What do recruiters want to see in a CV?

Recruiters will invariably receive 50 – 100 applications for any one role, making it all the more harder for each applicant to make sure that his/her CV gets the attention it deserves. So what can you do to make sure that your CV gets seen and gets you nearer to that all important interview?

Make an impact with your CV

Research has shown that you have somewhere between 6-10 seconds to impress a recruiter – so prioritise the content of your CV, detailing the most relevant points of interest to your reader. This means you need to make sure that you tailor your CV to each particular job that you apply for, you can do this by ensuring that things like job titles and the responsibilities you include in your CV are related to the position you are applying for. An opening statement that manages to tick all the main hiring criteria is going to get noticed, so read the job specification and know what the recruiter is looking for.

Bring out your CV skills and experience

Skills sections can read like lifeless lists of stock phrases that are often meaningless, irrelevant and for a recruiter just plain annoying. Instead, we advise you to make sure that you bring out your skills and experience in a more dynamic way. Highlight how you have used specific skills in the workplace and how you have been able to use these to add value to an employer in a quantifiable way. This type of information is much more meaningful to an employer than knowing what your job description is.

5 CV keywords you should use

According to CareerBuilder, there are five keywords most recruiters look for on CVs: Problem solving, Leadership, Written communication, Team building and Performance & productivity improvement. If you are able to match your experience with these types of skills recruiters will be more likely to spend more time reading your CV. Read more here..

Results talk to recruiters

Anyone looking to hire an employee wants to feel confident that the person they hire is going to bring value to their organisation. Regardless of your occupation it is always possible to highlight your successes and how these will be of benefit to the employer. Where possible qualify or quantify your results – if feasible try and communicate your targets and achievements as amounts or percentages, and demonstrate how you’ve overachieved.

Get your CV Layout right

We see a myriad range of CV designs that people have stumbled onto by chance rather than through careful preparation. More often than not the layout is not right for the job being applied for. Layout can often be determined by the job/industry you are going for and at CK Futures we make sure your CV is presented professionally and to a very high standard in word and PDF formats for you. Knowing the right layout takes years of experience but can be the difference between a CV being seen or ending up in the recycle bin.

Present your CV clearly

Your CV should be no more than 1-2 pages in length. Be succinct and make information clearly accessible. Use a neutral professional typeface such as Times Roman at size 10 or 11 point. Bold headings where necessary but keep the formatting simple and clean. If a recruiter has to reread a section of your CV because of poor formatting then you have already lost his/her attention.

Want to find out how your CV is really performing?

It’s hard to know if your CV is really working for you. Get in touch with our team of expert CV writers who will work with you to ensure your unique skills, personal attributes, experiences and achievements are transformed into a compelling read for your prospective employer.

Email: cvs@ckfutures.co.uk