There are a number of ways that you can score negative points before your first meeting. Here are some examples of CVs and other documents that didn’t shine:
- Documents that are written in capital letters.
- Documents that cannot be printed (check before you send it)
- Documents that do not have the applicant’s name and page number on each page.
- Documents that haven’t been spell-checked.
- We are mostly looking for evidence of success. If you don’t tell us that a particular programme, procedural or cultural change was a success and how they helped the company, then we will have to take a guess, and we might guess incorrectly.
- Try not to use the words “Responsible for” so much. It’s good to know what your responsibilities are, but only up to a point, after that we want to know how your actions helped the company.
- If you have figures, or a before and after, put them in.
- Try not to leave gaps, if you get an interview, you will almost certainly be asked about them.
- This isn’t the place for being self deprecating or engaging in humour. “Well I was quite good at this role” will not gain you points, but then neither will “I want to take over the world”!
- Falling foul of the points above might not stop you from getting an interview, but they are likely to colour the interviewer’s perception of you.