Although the initial screening of a resume or CV by a recruiter takes an average of 6 to 8 seconds, you should still take the time to make sure it is flawless. Good CVs and resumes are succinct, divided into discrete sections, and make good use of white space to make it easier for recruiters to find what they’re looking for and appeal to their scanning instincts. CV Writing Help in UAE emphasizes that your resume or CV aims to secure an interview, not to sum up your professional background in one page. The following list of 10 do’s and don’ts for resumes and CVs might help you in that regard:
Top Things to Do in CV Writing
- Make sure your name is readable by using a font size twice as large as the body text and a familiar font such as Arial, Times New Roman, or Calibri that will stand out.
- Ensure that your phone number, email address, and current city/state are easily accessible at the top of the page.
- Do provide a brief synopsis—no more than three sentences—below your contact details. You might want to try using bullet points to break them up.
- Make sure you are familiar with the rules of your academic field. Certain individuals may have conventional inclinations, such as starting the document with the words “Curriculum vitae” or incorporating specific sections.
- Do try to keep your lines as brief as feasible (since reading comprehension can start to decline after just eight words) and use three to five bullets for each appointment.
- Use declarative sentences; these should mostly begin with powerful verbs that convey what you accomplished, like “developed” or “enhanced.”
- If you are referring to actual nouns, like names of programs, certifications, organizations, or events, do include a brief explanation of what an accomplishment entails.
- Do use bolded subheadings with font sizes between 12 and 14 points, as well as white space to ensure that your sections are clearly divided from one another.
- Have a master resume/CV that you can use to pull information from that will allow you to tailor a separate resume/CV to the position you are applying for.
Things to Avoid in CV Writing
- Don’t use shaded text boxes or other fancy formatting that could make it difficult to be converted within an applicant tracking system or opened in other versions of Microsoft Word.
- Don’t include your full street address or your current work address.
- Don’t write a career objective if you don’t have a specific target role.
- Don’t think your CV needs to reach a certain page count to be taken seriously. Resumes are one page (or two if you have more than a few jobs and 10+ years of experience), and academic CVs are typically eight to 15 pages on the high end but could be fewer than five pages for early career professionals.
- Don’t list your professional experiences in chronological order. Start with your most recent and relevant experiences.
- Don’t make subjective claims without backing them up with evidence. Use statistics when you can, but don’t overdo it.
- Don’t say “responsibilities included” and list concept nouns “optimization of student success” or “communication response,” or use pretentious verbs like “utilized.”
- Don’t use acronyms and jargon unless you are certain that everyone on the search committee will know what they mean, even the member who does not work in your discipline.
- Don’t include sections if they only include your weakest experiences, such as “Invited Talks” or “Community Outreach” if you spoke to a handful of people at a Rotary meeting. If you don’t have strong examples, including weak ones will dilute your other accomplishments.
- Don’t think your resume/CV speaks for itself. You’ll have to explain your intentions, elaborate on your capabilities in an interview, and speak to the hiring manager’s needs.
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The resume/CV is only the first part of the search process. Start with a good impression. Do not hesitate to seek guidance from experts providing reliable CV Writing Help in UAE to ensure that you will have a winning resume that stands out from the rest.
