CAREER TIPS: CV Writing Tips That get You Invited for an Interview

When drafting your CV for a job, it is important that you create the right impression, catch the attention of your prospective employer, get them interested in meeting you and call you up for an interview.

The problem is, most applicants do not realise that employers have and spend very little time actually looking through resumes of prospective employees. In fact, reaserch shows that employers spend an average of 30 seconds on a particular resume, the first 10-20 seconds of which they decide whether or not to select that applicant.

Here are a few tips to get you started in drafting a winning CV
that gets you invited for the interview:

1. Draft Your CV to suit the requirements of the position applied for:
    When applying for a particular position, it is important that you draft your CV to fit the particular requirements of the position, organization and industry you are applying for. Most applicants make the pitiful mistake of using a "one CV fits all" approach to all their different job applications. They do not recognise that particular employers, industries and jobs require particular skill sets, experiences, competencies, personalities and even phrases, crafted into your resume to give it the appeal and fit into the desired position.


2. Write a Punchy "Professional/Personal/Executive Summary":
    When drafting your CV, ensure to prepare a one or two short paragraph statement about yourself, your career aspiration and job objective. This could vary depending on the industry, organization and job role. Never make  the mistake of copying and pasting "cliched" phrases and commonlly used resume pick-up lines as these are a definite no-no! Let this statement make your prospective employer find you worth interviewing for the position as this is your first impression.

3. Use Catchy "Power Words":
     When drafting a winning CV, ensure to appropriately lace it with catchy "power words". These are words and phrases that strike a chord with the reader and draw attention/emphasis to certain skills, qualities, proficiencies and competencies that you have. This is not the same as filling your CV with big words and long grammatical expressions, but rather Power Words are direct and compelling message conveyors, e.g. "Passionate, Tactful Salesman", "Visionary, People-oriented Manager", "Compelling, Highly Skillful Communicator".

For more professional CV building skills and Career Tips, fill in your details in the contact form here, or send an email to hello[at]pmoneytalks.com.

In subsequent articles, I would be sharing more Career Tips, Business Tips and Self-improvement Tips.

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Written by Precious Nwanganga © 2014

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