Hiring managers are inundated with CVs for every job vacancy they have. You need only look at the applicants counter for any job on LinkedIn to see just how many potential CVs land in their inbox. Even those employers who use a London recruitment agency to do the shortlisting for them still face a pile of CVs that they need to look through. As such, it doesn’t take much for a hiring manager to switch off from a CV. The trick is to not just make your CV informative, but to do so in an engaging way.
Spur the weary hiring manager on with these engaging CV tips.
1. Pique their curiosity with phrases from the job description
The hiring manager knows what they are looking for and they offer you clues to this in the job description they provide. Very high in your CV make sure you use some key phrases from the job description so that your application stands out and they want to learn more.
2. Use evidence to prove yourself
Alongside these key phrases, provide the evidence that backs up what you’re saying. For example, you may have lifted the key phrase “social media management” from the job description. Go on to highlight how your work in this area improved website visitors, for example.
3. Use numbers wherever possible
There are a number of tricks to making information in your CV stand out, such as bullet points. However, a savvy technique is to demonstrate particular skills with numbers – financial ones where you have increased revenue or made savings are even more engaging and powerful.
4. Be specific
It’s tempting to make your CV quite generic so that you can send it out over and over without much extra thought. Unfortunately, this won’t get the hiring manager engaged. Instead, be very specific about the skillset and experience you have whilst also demonstrating flexibility and ability to learn.
5. Use action words to inspire
Action words are automatically engaging and allow the reader to imagine the value you’ve added in different ways. For example, use words like ‘improved’, ‘created’, ‘delivered’ and ‘achieved’. Take care to ditch the clichés though – remember just how many CVs the hiring manager is reading – clichés are a shortcut to the discard pile! Keep your CV in the active voice as this lures the reader in.
6. Mirror the business
Some businesses are formal and conservative, others are casual and playful. Whatever the business culture, try to mirror it in your CV style. This allows the hiring manager to envisage you in the workplace. Showcase a bit of your personality and let them really get an image of what you’re like as an employee. Take a look at content that the business pushes through its various channels and try to mirror their brand voice to some degree.
7. Keep it accurate
With tonnes of CVs, the ones with blatant errors don’t make the cut. An engaging CV is an accurate one.
Register with us and we’ll take a look at your CV. We can give you advice to make it more engaging so that you can snag that job you want.
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