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Whats Wrong With My Resume?


By Glenn Hughes

In todays busy yet pressured economy, there are many thousands more people going for every job. Little wonder then that more CVs get rejected now than ever. You need to know exactly why your CV is being rejected. Checking your CV against the list here may help you get some more interviews

Non-standard format of your CV is one of the chief reasons for CV rejection. Funky colours, non standard fonts and the like are all pretty much guaranteed to get your CV rejected. Stick with the traditional, tried and tested methods. Plain black text on a white background seems to work best. Use a good quality paper with laser or high quality ink jet printing for best results

Did you know that you have only 20-30 seconds in which to make an impression with your CV. You will make an impression, it is up to you to make sure that the impression is favourable. A personal profile or career statement can do that job for you. Make it easy for the reader to want to know more about you. Omit this information and the reader has to work harder for the information that they expect to see immediately

If your CV is responsibility led rather than achievement led, you are almost bound to get your CV rejected. Employers expect you to have carried out your responsibilities- if you didn't, what use are you to them. Achievements separate the wheat from the chaff- show what you have done for your past employers through your personal and team achievements

Email addresses are there for a simple purpose- for an employer to get in touch with you. Avoid at all costs stupid names and nicknames in your email. Get yourself a new email address if you need to and make sure that you check it regularly

Hobbies and interests won't get you a job. Putting ridiculous interests on your CV will get it rejected. Anything too wild, too wacky or clearly taking up masses of time won't work- you're CV will get rejected pretty much straight away. If you're at all concerned, leave your hobbies out- it isn't compulsory to include them

Read the job description and the specification of the job that you are applying for. Make sure that you tailor your cover letter to the specific needs of the job in hand and show exactly why your CV should be considered. You can tailor your CV slightly if you wish but I would suggest that the cover letter is the place to make yourself stand out

People rely on spell checking all the time nowadays. This makes people a little lazy. Spell checkers won't get a persons name spelled correctly. This is such a common mistake that I thought that people would have learned by now. Spell the recruiters name wrong and watch a stream of rejection letters come through your letterbox- if you get anything back at all!

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