5 Mistakes to Avoid in CV Writing

Although it’s deceptively easy to make mistakes on your resume, exceptionally difficult to repair the damage once an employer gets it. And if you’ve never written one before then prevention is critical as well. But, these mistakes to avoid while making a CV are easy. Before we learn about the common mistakes, it’s important to know what your CV is. A CV is your career history that comes as a snapshot.

It’s also the summary of your lifeline that indicates what you’ve achieved. A prospective employer will see that’s ‘your work’, which is likely to be the first thing. That’s why you must do it right. You may give recruiters an excuse not to shortlist you for an interview if the CV doesn’t shine. Moreover, as your CV is your ticket to interviews, it’s important to be immaculate from start to finish.

What are the 5 Mistakes to Avoid in CV Writing?

Not much, it’s only one mistake is enough for a recruiter to start doubting your credibility. So, it’s much essential to look for mistakes to avoid when you’re writing your CV. Although finding a new job is a process that involves a number of steps and a good chunk of effort on your part, the payoff is worth it.

As a CV is often the first contact you make with a potential employer, the first impression can make or break your chances of getting a job. When you have a strong, clear resume, it demonstrates just how awesome you are at what you do and can compel a hiring manager to think positive about you.

These are the reasons that ensure that it’s spotless while writing a CV. And when an employer sees them, the worst resume mistakes are the ones that are deceptively easy to make and exceptionally difficult to repair.

No one is immune from making a mistake or two whether they’re writing your first resume or updating your resume. So, CV writing mistakes to avoid for a mid-career job search. Well, let’s see what 5 common mistakes to avoid in CV writing are.

#1.Too long CV

When you and others send CVs, the recruiters spend their day receiving and reading that. As a result, they can’t give you a 30-minute for your single CV. It’ll discourage them and chances are that they won’t read it until the end of your resume is too long.

As you need to communicate all the important information but very concisely, this is a real stylistic exercise. And it’s easy to achieve this result while making bullet points.

Also, recruiters like to go straight to the point and look for short sentences. So, what you did and the results you got should be explained concisely. Read More: Resume Writing: The Most Effective Tips to Write

Moreover, avoid writing more than 3 pages and don’t go into details. Although some people will find it frustrating, the company needs to know whether you fit the profile before spending time getting to know you.

They’ll call you for an interview where you will have more time to develop your experience if they like what they read. So, this is one of the big mistakes to avoid while writing a CV.

#2.Not targeted to the role

If you want to get the position you apply for then your CV needs to be adjusted accordingly. That’s why it’s important to make believe to the recruiters that it’s you who is the perfect candidate and to do so, s/he has to find relevant information in your resume. And all of your previous experiences may not need to go through.

So, you should pick that ones are matching with the current job your applying for. For example, you’ll emphasize on your internship in a pharmaceutical company while for a role for baby brands for a marketing role in a pharmaceutical company.

And as a marketing assistant in a company selling products for kids, you’ll describe your first professional experience. As a result, this is one of the big mistakes to avoid while writing a CV.

#3.Absent of previous job analysis

Where the results obtained for each experience are explained is a professional resume. Things are not like that the recruiter only wants to know the tasks you carried on. They also like to know what you achieved from your previous job.

This is the way to show how competent you are whether the goals you reached are similar to the ones the company has. So, list the responsibilities you had to handle and the outcomes of your missions for each previous experience.

If you do like this then you can be able to demonstrate what you brought to each of your previous employers and why the recruiter should call you in for an interview. Otherwise, in absence of the previous job analysis and achievement, you’ll not come in the short list of the interviewees. And that’s why all mistakes to avoid while writing a CV.

#4.Unexplained gaps

It’s not necessarily a negative part that a lot of candidates have periods of unemployment. But, it will leave recruiters with the impression that you simply haven’t been doing anything when you don’t explain the reasons for a gap in employment. And you should be transparent and explain why whether you’ve taken some time out between roles.

You need to describe the reasons whether it maybe you’ve been studying or even working on a personal project. Also, it’s essential to show your employers that you are pro-active and haven’t been wasting your time. Moreover, don’t be embarrassed to include that if you’ve had any long periods of time out because of sickness. So, this is another one of the big mistakes to avoid while writing a CV.

#5.Less, or not showing your impact

Although it’s important to show the work you carry out, it’s even more powerful to show the impact your work has on your employers. And you are missing a big opportunity to prove the value you can offer an employer without highlighting the results you have achieved in your previous roles.

For example, although a sales candidate may list skills such as “relationship building, cold calling, and networking”; those actions are pointless without results. You’ll give hiring managers tangible reasons to hire you by using results to prove your impact.

Some Other Mistakes to Avoid while Writing a CV

1. Poorly-structured job descriptions
2. One size fits all resumes
3. Lack of an internet presence
4. Typos and grammatical errors
5. Lack of specifics
6. Going on too long or cutting things too short