CV Improvements from a Recruiter

A well formatted CV is very important when it comes to job hunting. Many of you reading this article have questions about CV format, details that should be on your CV and other general CV queries.

Job Mail realized how frustrating this can be for job seekers and last week we asked those of you using the Job Mail Facebook page to send us your CV’s via e-mail. A recruiter (Kathy from Pro-Jobs Recruitment) agreed to review 10 of them.

Here are some changes that she recommended:

When setting up your CV:

• Rather leave out the Driver’s License field if you don’t have one. If you do have one, state the code of the driver’s license (Code 08, 10, 14).
• If your temporary contract at a company ended don’t be afraid to state that. State why the contract ended and if you were employed for a year, why they didn’t appoint you permanently.
• It’s important to put ALL work you’ve done in your life on your CV. Even if it was small, temporary or just labour work. If you don’t put it on there, experience isn’t indicated. Stating experience is extremely important.
• If you have a declaration in your CV, don’t be afraid to tell the recruiter about yourself.  Don’t write an essay about yourself, but try to write at least one paragraph describing yourself.

Here are some more CV change recommendations from Kathy

When setting up your CV, also note:

• If you have a criminal record be honest about it. Don’t leave it out of your CV if you have one. Most companies have policies against employing someone who has a criminal record, but there are some that are forthcoming and who will employ you if you were arrested for a minor offense. Honesty is important on a CV.
• If you passed matric, rather leave out the “Highest Grade Passed” field. If you did not pass matric, include the details of the highest grade you passed.
• Make sure that you complete the marital status field. Don’t leave it blank. State if you’re single, married, separated or divorced.
• If the company you worked for is part of a franchise / retail giant, state the branch or town where you worked. For example, if you worked for KFC state it as “KFC, Hatfield” instead of just putting the company’s name.
• Make sure that you include the name and surname of the person that is your reference on your CV.
• When listing a job that you had, make sure that you describe the position you held, don’t leave it blank. If you did more than one thing at the same time, make up a combined description for the position. Let’s say that you worked in a call center, but you also did data capturing the description could be something like “Call Center Agent / Data Capturer”.
• Try not to leave gaps in between the jobs that you did on your CV. Be as descriptive as possible and include the time periods when you were employed there.

More things to note about CV’s from Kathy:

• When filling in your Home address be specific. If you live in a suburb, state the city / metropolitan area that your suburb is part of. For example: Instead of just saying “Westernburg”, say “Westernburg, Polokwane” instead.
• If you use a Subjects field for your tertiary and high school qualifications list all the subjects that you’ve passed (and the grades if possible).
• When listing the duration that you work of a company include the actual year and month that you did it. State it as follows: “2 years “May 2010 to May 2012”.
• If you resigned from a position, try and include a reason why. Be honest about and try not to burn a bridge with a previous employer if you state the reason.

We trust that these CV changes that Kathy has recommended will help you as you press on to find the job that you need.

Feel free to spread the word about them with your friends on Twitter and Facebook.