4 Secrets to Writing A CV That Will Impress Any Employer

I was still new in my career and I was targeting communication roles. I had crafted my CV thinking that I understood my skills and experience well. I thought it would get me the interviews b but it ended up being thrown to a “no” pile. Reason? It didn’t impress the employers.

Every Kenyan employer or recruiter has a list of things they expect to see in your well-written CV and by highlighting them in your professional history, you increase the chances of being noticed.

6 seconds? Imagine that is the average time the recruiter spend scanning through your CV before deciding whether to put you forward for a job or not.

After consulting a professional CV writer for a free CV review, I learned  a few secrets that that will grab the attention of the employers.

What pointers must you consider while preparing your CV to ensure that it is read? There are a few CV habits that may seem innocent enough to you but are actively reducing your chances of getting that dream job you applied to.

1. Be honest

Let’s all agree. Impressing feels good. It also feels great to include such great things on your CV. However, the problem comes when the interviewer gets a bit curious and asks you for some of the books you’ve read or some of the documentaries you’ve watched lately.

While writing your CV, avoid lying. It will cost you the job.

2. Keep off the grammatical errors

When applying for the latest jobs in Kenya, incorrect language, typos, and misspelt words will significantly reduce your chance of getting that job.

As a job seeker, the recruiter will hold up the standards. Today, the job market is saturated, even the smallest grammatical error could disqualify you from a position.

After you’ve written your CV, review it several times and make sure there are no grammar errors. You can also give it to another person to go through it.

3. Optimize your CV

I never knew the importance of customizing it for specific role. I used a one-fits-all CV for all the roles and that reduced myc hances of being invited for the interviews.

Before selecting an outstanding CV, the recruiter or employer will have gone through countless CVs. If you want yours to be selected as the best, it needs to be outstanding.

Sometimes, you may want to send one CV to as many employers as possible. However, this will mean you have to write a generic CV. The bad news is that an employer will outrightly tell a general CV, and they will immediately reject it.

While looking for a job, read through every bit of the advertised job. Look through the qualifications they are looking for, and the skills and experiences they want, and then display this on your CV.

Each time you want to apply for a job, you should ensure it is customized to fit the advertised job.

4. Have a neat format

While writing the CV, you may want to appear creative and use different fonts, colours, and formats. However, note that this will only make the CV look busy and untidy.

Use one format all through. If you have information you wish to highlight, you can use a bolder version of the same font.

You can also use subheaders and bullet points to make your CV stand out.

Finally,

As your marketing tool kit, your CV carries your skills and introduces you to Kenyan employers. Given how competitive jobs in Kenya are today, your CV should be professional and contain the right information. This will help you edge ahead of other job seekers.

To get a professional CV that will open interviewing doors for you, you can talk to our Professional CV writers. The professional CV writers will give you a professional CV that shows your qualifications, skills, and experience.