Your CV is Your Business Passport

Written by Emma Hackforth, Director Of Coaching and one of the Founders of The CV Clinic.

When is a CV not a CV? When itís poorly written, is full of typos and isnít doing its job by getting you in front of the right recruiters.

If itís not getting you headhunted or getting you that all important promotion within your current company, then itís not what you need!

The tendency is to use an old version of Word to update an out of date version of your CV, or worse still, to find that the only copy of your CV is in the files of the HR department of our current employer. In my considered opinion this ìall important documentî isnít taken very seriously and yet, it is our Passport to Business success. We canít get hired without one. We canít secure funding without one. We certainly canít get in front of a head hunter without one and I have tried all three! Having been a head hunter for the last ten years I can testify that my clients (despite being happy to meet my recommendations for a ìget to know youî coffee) insist that as soon as a candidate needs to be passed across to the board, or even to their boss during the hiring process it is almost impossible without a CV. There are of course exceptions, but I think you will find that somewhere during the interview process you had to present a document that explained your career history, skills and deliverables to convince the company to hire you. Consider the hours putting together an all important business presentation to the board to ensure they make a great offer. Again, consider the hours spent preparing a presentation of your companyísí products and services when pitching for a big client that will eventually reward you with a commission cheque. Yet, we spend only moments on the out of date, tired looking, poorly written and unformatted CV which has to create our first impression to the potential hiring market!

Would you go for your first date wearing wellington boots, an oversized muddy gardening jumper, and paint ridden jeans? It is vital to create a good first impression and one that gets you remembered for the right reasons!

Market Analysis
A survey conducted in April 08 amongst the FTSE 250 companies identified that 60% of the CVs they received via recruiters or directly from applicants had spelling mistakes. They also added that the CVs received were poorly punctuated and were often over 4 pages. Unfortunately, I have to agree with them, hence the reason in 2005 we took the plunge and formed The CV Clinic.

Our main aim is to assist great candidates increase their strike rate in securing that next step on their chosen career ladder.

Size Matters
Your CV is your personal marketing document.

Size does matter! Most people conform to 2 pages however, if you have considerable experience then a 3 page CV is acceptable. The longest CV I have seen was 35 pages (it was like reading War and Peace!) An easy way to reduce the length of your CV is write detailed content covering the last 10 years of your career. For previous experience use a sub heading Early Career, in which you can put the position you held, the company you worked for and the dates that you were there. Use bullet points. Give just enough information so that itís interesting and has the reader wanting to know more detail, thus inviting you for an interview.

So letís cut to the chase! If your CV is not creating impact or the desired results in your search for career improvement, do something about it! Pick up the phone now and call The CV Clinic on 0845 226 0594 or email tom@thecvclinic.com for a free CV appraisal but remember to attach your existing CV. Go on, do it now, what have you got to lose apart from that dream job!

Emma Hackforth is the Director Of Coaching and one of the Founders of The CV Clinic and can be contacted on 0845 226 0594 or via her email emma@thecvclinic.com visit our website
www.thecvclinic.com or ask a question on our Blog?