Read the entire job advert
Most candidates will see a job title they like, skim thorough the requirements and excitedly send their CV over without even double-checking their CV to make sure they have highlighted all the relevant experience.

When a job advert catches your eye, don’t rush in and send your CV straight over in an attempt to beat the competition with speed – instead, focus on beating them with quality.

Take a few minutes to really understand the job requirements and compare them with your CV. Imagine you were the recruiter for this role and reading your CV for the first time… Does it match up with the job specification?

Before you apply, ask yourself;

Can I immediately see the key requirements for the job on my CV?

If not, then you will need to move some of the information around or add some skills or knowledge that you’ve left out.

What is my CV missing?

You won’t always tick every box for a vacancy and it’s important that you understand your shortfalls so you can combat them. If you’re missing certain experience or knowledge from the requirements, then you need to be creative and think about similar experiences or transferable skills that you can highlight in your CV to ensure you still look like a good fit on paper.

Tweak your CV profile
As your profile sits at the very top of your CV, it will be the first thing a recruiter sees and makes judgement on. If the most important skills required for the job cannot be seen in your profile, some recruiters will move straight on to the next CV without reading any further.

Your CV will obviously be targeted towards one type of role, but some employers will value certain qualities over others. You need to determine which skills are most important for the employer in question and include them prominently in your CV.

For example if a job advert states “2:1 degree or higher is essential!” and you have a 2:1 degree, then you need to ensure the recruiter knows about it.

Don’t leave your degree hiding at the bottom of your CV in the education section; mention it in your profile too, so that the recruiter can instantly see you have that essential requirement.

Be selective with your first role
The first role on your CV is very important because it’s the first example of your work that recruiters will see, so they place a great deal of value into it. In most cases you will list your roles in chronological order, starting with the most recent – but you don’t always have to stick to this rule completely.

In some cases your most recent role might not be particularly relevant to the role you’re applying to. For example, if you are a recent law graduate applying to legal firms and currently working as restaurant waiter; then your current role will not interest legal employers particularly. So in this case it would be better to be a bit creative and list some university work placements or projects at the top of the experience section to make the CV appear more relevant.

So if your current role isn’t quite relevant to the role you’re applying to, maybe you could add another role such as volunteer work, freelancing or work placements to tailor your CV accordingly.

Cut down on irrelevant information
The information you left out from you CV can be just as important as the information you include. If you have large sections of your CV being filled up with skills and knowledge that are not being mentioned in any of the job adverts you are responding to; then it would probably be a good idea to reduce the content on those sections. You don’t have to completely remove them, but reduce the level of detail to give yourself more space to write about the skills that are actually being mentioned in job adverts.

For instance, if your previous work history is completely different to the industry you are currently working and progressing in, then it’s OK to cut down your older roles to one line summaries as your current target employers will not want to read about them in great detail.

Adjusting your CV for every application does take a bit of extra time and effort, but it is worth doing as each application you make will be of the needed standards and greatly increase your chances of getting shortlisted for tests or interviews.

Thank you for this piece of information, I am a culprit but going through what you shared has reopened my eyes to those areas I have been making mistakes and thereby not getting called for interviews.

Thanks and God bless.

budymore18:
Thank you for this piece of information, I am a culprit but going through what you shared has reopened my eyes to those areas I have been making mistakes and thereby not getting called for interviews.

Thanks and God bless.

info is power make corrections

Thanks o.p....When a job advert catches your eye, don’t rush in and send your CV straight over in an attempt to beat the competition with speed – instead, focus on beating them with quality.