7 CV Writing Mistakes You Need To Stop Making

Do you know of the small mistakes you often make when drafting your CV? How detrimental are they when it comes to getting that job?

An error free CV is essential when it comes to applying for and getting a job because it is the first the first impression the hiring managers have of you.

Therefore, it is important that your CV portrays your professionalism and your keen to detail attributes. Most CVs are filled with irrelevant things that only serve to disqualify you.

Here is a list of the CV writing mistakes to avoid.

1. Writing curriculum vitae as the heading of your CV.

This is one of the mistakes that creates a negative impression immediately the employer opens your CV.

Instead of writing curriculum vitae at the top of your CV, make use of this space to put your contact details.

2. Over-zealous styling

When it comes to styling and formatting of your CV ensure you keep it as simple as possible. Avoid the use of fancy fonts.

The recruiters are not interested in fancy fonts or colors but the skills that makes you the right candidate.

Your CV will be thrown out if it is ineligible because of the fonts and colors

3. Using an unprofessional email address

An email address like baddestboy@gmail is not appropriate if you want to position yourself as a professional. Therefore, having an official email address with your name is much better.

Having a weird email address makes you look childish and unprofessional and no organization wants to hire anyone with the above characteristics.

4. Outdated CV

Most candidates make the mistake of using the same CV to apply for all jobs even after 2 years. Now within these two years, you may have had a job or done some volunteering or even learnt a new skill.

Updating your CV is very important before you apply for any job. You may not have to change many things but even the little things matter.

5. Grammatical errors

This is one of the most common mistakes professionals fail to remove from their resume. Mostly because a majority of people do not take the time to proofread their CV after writing it.

Having spelling mistakes and errors in sentence construction in your curriculum vitae is bad for your professional image.

Remember the first impressions matter and your CV is basically how you introduce yourself to the hiring manager.

You do not want your application thrown out just because you didn’t take 5 minutes to review what you wrote.

6. Having a long CV

Most candidates want to put all their work experience on the CV which makes it too long and it can overwhelm the readers.

For someone whose work experience takes up two pages, it is not advisable to include all of them. Instead, pick only what is relevant to the position you are applying for.

Hiring managers receive up to hundreds of applications which means they do not have time to go through your 5 pages.

7. Adding unnecessary information

This includes information about your marital status, age, ID number and even place of birth. These details are not relevant to the job you are applying for so why include them?

They only serve to fill space and in some instances can be used as a basis for discrimination. Unless stated you are asked to include, it is important to  remove them in your career history.

In conclusion, when making applications for a job it is important to avoid these seemingly simple but very harmful mistakes. This will increase your chances of being shortlisted for an interview.

Are you having a difficult time drafting a job winning CV? Get in touch with our Professional CV writing services Team for assistance today