I believe that psychometric testing or personality profiling is great in its proper place. It is a very useful tool for employers to be able to assess how a candidate will fit in with their team, and from your point of view it is very useful to be able to find out what the test will say about you. That is why we have included information about psychometric testing on our Website.

I do think, however, that it’s a bit like carrots which are jolly good for you, but even the best of things can be bad if taken to excess. I’m not at all sure that the personality profile can really tell you anything about yourself that you didn’t know already.

The problem with psychometric tests is that people tend to include elements from them in their CVs in an endeavour to describe the type of person they are. This is a big mistake. It’s a bad idea to include anything in the CV that is not demonstrable.  

The type of thing I mean is where people include something like the following in their profile:

“A highly dynamic and flexible person. Intelligent and hard working with an agile mind. A pro-active problem solver and excellent communicator ……….”

Now, these claims may all be true but because they are comparative and are really a matter of opinion, they are simply a waste of space.  Yet this is a trap that almost everyone falls into and I have even seen so called ‘professionals’ advising that personal characteristics should be included in the profile.

The profile is a very important part of any CV but it needs to be an introduction that focuses upon your achievements and skills. It sets the context within which the rest of the CV should be read.  You need to show, in real terms, what you have to offer to a prospective employer and why that makes you the preferred candidate.

The shortened form ‘CV’, stands for ‘Curriculum Vitae’ but whoever first applied this name can have had no idea of how the modern CV would evolve.

According to my Chambers Dictionary ‘Curriculum Vitae’ means ‘[a biographical sketch of] the course of one’s life’. Yet, whilst a type of potted autobiography may have been appropriate in the 1980s, CVs have come a very long way since then.  The American form ‘Resumé’ has become really more descriptive of what is now required.   

Nevertheless it never ceases to surprise me how few people recognise the change.  They do not seem to realise that the autobiographical format is inappropriate for the current jobs market. Employers simply don’t have the time, or the need, to consider detailed information about every aspect of an applicant’s life.  Neither are they impressed by unsubstantiated descriptions of attributes and personal characteristics which are perceptions rather than demonstrable facts.     

So what is a required for a modern CV and how has it evolved from the original concept?   

To find the answer to this question, we need to identify the purpose for which the CV is intended. Its one and only purpose is to deliver information, usually in support of a job application to somebody who has no prior knowledge of you. Anything which detracts from that aim must be counter productive. 

In my opinion, shaded boxes, lines, tables all represent ‘clutter’ which draw the eye away from the text.  Keep the appearance of the page clean and businesslike.  What is needed is a concise, easy to understand, presentation.  The CV needs to have well defined sections, separated by clear headings and plenty of white space on the page.  This will ensure that it is easy understand and navigate and will make sure that it fulfils its intended purpose.

The optimum length for a CV is two pages and most people are aware of this. However, in order to meet this requirement people frequently cram far too much detailed information onto the two pages, using a very small font just so that it all fits into the space. This means that the CV becomes very difficult to read and understand. 

Now, anything which makes the prospective employer’s job harder must be counter-productive. The two page format is meant to be a guide to define the amount of information usually required by an employer in order to consider job applications, it is not a requirement just to save paper.

A modern CV is a marketing document for use in a very competitive environment.  It represents an applicant’s first point of contact with a new employer.  Unless you have been ‘head-hunted’ then the information contained in your CV is all that the prospective employer can know about you in the first instance. So it is imperative to get the right message across in the clearest way possible.

Remember that for every job advertised there are likely to be about 200 applicants.  That means that some unfortunate individual is likely to be ploughing through up to 200 CVs.  No wonder many CVs are confined to the bin without even being read. 

Here is the important part which I am constantly stressing, you may be the ideal candidate – just what the employer is looking for – but he needs to recognise you.   Unless your CV is user-friendly it may never get past the first hurdle.  It needs to be presented in a way that can easily be understood by a very weary person who may already have had to plough through a large number of applications. 

Just because you understand the information in your CV doesn’t mean that somebody else will.  After all, you have the benefit of an insider’s view.  You need to overcome the temptation to put in all the detail. Be selective, avoid repetition and strip the information to the bare facts.  Make sure that all claims you make are true and clearly demonstrated. 

Identify what the employer is looking for (this will be in the job or person specification) and the make sure that you only include the facts that they will need for the decision making process. 

So to summarise? What is a modern CV?   It is your introduction to a prospective new employer.  It is an opportunity to prove that you are the person with the skills and talents they are seeking.  Unless it does that effectively, you will have lost an opportunity, because you never get a second chance to make a first impression. 

© This article is copyright CV Consultancy 2010.  You have permission to reproduce this article or forward it to others, provided that all links and the resource box at the bottom remain intact.

Every CV should be regarded as a marketing document for use in a very competitive market place.  The only function of a CV is to deliver information, usually to a prospective employer in support of a job application.  It is your first point of contact with a new employer who knows nothing about you apart from what they can read and understand from the document you are submitting. (more…)

Looking for a new job is not dissimilar to looking for a life’s partner. You’ll only be able to handle one, so it’s important that it should be the right one for you.

If you are to be successful, it is very important to adopt a positive approach to every aspect of your job search.  Remember that your CV is the most important tool to introduce you to prospective employers, and it will need to establish what you have to offer.  Your CV needs to be accurate and truthful, and presented in a user friendly format. It is not an autobiography so don’t include too much detail, stick to what is relevant to the job application.  (more…)

The simple answer to this is that it depends entirely upon the service you choose.

At its best, a professional CV writing service can help you to achieve a dramatic difference to your future career prospects. However, there are loads of so call professionals who provide a service that is worse than useless. 

As you will have discovered, not all CV writing services are equal.  There is no doubt that it appears to be a really difficult and daunting task to tell the difference.  But does it really need to be? 

Here are some common sense tips that should help you to choose:  (more…)

A free CV assessment can be a really valuable way of getting guidance on the quality of your own CV writing.  At its best it will give you an overview from an experienced CV Writer with tips as to how your CV could be improved.  At its worst you will get very little help or guidance but your application will give rise to a pushy sales call from an unscrupuous organisation, and unfortunately there are all too many of those around. 

Still, it’s a free service and if you get an unwanted sales call you simply need to recognise it for what it is.  Just remember that these are probably entrepreneurs, using CV writing as a vehicle for making money.  (more…)

To be logical – how could you possibly expect to get a good job by using a bad CV?

I should be used to it by now, but still it never ceases to surprise me that people don’t understand how important a good CV is in giving them a chance of success in today’s competitive jobs market. The information given in your CV it is all a prospective employer can possibly can know of you in the first instance. It is the first point of contact with a prospective employer or recruiter. They don’t know you, or what you have to offer – and if your CV doesn’t tell them in a way that they can understand, they will never find out. (more…)

The most important point when creating any document is to remember the purpose for which it is intended. This is especially true when writing a CV. It is not enough that you should be happy with your CV, it is the prospective employer who counts. (more…)