Simple CV fixes every applicant needs to know

Finding a job in the summer months can be tough, and making sure your CV is up to date and relevant is vital when against so much competition.

Whether looking for a temporary summer job, a fresh start or a career change, your application begins with your CV, and making it attractive and readable for recruiters needs to be a top priority. The specialists at CV Library have examined some handy tips for cleaning up your application this summer.

Stay educated
Don’t just apply to a position without doing some research. Find out a bit about your company and your role using social media sites. Places like LinkedIn can help you learn more about current employees and recruits professionalism, while sites like Twitter can show a more casual side of workers. It’s important to find out about negative aspects, too, with sites like Glassdoor giving applicants a chance to read criticisms about a choice.

Re-evaluate relevance
Have a look at what matters about your application. Sometimes it’s important to realise that work experience might not be of relevance to a particular position, while experience you’ve gained outside of work could actually be much more useful. Make sure everything in your CV relates to the role you want, and if things aren’t working then don’t be afraid to cut or reduce them.

One page is plenty
Over-explaining and over-saturating your CV will leave the reader feeling overwhelmed. While you need to sell your skills when applying to a job, you run the risk of tiring an employer. To avoid your application ending up in the bin, try to redesign your CV to make the most of the space rather than spilling out onto multiple pages. Show the highlights of your working life so far, show your passion and skill and cut out anything that could blur your message. Tell a story, have a through-line of your career history and let your personality pour onto the pages.

What do you think is the most important factor when CV writing? Let us know on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn