HOW TO BUILD A JOB-WINNING CV
You’ve found the right role and you’ve got the right experience; now how do you make sure your CV demonstrates you’re the right person for the job? Drapers speaks to Daniel Caro, managing director of HR executive search firm Strategic Dimensions, and Chloe Skipper, director at fashion and luxury agency Four Seasons Recruitment, to find out.
HOW SHOULD YOUR CV BE STRUCTURED AND DESIGNED?
DC: Provide clear contact details, including your Linkedin profile. This should be followed by a short personal statement of about four lines that sums up who you are and your ambitions. List employers with job title and dates, giving key responsibilities before your academic achievements and finally your personal interests. Design wise - using the logo of businesses worked for can be quite powerful.
CS: If you only have one or two jobs to include it’s important that you add any other additional activities that you might have done; internships, courses or other projects. This will not only make your CV look more ‘meaty’ but will portray you as ambitious and driven. A creative CV layout is always a plus and nowadays there are countless templates online to utilise. Just don’t go overboard with colours, fonts and images; less is more.
WHAT DETAILS SHOULD YOU INCLUDE?
DC: Give the viewer the best chance of understanding what you have done in a way that is relevant to their business by giving things they can compare against like; size and scale of business you have worked in, revenue, geographic presence and you who report to. Put this underneath each employer so it helps the viewer appreciate their relevance.
With each role give a short summary of the basic remit and then your achievements with 5 – 10 short bullet points. These should be business related such as how you have helped make the company more money, high profile products you had involvement in and high-profile industry leaders have you worked with.
CS: Mentioning the same skills and responsibilities multiple times doesn’t add any value. Try to list a variety of duties even if your previous positions have been similar. Order your responsibilities by relevance, not necessarily the task you did the most.
WHAT MAKES THE BIGGEST IMPACT AND WHAT ARE RECRUITERS LOOKING FOR?
CS: Bad grammar and spelling mistakes will make you look unprofessional and sloppy. If we receive a CV that indicates that your attention to detail is impeccable and your CV includes spelling mistakes, your CV is likely to end up in the shredder.
DC: Having worked for a business that people in your industry will admire is massive. Not all of us have, so that is impressive.
Recruiters are thinking, can we place this person, and will my client be excited by the CV without the need for me to verbally explain things or sell them? Make it easy for us and them by bringing out the relevant bits. We see a lot of CVs so make it clean, punchy and succinct.