During periods of available time, there’s hardly a more productive activity than to update your CV – Curriculum Vitae (Resumé), refining it, and ensuring it’s primed for internal advancements, external job prospects, or transitions within your career path.
In the world of career moves and job hunts, your CV is your golden ticket. In this blog, we will provide you with five simple tricks to updating your CV. Whether you’re plotting a leap up the ladder or eyeing a whole new adventure, we’ve got you covered with easy tips to give your CV a nice touch-up.
Get inspired by your LinkedIn
When you’re not actively looking for a job, you’re unlikely to open your CV and update it each time you have success in work. However, you’re a lot more likely to add updates to your LinkedIn profile in real time.
When the time does come when you’re searching for a job review your LinkedIn and see if there’s any good information there that could be added to your CV. You might be surprised at how reading through your professional history can jog your memory.
Update your CV structure
How you present a CV can have a big impact. You want your Resumé to be as readable as possible, and easy to digest at a glance. To do this use:
- A regular font – Calibri (Body), Arial or Veranda are all good options
- Bullet points instead of paragraphs and numerals instead of written numbers
- Headings and bold text to make important information stand out
- List information in chronological order
- Save your CV as a Word doc, but send it to prospective employers/recruitment agencies in a PDF
Invest some effort into streamlining the format and design, and you’ll craft a CV that’s easily digestible for recruiters and potential employers. Opting for a straightforward CV layout is often favoured by hiring managers, allowing you to prioritise content over intricate design, ultimately saving you time.
Emphasise achievements
Avoid including unnecessary and lengthy details, instead emphasise results and achievements rather than daily tasks. A Resumé should highlight skills that make you attractive to interview.
This could be successful projects you worked on, awards you have won or any impactful problems that you solved. Again, use specific examples that showcase your technical knowledge, and statistics and figures that clearly back your achievements up.
Update your education section
Continuous learning is becoming more and more important, so don’t forget to update your education section with any relevant courses you’ve completed during your career. For example:
- Online courses
- Night classes
- Internal training programmes
- Certifications
By keeping your education up to date, you are showing your commitment to continuous learning and a passion for the industry you work in and the work you do.
It might seem old-fashioned or unnecessary, but a good bio can make all the difference. Distinguish yourself from other candidates by telling your prospective employer who you are, what you do and what your objectives are for your next role. If you don’t know where to start here are some things to consider mentioning:
- Why do you do what you do?
- What’s your current role?
- Any notable accomplishments that are relevant to the job you’re applying for
- Depending on the company/job – something a little more personal that shows you’re a good cultural fit
When writing your bio keep it concise and always edit with the position you’re applying for in mind.
Taking the time to update your CV properly could mean the difference between landing a job interview or not. Spend time on it.
Another old but good CV tip is to list your achievements, big and small on a piece of paper. This will help you to recognise the value in things you’ve done that you might have forgotten about. Things like managing staff, training new staff, organising schedules, handling cash for example.
You can then use this brainstorm as a base for updating your CV with any relevant points and accomplishments. Finally, remove any outdated skills or information you no longer want to highlight and proofread then proofread again.