How To Make Your CV Impressive
[ 8 October 2007 ]
Putting together a decent curriculum vitae can be immensely frustrating. You don’t really know what people are interested in hearing, & it can be hard to strike a balance between being professional & still having a personality!
The normal formula for a CV goes something like this…
Name & contact details — address, phone number, email address.
Personal information — a little paragraph about yourself & your skills & possibly career goals (though this should be short, maybe four sentences at most).
Proficiencies — so, if you can program in C++ or speak German or you’re a whizz with spreadsheets, write them down. Be as specific as you can be (“Expert with Access databases”) & list them in bullet-point format.
Work experience — with your most recent roles listed first. There is some debate as to how far in your history you should go back, but I think listing any more than 10 positions will probably make you look a bit flakey.
Academic/professional qualifications — this is the place to say that you have a PhD in welding, for example, or that you took a course in tying your shoelaces, etc. You should include grades (don’t fake them, people sometimes ask for proof!) & the institution you studed at.
Additional skills — you can write anything you like here, say that you have management experience or make great coffee.
Interests — if you like playing darts or painting, write it down here. Keep it relatively sane-sounding, even if you’re not. I wouldn’t recommend writing about your rabid interest in taxidermy or getting multiple piercings in an evening. But do try to make it interesting, nobody wants to hire a dullard! (I’m sure you’re not, though!)
If you don’t have a lot of experience, the temptation is to pad out your CV like mad, & mention every crappy newspaper run or short stint cleaning your father’s shoes for pocket money. Don’t do it. Just keep it short & sweet. If it still looks really short, this is your opportunity to dazzle them with your drive & charm. In the ‘personal information’ part of your CV, write articulately about your goals & intentions. Mention something about how you bring enthusiasm to any team — people love that. If you’re not very articulate normally, have someone who is look over what you’ve written before you print it out or send it off.
Don’t underestimate the value of enthusiasm. This is my number one tip. I have seen hundreds of CVs & hired plenty of people personally, & after a while the CVs all start to blur together. You really have no idea how incredibly boring some of them are. Someone with a bit of spark, a bit of joie de vivre, is like a blessing sent directly from heaven. This, of course, applies in the interview as well. I once applied for a position as a book-buyer for a bookstore, a position for which I was wildly underqualified — my previous job was in a bank, selling people home loan & term deposit packages, ugh! Anyway, I was so hyped up & keen in the interview, that afterwards they called me & said, “We’ve offered the book buyer role to someone with more experience, but we would love you to work for us anyway”. I was thrilled & said yes, & then half an hour later they called me again, saying, “The woman we offered it to doesn’t want it anymore — would you like to take the position?” FABULOUS. So use your enthusiasm as a weapon, people will remember you!
Some people think you should put your date of birth, nationality & marital status on a CV. I say don’t. It’s nobody’s business, & it’s basically inviting discrimination. (No one is allowed to base a hiring decision on your age, race or marital status, among other things!)
A lot of dull, stiff-upper-lip type recruitment agencies advise against making your CV too “quirky”. I think that’s bollocks. Do you really want to work for a company that would persecute you for printing your CV on purple paper? No, I didn’t think so. It really depends where your priorities are — if you’re desperate for a job, any job, then sure, make it as dull as you like. But if you’re actually looking for work with some meaning, something you’re going to enjoy, then you should feel free to be yourself in your CV.
Don’t draw attention to your inadequacies, or otherwise undesirable traits. This rule applies to life in general, too. If you harp on about your huuuuuge nose, terrible typing skills or body odour “issue”, people will know — how couldn’t they? You are constantly blabbing about it! But if you don’t mention it, people will probably not even notice. Our flaws are always more obvious to ourselves than they are to anyone else. Other people are too busy thinking about their own huuuuuge nose, or whatever. Just don’t mention it. Don’t even be tempted to write, “Even though I don’t have a lot of experience…” or “While my track record is pretty stank, I hope to…”. Don’t. Okay? Good.
Write a really good cover letter. Most people don’t even send them & if they do, they’re tired & a waste of time. Put together a template. Say that you think you are an excellent candidate for the role & then list why. Take the job description & then relate it back to your own experience. Again, BE ENTHUSIASTIC! Get so excited about it on the page that they feel like they simply must meet you, even if it’s because you might be loon of the year. A lot of the time, you will be applying directly to the owner of the company — this company is their baby & they want people who love it as much as they do, so do your best to show that.
