Does Your CV Have Enough Oomph, Shout and Wallop?

Is Your CV Just Wasting Trees?

Imagine you’re the HR Manager and you’re hiring.  You’re sitting with an enormous pile of CV’s in front of you and it’s time to separate the pile into three bundles: ‘Yes, want to meet this person’, ‘No, definitely don’t want to meet this person’ and a ‘Maybe’ pile.

Actually, you decide that the ‘maybe’ is just too much work, you think to yourself that if the ‘people in words’ in front of you don’t ‘hit your buttons’ or talk directly to you, they have to become a no.

So you begin…

Very quickly you start selecting for your batches.  In pretty much the same way you view a web page: you scan read the CV’s.  Like a web page, your eyes quickly move over the page and you get a ‘feel’ of the person writing to you.  Which initially comes from the fonts used, the layouts, the formatting…you have an emotional response to each one.

Just like a web page, you scan what’s ‘above the fold’ or in the case of the CV the ‘opening’: you skip the name and address because that’s common and you instantly scan the ‘profile’ or ‘objective’.

Some people have made it easy for you and bolded a few of their key words: making it quicker for you to scan.  Some have written in short sentences. Making it easier to read and get the ‘gist’.  Some have left enough white space, given headings, bullets and numbers: which are very pleasing to your eyes.

You spend around 9 seconds on a CV before you decide if it’s worth reading anymore, or you may even decide in those same 9 seconds the pile that CV belongs in.

You start to get annoyed at the amount of ‘template’ talk, reading the same words over and over again. You begin to wonder if there is only ‘one free CV template’ in the world that everyone uses time and time again.

You read the same words over and over again such as: committed, reliable, honest, hardworking, team player, excellent communicator, self starter, highly motivated, and so on.  And think to yourself ‘these are just words, there is nothing to back up or provide evidence they are true’.  They don’t really tell you what you need to know.

You turn a few more over a few more in your hands, thinking that you must have the wrong pile for the job that you advertised!

On quick scanning of some of the CV’s you wonder if the person actually read the advert.  Not many have actually targeted their words at the position and explained in detail HOW they are a match to your needs.

You know what you are looking for: you have explained in the advert specifically the position available.  Yet more and more as you are scanning CV’s you are asking yourself ‘why you should hire this person they haven’t even explained to me that they know what I’m looking for’.

In desperation, you head for a coffee, taking one CV with you…

This one is different…

First there is a great cover letter attached not the usual one half empty sheet which says: ‘please find enclosed my application form’ or ‘I would like to apply for the job of’. Nope, this is one is quite personal, like reading a letter from someone who is at least breathing, who sounds passionate, who has taken the time to write to YOU directly, you’re impressed with all the research they have done, the ideas they have, the warmth in their writing voice.

You like what you read: they have created in your head a ‘picture’ of what they are like, they have answered all the questions in your head.  It was like they were there in the room with you.

And their CV was visually great: well laid out, easy to scan, specific, targeted, full of proof that you can check at reference stage, understanding to the needs of the post, they really have taken the time to detail what sets them miles apart, they haven’t just listed their skills, strengths and experiences they have shown how it made an impact in their previous roles.

You think to yourself this person has uniqueness, or has identified their unique selling points.

Ok, let’s stop the HR role play for minute…  

Not many people love writing their CV, in fact it’s one of those documents that most people avoid and put off (that and application forms which can lie in a drawer with the ‘easy bits’ filled in until the closing date passes.)  I’m sure in some cases, some people (if they could get away with it) would even hire someone to attend an interview for them.

Some people can spend weeks, months, years writing a CV! Should it be that hard?

Well, no, it really could be easy.

What many people forget is that a CV’s sole and only purpose, aim and objective is to get the interview (or meeting, connection, specific desired action.)

In my experience, when people even ‘think’ about their CV they ‘go’ a shade of grey…but like anything if you start with the end result you want it’s much simplier.

If you have a CV, take a look at it.  Ask youself and answer honestly ‘would you want to meet the person decribed in front of you’.  Would you ‘buy’ you?

It’s the employer that says ‘here’s what I need’ and it’s the jobseekers job to do one thing only: get the attention of the employer and declare ‘I have everything you need and more, I have what you are looking for PLUS all these extra benefits that you CANNOT get anywhere else, and what’s more I can prove it, here, read this’!

For example take the ‘excellent communicator’ statement above. It means nothing.  That’s just a feature of you.  You may need to ask yourself ‘what are BENEFITS of me being an excellent communicator’.  It’s the benefits the employer needs to hear.

Think about this for a moment: imagine you wanted a new pair of shoes…would you buy a pair of ‘heels’ from the first shop, when you actually wanted a pair of quality walking boots.  And if you went to the ‘boot’ shop you would (ultimately buy on emotion) look for the best pair of walking boots you could afford?

So there in front of you is three pairs of boots, all the same price: one just has a price, the other has  listed a few features such as ‘waterproof, comfy’ and the other has the price, the features and the benefits of the features…

For example: Benefit 1 (made up) Waterproof: sealed with a new fandangled spray that means the boots are resistant to rain for a period of 10 years, saving you X amount of pounds and Benefit 2: Extra Comfort: fully cushioned with the ‘mamamoso’ foam, no more blisters, breatheable and watertight.

Which would you choose if they were all the same price?

Would you ‘buy’ the pair that has specifically stated it’s benefits?

So CV’s: at the state of them being read by an employer ‘they are all the same price’, all equal, nothing decided.

The CV’s that stand out and set others apart from everyone else are not the ones that sell a few features, they are the ones that can guarantee (through references or similar) all the benefits they have.  All the extra’s.  All the specifics.  The detailed, details.

It doesn’t matter where you are in your career: starting out, returning to work, had a few gaps.  Selling yourself is not rocket science, and it’s certainly no time to bashful or depend on the ‘template’ standard.

If you can prove it (at interview, certificates, references), say it.  What’s the point of leaving gaps in an employers head? Think about it this way most products that are cheap enough, sell.  Great products become so because of all the benefits they provide.

An easy way to write your CV: think of yourself as the product, and your CV must tell a potential employer that without this product, they really are missing a huge opportunity to have all their headaches solved!

And remember the CV has one purpose, one call to action.  Before you waste trees (or broadband space) and sadly, your time, consider this question: does this document 100% set me apart from everyone else and is distinctive enough for the employer to accept my call to action?

If it’s not…then you know which pile it’s probably going to end up on.