Proof read your CV before you apply for a job

• Tim Fouracre
• Monday, 2 August 2010
• 4 comments
• Announcements

Clear Books is recruiting for a Sales and Marketing Manager at the moment. We have started to receive a few CVs but it is amazing to see how many candidates do not proof read their CV properly. 

Here are some mistakes that I have noticed in the first few CVs:

• Leaving out degree classification (the first thing I scan for).
• Basic grammatical mistakes such as the difference between “where” and “were” and the use of “have” and “has”.
• Leaving out date of birth (which puts achievements in context).
• When using bullet point lists inconsistent use of full stops e.g.
  • bullet 1
  • bullet 2.
  • bullet 3
• Randomly capitalising words in the middle of sentences that should not be capitalised.
• Strange ordering of academic subjects (either order alphabetically or by grade, but not randomly).

A CV is a one page opportunity for a candidate to sell themselves. There are no excuses for missing information, grammatical mistakes or inconsistent presentation no matter how minor the details.

Showing 4 Comments

1. 
   Matt Fairbrass

   Your CV is a chance for you to list all of your achievements both academically and professionally. But always use a cover letter to put these achievements into context. How do your experiences make you a strong candidate for the position? Why do you want to work at Clear Books?

   Only a cover letter can give a potential employer an insight into the type of person you are, as academics and professional experience are not the be all and end all.

   2 years ago
2. 
   PMRoute

   Quite a few people leave the date of birth out due to the Employment Equality Regulations i.e. to avoid age-related discrimination.

   Although you might think a “young” person with lots of achievements is a good thing, other employers may use the date of birth as a mechanism to exclude candidates that they deem too young or too old.

   2 years ago
3. 
   Tim

   Thanks PMRoute – a very valid point.

   In fact, one of the guys in our office who used to work in the HR department of a UK bank mentioned that they used to redact the date of births on all CVs they received before passing them on to be reviewed!

   2 years ago
4. 
   Matt Fairbrass

   I agree with PMRoute. I never put my date of birth, nationality or any other personal information (religion, political views etc..) on my CV, as these types of information could lead to discrimination.

   Something else I also never include is a photo of myself, as I have heard stories about a minority companies who choose candidates based on appearance, regardless of academic or professional achievements.

   On the topic of information, always make sure you lock down personal information you put on the internet, for instance on social networking websites such as Facebook or Twitter, as I have worked for and known companies who “vet” candidates by looking for them on these types of websites.

   2 years ago