Candidate Tips

Try to tone down the use of bullet points on your CV, this is my thinking:

Every bullet point means you can write less on each line.

Bullet points are meant to highlight specific points, not the entire CV. Use plain bullet points, you don’t want a multi-coloured bullet point being the highlight, you want your words to be the highlight.

Bullet points are so over used it is amazing. I have seen CV's with bullet points within bullet points within bullet points.

For me highlighting a word here or there on a CV is a much better choice.

Before you go to your interview think about the small things that can make a really big difference to the imprssion that you will make with the interviewers.

Think about your body language; make eye contact, smile, give a strong handshake, don’t slouch, look interested and show enthusiasm and energy

• Take a pen and a smart notebook
• Take your glasses in case there is a test or something to read
• Take examples of your work, but only get them out if appropriate
• Take your pay slips if you are working in sales, to prove your success
• Take a copy of your CV - just in case you need it
• Leave your phone switched off
• Leave your laptop switched off
• Do not chew gum when waiting in reception, or during your interview!

There are many road blocks and hurdles to getting that great job. Your CV is the first road block and here are some of the ways you can improve it:

Your CV will face a lot of competition, it must be relevant, have the right key words, highlight your skills and be easy to find and to process. Statistics (shockingly) say that the average recruiter will only spend 7 seconds to quickly scan over a CV and the key things they are looking for in the first 4 seconds are where you have worked, what software, products and technology you have worked with, start and end dates, education / qualifications / certifications and career achievements. They only have 2 seconds left to find anything else relevant in your CV that will impress them.

Next to put people off come typos, spelling errors and unprofessional email addresses. After that the format of your CV is going to be very important. If you make the common mistake of putting your CV in a PDF format, most recruitment software ATS (automatic tracking systems) will not be able to scan it and read it and recruiters will have difficulty formatting it to their agency branded CV.

Your LinkedIn profile should have good organisation, solid career information, recommendations and a professional photograph – even if your recruiter doesn’t look at it, the chances are that the company who are interviewing you will.

Think about key word searches – recruiters are finding you on their recruitment software database by key words. They may also be finding you on Job Boards and on LinkedIn, and key words are the essential tools that will pull you up in a candidate search. It is no good writing a book about your experience in your cover letter and then not putting this information on your CV – only 15% of recruiters will ever read your cover letter, nor will a cover letter come up in a key word search. So make sure all relevant information is in the body of your CV.

Your CV is only the first hurdle, but it is an important one, so try and get it right from the beginning

There are many road blocks and hurdles to getting that great job. Your CV is the first road block and here are some of the ways you can improve it:

Your CV will face a lot of competition, it must be relevant, have the right key words, highlight your skills and be easy to find and to process. Statistics (shockingly) say that the average recruiter will only spend 7 seconds to quickly scan over a CV and the key things they are looking for in the first 4 seconds are where you have worked, what software, products, and technology you have worked with, start and end dates, education / qualifications / certifications and career achievements. They only have 2 seconds left to find anything else relevant in your CV that will impress them.

Next to put people off come typos, spelling errors and unprofessional email addresses. After that the format of your CV is going to be very important. If you make the common mistake of putting your CV in a PDF format, most recruitment software ATS (automatic tracking systems) will not be able to scan it and read it and recruiters will have difficulty formatting it to their agency branded CV. 

Your LinkedIn profile should have good organisation, solid career information, recommendations and a professional photograph – even if your recruiter doesn’t look at it, the chances are that the company who are interviewing you will.

Think about key word searches – recruiters are finding you on their recruitment software database by key words. They may also be finding you on job boards and on LinkedIn, and key words are the essential tools that will pull you up in a candidate search. It is no good writing a book about your experience in your cover letter and then not putting this information on your CV – only 15% of recruiters will ever read your cover letter, nor will a cover letter come up in a key word search. So make sure all relevant information is in the body of your CV.

Your CV is only the first hurdle, but it is an important one, so try and get it right from the beginning.

Whilst walking the dogs this morning I met up with my retired neighbour Alan, who had an amazing career as the FD of a huge supermarket company. We got talking about recruitment, he said this:

"I was rubbish at interviewing, I used to make my mind up in 2 minutes, and then spend the next hour being polite because they had made the effort to come and see me. I hired 300 people that way."

So when people tell you "first impressions count", they speak the truth. Here are a few simple rules:

• Dress to impress
• Avoid being late
• Stand up in reception
• Shoulders back
• Smile
• Think positive thoughts (it is going to go well, they are going to like me, I can do this)
• Prepare your greeting