5 Incredibly Simple Ways to Improve Your CV
Having a good CV is so important when it comes to applying for jobs, and sometimes it can be overwhelming not knowing where to start. This article will give you five quick tips to help get you started, and will hopefully boost your chances of getting into work or finding a new job that suits you.
1. Change your CV to fit the job you’re applying for.
These days employers may receive stacks and stacks of CVs for a single position, and you want your CV to stand out from the rest and demonstrate that you are the best candidate for the role! The best way to do this is to fit your CV to what the job advert is asking for.
Think about your specific skills and experience, and write down the ones that are best suited for the role. If you already have a basic CV, then you can go through and edit it slightly for each job you apply for. The extra work will be worth it.
2. Put your strongest area first.
Following on from the last tip: make sure you advertise your strongest achievements first and foremost on your CV. If you haven’t had much relevant work experience, then maybe think about putting your education or skills first. If you have a degree, consider what specific experience and skills you have from this that would be relevant to the job you are applying for and write these out! If you have volunteered before for a charity or have a hobby that you are passionate about, again consider the same things. Maybe you have very good people skills? Are you good with computers? Don’t feel resigned to following the traditional format if that’s not what suits you!
3. Make use of templates.
If you have never written a CV before or haven’t for a long time, it can be very difficult to know where to start, especially regarding the layout. It’s super important to make sure your CV looks professional and eye-catching, and luckily you don’t need to be a skilled graphic designer to do this. Microsoft Office and Google Docs both have free templates available that you can use to begin creating your CV. Google Docs has the Template Gallery; just search for ‘resume’ and you should find a selection of free templates. Office 365 also has plenty of templates available under ‘Resume and Cover Letters’, which are appropriate for a range of job sectors.
4. Try to stick to one page.
Again, employers often receive a huge number of CVs for any one role, and if a CV is too long they are very unlikely to read it. You want to keep your CV concise, and most importantly, relevant! Don’t feel as though you need to give your employers your whole life story, they just want to know what skills and experience you have that would benefit them. If you have had quite a long career history of relevant experience, then your CV can probably be extended to 2 pages (but no more than that!).
5. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Once you have written your CV, you may be a little nervous about sending it off, and may not be completely confident in what you have created. The best thing to do is to ask someone else to read it for you first! You can get a friend, family member or maybe a teacher to read through it and tell you what they think, they may not be an expert but they may at least be able to pick up on spelling or grammar mistakes. There are even professional CV coaches available, who will analyze your CV for you and suggest improvements. And of course, there are always our friendly tutors at Skills 365 who are more than happy to go over your CV with you when you apply to one of our free courses.
Skills 365 is a provider of FREE online courses for any adult in Lincolnshire over the age of 19. We offer a variety of courses ranging from soft skills, to CV writing, to IT training and job specific courses.
For more information, why not enrol onto our ‘CV Creation and Updating’ course?