Your CV should tell a story, and attempt to anticipate and answer any questions the reader has in their mind. It’s the story of your career since it began, and like all good stories, leaving a chapter out is confusing and will probably mean the reader loses interest.So how would you make a CV count?Here are a few quick tips, that for us as recruiters, really help make your CV count: If your expertise or the role you are applying for requires a technical skill set, put in a technical summary. It’s helpful to include the technologies you have used, when you last used them, and what proficiency level you would give yourself, say on a scale of 1 – 5. Give us the month/year your role started and ended. Months are critical, without them, you’re getting the reader to guess – did he/she work 2 months or 2 years at that company? Include a brief cover letter. You don’t need to restate your skills but give us the ‘story’ that your CV can’t. Why are you leaving/looking / relocating? Do you have residency / work permit / citizenship? Think of your CV as a ‘legal’ document and don’t embellish or omit it. Even if some of your jobs were a long time ago, add a table with your career history by date and title only, and then go into detail on your most recent and relevant roles only. Do include an ‘objective’ at the top of your CV. Give us some context – so your current objective is to do what? Do tailor your objective to the role you are applying for (remember to change your CV when you apply for different roles!) At a crossroads and considering your options? If you’re applying for more than one type of role, we recommend you have more than one version of your CV. For example, if you have worked as an IT Manager, and also been a Project Manager, you may wish to now specialise in one, but would consider either. As these are quite different roles, it stands to reason that by having two versions of your CV, you can give more detail to the skills and experience that suit the job you’re applying for. This doesn’t mean omit things, it means, be brief on some aspects and detailed on others, to suit what you are applying for.Remember, your CV tells the story of your career, make that story good, engaging, run the spell check, and make your CV count!
