7 Professional Reasons Your CV May Not Get You A Job

Dear Applicants,

I think it all depends on who is looking at your CV and what he or she believes your CV should look like. My advise is to keep it simple and communicate your strength and achievements.

Below are the reasons your CV isn’t getting you those interviews you so desperately needed.

This should be a guideline in making your CV professional.

1. Please be mindful of your own address. Unless you stay close enough to the company location, Do not add, If for example, you apply to a company in AA and your address states MN(very far from the company), you just reduced your chances if you add your address. Email and phone number is enough. nevertheless based on personal experience, I’ll simply say that the format you decide to adopt is acceptable to some HR /Recruiter and not acceptable to others. I’ve removed and added my address like 3 or 4 times based on recommendations and feedback. A recruiter once called me to add my address and resend my CV.

2. Date of birth, state of origin, gender, nationality, 1st or last born status – all don’t matter at all.

3. Personal objective, career summary, and all that crap. Watch it, many may never read them. Could just be waste of space. However, some school of thought opined that in a sentence or two, one can “succinctly” state who he/she is, what position he/she wants and how would the firm benefit from him/her. 

4. Unless expressly stated, remove those references. They don’t add anything to your CV.

5. Please remove all errors. Have someone else proofread it. It matters and says a lot about your diligence.

6. Remove all lies. Don’t tell me you have project management skills when you have never managed a project. always tweak your CV to fit into the particular job. Not just sending generic CV. Act smartly

7. Attach your CV properly. Send a Bcc to yourself and be sure it delivers, open it and open the attachment. Make sure it’s all fine.

2 Simple and Smart Strategies to Get a Job on LinkedIn

Frequently Asked Questions and Professional Answers

Q – In what format/chronology should the CV now appear. I mean after you’ve removed the summary, dob etc. Like after your name, phone and email, what comes next?

A – Put your best foot forward. What inspired this post was a CV I saw that started with skills. I mean, who does that, but it worked O was curious as to what skills he had that needed that much attention. Guess what, its the best thing about him. He got the interview. If your degree was first class, put if first, if you have a PMP, start with your professional affiliations, if you have so much experience, make it you starting point.

Q – I am skeptical about number 3. How do you tell recruiters what you are bringing to the table if you do not state it?

A – Your CV is the summary of your career. Not a statement. I also had one on my CV for a long time till I started reviewing CVs myself. No one reads it. If you must hype yourself a bit, please sincerely do all that in a 10 word or less pitch of yourself.

3 INTERVIEW questions that test your research of the role and the company:

1. “Describe the job for which you are interviewing, based on your understanding of the role.

2. What appeals to you the most about our company?

3. What makes you most suitable for this role above other several, well-qualified candidates?”

Let’s look at 1-3 individually:

•  Questions your understanding of the responsibilities and requirements of the job description
•  Questions your understanding of the company, itself.
•  Asks you to demonstrate why your hard/ transferable skills are a great match for the job requirements.

If you have not thoroughly researched the company, and understood the role that you are interviewing for, you will not perform well.

Have 3 questions prepared in advance that you wish to ask the hiring manager.

PREP for interviews! You can’t control many things, but you CAN control the amount of time that you invest in preparation.

You have wonderful qualifications, skills and experience!

Don’t risk them because you failed to do a bit of research!

12 DONT’S of CV/Resume writing:

1. Don’t write in the first person ‘I.’
2. Don’t write hard and transferable skills in the past tense.
3. Don’t use more than two fonts.
4. Don’t submit online uploads in pdf.
5. Don’t use more than four lines per bullet point.
6. Don’t include anything that may be used to discriminate against you.
7. Don’t use jargon or clichés.
8. Don’t use an objective statement. It’s called a Professional Summary, even for Freshers and recent Graduates.
9. Don’t include personal identifiers.
10.Don’t write “References on Request” or include reference details.
11.Don’t include ATS formatting violations.
12.Don’t forget to spell check, proofread, and have somebody review it.

Most importantly, don’t ramble! It’s a SUMMARY, not a saga, If you are not skilled at “selling” yourself on paper, hire a reputable CV/Resume writer to do it for you.
What worth doing is worth done well. That’s the ideology some people carry.

A good grade out of school will place you on high pedestal such that you don’t need to struggle too much to get some opportunities. Please go for it. If you ask me, I would say after school is school. For the ambitious ones that have put in their best, after school:

Job Volunteering Tips for Job Seekers

(1) look for scholarship opportunities to study abroad

(2) look for job opportunities available for you around with what you have on your cv

(3) Enroll for Masters degree if none of the first two is forthcoming. Time is going. Until you grab one and start, keep pursuing the other two. Improve your cv

I attended a job test/interview the second day I submitted my visa application to attend a UK school that offered me MSc. Scholarship in 2011. I still struggled to attend despite being optimistic that UK was sure. One week after, the bombshell fell, my visa application was rejected to my greatest surprise. I missed the scholarship but passed the job test. That earned me my first job after graduation. Nobody prays to be unfortunate but it’s good to have something to fall back on if you don’t want to fall woefully. Lol

All the best whether you make use of your CV to get it or otherwise

Please remember to volunteer today in a company, they need your skills and you need the experience.