Your CV Is Boring. That's Why Nobody's Calling.

Someone needs to say this.

Nobody will tell you this so I will.

Your CV is probably fine. Decent layout, right experience, right amount of pages.

That said, it also looks exactly like the other 40 CVs sitting in the same inbox, and "fine" is usually what goes into the discard pile when a recruiter has been on the computer since nine in the morning.

This isn't about experience level or not being qualified enough for the role, but about the fact that your CV is modelled on everyone else's and treated as such - scanned, saved and forgotten.

Here is what can make you different.

You've only got ten seconds to impress - don't waste it on "motivated self-starter".

Recruiters aren't reading your CV, they're scanning it.
Ten to fifteen seconds to determine if something's worth further investigation and after that you've passed them by.

The top third of your CV -the first bit they see before anything loads, above the fold, visible before they lift a finger - is where the decision is made.

Far too many candidates fill that space with a personal statement that might have been written by a robot having a really average day.

“A motivated and driven professional with strong communication skills seeking an exciting opportunity to utilise my experience in a dynamic organisation."

No one. Registers. That.

Your first few lines should concisely communicate what you do, what you are skilled at, and why that all adds value to the job you’re applying for.

In actual human language, this should all come together in three or four lines of text tailored for the particular role, and not the same generic spiel you send out for every job application you see.

Don't list what your previous job entailed - detail what you achieved in it.

This is what most candidates still fail to do, yet it is where your most significant impact lies.

Every bullet point in a typical CV reads like a responsibility - “Managed a team,” “Responsible for client accounts,” “Handled social media,” “Supported senior stakeholders.”

Big deal.

Everyone doing that job does that.

That just describes the job role. It doesn’t explain what you specifically achieved while doing it.

Here’s the difference.

“Managed a team” - okay, how many people, what did they do? Did things change in any way, shape or form while you were in that position?

“Managed a team of seven, two of whom were promoted under my leadership, and reduced project completion times by a third from three weeks to ten days” - there we go.

Although you can’t necessarily put exact figures down for every single element, use any available figures to add more meaning to what you did.

“Significant decrease in customer complaints” - pointless.

“Decrease in customer complaints by approximately half over six months” - this paints a much clearer picture for the recruiter.

Tailoring a CV is more than changing a font colour

Most candidates know they’re meant to tailor their CV to each specific role they’re applying for, but only a handful actually do.

It usually starts and ends with tweaking the company name in the personal statement, with a subsequent feeling of having tick-boxed the box.

True tailoring involves scrutinizing the job description, pinpointing exactly what the company is looking for in an ideal candidate and identifying the problems that they’re trying to solve.

From there, you should focus on highlighting experience within your CV that matches the needs identified above.

It’s not about a complete rewrite; usually an hour or so spent restructuring certain points will do, but it is undeniably worthwhile because your bespoke application CV will speak to the recruiter in ways a generic one can’t.

Cut out everything that isn’t vital

“References available upon request.” - get rid of it.

They assume it.

“Proficient in Microsoft Word.” - no one cared about this since 2005.

“Hobbies include: socialising, travelling, watching sports, going to the gym.” - if a hobby isn’t directly relevant to the role or especially interesting - and, sorry, ‘going to the gym’ is not interesting - don’t put it in there.

It will just clutter up your application.

Any previous jobs you’ve held that have absolutely no bearing on your current career path can also be completely cut or summarised in a single line.

You want the elements of your CV that showcase what you do now, and everything else that merely fills space makes it harder to find those crucial points.

The objective for every line on your CV should be to justify its place. Remove anything that doesn’t or you are in fact reducing the impact of the bits that do.

Don’t get caught out by fancy CV design

A CV in two columns with coloured bars and all sorts of graphics and charts to visually depict your skill set may look visually appealing on screen but they may not go down so well with an automated tracking system, which is the first port of call for most recruiters.

Columns may become jumbled, charts may look nonsensical and in worst case scenarios the entire document may end up being transmitted as a huge block of garbled text.

Stick to one column, use a font that’s easy to read and with a clear hierarchy for all your section headings.

If you want to be creative, there are plenty of other platforms for you to do so.

Read it aloud before sending

It might sound stupid but give it a go. Reading your CV aloud to yourself will help you get a feel for whether it’s as well- written as it could be and whether it sounds human.

If any of the phrases seem a little awkward or wouldn’t be something you’d use when chatting to a friend, it is time for them to be edited.

If any section has failed to keep you entertained, then it certainly won’t captivate the recruiter.