DOs and DON'Ts of CV writing
What if you have a job in your mind and try to take a shot at it? Everything starts from writing a CV. CV is a requisite document of marketing yourself. A good CV should have the features that make the HR people pull your CV out. Not that difficult if you do it right.
Alice Au Miu-hing, Global Head of Financial Services Practice, Spencer Stuart, a global executive search and consulting firm, is here to share the ground rules to crack the secret of a successful CV.
1. Avoid typo or grammatical errors.
Minor mistakes simply show you are a lazy and careless person. Always do spell check.
2. Make it easy to read.
HR people won’t go through visually messy or disorganized CVs. Leave enough white space and line spacing. Pick the right font style, usually Times New Roman or Arial. Use bold, italic type or bullet points if appropriate.
3. Consolidate into one page.
One page is generally enough for a student or recent graduate. Keep the information relevant. Help HR managers fast screening a high volume of CVs.
4. Impress people.
Show some interesting hobbies, extra-curricular activities or experiences on or off campus, to tell people something special about you. Put it down if you are a marathon runner or a high grade pianist.
5. Highlight your accomplishments.
When illustrating your past working or activities organizing experience, use powerful verbs and illustrate the results. Alice is impressed by someone who “re-engineered the business process” and “helped improve the efficiency by 20%”.
6. Play up your strengths.
To put or not to put the GPA on a CV? If it is 3.8 out of 4.0, go ahead. However, even you are good at taking examinations, the academic performance is only one of the yardsticks throughout the hiring process.
7. Customize the content.
Each CV should be different and tailor-made. Check out the companies’ websites and write in their languages.
8. Provide a decent email address.
Be respectful. Avoid acting like a 6-year-old child in the job hunting world.
9. Don’t worry too much.
Students graduated from better schools can get better noticed. It is a fact of life. Think about your own strength and ability. Hiring managers can sort out good candidates from non-brand name schools.
Good luck.