Graduates: Top five CV mistakes
Graduate life can be an interesting one.
Not only are you struggling with the stress of finding somewhere to live, but you’re also focusing on finding a job – a process which can be a very draining experience at times.
If your job hunt has been going on for a few months now, with no success, it might be worth taking another look at your CV.
Here are some classic CV mistakes – and how to correct them
Poor CV formatting
With employers having many applications to sort through – they’ll probably be less than impressed by an incorrectly formatted CV.
Try to keep the whole CV to around two pages long. With the average employer spending 8.8 seconds to skim an application, you need to make sure that your CV can be read fast.
Use these quick tips to make it accessible and clear.
Firstly, consider relevance. Save your personal statement segment for your cover letter and get chopping.
Place your work experience into relevant fields and put your latest job at the top. Sort work experience to current, relevant and additional to make it easy to read.
Bullet point your skills and achievements so that the employer can read through them quickly and ensure that your education is laid out clearly.
You do not need to put information on references, if the employers want them – they’ll ask.
Grammar and spelling errors
According to the National Union of Students, there are no excuses for spelling errors.
If English is not your first language, or if you struggle with spelling and grammar, get a family member or friend to proofread your CV for grammatical errors.
Additionally, there are a variety of online resources that can proofread your CV for you. Making your CV free from grammatical errors can enhance your chance at getting that role.
Lying
Although it can be rather tempting to alter or to exaggerate key aspects of your CV, it’s important to make sure that all areas of your CV display the correct information.
Telling blatant lies can at times be picked up by the employers. If not, it might leave you sitting in an interview being bombarded with questions that you don’t know the answer to!
Lack of substantial evidence
It’s all well and good making claims of brilliant achievements, but if you do not take the time to support your claims, then your CV will probably fall through the gaps.
For example, whilst writing about your achievements in communications, social media and content writing, comment on what you have learnt from the experiences and how you will carry this on into the new job – your prospective future employer wants to know how you will ultimately benefit their company, as well as what you will bring to the role.
Remember, you need to stand out from the crowd and tell the person reading the applications exactly why they need you!
Not tailoring your application to your chosen job
When job hunting, it can be super easy to send off lots of applications all in one go, without really checking them first, leading to endless CV’s being sent out to employers without being truly tailored to the job criteria.
Not only is this pointless but bosses tend to recognise a generic CV quite quickly from one that is tailored specifically to the job, meaning that if you’re sending out an untailored CV, then it might be pushed aside by your potential future employer.
A great way to get around this issue is to remove the mass mentality from job applications.
Do not rush to get your applications in. Check under the job advert when the closing date is and take your time. Read through the job requirements, head to the company website, and work on finding out exactly what the job will require of you before tailoring on your CV.
Never send off an application without editing it, the National Union of Students advise to not be daunted by removing irrelevant experience for certain job applications, you can always add it back in for the next application
