Your CV is the first step to landing your dream job, so the more time you spend on crafting yours to perfection, the better. Whether you haven’t applied for an aviation job for a while and need some tips, or you want to really impress a potential employer with a highly impressive CV, here are five golden laws you should always abide by:
Less is more!
Yes, you want to tell the recruiter all about your many skills and depth of experience, but if you say too much, you risk losing their attention altogether.
A CV which is longer than two pages is almost guaranteed to lose you that interview. Keep your CV straight-to-the-point and don’t waffle – cut out any sentences or words that don’t add value.
Always be specific to the role
One of the most common CV mistakes is when applicants send a one-size-fits-all CV to numerous jobs. By doing this, you decrease your chances of impressing the recruiter, as they’ll recognise the lack of effort to tailor your CV to the role.
They want to see why you are right for their specific company and that specific role, so always match your skills, experience and qualifications to the ones listed in the job description.
Never lie
When you really want the job but have no experience or just have a qualification or skill short, you might feel inclined to stretch the truth, or in other words, lie on your CV.
Whilst there is the moral issue that lying could play on your conscience, as far as your job chances are concerned, you are taking a huge risk as lies have a habit of coming back around to haunt you.
If your dishonesty doesn’t come back to bite you during interview, then it probably will when you start the job – and you might lose it altogether. It’s far better to be honest about what you can offer and bring transferable skills in from previous roles, side projects or your education, to fill any gaps.
Make it easy on the eye
You wouldn’t wear your ripped jeans and t-shirt to a job interview, because you know that what you look like makes a big impression.
Well, the same applies to your CV. If it looks like you’ve cobbled it together without much consideration for formatting and structure, then it will not impress.
Make your CV easy on the eye by using lists, bullet points, headings and bold formatting to highlight key information. This makes the recruiter’s job far easier, as they can easily scan the content and pinpoint the info they’re looking for.
Ensure it’s flawless
When there are many applicants applying for the same role, even the smallest mistake can take one person out of the hat.
The margin between getting invited for interview and not being invited could be very tight, so don’t let a silly mistake like not proofreading properly let you down.
Use your spellchecker, proofread several times and ask someone with good attention to detail to look over your CV to provide feedback and reduce the chances of missing an error.
If you follow these five golden laws, then you’ll be giving yourself a really good chance of winning an interview and showing the recruiter exactly why you are perfect for the role.
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Andrew Fennell is the founder of CV writing advice website StandOut CV – he is a former recruitment consultant and contributes careers advice to websites like Business Insider, The Guardian and FastCompany.
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