CV tips for your job application

Although your CV typically comes after your cover letter in your job application portfolio, it’s often the first document a recruiter will read. Therefore, they should be able to quickly get all the important information about you from your CV. Whether recruiters bother reading your cover letter often relies entirely on the information they’ve already gathered from your CV.

Recruiters usually read numerous applications for any given job opening. This means they don’t have a lot of time to read everything carefully, at least not in the initial stage of sifting through all these applications. Your CV allows recruiters to quickly assess whether they should have a closer look at your application during the subsequent stages. Here are some tips to enhance your CV and increase your chances.

Why does your CV matter?

Together with your cover letter, your CV is a key part of your job application portfolio. It provides recruiters with a good idea of your professional career, educational history and the skills you’ve acquired. Your CV should be structured in such a way as to make the most important pieces of information about yourself stand out. This helps recruiters understand quickly whether you fit the advertised job profile and identify your relevant strengths and weaknesses.

Your CV should give prospective employers a positive first impression of you. The goal is to be invited to a job interview, which is why you need a CV that’s informative and concise. In a way, your CV is both an advertising tool and an initial sample of your abilities.

Your CV: Tips for content and structure

A good CV structure is crucial for the success of your job application, as recruiters like to grasp your abilities quickly and without unnecessary difficulty. That’s why CVs don’t consist of continuous text.

The following information needs to be in your CV:

• Personal information (your name, address, phone number, e-mail)
• Professional experience (internships, jobs, part-time jobs etc.)
• Educational background (school, university, final grades, vocational training, further training)
• Skills and abilities (languages, IT skills, driving licenses etc.)

Pay attention to details

Aside from the general content of your CV, some small details can significantly impact how your job application is perceived. For instance, many recruiters insist that you should sign your cover letter by hand, even if you apply by e-mail.

Coordinate your cover letter and CV

While your CV and cover letter are two distinct documents, they’re always submitted together as part of the job application. That’s why it’s important they follow the same design, showing that you’re an employee who pays attention to details.

The first aspects to coordinate between your cover letter and CV are the font, font size, spacing and colour choices. However, you should also coordinate the content of your CV and your cover letter. You could name specific skills in your CV, for example, while your cover letter provides context by explaining how you gained these skills.

Adapt your CV to the job for which you’re applying

Your cover letter should always be tailored to the job for which you’re applying. But the same applies to your CV. Take note of the specific requirements of the job mentioned in the job advert and tailor your CV to fit those requirements as closely as possible. Emphasise the skills and abilities that make you the perfect candidate for the position. Consider carefully which of the many stages of your life you should go into detail about, and which ones aren’t relevant to the job.

You have limited space in your CV, so concentrate on the following:

• Highlighting career stages that have a clear connection to your future employer
• Proof of skills and abilities that are valuable for the job for which you’re applying
• Your motivation for working for the company, which can compensate for gaps or weaknesses in your CV

16 tips for a good CV

Recruiters expect to be able to quickly scan your CV and still get the most important bits of information about you. They usually don’t have a lot of time to decide whether an applicant is worth taking a closer look. Unintentional errors in your CV or a lacklustre presentation of what you can bring to the table can close those opportunities forever.

Therefore, ensure that your CV is perfect in every way. The following CV tips can help you when compiling your CV:

1. Ensure good readability: A well-structured CV allows recruiters to find important information easily and quickly.
2. Follow the correct order: CVs are usually structured anti-chronologically. This means you start with your most recent job and work backwards in time. This allows the reader to find your most recent job or your highest educational qualification immediately, which is important to recruiters.
3. Keep it relevant: Focus on career stages that are relevant to the position for which you’re applying. Anything else can be mentioned very briefly. Irrelevant career stages that are decades old can be omitted altogether. The same applies for hobbies, skills and personal interests – only mention them if they’re relevant to this specific job application.
4. Avoid mistakes in your CV: Avoid grammatical and spelling errors. Your CV should always be formally correct.
5. Provide examples as bullet points: Don’t just mention your previous jobs and positions, but also include any relevant projects and achievements connected to these jobs. Like this: “Increased annual online sales by 55 %.” Use numbers, as they catch the eye and make your claims feel more credible.
6. No false modesty: You can always mention skills and achievements that can give you an edge over other applicants.
7. Follow a common thread: Ideally, your CV should show that your entire professional career has led up to this next job. Naturally, this is usually not the case, but if you can make the recruiter believe that your career has followed a common thread throughout all your jobs so far, that can be a significant advantage.
8. Adapt your CV to the job: The content of your CV should fit the job advertisement. If you have a lot of professional experience, your CV should focus on that, while it can also highlight your education and personal interests if this is your first full-time job.
9. Explain gaps in your CV: Gaps of more than two months should be explained. Perhaps you have a valid reason for not being employed over a long stretch of time, such as maternity leave or a stay abroad. If you’ve been unemployed for a while, you can refer to this period as “active job search” or “professional re-orientation”.
10. Focus on your professional experience, followed by your educational history: Your professional history is usually more interesting to recruiters than your education (except for the prestigious schools you may have attended). Your CV should only focus on your education if you don’t have any relevant work experience to show for yet.
11. Keep your CV to two pages at maximum: A well-structured CV should never exceed two pages. Omit irrelevant information or mention these stages of your life only briefly so you have enough space to go into detail with those career stages which are actually relevant to your application.
12. Use an appealing layout: In most cases, it’s best to keep the graphical design and layout of your job application portfolio simple, professional and well-structured. If you’re applying for a job as a designer or similar, you may opt for a more unique design; however, ensure your documents are still easy to read.
13. Only mention personal data where useful: Due to the Equality Act of 2010 and similar legislation, you don’t need to provide personal information on so-called “protected characteristics”, such as your ethnicity, sex or marital status. Only include this information if you believe it’s relevant, such as when applying for a job with a religious organisation. Keep in mind that recruiters in the UK are careful not to create the appearance of discrimination, so providing too much personal information may work to your detriment.
14. When applying abroad, be aware of cultural expectations: Job applications in other countries don’t follow the same norms as they do in the UK. For example, recruiters in many other countries may expect you to add a photograph of yourself to your CV, which is generally not advisable when applying for a job in the UK.
15. Sign your cover letter: Recruiters expect you to sign your cover letter, as a way of saying “I am confident in my application.” Use a fountain pen or a high-quality ballpoint pen with blue ink. If you’re applying online, you can scan your signature. If you can’t scan it, you can use our online editor to generate your signature.
16. Provide current information: Make sure all the information in your job application portfolio is up-to-date. Otherwise, recruiters may wonder if you have something to hide.