What things should you not have on your CV?

We’ve done posts on CV writing in the past and have given all the tips and tricks to help you put all the relevant things on your CV and how to make it valuable… but what we haven’t done is told you some of the things that you shouldn’t have on your CV!

Remember, your CV is usually the first impression that your potential employer will have of you! Make it a good one. If you’re not selling yourself enough, you make as well not be trying at all!

Making mistakes with your CV could be one of the reasons that you get rejected. If you aren’t displaying the right information, we may miss important skills or experience that could get you selected. Take a look at our list to see what things that you shouldn’t have on your CV!

Spelling Errors

This may seem simple, we know. But this is a huge red flag for some companies for one simple reason – This shows that you may not have proofread your CV, or that you didn’t spend enough time to draft it up!

Of course this won’t mater for every job. Accurate spelling and grammar isn’t an essential for lots of our jobs, but always remember to tailor your CV to the job you’re applying for. For example, if you are applying for one of our admin positions, having correct spelling and grammar will be one of the first things we look at!

Adding irrelevant information

We understand that for so many people adding each bit of experience is important to you, but this can lead a CV to become every long and tiresome. Cutting this out will not only significantly shorten your document, but it will also make you seem more concise and organised.

We always like to say, leave something to the imagination – These titbits are best left for the interview. That way, it gives the interviewer more opportunity to quiz you on the things they may think are relevant to the position. Generally, we say to try and stick to the experience you have gained within the last 10 years, unless it’s something that will be specifically useful for this role!

‘Showy’ formatting

Again, on the subject of things that are irrelevant – we don’t need to see super elaborate formatting on your document. Generally, you just need to keep it looking smart and tidy.

Unless you are applying for a position within a design company, there is no need to use bright colours, artistic fonts or any other elements that will distract from the information itself!

We suggest keeping your contact information in a clear, black font, at the top of the document. This helps to carry this through the header or footer to the next page, so that if your CV is to get separated for any reason, we still have your contact details. Also for your employment history, education other skills etc to be headed clearly and concisely.

Having a document that is too long or short

As we have mentioned before, one of our top tips is to try and keep your CV to a maximum of 2 pages. Any more than that and it becomes too lengthy to read. Recruiters don’t have a huge amount of time on their hands to be trawling through pages of CV’s that are like little story books. We just need the relevant information for the job that you applied for to be easily accessible.

On the other hand, if your CV is also too short, we may not have all the information that you need and could assume that you just don’t have the experience we are looking for to fill that position. If you are young, or fresh out of education, you may not have a vast amount of employment history. Look at transferrable skills and volunteer work that you can add!

Missing important details

When you’re adding your work history for example, are you looking at the information that you are putting along side this? Ideally, you should be including 3 to 5 job responsibilities, daily duties etc for each position!

In addition to this, are you putting both the month and the year that you worked for each company? Failing to supply this information may show the employer that you’re trying to cover up gaps in your employment.

Using the same CV for every job

This is a common mistake that so many people make, and believe me, we appreciate it can be time consuming to edit your CV for each job you are applying for. But bear in mind that this may not always be an issue if you are on a search for jobs within the same industry!

Try and take the time to look over your CV and think about the ways in which you can customise it for each application you make!

This is something that you make want to focus into the personal attributes and skills section. For example, if the company is looking for some who is a logical thinker and had great time keeping, these are things you can cover in the personal skills. Whereas if they are looking for something more specific such as sales skills or IT proficiency, this can be more easily highlighted in your previous employment history!

A lot of business will use single, key words to search for CV’s, so the trick is to include as many key words as possible for the position that you are applying for! This could be the fine line between your CV getting seen or not!

Remember, it doesn’t matter what sector you work in, having a strong CV is important – it sets you apart from the competition! This is your first opportunity to impress the potential employer and could be the reason you get an interview!

For more CV handy hints and tips, check out the news section of our website to read more of our regular blogs!