AA Career Solutions

Conflicting Ideas About How CV Should be Built

I hear my clients say various things that they would have historically heard from others about how CVs should be made. Without them realising, this often is exactly what is acting as a limiting factor to their potential. These are the things like:

I should minimise the amount of detail to make it short and easy to read: No, absolutely not. If you have a specialised skillset and specific industrial experience, your job is to convey all the relevant things that can help the employer assess your suitability. If you describe your abilities insufficiently, then you sell yourself short. It is the content that matters, and that is effective, and not how long it is. If it is not on the CV, it did not happen!
I should make it sound good by using impressive language like good communicator, team player, hard worker, reliable etc.... No. This is the biggest flaw I see every day. Your CV must be based on hard skills that demonstrate why you are a good communicator instead of just saying that you are a "good communicator". The best way is to describe that you are a good communicator without mentioning this word. Tell us what makes you the best at that so that we can then infer that you are a good communicator.
CV should be no longer than 2 pages: No, that is not true. If you need more space to explain your abilities, then that is absolutely fine. However, make sure to use effective content so that your extra length is justified.
I should explain everything word for word for my international CV: Not quite. You need to be mindful of cultural difference that are unique to one country and not another, which means that explaining it in exact same way may make it more difficult to understand in Ireland. Remember, it is all about making it easy for the reader to get the right information (and not just any information).

See how my clients described this service, from the reviews on the Review page.

The Silent Assessment!

Your CV application is the first step that is also the most important one! This silent assessment will determine (often without any interaction with you personally) whether or not you are selected for the next stage of the process. Having a CV that does not showcase your background in the right way is one of the most frequently encountered reasons for ignored and/or rejected applications.

Whether you are a junior or a senior level professional and require any of the below, we can help with any of the following:

Polish the presentation
Build your CV from scratch
Develop additional detail
Enhance the existing content

How It Works

We would first have a chat about your background and work experience. We would use this information to assess whether or not you are sending the right information to the employer. Using that assessment, we will establish how exactly you can correct the content to make it most effective. We will develop content and I will help you make it sound professional, and deliver in a right way for the job that you are interested in applying to. In doing that, we will also discuss the type of jobs you are looking to apply to/or have been applying and make sure that your CV reflects the right skills for those positions. Ultimately, we will tailor your CV and LinkedIn to the target skills you are looking to sell.

I will coach you on how the CV assessments are carried out so that you can see your shortfalls/inadequately explained experiences (within your profile), and how some elements may need to be more developed because of the specifics in the job you are applying to.
The whole process is very much customised to you!

What About Changing Industry?

Employers always asses your motivational fit to the job at hand. They try to understand where your career direction is going and compare that to the current application to see that there is an alignment. If you are trying to change the industry of work, it is very likely that this will be mismatched, and will raise questions for the employers.

Luckily, there are ways to develop your message to the employer to help them to understand why you made that specific application, therefore increasing your chance of progressing to interview stage of the recruitment process.

What About Gaps?

This is something I fix with every client. We proudly explain your career gaps and, by doing so, extinguish any concerns for the reader about why it was that you didn't work in your sector or didn't work at all during a specific period of time.