4 CV Mistakes That Cost You Jobs

Often, you may find yourself applying for a job but getting no reply from the hiring manager. You ask, ‘What CV Mistakes are costing me the job?’

A CV is a proposal that goes before you to sell you to a potential employer. It is meant to speak for you and present you as a professional capable of doing the job you are applying for.

A perfect CV needs to demonstrate the ability to be professional by highlighting meaningful and relevant information about your career, such as your educational background, experience in your area of specialisation, and track record of accomplishments.

Very few CVs meet these criteria. A candidate’s mistakes on the CV make a potential employer think twice about calling them for an interview.

Below are some CV mistakes that cost you jobs and how to avoid them.

1. Having a peculiar email address

There is nothing more unprofessional than having an email address that looks funny. The email address outlined in the contact details on your CV or the ones used to send out applications need to be professional.

An email like msafiboy@gmail.com is not professional.

Seek to use your official names for email addresses with dots, commas and numbers to make it more unique. An email like ann.wangui12@yahoo.com is a lot better.

2. Obvious spelling mistakes

There is nothing as off-putting as a CV with obvious spelling and grammatical mistakes that can be easily avoided.

Reading and rereading your CV to remove these errors is essential, as they can present you as careless and uninterested in the little things. As such, you might miss out on job opportunities.

3. Using unusual styling

Thinking that one needs to make the CV stand out, candidates add all sorts of colours to the template and use unprofessional font types when completing it with images.

It is essential to use a very professional font like Times New Roman, Calibri, or Palatino Linotype, and corporate colours like Blue or Purple can subtly kill the monotony and present you as a serious and professional candidate.

4. Having an overly long CV

Individuals with over ten years of experience and who have worked for more than five organisations tend to have a longer CV than those with knowledge of between one and nine years. Usually, these CVs are over five pages, which is unnecessary.

Most employers overlook the three most recent experiences and ignore the rest. The experience in which one has the most recent experience is what one is considered to be an expert in.

In conclusion, avoiding mistakes on your CV requires a strategic approach and careful attention to detail. Following the above rules will avoid CV Mistakes that cost you jobs.

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