The length of your CV will really depend on your experience. I would say, even if you’ve been in the workforce for thirty years, write no more than 4 pages. Otherwise, it’s just too much. Businesses often receive hundreds of CVs & they just do not have time to read pages & pages of stuff.
Use a nice typeface. No Comic Sans, please! Eep! Make sure everything is spelled correctly, that there are no typos & all the tenses are correct (I am currently… I was… etc.). Don’t be afraid to print it on nice paper — a pink CV in a stack of white pages will definitely stand out. Don’t include a photo unless it’s relevant (& it won’t be very often). Keep a copy on your computer or even in Google Documents so you’ll always have it. Keep it up to date!
Getting a job can be hard work, & finding a job that you actually enjoy can be even harder. Be good to yourself & try to do something you like — work affects our lives so much, & if every day is hell, maybe it’s time to make a change. Good luck out there!
Extra For Experts:
Ignore the sales pitch, but this is a great example of a bad CV & a good CV.
Give your résumé a face lift, courtesy of LifeClever! (See also: The 7 deadly sins of résumé design, & be sure to read the comments!)
Common questions about CVs & good answers.
Make Your CV A Riveting Read!
Bad, just bad!
Super-love & cupcakes,
Gala
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That was a great read. Thank you. :-)
Oh, like if it came from heaven!!!! I can´t sleep, I have a job interview tomorrow, and I have to hand a CV, so I guess I’m going to type it now and then go to sleep!!! Now, I wonder, what should I wear!!! Thanks Gala, darling…
This was very helpful & not horribly boring to read like most resume tips. Thank you once again for your wisdom!
This is great, thanks so much Gala!
hahaha, I’m still way too young to make a large CV (mine just lists my high school education, my current college, english knowledge, advance computer skills, my picture…) cause the only place I’d work was a supermarket xD! I can currently apply only for jobs like…surveys, publicity model, call centers, part-time sellswoman..boring stuff :P But I don’t have time either (damn college)! I’m waiting for vacations so I can make some money, and maybe travel during the summer :D
Anyways, I’ll probably need to make a good CV someday, so thanks Gala!
xoxo
Gala thank you so much! your timing is awesome, I have been putting off updating my CV for ages and now I am finishing uni and have to find a job ASAP. Not knowing where to start I have just kept procrastinating! You have wonderful advice and this article is very helpful :)
This is so very helpful. I’ve never had to make a résumé before, and I was scared that I’d be utterly lost when the time came around for me to do so. Now I have somewhere to start.
You totally read my mind. There are a couple of internships I’m going to apply to, and I’ve been dreading writing the cover letter and CV for days! This is a good kick in the butt for me! :)
he he we have the same corporate zombie figurines that the pic shows (cool photo of them) above our vanity mirror to remind us that the corporate life is not the one we chose
This is a very helpful post! I used to hate writing resumes, when I left uni, I always wanted someone to tell me exactly what to write!!
OMG!! Thank you, I’m starting my first ever CV and I just clicked in iCiNG to get my daily fix and voilá!!!!
Thank you Gala!!!
Gala you’re pretty wonderful!
I am tearing my hair out at work today stressed out of my mind and your blogs seem to really be telling me to get my shit together because I can do better!
ditto all of the above, am about to send my cv to various people and companies for career advice, support etc. was literally talking to my mentor about updating my cv and giving it that zsa zsa zsu this afternoon! as always, right on button! thanks lovey!
I recently emailed a CV that I had converted from a Wordperfect (.wpd) file to a Word (.doc) file, which is more commonly used.
Unfortunately, I forgot that the conversion turns all bullit points into dollar signs!! ::died:: My resume was all “blinged-out”!!
I didn’t get the job. :/
But I’ve had a few laughs about it. :]
The most common question I get asked is by fellow designers and graphic artists – ‘how do I sell myself and my skills/work without being present to explain things to the employer?’.
The biggest tip I give (and it’s worked for me every time and I’m ALWAYS employed in the industry) is let the prospective employer know how great you’d be at their company, the skills you can bring to the table and most of all (when you’re in a creative field such as design) make the layout, colour scheme and presentation of your portfolio/CV speak for you – you should be able to rock up for an interview and have the interviewer gush about how much they loved receiving your submission!
If you can – always send your CV in PDF format. It’s universal, easy to send, easy to open and can be exported as a very low file size whilst retaining your fonts and overall feel without compromising anything. If in doubt, use Helvetica, Arial or Verdana and never use a font larger than 12pt for body text.
P
x
Often, I will research the company I am applying for and tailor my resume to mirror the font on their webpage. For example, if they use san serif fonts, I’ll use a sans serif font (but never Comic MS!! it looks like turtle poop!).
