cV advice

CVs are not quantum physics.

Let us start as we mean to go on, with Oxford’s crisp and lucid definition:

curriculum vitae
noun: a brief account of one’s education, qualifications and previous occupations.

How complicated can it be? Yet the current popular answer would appear to be: bewilderingly so. Google ‘CV writing’ and you will score ‘about 2,480,000’ sites offering general advice, services and failsafe tips. All of which you may, if you have the leisure, feel free to peruse.

Alternatively, here is a summary of what usually makes us sit up and take notice.

Clarity. For any given assignment, we may receive up to 300 CVs - which makes ease of reading a real plus. So avoid artistic fonts, small print, fancy layouts, ‘unusual’ stationery. Above all, do not obscure key facts with statements of motivation, however sincere.

Honesty. Whether by statement or omission, attempts to conceal inconvenient truths will almost certainly fail and are always off-putting, indicating as they do a preparedness to waste people’s time and insult their intelligence. Degrees can and will be verified, references followed up and ambiguities clarified. We’re asking you for information. We’ll do any necessary advocacy.

Relevance. The question your CV has to answer is: ‘do we want to know more about this applicant for this role?’ Provided that it shows you have skills, qualifications and experience appropriate to the role, the answer will be yes; there is no need at this stage for exhaustive detail.

Presentation. Be brief. Be correct - if you’re a poor speller, get help from a better one and don’t trust spell checkers. Be plain. And be yourself.

“But I really want to convey something special...” If there is, exceptionally, a vital point that you feel needs immediate elaboration - such as a compelling personal interest in a specific opportunity, or an explanation of how your transferable skills match stated requirements - cover it either in your accompanying letter or in a short personal statement.

Regarding covering letters, to repeat: in most circumstances, a simple statement that you have noted with interest the advertisement for [state exact job title as it appears], or that you understand the company welcomes speculative expressions of interest from [state your own occupation]; that you now attach or enclose your CV; and that you would like the company to consider your application is the best introduction - by the immeasurable virtue of its keeping to the point.

If a reference number is supplied - and they sometimes appear in unexpected places, so re-read the advertisement carefully - then quote it.

If an indication of your salary expectations is asked for, it’s up to you: either state it truthfully or else apply to a company whose questions you find less impertinent; but don’t second-guess the right answer and don’t ignore the request.

Finally, and rarely, the exception - the job that fits you so excitingly to a T that you feel you cannot leave it to your CV to convey.

The company may look warmly on your excitement, but only if your reasons for it are factually - as opposed to descriptively - relevant. So to parrot terms in your letter such as ‘self-motivated’, ‘proactive’ or ‘enthusiastic’ is a waste of space: says who? Whereas, for example, if an advertisement for a Business Analyst should specify among job requirements the ability to juggle, to translate from Croatian into Cantonese and to water-ski; and it just so happens that you are lately returned from a successful year at the University of Kowloon where you were completing your Master’s Degree in Circus Arts (thesis: “The Impact on Tourist Economies of Waterfront Extravaganzas”) sponsored by the Former Yugoslavian Republics’ Joint Socio-Economic Development Forum.... then you may indeed feel justified in underlining the extraordinary parallels.

This is of course an exaggeration: we have yet to handle an assignment precisely on these lines. But before you lengthen your covering letter, make sure that the facts you add intending to mirror the advertisement’s specifications are worth the reader’s time.

Above all, trust us. We don’t risk binning a good potential candidate.