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  Common CV error - number six.   Unusual CV layouts  are not usually welcome by recruiters and it's  a  common CV error  to try to make your  CV stand-out  by including unusual formatting, colours, fonts and layouts. Keeping the “ 20 second window of opportunity ” that your CV has to considered further, any move away from a clear, concise and well written format could well consign your CV to the bin. Recruiters  want to be able to  extract the maximum amount of worthwhile information about you in the shortest possible time  and anything that prevents this is destined to fail.   Unless you are applying for a position that is design based, there is no advantage to move away from accepted formats. Even if you are a graphic designer, your CV may well be read by someone from HR who will typically deal with a host of applications for all sectors of the business and may well have little or no specialist knowledge about graphic design...

  Writing a CV Common CV error - number one.   Spelling and grammar errors on your CV will ensure that it hits the bin immediately.   Recruiters are routinely receiving over  200 CVs for each position advertised  and spend less than  20 seconds  before rejecting unsuitable CV's. There is a strong negative message to the recruiter sent by any error and in the highly competitive employment market;  a single error will almost certainly outweigh any positive content .   An  error on any CV  that you send means: “I didn’t notice it” - (I pay no attention to important detail), “I didn’t spell-check it” – (I’m lazy) – “I thought that was correct” – (I’m semi-literate).   Even spellcheckers can unwittingly assist you to make  errors on your CV  in several ways: Autocorrect : except it corrects to a word that you did not intend to use on your CV and you don't notice this! No incorrect spelling noted : (unfortunately, your spel...

 So what’s the difference? Think from the recruiter’s point of view. Does he want to read a job description and end up with no idea whether you were good, bad or indifferent in the role OR does he want to understand just what a dynamic individual you are and  how you have delivered  a quantifiable performance for the organisations for whom you’ve worked in the recent past? The first approach blights around 95% of CVs and this is irrespective of the candidate’s education, seniority or pay scale. The second approach well set less able candidates above the more able ones who have submitted a “95%” CV. Why should this be? The simple answer is that “approach one” invites the recruiter to speculate about what the candidate can do from their CV. “Approach two” spells out and provides supporting evidence of their achievements and if done really well, plants the idea in the recruiter’s head that the candidate will perform to similarly high standards in the advertised positions.

  Writing a CV Common CV error - number fifteen .   Ambition is a great personal trait but it can easily stretch into  chasing unrealistic positions .   Think carefully about the position that you are targeting and what the qualifications, experience and demonstrable success rates will be  expected by the recruiter .   Assuming that the position will have a reasonable rate of pay and benefits, it is fair to assume that it will attract a large response of suitable candidates.    It is worth considering the psychological effect of a string of rejections from unrealistic applications when compared to a  well written, targeted CV  that was sent in response to a job for which the  applicant could broadly meet the requirement .   Professionally written targeted CV's  matched to a demonstrable ability by the applicant to exceed the requirement will result in success.

  Writing a CV Common CV error - number thirteen.   There really is  no need to include your age, marital status, number of children, personal interests or hobbies  (unless these have a relevance to the position that you are applying for) or a raft of other irrelevant detail that will both waste the time of the reader and help them to reject your CV. There is a finite amount of space to utilize and a finite time to grab the reader’s attention.   Only add information that will set you apart from others and offers proof of your achievement and abilities .

  Writing a CV Common CV error - number ten .   This is a fairly  common CV error  as most roles now require the applicant to have some familiarity with I.T. skills.   Clearly, some positions have an expectation of very high levels of I.T. skills (accountancy, finance industry, most management positions etc) but the expectation continues to extend to all levels of employment.   Even if you would not reasonably be expected to be able to format an Excel spreadsheet and produce complex reports, there is every reason to believe that you  should be at least familiar with receiving information in this format . Take the time to list what skills you may have:  Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Database, Email  etc and your level of competency with each.   A s kill needs to be offered with some proof to be meaningful :  “managed a database of 2000 customers and achieved 99% level of contact detail accuracy”, “produce quarterly financial statements in...

  Common CV error - number twelve.   Always  avoid using jargon and abbreviations in a CV . The military and I.T. are two areas where jargon acronyms and  abbreviations abound and whilst these will no doubt be understood within these specific disciplines, there is a clear danger that it may prove  confusing and frustrating  for anyone else reading your CV.   Never assume that it is safe to include jargon, acronyms and abbreviations in your CV because you are applying for a role within the same sector.   The first vetting process within larger organisations is often from the HR department and it is unreasonable to expect HR to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of all of the many different positions that they become involved in recruiting for.