Common Errors

There are many common errors that are found on candidate applications. Your CV will most probably be rejected by potential employers should the majority of these errors be presented on an application. Here are a few good examples.

1. Your presentation- You may have excellent experience but it can be very easy to ruin your chances by submitting a poorly presented CV to potential employers. Your presentation is as equally important as the content so be sure to get this right first time!

2. The length of your CV – If you are in a hurry and decide to summarise ten years of working history within one page this will not give the correct impression. Nor will you do yourself any favours if you present two years experience across eight pages of text!

3. You must add value – Do you want to be at the top of pile or at the bottom? I am sure I know your answer! Well if your CV is similar to 50 other applicants applying for one job, you will probably not receive that long awaited telephone call unless you differentiate yourself. Demonstrate clear value to your future employer and results will follow.

4. Spelling and grammar– When writing your CV it is essential that silly mistakes are corrected before sending your CV to potential employers. Spelling and grammar may seem straightforward, however please ask a friend or colleague to proof read your CV as it can be easy to miss your own errors.

5. Irrelevant information – If you enjoy gardening at the weekend or completed a French language exchange in 1981 and you are now applying for an executive position these ‘experiences’ or ‘hobbies’ become quite irrelevant. Your CV must display that you have focus. If you include pointless information will not do yourself any favours.

6. Lack of focus – When applying for a position you must ensure that your CV is targeted. If you write a CV that is too general this will show a lack of focus. An employer would much rather interview a candidate who demonstrates that they know what they want as opposed to a candidate who doesn’t.

7. Your photo – Global CV Solutions do not recommend that a photo is displayed on your CV. You may think you look great, however your potential employer may think otherwise. Although this should not have a direct effect on whether or not they want to interview you, in reality it does. Is it really worth the risk?

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Rejections

If you are finding that your CV is being rejected time and time again, it would be advisable to obtain accurate feedback because the chances are you will be making the same mistakes every time!
Below are some common reasons for rejection.

1. Excessive experience-
If you are a fully qualified Financial Controller with 20 years experience and find yourself applying for an Assistant Accountant role it would unwise to submit an application illustrating your excessive skill set. You may be declined. The fact that you are over qualified is not exactly negative however your application will most probably be questioned.
In order to apply accordingly you should look to match your skills to what is required in the position now as opposed to three years time. Make sure that your transferable skills are highlighted and your CV is fully aligned with the role you are applying for.

2. Incorrect culture or team fit-
If you are rejected on the basis of ‘team fit’ this can be quite misleading. Many people consider this rejection to be one which related directly to race, gender or sexual orientation etc. This is not always true and very often it is necessary to look into this further in order to find out the specific reason for rejection.

Your CV may be too generalised
Your CV may lack direction or does not highlight a key technical skill set.
Your CV is too industry focused. Perhaps you have years of Banking experience and are actually applying for a role within a I.T company.
Your CV displays either too much or too little corporate exposure.

If you demonstrate transferable skills and competencies on your CV it will be less likely that you will be rejected on the basis of culture fit.

3. Incorrect industry experience-
In the modern day it is perfectly common for an employee to move between industries every couple of years. This can cause many problems when attempting to write a CV! Each time you move between industries you must be able to demonstrate your core competencies and show how they link with your technical skills. This can become more challenging if perhaps you have worked for many years within one specific industry and due to redundancy for example you are forced to change your job

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Design and Format

The design and format of your CV must have the correct balance and must appear attractive to the desired audience. If you strike the correct notes here you could see success very quickly, strike the wrong ones and you could be waiting a very long time! Have you ever read a book and got to the bottom of the first page and realised that you have absolutely no interest in the book and can’t actually recall what the first page was even about? Well imagine you are an employer reading a prospective employee’s CV, you get half way down the first page then similar thoughts enter your mind. What would you do? You would be most likely to cast the CV aside and move onto the next one. If you have spent hours developing excellent content for your CV only for your application to be ignored due to poor design and format, how would you feel?

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Style and Appeal

The way in which you design and format your CV is extremely important, as is the style and appeal. In the current market employers are receiving literally hundreds of applications for positions. A year ago the same positions would have received thirty applicants. How much time can these employers give to each CV they receive? The simple answer is not very long. Employers will set aside substantially more time should your CV display style and appeal. First impressions are everything and whether we like it or not it only takes a fraction of a second for a judgement to be made on almost anything. Think about your life. Buying a new car? Purchasing a house? Listening to new music? How long does it take for an initial impression to be made? An employer reading a CV is no different!

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Ensure you are the best!

If you want to attend lots of interviews and receive that all important job offer you must aim to be the best.

For example – JCR Autos are seeking a new Sales Manager to work from their head office in Manchester. After advertising for all of 24 hours, Peter the General Manager receives over one hundred applications! Peter is a very busy man with tight deadlines and targets to meet so he is only able to interview eight candidates.
When it is a candidate rich market this is a very common scenario. In order to be the chosen one, you must be able to differentiate yourself from the competition. If you don’t differentiate there will probably be around thirty applicants the same as you. How will you stand out? Well you won’t really and will probably end up missing out. You must aim to be the best! This is not as simple as displaying a nicely formatted CV with the correct skill set. You must display your key competencies and demonstrate clearly that you are able to add value should you be successful.

Does this sound difficult?

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Letters

COVER LETTERS

When writing a cover letter it is essential that you are able to match your key competencies to what is required within the position you are applying to. Be sure to give the correct facts and outline your best assets. A wise idea is to utilise key points on an advert or job description. You can use this to match your key skills with exactly what the employer is looking for. If you manage to write your cover letter professionally you can increase your chances of obtaining an interview, if on the other hand you write it poorly you may do exactly the opposite. Here are a few questions you could ask yourself prior to sending your cover letter-

Do I confirm how I plan to add value?
Do I make sure that the letter presents my key competencies and have I been modest with regards to my achievements?
Am I confident I can talk about the key points of my letter during interview?
Have I discussed my salary demands? If you are from a different industry this may be quite important as the salary for the position applied for may vary due to your change of industry.
Do I write with confidence?
Do I demonstrate belief in my own abilities?
Have I proof read my letter to check for spelling and grammar errors?

RESIGNATION LETTERS

When you have been offered a new position, it is inevitable that you will have to resign from your current role. It is crucially important that this is done in the correct way. It is one of the most challenging letters to write especially if you have worked within the same position for a number of years and have thoroughly enjoyed your time in the role. Many people on the other hand wish they could just walk out and say goodbye. However most companies do require four weeks notice and they will also recall more about your performance within this period than at any other time. A resignation letter must be written to perfection!

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