What is a great CV? Online Recruitment Magazine gets the hottest tips from the professionals

Janet Davies is a talent management consultant and founder and editor of the New Life Network. She says: ìWhen anyone is looking for a new job, having a great CV is vital. When a recruiter is trying to track down the perfect candidate, finding a great CV is essential. But what is a great CV? Is beauty merely in the eye of the beholder? Is there a magic formula that will transform a weak candidate into a real contender? The word 'Curriculum Vitae', literally translated, means the story of oneís life but how well do candidates tell it, and how many recruiters actually want to read it? Is it a page turner or a turn off?

She says her site offers impartial, practical, no-nonsense tips on how to write an impressive CV, as well as a convincing covering letter, free of charge. Should anyone then feel the need to have theirs written professionally, they feature the providers that they think offer solid expertise and credentials like The CV Clinic.



Janet Davies says that they want to make sure that candidates view their CV as a key piece of sales literature about themselves so that when complete strangers read it, such as busy and time pressured recruitment consultants, HR staff and recruiting managers, they will really want to select them for a short-list, an interview and then hopefully offer them the job that they actually want: ì The temptation to just stick just any old CV on a whole swathe of recruiter sites is great and itís so easy, no wonder there is so much room for improvement!

Part of the trick is to separate form and substance of course. Form is all about the hygiene factors ñ correct spelling and grammar, clear and consistent layout, a logical chronology of employment and educational history, the inclusion of basic information such as contact details, the right keywords for searches and so on. Unfortunately many, many candidates get this hopelessly wrong and then, not unsurprisingly, fall at the first fence.

These issues are easy enough to rectify, however, the real hurdle is getting the substance right. It is something that most normal people find quite difficult to do especially if theyíve never had to think about it before, they have little experience in putting themselves in the shoes of recruiters or they are modest or nave about their achievements in a way that is so quintessentially British.

In order to be found on the proliferation of online databases or when the recruiters are inundated with responses to print or online advertisements, candidates need to know what kind of job they are looking for and ensure that their skills and experience are succinctly and appropriately articulated - preferably in the preferred industry standard two page format, Employers look for unique attributes according to the particular role or sector but many desired traits such as leadership skills, the ability to work in a team, computer literacy, budgetary and project management skills are universal. Candidates must make it clear what they have to offer in both streams of ësubstanceí in order to stand out. Many of the better databases allow candidates to add these transferable skills as static search categories. Most are so crude it is almost a miracle that vacancies are matched with applicant searches at all. In addition, the knowledge of recruiters regarding an appropriate skill set is often shallow, so unless the candidate has spelled out a particular qualification or skill, they cannot simply leave it to interpretation. Niche job sites will clearly have an advantage in the future if they also employ higher calibre consultants. A badly written job brief can also lead a candidate to offer up a seemingly poor CV, so recruiters must accept more responsibility for accurately communicating what their clients want.

Recruitment is of course a two-way street, and the struggle for the best candidates will continue to spiral upwards in the foreseeable future. Candidates and recruiters alike have higher than ever expectations from the process and therefore need to try much harder to address the delicate issue of matching supply with demand.î

Stephanie Elliott, Managing Director of recruitment agency Volt Europe advises on how to avoid common pitfalls: ìBefore a CV is sent to a client, our consultants will sometimes recommend that the candidate makes changes when needed.

Some of the most common changes involve the following:
- Spelling mistakes - surprisingly, not uncommon
- Lay out of the CV - often too long, typically to be limited to two pages
- Chronological order - positions are to be listed from present to first
- Dates that don't match or don't follow each other - gaps are to be explained
- Details on responsibilities and achievements while in the position - especially when relevant skills or technical abilities were used

In addition, the CV must clearly demonstrate that the candidate is qualified for the role applied for. In other words that the candidate possesses:

- the technical, business and/or managerial skills that match the job specification
- the level of experience required for the role
- the industry knowledge (when required)
- the specified academic background

We have observed that the market is becoming more and more candidate driven as the right skills become more difficult to find. Employers now often have to compromise and offer training on the specific skills required, provided that the candidate has the right attitude and background. Career Advisors and CV services are usually marketed in conjunction with job board services and by some recruitment agencies. Volt Europe has selected NOT to associate itself with a company providing these services.î

Top Tips for writing CVs from Fuller CV:

Include Achievements
What have you accomplished for your employer?

Include Evidence
Donít just say you are commercially astute, prove it.

Include Keywords
CV reading software looks for keywords and scores CVs according to relevancy

Handle Objections
Picture yourself as the person reading your CV, think of the negatives the employer may see and counter them with solutions, like if you have a gap in employment history ñ say what you were doing during this period.

The Fuller CV offers this service for individuals: ìIndividuals are interrogated for one hour by telephone, before a CV is composed. The key is to look to the new role and work backwards in deciding what goes in the CV. Lastly, we ensure any negatives the employer may see are countered with solutions. We also offer a service for recruiters: many recruiters seek to outsource the burden of CV Writing for their clients, due to proven improvements in clients securing jobs through them. (Survey Results 2006 - 91% of clients had a job interview in less than 4 weeks.)î

Case Studies from Fuller CV:
Paula had done contracting and interim work and wished to return to the permanent market. However, she felt she was considered ëflightyí by recruiters, as she had so many contracts on her CV that she felt were being viewed as individual jobs. Our CV service dealt with and overcame this visual barrier.

David felt he had been passed over for a job promotion that he knew he could do. He applied for external jobs and had lots of interviews for Sales Manager but not the role he craved as Sales Director. We identified Director level skills and achievements and reduced the hands-on Sales Manager ones, which in turn led to a job offer at Director level, and an additional twenty thousand pounds on his salary!

Fuller CV say: ìEmployers need to know you are skilled for the job and importantly, how you have performed in the job ñ I can have 10 sales people but only 1 top seller! Try to begin each bullet point with an action verb and keep your CV to 2 full pages, no more! Remember self praise is no recommendation, back up any claims with evidence and never lie.î

In an increasingly competitive recruitment market it is important that candidates find new ways to make themselves stand out from the crowd. A video CV / resume can help to achieve this goal whilst providing the potential employer with a time saving service. A new product called TalkingCV allows the candidate to sit a first round interview via any Internet-enabled PC with Webcam and the resulting publication is made available for any potential employer to view. The resulting TalkingCV publication is accessed via a unique URL link allowing it to be emailed to potential employers. In addition if you have registered your CV with any of the job boards you can add this link to it allowing a potential employer to easily view your 3 dimensional CV. This allows a potential employer to meet you whilst giving you the unique opportunity of selling yourself. TalkingCV say that for just 11.99 it will be one of the best career investments you will make.

Thank you to all our experts. However you decide to create your perfect CV, make sure you take heed of their valuable advice!