Whats Wrong With My Resume? by Glenn Hughes

Whats Wrong With My Resume? In todays busy yet pressured economy, there are many thousands more people going for every job. Little wonder then that more CVs get rejected now than ever. You need to know exactly why your CV is being rejected. Checking your CV against the list here may help you get some more interviews A CV is definitely not the place to express your particular brand of individuality. Avoid bright colours, cheap paper, crazy fonts and the like. If you are printing out your CV, print it out onto excellent quality paper, with matching envelope.

Black print on a white or beige background is the norm- deviate from it at your absolute peril Did you know that you have only 20-30 seconds in which to make an impression with your CV. You will make an impression, it is up to you to make sure that the impression is favourable. A personal profile or career statement can do that job for you. Make it easy for the reader to want to know more about you. Omit this information and the reader has to work harder for the information that they expect to see immediately If your CV is responsibility led rather than achievement led, you are almost bound to get your CV rejected. Employers expect you to have carried out your responsibilities- if you didn't, what use are you to them. Achievements separate the wheat from the chaff- show what you have done for your past employers through your personal and team achievements Your email address should be included but no stupid email addresses please. Showing just how colourful and exciting that you are by including words like bod, sexy, babe, hunk, etc. may all be very well for face book but in a job application- never! Get a sensible email address that you check regularly, you'll be glad that you did Your hobbies are there to show how engaging you are as an individual, to add a little spice to your CV.

Avoid inclusion of any hobbies or interests that could prejudice your application. Political party membership, membership of activist organisations and the like should be avoided. Enough spice to be interesting, sober enough to tell your grandmother perhaps brackets the accepted limits Not reading the job specification or the advertisement is a sure fire way of getting your CV rejected. Whilst we do not advocate wholesale changes to your CV for different roles, slightly tailoring your profile, changing the order of your achievements and the like will help your cause Spelling the recipients name incorrectly will never stand you in good stead.

Whilst this may be stating the obvious, you would be amazed at the number of times that I receive correspondence with my name spelled incorrectly. I never view this favourably, it never fails to annoy and I have rejected many CVs for this reason as it shows a lack of attention to detail About the writer: Mr. Hughes is a cv marketer specialising in cv marketing for job hunters. CV marketing is one of the specialisms of CV That Works This and other unique content 'career' articles are available with free reprint rights.