School leavers and job seekers have been urged by the UK’s leading careers specialist not to send generic CVs when they apply for vacancies.
Richard McMunn, founder of the award-winning How2become.com business, says CVs should be tailored to specific roles to significantly increase the chances of being invited for interview.
Richard, whose company has helped thousands of people get into their dream profession over the last 10 years through career guides and training courses, was speaking as school leavers across the country prepare to seek out their first full time job.
Competition for job vacancies is also likely to be increased in the coming months with the economic uncertainty caused by the recent Brexit vote for the UK leaving the EU.
Richard McMunn, founder of How2become.com
Richard said:
“From my experience, a massive 95% of job seekers create one single CV and then send that same one off to a swathe of different prospective employers.
“These generic CVs don’t stand out from the others and, with so many applications now being made for vacancies, it is no surprise that the people who send them are not shortlisted for interview.
“My advice is to put that little bit of extra effort in to make sure your CV exactly matches the skills and qualities required for the role you are applying for.”
As the author of more than 100 career guides, with many becoming best-sellers, and the presenter of a wide range of job-specific courses, Richard is in a good position to advise job-seekers on how best to apply for work.
These are his 5 top tips for writing a CV and securing a job interview:
• 1 Carefully read the job description, as well as the key skills and qualities required in the role – use a highlighter pen to pick out the important elements of the job
• 2 Create a CV which is concise, easy to read and free from waffle, ideally on no more than two sheets.
• 3 Begin your CV with an introductory statement about you, your experiences and what you have to offer in this particular post – this will tell the employer you are serious about the job and not a serial job applicant.
• 4 Insert keywords and phrases from the job description – the employer will pick up on these straight away and it will help them decide that you should be short-listed for interview.
• 5 Repeat this exercise for every vacancy you apply for, sending a new job-specific CV rather than the same ‘one size fits all’ generic one.
Free careers guidance resources are available on the how2become.com website on building a CV and the key interview skills via these online links:
www.how2become.com/resources/ultimate-guide-to-building-a-cv/
www.how2become.com/resources/interview-skills/
