A curriculum vitae (or a resume) is a brief account of a person’s information.
Education, qualifications, and professional experience. Usually sent with a job application.
A curriculum vitae (CV) and a resume serve the same fundamental purpose – they are both used to apply for jobs.
The difference between both documents lies in how detailed they are and the type of jobs they are used to apply for – CVs are more detailed than resumes.
Organizations that request for CVs are more interested in an applicant’s overall credentials for the job, while organizations that request for standard resumes are more interested in the applicant’s competency.
When to use a CV? – In the United States, a CV is used primarily to apply for medical, research, scientific or academic job positions.
A resume is usually used to apply for all other types of job roles. Application for grants and fellowships may also require a CV.
If you are applying for any type of job outside America, like in Europe, Africa, or Asia, expect to submit a CV instead of a resume.
A CV contains your name, professional experience, contact information, skills, interests, hobbies, qualifications, education, research and teaching experience, publications, awards and honors, grants, fellowships, date of birth, etc.
While a resume does not require that much information. All your resume requires is your name, professional experience, contact information, and skills.
For this article, a Curriculum Vitae and a Resume will be used interchangeably.
Most of these tips highlighted below can be used to transform both your CV and your Resume into a job magnet.
When applying for a job, a good CV will significantly increase your chances of getting hired, and a bad CV would have an equal opposite effect on your chances of landing the job.
Before you are invited for an interview, right before you get a chance to speak to your potential employers, your CV has to impress them.
It is the first direct communication with a potential employer.
Such an important document should be written to properly demonstrate an applicant’s suitability for the advertised job position.
Below are some tips to make your CV or resume a job magnet.
Tailor your CV for each job: No two job applications are the same. Even if the job description and roles are similar, the company culture and philosophy are not the same.
This is why your CV should be tailored for the job role you are applying for.
Customizing your CV for each job makes you seem like the perfect fit for the job role and the company culture. It also makes the employer have a feeling that this is the only company you are applying for.
A one-size-fits-all CV sends the message that you are just trying your luck with every job opening you stumble on.
No one wants to be just another option, even employers want to feel like they are your top priority.
Put your best foot forward: When you apply for a job, keep in mind that hundreds or even thousands of other people have applied for the same role, this means whoever is reviewing your CV has a lot of other CVs to read.
This is why you should begin your CV by letting the employer, manager, or hiring agent know why they should hire you over the other prospective employees.
Begin with your most valuable and relevant qualifications, publications, awards and honors, achievements, and experience.
Lead with the main benefits of hiring you and do not wait until the next page to highlight that.
Make use of keywords: Take note of the most prominent keywords and phrases listed in the job listing and ensure your CV is filled with them.
Employers will attempt to sift out the noise from the sound, they make use of electronic scanners and HR to pick out predefined words.
Avoid getting eliminated in this stage by making sure your CV is filled with these phrases and keywords.
Become familiar with the company’s website, culture, and philosophy, present yourself as someone whose professional conduct embodies the company philosophy.
Do not force the keywords, they would easily find out and it would not achieve the purpose for which it is intended. Use them freely and naturally.
Avoid errors: Misspellings, grammatical and typographical errors are not allowed. Pay a proofreader if you need to, but ensure your CV is free from errors.
Errors in a CV only portrays the applicant as someone who isn’t interested or passionate enough about the job offer to take some time to just edit their CV.
Errors are a red flag, avoid them.
Let your attachment stand out: A generic name for your CV will only make you appear just like one of the other applicants, the goal is to be exceptional, this is why you need to stand out.
Your employer should already get a sense of who you are just by looking at your CV attachment. So instead of naming your attachment “CV.doc” try including a brand statement.
An example of a website developer would be “Hannah Collymore, 6+ years building professional and responsive websites.doc”.
Get creative: A regular CV is a cliché, and the main purpose of a CV is to impress your potential employers.
Impressing your employers goes beyond your qualifications and work experience, while that works, the thought put into crafting your CV will also go a long way.
Imagine a software developer for a role at Google, creates a CV that looks like a google search page, or a developer applying for a role at Netflix with a CV that looks like the mobile interface of the Netflix app.
You do not have to do anything similar to the examples listed above, but a creative twist to your CV may be all you need to stand out.
Be careful while executing this, because it could easily go wrong. You don’t want to ruin your chances.
Hire a CV writing service: Finally, CV writing services are trained to help you construct an attention-grabbing, polished, professional-looking CV.
They may be all you need to make your CV a job magnet.