Learn How To Avoid These Common CV Mistakes
Hiring managers throughout Ireland are forced to read up to 100 CVs for every single job opening. As you can imagine, they don’t have the time to read each application so they will almost immediately reject any CVs that don’t stand out. Likewise, your CV will be dumped the moment a mistake is spotted unless you avoid these common CV mistakes. And, if you need more guidance, check out our CV template and Cover Letter Sample.
Unfortunately, being the most qualified person for the job isn’t enough. It’s estimated that on average, six people are ‘better’ fits for a company than the individual that ends up getting hired!
The reason the more suitable candidates get rejected it because of weak CVs. Don’t be among the 80% of applicants who submit a CV deemed to be ‘poor’ or ‘in need of improvement’, read on to learn more about the common CV mistakes that could torpedo your chances of being called in for an interview.
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Most Common CV Mistakes
1 – Lying
This is the #1 mistake because when you get caught in a lie; your chances of ever being hired by the company in question are gone. Over in the United Kingdom, an independent job board by the name of CV Library conducted a survey which made interesting reading. Its research discovered that almost 29% of applicants lie on their CVs with up to 10% of these lies described as ‘significant’.
Disturbingly, over half the people surveyed believed lying was necessary in order to get a job due to intense competition. All we can say is: Don’t expect to get away with it! An experienced hiring manager can spot inconsistencies or lies in CVs and when this happens, you can forget about an interview. The most common lies told on CVs include:
- Exaggerating skills, accomplishments & responsibilities.
- Employment dates & history.
- Academic degree.
- Job titles.
Trust is an essential element in professional relationships and this gets breached the moment you tell a fib on your application. Once it is uncovered, there is no going back. You should always tell the truth on your CV and if there are a few things you’re not proud of or believe could be better; you have the option of reframing the information or omitting it altogether.
2 – Not Tailoring Your Application
Remember, hiring managers are trained to spot ‘stock’ CVs so it will take them a matter of moments to determine whether you have put the effort into creating an application tailored for the position or not. It will take them even less time to dismiss you as a candidate! One of the most common CV mistakes is to include a job title that doesn’t match the posting.
In order to stand out, only apply for positions that are relevant to your experience and your passions. Through this filtering process, you may be invigorated and feel compelled to create CVs tailored to each position. Believe us when we say that hiring managers can spot the difference between a candidate applying for a job to pay the bills and one that appears genuinely excited about the opening. Recruiters from each company will be seeking a different experience or skill so read the job description carefully and figure out how your unique abilities can be displayed on the page to set you apart from the rest. Check you have all the elements for an ultimate CV.
3 – Lack of Focus in Your Employment History
This is pertinent mainly if you have experience in more than one role. If you have been employed in various sectors and enjoyed different responsibilities, it can be easy to try and cram everything onto the page. As a result, you end up with a jumbled mess featuring a host of information irrelevant to the posting.
As we’ve already pointed out, each role you apply for will require a different set of skills and responsibilities. It may be a good idea to begin by writing generic CVs for each industry you have worked in such as Marketing, Sales & Customer Service. This should make it easier to find and highlight the relevant experience for each job opening.
If you worked in a number of part-time jobs or left a position in an acrimonious manner, it may be better to leave out any skills you learned in these roles unless they are a perfect match for the job opening in question. Remember, you can go into greater detail if and when you reach the interview stage.
4 – Including Everything
Further to the point above, it is a mistake to include all the jobs you have held because it may give off the impression that you’re a ‘job hopper’. Prospective employers will not want to hire someone who has held 12 jobs in the last 10 years. Recruitment and training are expensive processes so hiring managers want candidates who look as if they will stay for the long haul.
If you have worked in a number of short-term positions, place the spotlight on your accomplishments and skills instead of your work history. In some cases, you may be able to group similar jobs under a title such as ‘Contract Work’ and list your achievements instead of naming each company you worked for.
5 – No Cover Letter Attached
While your CV can provide hiring managers with an overview of your experience and skills, it does a poor job of offering insight into your personality. Since a cover letter is a fantastic opportunity to market yourself, failure to provide one really pushes you down the pecking order. Many hiring managers also believe that not attaching a cover letter is a sign of a generic CV.