I also write very personal cover letters, and I seem to get more responses from those than from my ‘stock’ cover letters. For example, in my cover letter to LUSH, I mentioned that I was a convert the moment I walked into their store and tried on their Wiccy Magic bar. I also mentioned that I was vegan and that the ethics and politics of their business was attractive to me.
Another great post, Gala. I’ve been experimenting recently with using my blog as a kind of cv (not the one I usually link to from here, but my professional blog, Textual Tangents). I put the address on my business cards, and I also put it on any handouts or powerpoint presentation that I give at conferences. I am currently swithering over whether to make my actual CV available as a pdf for download via the blog. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! Oh, and I checked out the worst job application ever that you linked to. Oh dear! I mark a lot of essays written by undergrads, and I have yet to come across one with that particular writing style, but if I do, I think I’ll need to tell them to throw their thesaurus in the bin!
You posting from Melbourne about job related stuff seems like a sign that my decision to move to Melbourne and find a job next year is the right one.
Great post, Gala! I especially agree with the cover letter comment. A cover letter is your opportunity to make obvious the connection between your skills/experience and the job criteria. It’s also a place for you to flaunt your enthusiasm for the role and the organisation!
Thanks again for another good post. I’m currently writing my CV and it’s so difficult writing it without making me sound like a dropout lol
Fabulous! My sister and I are both trying to find Xmas temp jobs (her, more enthusiastically than me – I could survive on my student loan but it doesn’t look good on my CV!) so this is great timing.
Yay! I’m so happy to help! Hee!
Annie — Oh my GOD! That is hilarious & awful, all at the same time! “Yo! I’m MC Annie! Innit?! Gimme a job, right?!!”
Pants — Great tips. Yes, it’s always a case of “ask not what your country/business can do for you, but what you can do for your country/business”! Also, sending CVs is a strange thing, I once worked in a recruitment agency & we had to retype all of them into a standard format! Painful! But then, we weren’t in the creative job placement industry ;D
Amelia — Good call. Yeah, relating as much of it as you can back to your personal experience always wins you major points, because it means you’ve made an effort & that you care! So many CVs are just totally unspectacular for the very reason that they leave all that stuff out.
amypalko — I would definitely make your CV downloadable from the blog. & make it obvious: a big link on the top, or something. Just make it as easy as is humanly possible for future employers to contact you.
Lady Julianne Eternity — Lush has great Christmas roles & if you want one you should apply NOW! (So much fun — hard work, but fun.)
This post couldn’t have come at a better time for me! I have been looking for a job for about 2 months now and although my resume was looking pretty good, the face lift made it look even better! Thanks :)
I’ve been following your blog for a while now, and this definitely has been the most helpful post yet. Thanks for all your advice!
Oooh… I’m so making my brother read this! He’s in the process of writing his CV and he sure could use some help with it :)
I hope he’ll listen to your advice more than he did to mine: when I told him he has no reason to include his photo, he said “of course I want to be judged by the way I look – I’m handsome!” Aargh, brothers…
I’m a writer who used to work in recruitment so feel like a know a thing or two about writing a good job application/cover letter.
If possible, always try to find out the name of the person you’re writing to. It shows you mean business and that you’re willing to go the extra mile. Nothing says I don’t care like To Whom It May Concern.
I often embolden important parts of my covering letter, just so the reader knows the important parts to read. After working in the industry, I know that while employers expect covering letters, they won’t always read them thoroughly. So keep it short, sweet and to the point.
I never include my age either and sometimes don’t think your interests are that valid either. So many people just put travel or reading, or something generic because they think they should include something. Don’t be afraid to list what you’re really into, let them know how interesting you are!
Awesome – this was really helpful, especially that link to Lifeclever – my resume never looked so rad.
I HATE doing resumes, and after looking at that “resume facelift” link I have spent like…2 hours on my resume. Pretty awesome for someone who has put off redoing her resume for..oh…months.
Thanks again, gala love.
Wow Gala!
These are great tips, i’m actually working on one as we speak! Personally, I would enjoy a Gala Sample! I’m stuck on my proficiencies and I can’t seem to come up with anything ENTHUSIASTIC enough. help?
what is the difference between a CV and personal statement.
i’m making up my cv right now… actually i just wanted to let you know i was so pleased to see this come up #1 my google search ‘how to make your cv’
good work gala!
:)
it’s friday and i love that my girlfriend is bringing me a sweet, huge, tasty cupcake.
and i love her!
and i also love rainy days.