CV WRITING: FORMATTING CHECKPOINTS

Do you know how to start upgrading your CV?

In this post, you'll learn: 

• Common mistakes people make in CV writing.
• Why a system automatically rejects your CV.
• Actionable checkpoints to start your CV upgrade.

When it comes to CV writing, don't expect to receive a prize for the best CV in the world! You just need your CV to be good enough to pass the robot screening.

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) are little robots doing this first triage, screening your CV when applying online. Our target is that your CV is good enough to pass the ATS and reach the human eye.  

Let's go into those checkpoints with specific things I usually observe on CVs, especially what people are doing wrong. And I don't want you to make the same mistakes!

Let's get you into a job interview, a job offer, then negotiate that job offer as well!!

Date formatting, you don't need to put the long date with day, month, and year! It must be there when your contract began and when it ended. The month slash the year. You can absolutely abbreviate the month! Although this is simple, sometimes people make a little bit of a mess of the formatting, which can be a problem for the robot screening your CV.

Abbreviations of your industry or profession's jargon. Suppose you work in finance and have experience in OPEX and CAPEX. You can use those abbreviations and then describe them between brackets. So, OPEX (Operational Expenses) and CAPEX (Capital Expenses or Expenditure). It's good for the ATS and increases your chances of passing the CV screening phase.

Work experience cut off. This is a hard one, especially if you have more than ten years of experience. I recommend having 10 to 15 years of experience described on your CV. Older experiences may be mentioned with the employer's name, job title, and work period. One line for each is more than enough. Remember you have LinkedIn to write longer narratives about your work experience!  

The Core Competencies section. If you are familiar with my cv writing method, the SmartCV writing, you know how important it is to add another section which I call the Core Competencies section. It solves the problem of cutting off experiences with important results from your past. You will write about your past achievements and results by competence; the in-demand skills companies are looking for right now, rather than having a long Work Experience section! Download my SmartCV builder now and learn more https://www.careerlab4ir.com/ignite 

Your CV must also have a good headline, summary, and data harmonization. It's essential to have an efficient CV, rather than a good-looking one with a bad performance on your job applications! 

An easy way to know what the robot will read from your CV is to transform it into a PDF and copy and paste the content into a notepad. This is it! If it's readable, you're good to go!

Let's rock!