3 Ways Why Your CV is Making You Look Bad (and how to fix this)

Even if we live in an age of online profiles and portfolios, preparing an acceptable CVstill cannot be understated. Even if it might seem easy enough to prepare one, CVwriting has grown with complexity over the past decade. This applies to both entry-level employees as well as executives who are, quite obviously, in different stages of their career. Having said that, here are 3 ways why your CVis making you look bad:

1: Lying or the use of half-truths

Why lying on your CV or submitting clever half-truths is a no-no is because you can get caught during the background or reference checks. Even if you do get away with it, this can blow up right in your face down the line. Or when your fellow workers realise that you are ill-equipped for the job you’ve been hired for. That can result in a blow to your career that you will never recover from. No matter how tempting the job description, make sure you present an honest picture of your skills, work experience, and educational qualifications. 

2: Poor Grammar, Spelling & Formatting

No matter how experienced you are or how many achievements you’ve racked up, there is no excuse for poor spelling and grammar or even excess formatting. The lack of appropriate punctuation or even too many punctuation marks can serve as an irritant. Even if these errors are small, it can prove to be really off-putting when creating a positive first impression of your CV. As for poor grammar, one way to prevent this is keeping your sentences short and using action verbs throughout. For incorrect spelling, use a spell check but don’t depend on it completely either. Read your CVfor meaning as well. Last but not least, do not place too much emphasis on colors, font and design when it comes to formatting. Keep it minimalistic. 

3: Too Long

Most job seekers at the management level tend to have years of work experience under their belt. Unfortunately, this work experience tends to be added to their CV sparing no detail. While this might come off as wordy or boastful, it’s advisable to keep your CV limited to one to three pages. If anything, don’t overexplain or elaborate on everything you’ve done. Instead, leave this for the interview.

While these three tips are only basic, there are others that can be spotted by an experienced CV writing professional. All you need to do is request a quote to have your CV revised according to industry standards.