Does your CV do you justice?

Zoë Blake on the difficulties of being objective about your CV.

The process of writing your own CV is something very few people relish – judging from the testimonies of the many clients with whom I have worked at Executive Action.

This experience may be reflected in the less than startling revelation from research last year (Personnel Today, July 2008) that 71% of their 1000 correspondents took two hours or less to write their CV.

In fact, most of us have a CV that has grown organically with each new job, to which we have added and added again throughout our careers, fearing to leave anything out in case it gets forgotten. While this is a good place to start when we need to write a sharp new document, editing out the superfluous detail to focus on the relevant stuff is a tricky task when thinking about your own career.

It’s often too tempting, when you’re revisiting a lengthy stint or a really tough assignment early on in your working life, to give a comprehensive explanation of context, responsibilities and achievements. When a past role really stretched you, or gave you the chance to use certain skills for the first time, you see its significance in relation to your later direction and, understandably, want to give it due weight. So you keep in all the detail and end up with a CV that you know is too long, with achievements and job spec replicated in ever greater size the closer you get to the present.

Conversely, you look in horror at the length of your CV and accordingly slash it to ribbons, reducing a 30-year career to a few curt lines. While less can mean more in terms of impact, particularly at a senior level, you can’t expect to achieve the best possible impression unless you at least tell your reader about the significant things you’ve done, offering a brief outline of background and scale.

The same research tells us that three in four recruiters would reject an applicant who supplied a vague CV. This is unsurprising when you consider the number of responses generated by most advertised vacancies – jostling for attention alongside more assertive competitors, a vague or under-powered CV would be lucky not to be weeded out at first trawl.

Even if you surmount this obstacle, relying on the interview stage to give you the chance to talk up achievements undersold in your CV can be a risky strategy; sadly, you don’t always get the opportunity, or remain level-headed enough, to steer the conversation in advantageous directions (as those of us who have ever walked out of an interview kicking ourselves know, to our cost).

And it doesn’t end there: in the event of you getting the job, your place in the salary range is often fixed by the impression made by your CV and interview(s), perhaps backed up by your referees. According to the research (Personnel Management again), nearly a quarter of employers would be prepared to pay 15% more in basic salary to secure the right applicant. The feeling that you are worth up to 15% more than your place in the salary band would suggest is clearly a bad place to start a relationship with a new employer! So how can you make sure that you tread the fine line between relevant and irrelevant detail, and between underselling your achievements and uncomfortable self-aggrandisement?

Ideally, of course, every word of your CV would be promoting you in the best possible light. With this in mind, the most important thing to consider is the requirements of your audience; clearly the criteria of someone looking to recruit from within your own sector will be different to those of a recruiter in a new area, for whom the translation of your achievements into language they understand, and the portability of your skills, will matter most. Knowing your strategy, and thereby who you need to impress, is paramount.

After that, a fresh and objective pair of eyes is a huge help, preferably those of someone who understands your background and who knows about marketing, writing readable English and laying out a document well enough to ensure that it stands out. Whilst some people do manage to achieve this for themselves, the task for most is made much easier by a specialist, such as Executive Action’s Kitty Watton, Joy Wilkinson or me. We provide the independent perspective – plus hands-on editorial and creative assistance – that seeks to align CVs exactly to clients’ strategies, and to highlight the elements most relevant to the target role and sector.

The current economic climate would suggest that now, more than ever, is a good time to have a succinct, up-to-date CV ready to adapt for whatever may be around the corner. Even if you don’t need (or choose) to use it, the exercise of considering what you do, and what really matters, is a valuable and stimulating process.

Special rates apply for Executive Action alumni for:

- an update session (face-to-face, by phone or e-mail) with a business writer + CV.
- or a two hour strategic career review with a consultant plus update session with a business writer + CV.

Please contact us for details.

Posted: January 13th, 2010 | Author: Executive Team | Filed under: Communication | Tags: Career Transition, CV, interviews, job hunting, marketing, Outplacement | No Comments »