The first thing that will attract the recruiter is your CV and it can tell a lot about you. Your CV needs to be perfect in order to impress the recruiter but perfecting the CV is a difficult task. So, how can you make a CV that impresses the recruiter and lands you an interview? Well, your CV should have 2 things for it to be deemed proper and accurate. It should have your personal and professional information and it should have proper formatting. Although the perfect CV differs from field to field these 2 things are a must-have no matter where you are applying to. Creating a good CV is not just about writing great content that will convince the recruiter that you are the best fit for the job the design also matters because it is what attracts the recruiter to read your CV. Your CV should have the following information:
1. Contact Details:
This is an important part of the CV and the information here should never be missed because it is the only way the recruiter will be able to reach you. Recheck this section twice to make sure there are no mistakes. Write down your full name at the top of the CV, in uppercase, and make sure it is spelled correctly. Add your current address and contact number, if you use another number for WhatsApp, you can also list it down and add your professional email address. Avoid using an email address that might seem immature or consists of your nickname. You can also add your socials such as the link to your LinkedIn profile if you properly maintain it.
2. Profile Summary:
It is written after the contact address and it introduces you to the recruiter. You have to add your personal and professional skills in this section. This section can make or break the entire recruiting process for you. Use it wisely and write a profile summary that will convince the recruiter that you are perfect for the role and what value you can bring to the company. It is your chance to make yourself stand out amongst all the other candidates. Use adjectives that represent you and keep the summary brief so that it can be read quickly.
3. Professional Experience:
List down all your professional experience in reverse chronological order i.e., start from your current job and position and then go backward from there. Write down the daily responsibilities you had in each job and make bullets of your achievements. This will help you avoid big paragraphs and the bullets will increase the readability of your CV. Try using factual data or the data that will make the skills you mention seem credible. You can also highlight your achievements by formatting the specific words and figures in bold. If you are a fresh graduate, you can add your internships or volunteering work to this section.
4. Education:
Write down the names of institutes and what degree you got from them in reverse chronology. You also mention your CGPA if you think it will help the recruiter make a decision in your favor. If you have any certificates or if you are doing any courses that will also be included in this section. If you do not have relevant professional experience then you can mention the names of all the courses from your degrees that are relevant to the job.
5. Skills:
Use keywords to list down your skills. List down all the skills that you have including soft skills and technical skills. Read the job description thoroughly and extract relevant keywords from it to write down in your CV. This will help you in making your CV ATS optimized and the recruiter will deem you perfect for the position. Including skills like communication and problem solving might seem too cliché to you but they are important and should not be missed.
Now that we have covered all the written information that has to be included in the CV, let’s discuss design. According to the professional CV writers in Pakistan, the design matters a lot; proper formatting will give your CV the extra shine that it needs. The CV should be following all the design principles so that it looks pleasing to the eyes and is easy to read. Proper formatting will instantly impress the recruiter and it is what will attract the recruiter to read your full CV. Correctly formatting the CV will make it concise, clear, and readable. Here are some tips that you can follow to ensure your CV is formatted in the right way:
1. Spacing:
You need to make sure your CV does not look too congested or too empty. It needs to be balanced so that it is easy on the eyes. Avoid leaving top margins as it will take the attention off from your profile summary. Line spacing should also be consistent throughout the CV.
2. Font Style and Size:
Use professional fonts such as Century Gothic or Garamond and avoid using bubbly fonts to give your CV a more corporate and modern touch. You can make any important achievements and figures bold to draw attention to the. Keep the size of headings 14 and keep the overall font of the text 11 to make sure it is readable after printing as well. The font size of your name should be a little bigger than the rest of the text.
3. Transitions:
If your CV is exceeding 1 page then make sure the transition of the text to the second page is tidy and clean. It should not be such that the company name is falling on one page and the position on the other. Finish a bullet on one page and start the next bullet from the next page. This will make your CV look visually clear and clean.
Try implementing all of these tips into your CV to make it look professional and attractive. You can also use ready-made templates, although they cannot be edited fully, or you can avail CV writing services offered by professional CV writers to get an ATS optimized and fully professional CV that will help you impress the recruiter.