Online CV Writing Needs A Different Style & Format

Why Use An Online CV Anyway?

The average recruitment agency now receives over 3,000 CVs each week, and the varying formats of the traditional CV make it difficult for them to store all of that information.

Many recruitment consultants are unable to cope with the work involved in processing everything on these different styles of CV, as well as responding to all of the candidates in person and accurately matching them to jobs.

Job-seekers, on the other hand, increasingly find that the CVs they’ve posted or emailed quickly go out of date, fail to capture all of their skills and achievements or fail to present information in a way that means they get offered the right job opportunities.

Preparing An Online CV

An online CV is a CV written specifically to be uploaded to a recruitment consultant's or employer's website. Because there are substantial differences between the regular CV and the electronic CV as it is often known, I have prepared this set of guidelines for you.

Traditionally, when CVs were submitted to prospective employers, they were first received and sorted by humans. But, increasingly, for many firms, this process has been taken over by their computers. Therefore, when you are writing for online submission you need to know the ground rules for that environment:

1. Length

   An online CV needs to be concise; think of it as a one -page introduction.

2. Format

   The online CV should be uploaded in plain text format so that the scanner will not be confused and reject it.

   In order to convert your traditional resume into a scannable CV, follow these simple guidelines.

   • Use Arial or Verdana as your font (10-14 point);

   • Take out all underlined, italicized or shadowed type;

   • Eliminate any graphics or hyperlinks;

   • Do not include columns or tables;

   • Add a key-word qualifications summary.

3. Visibility

   In order to be 'visible' on the internet you need to use job-specific keywords which is the way you 'highlight' important things in your CV.

   It can benefit you to have your own web page to increase your visibility. Get your CV converted and formatted into a web page. Email me for information about how to get your own web pages; you would need an introductory home page, password protected, a CV page with pdf files to download, and a contact page.

4. Keywords

   Using keywords appropriately will increase your visibility with the potential employers. When a prospective employer searches for an appropriate CV on a website they type in specific keywords that they want to see matched. You can use this to create the optimum document that will be sure to be found.

   For example, when you read job advertisements how many ask for people who have 'great communication skills' or are 'multi-taskers', 'self-starters', or 'team players'? Actually MOST of them do. Therefore, you should make sure you include such relevant terms in your online CV to help the scanner read and select your CV for human consideration.

   Obviously, you should use keywords that are specific to your field. So, for example, if you’re in sales, you may want to add words like: 'exceeding targets', 'selling new services', 'building client relationships', 'lead generation' and other sales related terms . Those terms will maximize your chances of getting a response and being called for an interview.

   Consider the terms used in the company advertisement; what are they asking for? Use their own words as YOUR keywords and you won't go far wrong.

5. Content

   Your online CV should contain in no more than one page, your name, a point of contact i.e phone or email, a job title by which your CV will be searched for, and a profile of your skills, experience and education. Be brief and if your summary is good, the employer will contact you.

6. Use LinkedIn

   LinkedIn is a professional network which introduces you to a whole range of professional contacts who are linked directly to you or connected with people you know, thus it can give you massive exposure to thousands of people who can help your job search. Your LinkedIn profile should be created with this in mind: use it to describe your key skills and attributes as well as your career history in the same way you would when networking face to face.

   This is where I can help you by creating your LinkedIn Profile for you. Using your CV details and my expertise to extract all of the interesting and relevant information about you, I can focus on specific keywords to enhance your internet exposure to potential employers and recruiters. Email me for details or see my Profile here: LinkedIn

   For just £50.00 I will insert your CV and cover letter information into your LinkedIn or VisualCV profile. The price includes necessary to match the most appropriate style editing without major re-writing.

However, if you need a traditional CV and want some help with writing your CV, go to CV Writing Services and get details of how you can get me to write your CV for you.