| Seven tips for writing a compelling CV
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| | By Tony Restell,
Founding Director of
Top-Consultant.com
With the hiring market
swinging firmly in the
favour of the consulting
employer, candidates are
facing up to the stark
reality that there are
now many more candidates
vying for each consulting
job.
In this instalment of
my series on finding a
job during the downturn,
I’d like to give you some
pointers on how to write
a compelling CV that
grabs the attention of
the recruiter – and
propels you to the top of
the “Must Interview”
pile!
Let’s start with that
goal in mind. The primary
purpose of a CV is to
secure you an interview,
not to land you a job.
How you perform at
interview will determine
whether you get the job
or not. Whether you get
the interview will depend
on how much your CV
excites the recruiter –
and whether it ticks
their boxes in terms of
the profile of hire they
are looking to make. Here
are seven tips to make
sure you’re submitting a
compelling CV that will
excite the recruiter and
tick their boxes:
1. Have you
prominently included a
three to four line career
summary or “sales pitch”
at the beginning of your
CV, to attract the
reader’s attention and
ensure their first
impression is the one you
would want them to be
forming?
2. Have you adapted
this pitch for each
different role you are
applying for, so that
different strengths have
been emphasised according
to the role requirements?
This is time-consuming,
but investing in ensuring
there’s a great fit | |
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| | between the recruiter’s
key requirements and
their first impressions
of you will pay huge
dividends when it comes
to securing interviews.
3. Do the key
points that you want the
reader to see when they
first open the document
stand out from the page?
If you have a salary,
education or professional
experience that give your
application instant
credibility, are these
selling points some of
the first things the
reader will see as they
skim down the CV?
4. Have you kept
your CV objective, ie.
talked about quantifiable
and verifiable
achievements, and kept to
a minimum references to
being a “great team
player”, “excellent
leader” and suchlike
(which can be claimed on
paper by all candidates
and as such will be given
little consideration
unless backed up with
hard facts)?
5. Have you
personalised your email
application so as to
minimise the appearance
that you are
“mass-applying” to
consulting vacancies?
That means both
addressing it to an
individual where possible
but also avoiding the
temptation to copy and
paste a stock email
introduction into every
application.
6. Have you had a
third party look at your
CV to pick out
shortcomings that may be
glaringly obvious but
that you haven’t noticed?
(Seriously, no matter how
good a candidate you are,
this is worth doing –
you’ll be surprised at
what will jump out from
the page when other
people read your CV.)
7. Have you kept | |
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| | your CV concise, ideally
shrunk down to just one
page? It’s fine to add
supplementary pages that
document your project
experience, client
exposure, assignment
wins, etc. but the core
CV that is showcasing
your academics and
previous experience
should usually be kept to
a page so that a quick
decision can be reached.
Lastly – and not
strictly a CV-writing tip
– have you spoken with
(ie. sold yourself to)
someone at the consulting
firm or recruitment firm
before sending them your
CV, so that they are on
the lookout for your
application in their
inbox? This isn’t always
possible, but with the
advent of online alumni
networks and tools such
as LinkedIn, it’s often
possible to track down
someone who will be
involved in the
decision-making process
before your application
is submitted. If someone
is looking out for your
application – or an
existing employee has
been enlisted to forward
your application on to
the recruitment team with
some kind of endorsement
– the chances of being
interviewed are once
again enhanced.
Related link: Tony
Restell will be leading a
candidate workshop
addressing every aspect
of securing a new
consulting role in these
difficult market
conditions. See:
Revitalising Your
Consulting Career ---
Securing a Career Move in
Consulting in 2009.
To read Tony Restell's
series on finding a job
during the downturn,
visit Top-Consultant's
news page. | |
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