4 CV Writing Myths You Should Avoid

By Ruoro Kairu 

A CV is your greatest marketing tool when you’re looking for a job. With the CV, you sell your skills and achievements to an employer.

If you can’t clearly show the employer your value, no matter how qualified you are, your CV gets tossed aside.

With the job market flooded with professionals looking for the latest jobs, getting one can be quite the task, especially if your CV is not professional.

This week, I met up with job seekers at a networking forum. After the keynote speaker gave her presentation, one of the attendees asked what should be in a CV, as there is a lot of information from everywhere.

In the age of information, there are so many myths and lies about what a CV should contain. I spoke to professional CV writers, and here are some myths you’ll want to address on your CV.

1. Visual distractions

There are many CV templates freely available to you. Some of these templates, however, can greatly reduce your chances of getting a job.

One example is having a CV with graphs, charts and bold colors. Unless you’re in a field such as graphic design, you should stay away from visual distractions on your CV.

A professional CV has a neat and simplistic view, the flare will only distract the employer from your qualifications, skills, and experience.

2. Overloading your CV with keywords

Many professionals will advise you to include the keywords as often as you can. Keywords help highlight how fitting you are to the position.

However, as with anything else, too much of keywords are a bad thing. A professional CV should be natural and flowing. If you include the keywords after every sentence, your CV not only looks unprofessional, the employer also sees as though you’re trying to force yourself to fit the job –an automatic disqualification.

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