Calibration4U - Calibration & Metrology Resource - CV Writing –it’s all in the Shape not the Shouting.

By David Denny www.topcv.biz
There are a thousand and one approaches to writing a great CV, but the defining factor is whether or not it gets you short listed…and stimulates enough interest in you to make you stand out when you walk into the interview room, other than your lime green socks of course.

Following all the guides, hints and tips sheets and the ‘Write a Spanking Good CV!’ articles, published all over the www, is enough to help you write an adequate CV; but adequate is not always enough. What isn’t published on the world wide web is the formula for writing a great CV, if that was published all the CV writers would go out of business wouldn’t they? Probably – because the secret is it’s not really about content – it’s all about Shape.

Its All in the Approach.

If you really want to write a CV which does the business, gets you through the door with a bit of sparkle, then think about Shape. Your CV is a means to an end, nothing else. It has to be designed to communicate the essential, vocational you (plus a bit extra) and communicate clearly the perception to the reader that you have the required skills, abilities, qualifications and personality, to do the job they want you to.

It also has to have your name on it – not as much of a joke as you might think!.

Being Different, making Shapes.

Other than basics, don’t worry too much about conventional structures.

Be There:

Use a powerful and factual professional profile followed by a key achievement s list – the first part of you CV has to catch the reader’s attention very quickly. These two sections hammer out who you are and what you can do.

Be Honest :

don’t over-elaborate or blow up facts out of realistic proportion, but do state facts and figures – readers will use them as an objective framework. Make sure you qualifications have a separate section.

Be Fresh:

Don’t get bogged down with lists of power verbs, use effective language but keep it as clear as possible and not fragmented sentences dotted with Wordsworth-like alliteration verb storms.

Be Flowing:

Make your CV more than a seemingly endless bullet list, use narrative and a little prose is OK!

Be Relevant:

Use a readable structure which relates to the person specification if you can by pulling out the relevant points and presenting them to the reader in a logical framework This will look very different from an ordinary CV, but will also be easier to digest.

Be Alive :

Don’t shy away from putting something of you in the CV. Despite conventional CV wisdom it is not a cardinal sin to provide the reader with an ‘interests’ section, although reading, sports and walking should be avoided – better to talk about the dysentery attack you had in Kathmandu last year.
Joking apart, having outside interests from work can stimulate interest and put personality into the CV, but make it interesting please.

So to Summarise….. don’t just bash out a CV standard template – make it fit its purpose as closely as you can – Shape it! Fit it to a job or person specification. Make the structure and language tell the recruiter what you want it to and what they want to read.

Make it different, make it clear, make it fresh. Make it as original, without magenta italic fonts, of course……..

Copyright 2003 David Denny

David Denny has been providing Career Guidance and CV Solutions on the www for over 7 years and non digitally for over ten. He is a full Member of the Institute of Career Guidance and registered with the British Psychology Society as an Occupational Psychologist. He holds the Diploma in Careers Guidance and has spent time in recruitment training and staff development.

He provides free CV appraisals and CV advice as part of his CV Writing Business at www.topcv.biz