3 Tips for the Perfect CV
Have you ever struggled to build your CV?
It doesn’t really matter if it’s the first time you are writing one or if you want to change your career. The application process is always the most unpleasant part when we want to find a job.
Well, there’s a trick that will make your life easier because a good resume WILL change the recruiter’s perception of you.
Try to follow these three simple steps and let us know what you think about them.
Is your current CV similar to this one?
Do you notice something in this CV?
It’s BORING!
To be honest, this is precisely how my resume looked before and after university. Why?
Because I was following the Europass standards. I discovered after that this CV applies only to specific opportunities.
The European curriculum vitae is perfect for public bodies, universities, and other institutions that explicitly request it, whilst it’s just dull for typical companies.
Do you notice some kind of improvement with this other one?
I do. And this is exactly why I’m writing this blog today. I will give a few but good suggestions to make the best out of your resume.
1. Understand what you want to do.
It would seem obvious, but not everyone knows what they want to do. This lack of clarity automatically brings a confusing resume and will puzzle the recruiters too.
Understanding what you want to do and where to apply is the first step, and you have to take your time to do your research.
First, you must find out what INDUSTRY you want to work in: transport, computer, telecommunication, agriculture or education for example.
The second step is to choose which VERTICAL suits you the most. Either you want to work in marketing, in data, gaming, HR, digital, sales, health, and so on. After the vertical, you can start researching the COMPANY in which you can send your application.
A start-up is between 5 and 100 employees, a scale-up has a 100–500, a company more than 100, a corporate more than 1000 and a tech giant more than 10,000. So the smaller the company is, the more you can interact with everyone, especially the CEO, and do everything from scratch. On the other hand, the bigger the company is, the more likely you will work in a specific area of the company by learning from more experienced coworkers.
Another way to find out what you would like to do is by looking at the company FOCUS. For example, a B2B means Business to Business which means you will find companies that sell their product to other companies. A B2C means Business to Consumers; an example is a jewellery or dress company. The last one is a B2G that means Business to Government; for example, companies that supply resources, materials or infrastructure for public organisations.
After the company, you have to look at the possible DEPARTMENT: operations, finance, technology, and so forth. You can take a look at the sample in the picture on the left.
The very last step is looking for the right POSITION. To do this, you have to think about some of your transferable skills.
Creativity, communication, teamwork, leadership, customer service are examples of these skills.
Once you have done this process, it would be easier to understand what kind of job you are looking for and be ready to start your resume.
2. The Cheesecake method.
Just like a cheesecake, your resume has three main factors. THE BASE is the experience and your education. THE CORE is made of your expertise and your transferable skills. Finally, the cherry, the WOW FACTOR, is made of you, your personality, and your extra-curricular life.
If we translate this into the curriculum, what you see in the image is what comes out.
The HEADLINE gives your expertise in 2–3 keywords. The CONTACT DETAILS must contain your email, phone number, location only for the timezone (NOT FULL ADDRESS) and LinkedIn.
Your birthday, your address, everything else is private data that you have to keep to yourself!!!!
The SUMMARY is made of a maximum of three well-structured sentences, with keywords that describe your experiences and your future expectations.
The SKILLS can be both hard — technical and measurable- and soft -interpersonal and developed over time- skills.
The EXPERIENCE must contain clear, bold titles that have to pop out; the latest experience is in the first position and includes company name, position title and timeline. The type of contract is private! So if you were an intern, a part-time or a consultant is totally up to you if you want to specify, but you really don’t have to.
The EXTRA section represents you! Your volunteering experience, your hobbies, your awards, scholarships, among others. In this section, you can really let loose and show your best. I assure you, it is impossible that you don’t have any details to put in it.
3. Be memorable.
If you are applying for a graphic design position, be creative and show right from your resume what you are capable of.
If you are applying for data, study the company you are applying for and write a few sentences in a cover letter or in the email when you are sending the CV with the data you found.
Make yourself stand out from the crowd, show the recruiters that you know the company value, that you did your research, and that you know what you want to do.
Recruiters take 15 seconds on average per each CV. So spending some time by having personalized applications will make the difference.
This blog contribution was made by Eleonora Papini.
Eleonora is originally from Italy, she is passionate about human psychology, sustainable development and international cooperation. Eleonora works as a Project Implementation Officer in a European project about urban sustainable development solutions aimed at valuing the young and female entrepreneurship industry.
In 2021 became also a Data Analyst for the LMF Network and content creator for their blog.
How can you keep in touch?
Email — hello@lmfnetwork.com |LinkedIn |Instagram | Slack
What is LMF Network?
The LMF Network is a global social enterprise (not for profit) focused on empowering, enabling & educating women and marginalised groups into tech, entrepreneurship & digital. We specialise in designing and delivering accessible programmes and supporting a global community. We’ve gone from a brunch club to a social good brand based on what the community wanted. We are a real community run by real people.
