Monday May 16

As the market starts to see an increase in HR vacancies and therefore becomes more competitive, Network HR have decided to put together some simple advice and guidance on preparing your CV and Covering letter to ensure you get the  best  response.

DO:

• Keep it short
  As a general guide try to keep your CV to 2 or 3 pages, unless you are a Senior HR professional or career interim. Your covering letter should be no more than 1 page. Generally most Recruiters/Hiring Managers are likely to make a decision about your application at a glance.  Remember – the more you write the more room you create in which to waffle or make mistakes.
• Stick to a simple layout
  We advise HR candidates to not use fancy graphics or fonts. Network HR recommend Tahoma, Times New Roman or Arial are generally more suitable. Start with a personal profile at the top of your CV followed by your career experience in chronological order. Include under the name of each employer you have worked for one line to explain the nature of the company. We recommend that you bullet point your CV to make it easier for the Hiring Manager to read.  Your contact details and address can go at the bottom of the page – recruiters scan CVs from top to bottom, left to right, so the most important info, e.g. your personal profile, should take the top slot, not your address details.
• Quantify your achievements and skills
  Prospective employers don’t just want to see what you did in a previous job, but what difference you made. For example, instead of writing ‘I improved absence management in my team’, tell them by how much – ‘I introduced a new shift system that reduced staff absence from nine to three days per year, the lowest in my division’. This kind of information tells the employer a) that you are a person who takes initiative, and b) what you could do for them.
• Tailor your covering letter
  The covering letter is your selling tool to show the Recruiter/Hiring Manager that your CV is relevant for their job. The best cover letters incorporate key words and skills mentioned in the job advert.
• Be selective about the information you include
  A CV is not an autobiography. Only include the information that is most relevant to the job you’re applying for. The relevant information may get buried, less really is more.

DON’T:

• Overdo the personal information
  Legally, in the UK, employers are not permitted to ask you about your marital status etc, so you don’t need to include this info in your CV. You don’t have to include your interests and hobbies – it’s up to you. If you do include them, make sure they are real as you may be asked to talk about them at interview.
• Leave unexplained gaps
  The more recent the gaps, the more attention they will attract. The best way to acknowledge any gaps on a CV is by adding in the dates and a brief explanation. You can just leave the CV with gaps, as long as you are prepared to be asked about them.
• Include negative info
  Watch out for quirky email addresses, e.g. ‘madasahatter@hotmail.com’. They don’t give quite the professional impression you want to convey.
• Forget to spell check
  More and more candidates are falling at the first hurdle in the job application process because of typos in their CV or covering letter. A lot of Hiring Managers will not consider applications that contain spelling or grammar mistakes.

We hope that the above advice will help in the writing/tweaking of your CV. If you would like further advice on your CV then please feel free to upload your details and register as a candidate via our website and request one of our consultants to contact you or please do not hesitate to contact a member of the Network HR team on 0121 450 5030.

Network HR has a reputation as a quality led recruitment specialist and we are also proud to be part of Network Group Plc, a diversified group of specialist recruitment companies.
 

Monday 16th May 2011