Mia
CV creation is a headache for anyone who is looking for a job. A resume is a story that you tell a recruiter or potential employer. Agree that studying the plot with unnecessary details or with a lot of mistakes will not be very pleasant. We’ll tell you what to throw out of your story for sure.
A large number of visual elements can make it difficult to analyze your resume, and hence the decision-making process. You can add your photo, but create designs with graphic design software.
When compiling a CV, each applicant pursues a specific goal – to attract the recruiter and get an invitation for an interview. That is why many try to place as much information as possible about previous work experience and personal qualities that will help in working on their position.
Work for Free
The common mistake, which is mainly made by applicants with little work experience, but a great desire to build a career, is the willingness to work “for an idea” without remuneration. Never write on your resume or say the phrase about agreeing to work for free, even in a joking manner.
If you have little experience, and you do not dare to announce the desired level of salary, it is better to tell about your qualities, which will allow the future employer to consider you a valuable employee. Turn this disadvantage into an advantage. Write that despite the lack of experience, you are ready to learn, take on difficult projects and prove that even a beginner can handle difficulties.
When you say that you are not applying for a high salary, it means that you are basically not interested in the company’s success and will turn out to be a mediocre employee.
Best Candidate Position
Self-confidence is always an additional bonus for any candidate. But don’t take it for overconfidence. You don’t need to write in your resume that no one can cope with the tasks better than you, that you are a real leader and an ace, whose competitors fade against the background of such a skillful and experienced candidate.
First, you cannot objectively compare yourself to other employees or applicants for the desired job without knowing their abilities and track record. Secondly, such a comparison is unethical and defiant. It is extremely difficult to validate the claim that you are the best of the best before starting work. And how will you behave if in practice it turns out that you are far from being a pro in your field?
Sociability & Stress Resistance & Result Orientation
Such phrases can be found in most CV templates that have nothing to do with personality. If you want to become a part of the general mass, without standing out from dozens of other candidates, you can safely add your skills in working with Microsoft Word and Internet Explorer.
But let’s be serious, such characteristics do not reveal your abilities in any way, they do not characterize you as a professional at all. Want to talk about your sociability? Give an example of how you managed to improve relationships with the team, bosses, and even that intractable client who agreed to communicate only with you.
Can you boast of high-stress resistance? Share the story of how, during the audit, you alone managed to remain calm and cool, even when the chief accountant fainted. This way, you can dilute your dry resume, making it a great business card that will raise your price in the labor market.
Listing Skills Instead of Experience
In most cases, it is recommended that you stick to a reverse chronology format (i.e., when your most recent experience is described at the very beginning). However, if you feel that your recent experience should not be highlighted (maybe not so relevant) or, say, you have to return to work after a long break, it is better to start your resume with the “Executive Summary” section.
In this section, you will be able to highlight your best skills and achievements that are relevant to the position you are applying for. But then you still need to describe your experience.
Cliché Phrases
Any words and phrases from the following list that annoy almost all recruiters (and not only). The list starts with “Best of Kind” and continues like this:
- Proactive
- Thinking outside the box
- Capable of close interaction
- Reliable
- Leader
- Beneficial
- Result-oriented
- Team player
- Pragmatic
- Hardworking
- Strategist
- Dynamic
- Motivated
- Conscientious
Typos and Lie
Don’t rely on only one automatic grammar checker in MS Word. Ask a friend or acquaintance to look at your resume (and perhaps give advice on how to fix it). With a few exceptions, you shouldn’t tell a lie. Any false skills you list on your resume can be tested either in your interview or in the first two weeks of your probationary period. Sometimes a desire to learn means more to an employer than experience.
