7 Great Secrets To Creating An Ideal CV That Employers Are Looking For

Your CV is the first impression you make to any potential employer.

Whether they’ve indicated that you bring along an updated copy of your curriculum vitae or resume, they’re looking for one thing, a document that proves why you’re the ideal candidate to invest their time and money in.

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Are you the candidate employers are looking for? Does your CV show that you are?

According to a World Bank report in 2016, the number of unemployed Kenyans stood at 17 per cent compared to six per cent for both Uganda and Tanzania. This is a quite discouraging fact.

However, this means that standing out is the only thing that creates a difference between landing the interview and your CV being shuffled in the endless pile of applications.

It’s important that you restructure your CV to meet the market demand depending on your industry. Don’t give your employer be irrelevant & unnecessary details.

While you want your CV to be eye catching, employers will expect to see certain sections in your CV no matter what.

7 Ideal Parts of a Professional CV

1. Contact Information

This is what identifies you. It should be the top most part that the recruiter sees immediately they look at your CV. Beneath your full name, include details you’re willing to share, such as your address, cell phone, and email address.

2. Profile Summary

Your profile summary is perhaps the most important aspect of your CV.

It offers a short, compelling description of your career accomplishments, as well as your future ambitions. How will you impact the target company? Why should they continue reading? What sets you apart from everyone else?

You might consider hiring a CV writing service if you’re unsure of how to create a compelling summary statement. Either way, the summary should reflect the competitive professional that you are. It is the only lead to ensuring the recruiter smiles all the way.

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3. Education

If you’ve completed higher education, this is a section to include in your CV with the name of the school or college, the degree or course of study, and the dates you attended/graduated.

Give all this details in reverse chronological order, from the most recent.

4. Courses/Training/Seminars

List all this with relevance to the position you are applying for. Remember your CV should not be more than 2 pages long. If you include irrelevant information, it will be too long and most likely contain information that is not important for the employer.

5. Key Skills And Competencies

Whether you realize it or not, you will have picked up many skills over the years, some tangible, and some less tangible. Skills such as communication and project management can be hard to prove so backing them up with examples will be a great move.

6. Experience

The Employer is not looking only at formal job experience when making their hiring decisions. Be sure to list any volunteer or unpaid experience you have here as well that can be relevant to the position.

Start by listing your most recent job and job title first, stating the duration, duties undertaken and responsibilities. This is the part that answers the employer’s question on experience so be careful while crafting this.

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7. References

You should list at least 3 referees on your CV.

If this is your first job, you can input your lecturer and tutors. You’ll obviously need to choose references that you’re confident will give positive remarks and back up the information you have on your CV. Additionally, make sure they are easily contactable by potential employers when the time comes.

With this CV writing tips you shall be positioning yourself well for the job market to ensure that your CV is the one that draws attention.

Are you targeting that specific Job opportunity? We offer customized Professional CV Writing Services which will present to the employer exactly what they are looking for to help you get that interview call! Click here for more information on CV Writing.

Judith Moraa works for Corporate Staffing Services – a HR Consulting Firm that provides recruitment and FREE job placement service. For more information, visit their website on https://www.corporatestaffing.co.ke/