Shelan's Corner: The do’s and don’ts in designing a CV in 2019

A curriculum vitae (CV) is the Latin word for "the course of your life”. Leonardo da Vinci invented the first professional profile in 1482, which we call as the résumé. Since then, it has been used extensively in the recruitment process. However, does the curriculum vitae as we’ve known it for centuries stand in 2019? Shelan our Talent Acquisition Specialist tells us more about the do’s and don’ts in designing a CV today.

Customise your CV for every application: Each vacancy has specific requirements, adapt your CV to put forward your skills and experiences relevant to each application. This is the first step in getting that important call from the recruiter.

Tell us about you in 1 page: The recruiter receives a considerable amount of application each day. Therefore, writing a thesis about yourself will certainly put the recruiter or the hiring manager on the OFF mode! The days of a 20-page CV with your detailed job description for each role is well and truly gone! Your challenge! synthetising your key achievements and skills is essential and helps the recruiter to get a comprehensive profile quickly and effectively. Candidates are more and more encouraged to send their CV in a 1 pager format. You might want to use visuals and charts to illustrate your hard and soft skills for instance.

Describe your roles in reverse chronological order: With this resume format, you list your relevant work experience in reverse chronological order, beginning with your most recent position and proceeding backwards. For each job, you provide dates, location and the name of your employer, and succinctly outline your key responsibilities and achievements.

Include a punchy personal description to your introduction: You are dynamic and full of potential, make sure you translate the best version of yourself in your CV. How? By including an impactful message to recruiters when they first read your profile. Over and above the experience, we also want to know more about what makes you unique and your personality!

Differentiate between skills and interests: Throughout my career, I came across this common confusion from candidates. It is important to understand that your interests are activities you do because you enjoy them, for instance reading. Your skills are your strengths that you have earned naturally or built over years, for example design creation. Make sure that those two elements are well distinguished in your CV.

CV 4.0 is the future - make use of technology to show your creativity: Have you ever tried a video CV? It is even more interesting if you are applying for a creative job. Remember, the CV is the first level of communication with the employer and the amount of effort you put in reaching to them, will give you an edge in the recruitment process. You might want to use it to show your skills. If you are a designer or an architect, you can take your potential employer through some of your skills by using an interactive CV or portfolio for instance.

Moreover, with the increasing use of AI in the shortlisting process in recruitment agencies or even some corporates, you might want to include relevant key words in your CV that will help the robot, whenever being used, to shortlist your profile.

Finally, ensure your professional presence on social media. As a basic, it is recommended to have a LinkedIn profile as most companies or recruiters look for potential candidates on social media

Avoid sending printed CVs: The recruitment process in most corporate organisation is being digitalised and thus sending soft copies of your CV helps in sorting and filing your application. Let’s all help in being more effective and sustainable in the process.

Use professional personal details: Pinkprincess666@company.com? Thanks. But no thanks. All information you include in your CV must have a minimum of professionalism. A picture can be added but ensure it does not make you look cheesy.

We hope that those tips will help you in getting started or improving your CV.

Let me know your comments and feedback on the content provided in this article. We would be glad to know your views about the CV of the future, and how should it look like. 

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Shelan