6 – Poor Formatting
Hiring managers will initially ‘scan’ your CV so if it features long blocks of text with little in the way of highlighting or bullet points, they won’t bother reading on. A well formatted CV will use the right font and be easy to read because of the pleasant layout.
For the record, hiring managers tend to prefer Times New Roman font size 12 although fonts such as Bell MT, Georgie and Arial are also acceptable. Always ensure the headlines on your CV are in bold and don’t be afraid to Italicise and underline salient points.
7 – Too Long
Since you know how busy recruiters are, why would you send in a 3-4 page CV littered with completely irrelevant information? Your CV should never be more than two pages long and frankly, this is more than enough as long as you include the most valuable information.
You should only take your work experience back as far as is relevant which means leaving out details of your 6 week stint in a corner shop 24 years ago. The same goes for your qualifications; there is no need to include information about your Junior Cert!
8 – Allowing Important Information To Get Buried
Time is of the essence so your goal must be to get the hiring manager to read the most crucial information first. As always, this requires you to go through the job opening with a fine tooth comb and ensure the most relevant details of your career to date are the first things a recruiter sees.
In your professional profile section, simply highlight the most pertinent career achievements & skills in no more than five sentences. Resist the urge to ‘jazz’ things up here and provide details and facts instead.
9 – Employment Gaps
A lot of people take time off from work for a variety of reasons including travel, raising a child or studying. Unfortunately, failure to explain these employment gaps can leave a less than flattering impression and cause your CV to be overlooked without a second thought.
If you have a lengthy employment history, it is okay to only include the year and not the month. In the event of a long employment gap, you can use your cover letter to explain. Try to broach the subject as soon as possible to ensure the recruiter can focus on the rest of your application.
What you should never do is add months or even years onto previous jobs as this can come back to haunt you if the recruiter gets in contact with your old employer.
10 – Including An Unprofessional Contact Email
It’s hard to explain why anyone who is serious about a job would include an email that sayssexmachine14@gmail.com or hotpants41@live.ie. Yet incredibly, recruiters have reported numerous instances of candidates sending in CVs with silly or even offensive email addresses.
If you have such an address, simply sign up for a new one. There are tons of providers and it is quick, easy and FREE! In virtually every case, it is best to use some version of your name as your email address.
11 – Attaching Pictures
This mainly relates to CVs sent online but some people do believe sending a photo with a postal CV is a good idea! When you attach a picture to an online application, it is possible that the image file will actually ‘choke’ the software designed to scan CVs.
Additionally, attaching a photograph provides recruiters with the opportunity to prejudge you based on your picture. Finally, most recruiters will simply bin a CV featuring a picture to ensure they can’t be accused of discriminatory hiring practices.
12 – Lack of Detail
It is a huge mistake to be vague when it comes to the details on your CV. Successful applications not only mention your skills/experience, they provide measureable details whenever possible. When it comes to outlining previous experience, you must not only discuss the responsibilities, you must also provide outcomes.
If you worked on a specific project for two years, say so. If you were part of a sales team that exceeded its targets, include the numbers. When you are vague, it makes the recruiter believe that you’re either exaggerating or lying.
13 – Not Proofreading
Instead of being lazy and relying on spell-check, take the time to read through your CV for errors. The best option here is to get a friend to take a look at the document for you. They will probably spot mistakes you missed. Also, take extra care when listing previous employment dates to make sure they don’t overlap.
14 – Including References
Do not add any references unless this is specified in the job description. A quick note to say ‘references available upon request’ is sufficient. You have a limited amount of space to work with on your CV so don’t waste it! Even if an employer does ask for references, you can include an extra sheet. Finally, don’t include your spouse or partner as a reference!
15 – No Personal Profile
This is a great way to begin your CV; a personal profile is a 3-4 sentence summary which outlines the role you’re seeking and explains your interest in that particular job. When this is tailored to the job description, you immediately capture the attention of the recruiter. Avoid using pointless introductions such as ‘Results orientated team player with 10 years experience’.
Conclusion
We believe the above is a fairly comprehensive look at the most common CV mistakes found. You are likely to be one of at least 100-120 applications for any given job vacancy in Ireland. There are a number of ways to stand out and ensuring you submit a CV free from the above errors increases your chances of making it to a recruiter’s shortlist.