Five Actionable Ways to get your CV Noticed

It’s one of the most frustrating things when you’ve put a lot of effort into your CV and you still don’t seem to be getting interviews.

In this blog I’m going to share five of my top tips to make sure that your CV works well for you. Unless the advert asks for anything specific to the contrary, check these things about your CV.

1) Is your CV targeted?

You need to tweak your CV for every job you go for. Make sure that your profile highlights the aspects that are of interest to your reader, and check that the order of your achievement statements emphasises the most important things first.

2) If your CV is too long, nobody’s going to read it

In almost all instances 2 pages is enough to give the reader the information they need to decide whether to invite you in for interview.

Occasionally it’s relevant to have a third page. For example, you’re in IT and you’ve got a lot of software and hardware to list, or in a profession where you’ve got a lot of publications or patents. You’d highlight the key relevant things on page one and put the full list in an appendix on page 3.

3) Looks are everything - is your CV looking smart?!

If your CV looks scruffy or if it’s hard to find the information they want, your reader is likely to move on to another CV.

• Use a non-serif font (e.g. Arial, Calibri, Tahoma) as these tend to look sharper and more professional.
• Make sure you’ve got a consistent style to your main headings and your sub-headings so that it’s easy see which is which and where everything is.
• Think about your reader’s journey. Have you designed your CV to lead them into the profile from your name? Does your profile give them give them enough reasons to want to carry on down and read the evidence in your achievement statements?

After all of that, your CV may still not be getting you interviews and there are a few things that might help: How you take it to market is crucial

4) Have you got the letter covered?

Make sure that you’re sending a good cover letter with it, giving your reader reasons to want to read your CV: it needs to say, briefly, how you match the job description, highlight anything additional that’s relevant, and get across why you’re enthusiastic about the organisation and/or role.

See if you can find out who to address the cover letter to, and close by giving the impression that you think you’re worth an interview: there’s a big difference between “hope to hear from you soon” and “I look forward to discussing this opportunity further”.

5) Did you make a call?

If you just send your CV out, you’ll have some success if you’re following the guidelines above. You’ll have more success if you’re proactive though. In particular, if you’re applying to recruiters it’s to your advantage to follow your application up with a phone call to the person dealing with the role.

Ask them if they’re going to put you forward for interview. If not, get feedback.

Ask what other roles they’ve got that match your criteria. If it seems like they might carry a number of positions that are of interest to you, make sure you keep in touch with the recruiter at least every couple of weeks.

My “How to write a CV that works” course will help you make sure your CV is fit for the target you’re aiming at, including bonus material on taking your CV to market.

Click here to see all that is included

Alternatively, if you wish to check out several CV templates, I have just the thing for you:

Click here to download your Free CV Templates  

If you want to consult a careers expert on this or any other aspect of your Career, find a properly qualified/accredited Career Coach on the Official UK Register of Career Development Professionals.