Type in ‘how to write a CV’ to google search, and 283 million results – articles, blogs, templates and YouTube videos – will appear in less than 0.73 seconds.
Oof.
We’re happy to pause for dramatic effect, if you are.
You recovered from that? Alright, let’s continue.
Despite having access to unlimited resources, getting on a hiring managers’ radar is always a challenge – regardless of whether you’re a high-school student looking for a part-time job, or a mid-career professional applying for a senior management position.
But creating a kickass CV that gets you noticed is actually simpler than you think, says former Facebook Australia & New Zealand CEO Stephen Scheeler.
Check out some of the pointers Scheeler gave us during our Year13 Expo earlier this year.
Tip number 1: Get to the point
According to Indeed, hiring managers spend an average of 6-7 seconds looking at your CV.
That means that chances are, your 10-page CV outlining the grades you recorded in high school, that touch-footy best and fairest award from year 11 and every hospitality certificate you earned in your half-a-dozen part-time jobs are probably going to land you in the hiring manager’s recycling bin.
Scheeler says you need to keep CVs short and sweet and get to the point in one page – max.
“On that one page you’ve really got to think about: what are the qualities that the organisation or boss or hirer’s going to be looking for?”
Tip #2: Think about the ‘impact’ you can make on the company
Plot twist: recruiters aren’t (just) looking at your qualifications.
Or where you went to uni. Or even what you studied (gasp).
“That’s just information,” Scheeler said. “What you need to do is boil it down and figure out what’s going to drive impact in the role you’re applying for,” he said.
“It’s a good idea to come at it from your own perspective. For example, to drive impact for this particular role, perhaps you need to be really good at collaboration,” he said.
“And then you’d think, okay – what are the things in my CV or cover letter or communication I’m going to send that can demonstrate my ability to collaborate? And how am I going to demonstrate that in the interview?”
Tip #3: Market yourself as the ‘Secret Ingredient’ (that you know you are)
The final step, Scheeler says, is to draw on examples of where you were the difference between a mediocre team or group becoming outstanding.
“Show them – using examples – how you were the secret ingredient that made that team more collaborative, or more creative, or move faster or be more strategic,” he said.
Scheeler says if you can do all that, you’ll have a really powerful calling card for when you go looking for jobs.
And the best part?
You didn’t have to sift through 283 million articles, blogs, templates and YouTube videos to get what you really need.
