Now don't get me wrong, I understand that it's not everyone's cup of tea to write about themselves, let alone make it sound appealing! But for some career choices and industry fields its imperative that a well written CV is par for the course... I read many CV's and can experience a real mix between good, bad and downright ugly. When it comes to a CV I believe in the age old term of 'Less is more' - Yes, you need to mention the key areas of expertise, but no, you shouldn't give everything away; if you do there is no reason for further interrogation, or as we like to call it - AN INTERVIEW.
I was amazed recently after advertising for a new permanent role within our company - In less than 3 days I received over 80 applications, from locations across the country and with a complete mixture of backgrounds and experience. What surprised me the most was the amount of candidates who would list having a particular accreditation or passed a certain exam, then upon checking... guess what... they never completed the course.Has the market become so competitive that people feel they need to stretch the truth so drastically, or are we turning into a society of liars and cheats?
In today's' competitive market its almost expected that employment dates and maybe even job-titles may be tweaked from time to time to assist in the pursuit of a new role. Although I never went to University, or college for that matter - I'd never think of documenting that a master's degree was achieved while at the University of Aberystwyth!
So in essence a word of advice for all you job-hunters, I'd like you to remember my 5 rules when writing a truthful, compelling and above all successful CV - Don't write a Job Description, Provide an overview of who the employer is and what you were employed to do, highlight what you achieved and were proud of, keep it brief and keep it honest!
Ben Towers, Head of Resourcing at Roc.
