of an A4 sheet of paper (which is the norm). Many also accompany their CVs with a photograph, which often depicts someone else (who is much more… presentable).

The three details however that one should pay attention to on one’s CV are:

A)  A “serious” e-mail. Everybody notices it. It is best for it to contain your full name only and not diminutives or nicknames. Create a “serious” mail account for your CV.

B) Strange hobbies. Someone mentioned among his hobbies that he was… a wild animal tamer. Employers are not impressed by strange hobbies, rather the opposite happens.

C) Previous employer. Some candidates give a general description of the company they worked for and don’t write its name. This makes employers suspicious about why they left. It’s best to write all the data.

Writer: Argyris Pagartanis

Translator: Panayiota Vlahopoulou

Source: flowmagazine.gr