4 CV mistakes to avoid

A great CV will get you a job or rather give you a higher chance of getting the job. There are several ways you can get there and you can start with avoiding some mistakes most people make while coming up with a CV.

1. Title and Irrelevant personal information

It is advisable that you use your name as the title of the resume. The employer is interested in you as a brand. The word “curriculum vitae” does not speak of you as a person. Besides you want them to remember your name in bold.

You should only list necessary information. By relevant I mean that which relates to the job or work you are seeking. Listing hobbies that do not quite relate to the job you’re seeking is absolutely unnecessary. Like skiing when you’re seeking an Investment banking job. Including your gender, age, marital status and religious beliefs is quite unnecessary unless the employer particularly asks for that information. Your name will speak for your gender and your age will likely expose you to age discrimination.

2. Skills

Now skills, these are important but only those that are significant to the particular job you are seeking. Why you would write swimming on a CV while you’re seeking an IT job is quite honestly beyond anyone’s understanding. A CV should only contain skills that are particularly beneficial to the field of work you’re seeking. For instance, if you’re seeking a programming job then IT skills would be important on your list of skills. If you’ve good organizational skills or time management skills then include these.

3. Grammatical and Spelling Errors

It is true that most of the time a book is judged by its cover. If your CV is full of grammatical and spelling errors then chances are the prospective employer will not be impressed. So, once you have your CV ready proof read it or even better, have someone else have a look over it. It would be quite embarrassing if you’re seeking a job at a law firm and your work is full of grammatical and spelling errors don’t you think? Therefore to avoid having your credibility undermined make sure your documents are is not full of mistakes.

4. Objectives and duties

Your resume should have a good objective. Including long general statements about your objective is not only boring but quite vague. Make it short and to the point. Saying you’re seeking a position that is challenging and that will allow you to showcase your acquired skills and experience is quite ordinarily general. So how about you summarize your objective since it’s quite already obvious you’re applying for the job.

Further, a resume is achievement driven and not responsibility driven. So do not focus on the duties of your previous jobs or possible duties of the potential job you’re applying for. Focus on your achievements but do not overemphasize, rather mention your expertise. Do not however mention positions you only held for a short period of time.