Your CV (Curriculum Vitae) format is crucial to job search success. If you are struggling to land interviews with your current CV it may not be the CV’s content that’s letting you down. Your CV formatting could be making it difficult for recruiters to see your skills and cause irritation in the process, which will result in your CV being overlooked. By making a few simple CV format changes, you can make some big improvements that will hugely increase your chances of landing job interviews. Take a look at the following tips and see if there’s anything you can use to boost your CV.
1. Decrease your CV page margins
You have limited space when writing your CV, so you need to make the most of it by minimising blank space and filling the pages with compelling content that will persuade employers to contact you – especially at the top of your CV.
The top quarter of your CV is particularly important because it is the first thing a recruiter will see upon opening – it needs to make a big impression to keep them interested.
Decreasing your page margins will allow you to fit more content into the top of the page and your CV as a whole.
Some recruiters will move straight on to the next CV without scrolling down if they don’t see enough of what they want at the top – which is bad news for your application. However, if you decrease the top page margin then much more of the content becomes visible to the recruiter upon opening your CV, which will give you a much greater chance of making an immediate high impact. Ideally your current or most recent role should be visible so that recruiters can instantly see your current capabilities.
2. Minimise contact details
You can save space on your CV by writing less personal details at the top. In a similar way to large page margins; lengthy contact details push the content of your CV down and hide important content from view when first opening it. Recruiters don’t need to see your full address and date of birth on your CV – it’s too much detail for the early stages of a job application. All you need to include is your name, telephone number, email address and general location – so that recruiters can contact you and have an idea of where you can commute to. Put these details at the top of your CV in small font size to save as much space as possible.
3. Divide your CV’s sections clearly
To ensure that your CV is easy to navigate and has a professional outlook you should have clearly headed sections throughout.
If recruiters find your CV easy to read then they will like you more – it’s that simple
Most likely you will have at least a profile section at the top followed by employment history and then a section for education/qualifications. Make sure each section is titled accordingly and that the text for the heading is in bold and a few sizes larger than your paragraph text. You may also have sub headings within your CV (for example your job titles will be sub headings under the main heading of your employment section). Sub headings should be emboldened and can be slightly bigger than your paragraph text but not as big as the main heading text…
4. Use bullet points in your CV role descriptions
Bullet pointing your role descriptions makes it far easier for people to read your CV and pick out the information they need. Recruiters and hiring managers are often very busy people so they will be reluctant to wade through big messy paragraphs. Break your roles up into logical one-line bullet points so that your important skills can be easily read.
Quick tip: If you struggle with written English, try using a free grammar checking tool like Grammarly to eliminate the risk of making mistakes.
5. Ensure your CV page transitions look tidy
A page transition is what happens when one page ends and the next one starts. A messy page transitions has a bad effect on your CV formatting. The role title is on the bottom of the first page of the CV but the details of the role do not start until the second page.
It’s not a deal breaker but it looks really untidy. All the candidate needs to do is move the role title down on to the second page by clicking above it and pressing enter a few times. This simple change instantly makes the CV look more professional. If you have messy looking page transitions in your CV then you can easily fix them by moving roles down the page a little or even playing with the page margins a bit.
6. Always send your CV as a Word Document
There are 3 reasons why you should always save and send your CV in Word Doc format
1. It’s superior: Ideally you should write your CV using Microsoft Word because it has the best features for CV writing and the majority of employers will open your CV in Word when they receive it. If you can’t get access to Word then you can use Google Docs or Apache Open Office (both free tools) because they also allow you to save the file in a Word compatible format ensuring that all employers will be able to open your CV. Don’t be tempted to use a CV builder, or online CV creator, as most of them have poor structures and don’t allow much flexibility on design.
2. It’s compatible: Some companies will not have the relevant software to open files like .txt or even PDF’s – so if you don’t send your CV as a Word Doc, then the recruiter may not even be able to open it, which is a total waste of an application.
3. It’s editable: Sometimes recruiters have to make edits to your CV before sending them on to hiring managers. For example, big organisations often have standard candidate forms that they have to copy all of your CV content on to, or sometimes a recruiter will just want to make a few tweaks before sending your CV on to their client.
If your CV is in Word format then recruiters can easily make the necessary changes and get your CV in front of decision makers quickly. If you send your CV in a non-editable format such as PDF then you run the risk of slowing down the process when edits are needed – while the recruiter is chasing you up for an editable version of your CV, other candidates could be beating you to the post.
7. Name the CV file properly
A CV is a professional document and the file name will be seen when it’s attached to emails, so take a few seconds to name it properly. The best way to name your CV is simply use your full name followed by CV.
Good CV formatting wins interviews
CV Formatting is extremely important and can quite literally make the difference between getting an interview or not getting an interview. For further help in writing your CV, you can contact 350VA and receive a free CV template.
Anja@350VA