If you have had the same CV for years or you have been working at the same job for many years and have not edited your CV in a while, then you might be surprised by how much the market has changed. An updated CV is a must if you are thinking of joining a new company or want to take your career to the next level. A CV must not only be updated, containing all your latest achievements and qualifications but it must also be updated with respect to the new market objectives. Although CVs are considered just as valuable as they used to be years back, they have changed significantly.
Companies have started looking for employees online and online job search websites have become quite popular. With so many people applying for the same job that you are applying to, the competition has increased a lot. Your CV needs to be perfect and contain all the necessary information to impress the recruiter the instant they see it. So, if you want to revamp your CV so that it fits modern standards and is in line with today’s job market, then this article will help you edit your CV in a way that you land an interview.
Objective Summaries have become outdated because recruiters are no longer interested in learning what you want from the job. The increased number of candidates has turned companies to be more interested in learning what a candidate can offer to the company instead of the other way around. Recruiters want to know how you will be an asset to them or how you will assist the company in becoming better.
Profile Summaries are used for this purpose. They contain 3 to 5 short and precise sentences that describe who you are, your past experience, and your key accomplishments. They let the recruiter know how you will be beneficial to the company and what they will get if they hire you. Make sure you stay away from the boring overrated profile summary templates that you find online and create one yourself to make your CV stand out.
Although robots have not taken over the world yet, they have definitely become an integral part of the hiring process. ATS systems are software used by some multinational and big companies to scan thousands of CVs they receive. This software ranks your CV based on how much the information in your CV matches the job description criteria. And this is where the keywords come in.
We use relevant keywords that are mentioned in the job description, usually found under the job responsibility section, and include them in our CVs so that they are ranked higher by the ATS. Including these keywords in your CV will make the recruiter believe that you have all the required qualities and qualifications. However, do not include the keyword skills that you do not possess just for the sake of ranking higher. Everything you include in your CV must be 100% true.
Long gone are the days when our CVs had to include all the job duties and responsibilities that we do on daily basis. Now the CVs are expected to be more about your achievements and accomplishments that show your career progress rather than what your day-to-day professional life looks like. Recruiters are more interested in knowing your key achievements and they want to see these accomplishments verified by quantifiable data.
You can no longer just write your achievements by adding various adjectives and praising yourself. You have to actually provide quantifiable figures and facts to prove your qualifications. After all, anyone can write they are really good at something but numbers do not lie and this is why a recruiter will consider your CV highly if you include facts and figures in it rather than just using over-the-top adjectives.
A CV should be a maximum of 2 pages long unless you are an executive with more than 10 years of experience. However, this does not mean you leave out important details, instead, you should write short and to-the-point sentences in your CV that clearly provide all the information that a recruiter must know. There is also no need of including any personal information in your CVs such as your age, marital status, or religion.
According to the professional cv writing services in Pakistan, a recruiter only views a CV for 7 seconds so your format should be clear enough that the recruiter is able to gather all the information they require in such a short time span. Use bullets to talk about your achievements and format all the facts and figures in bold. This will make the recruiter easily scan your CV and learn everything important about you. Do not use difficult words and jargon on your CV as the recruiter might not be able to understand them. Keep the language simple to make your CV easy to read.
Cover Letters are important and can work greatly to your advantage. A lot of people do not use cover letters which means that if you include one, the recruiter will remember you and will be impressed. A cover letter shows that you are dedicated and really want the job. It also gives you a chance to connect with the recruiter on a deeper level and includes some personal information that you believe the recruiter should know but could not find the space for in the CV. These are some of the things you should consider before your start editing your CV so that it follows the modern standard and appears new and updated. Follow this checklist to write a CV that will make you stand out in the sea of candidates and make the recruiter believe you are the perfect fit for the job. You can also take help from professional CV writers in Pakistan to get a CV designed to fit your qualifications and the target job description.