Your CV and Resume Builder: Make Sure Yours Is The Best

With my CV and Resume Builder you get away from a one-size-fits-all approach to your CV and resume writing, because in today's highly competitive job market you need to produce a 'customized' CV or resume that is tailored to highlight your benefits and qualifications - how you will add value - to each particular company when you apply for a job opening.

Use these Sample Resumes to be sure your CV or resume really matches you to the job you want or go to look at these Resume Templates for more ideas.

A generic CV or resume says, 'I need a job, help me'; whereas a bespoke document carefully crafted using my CV and Resume Builder plus a well written resume covering letter says, 'I respect your company; you have issues which I recognize and can help to solve'.

Satisfying the employer's questions

With the time and effort you spend on identifying your core competences and by focusing on the company's needs and not yourself, you will convey the strongest sales message which will convince the hiring manager of the need to meet you at an interview...

Make use of my CV and Resume Builder to make sure yours is the best there is! If you really don't feel able to do it yourself, make good use of the resources I recommend further down this page.

When responding to a job advert, it is too easy to avoid answering some of the questions because you know (!) you can do the job, and you think the hiring manager will easily realise that.

Waiting until you get to the interview to show them how good you are is a much too risky tactic.

Read between the lines of the advert and identify the employer's subtle requests.

What personal attributes is the company looking for?

What specific work related skills are identified as essential?

What other factual information has been requested? You must identify the employer's requirements, not yours, and respond to all of them. Failure to do so will see your job application being rejected.

Does your CV or resume answer the how, what, where and when questions? If not it will be put to one side so try to make sure yours is the best there is! Make good use of my CV and resume builder to be sure - if you trust my advice and would like me to carefully build your CV for you go to my CV Writing Services page at CV Writing. I also suggest you make use of the FREE Personality Test to help build your CV or resume the most effective way possible.

CV and Resume Layout and Content

How long is your CV?

Your CV and resume builder demonstrates that ideal length is two to three pages and no more than one page for the covering letter.

One page of useful and relevant information is worth far more than two or more pages of detail which can conceal what they’re looking for.

With the limited time they allow to read the CV you must make it easy for the reader to find what they need. Most recruiters only scan the CV initially for about 10 seconds – if they don’t see what they want you’re out of the game.

Getting your information in the right order

The first page is the most important part of the CV. The reader needs to see immediately what you have to offer and how they can get hold of you. Make sure your resume or CV is easy to read.

What skills have you put up for sale on your CV?

Have you clearly identified your level of expertise, seniority and competence?

A short section of “Key Skills & Achievements” can cover a lot of ground for you.

Stress your past achievements and the specific skills you used to get the desired results. Your accomplishment statements must grab the reader's attention and interest, so also try to quantify the results.

Have you done everything you can to convince and reassure your reader that an investment in your skills is a good choice?

Focus your information on what's relevant to your own career goals. If you're making a career change, stress what skills are transferable to support your new career objectives.

If you have an impressive but meaningless job title – change it to convey its real meaning. At interview you can explain “my actual job title was…”

Too many job hunters hide their contact details at the end of the CV and others often omit details like age and marital status.

The sell is vital in terms of CV writing so use the tips here in the CV and resume builder and make sure that your CV is the one they want to read.

Going on about your education

How long is your education section? Do you doubt your skills and expertise so much that you have listed out every qualification you have ever gained?

Have you gone down to minute details such as your driving license and your piano examinations?

Qualifications are vital because they help to convince the reader of your credentials but you have to remember that employers are looking as well for candidates who possess commercial awareness.

So keep this section to the factual details and demonstrate your commercial value in the skills and capability section. Otherwise just give the qualification gained, the educational establishment and the date.

The emphasis is always on what you have achieved and not on the date.

Hobbies and Interests

Hobbies don't need to go on your CV. Why would your employer be interested anyway?

Leave the hobbies section off the CV but make sure that your CV has a personality. You don't want to worry the reader with the impression that you will have to take some days off work occasionally to recover from a personal injuries incurred through your weekend sporting activities!

Making use of my CV and Resume Builder to make sure yours is the best, is time well spent! If you've followed my CV and resume builder examples, and you’re happy that your new CV is just how you want it to look; you've got the words just right, why don’t you submit it for another opinion. Now look at this recommended CV Layout or go to Resume Writing Services to get my help.

Return to Resume Templates or go to the top of CV and resume builder.

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